my first BOSS

Meet Phil.... my first boss. my leg up in the skateboard industry

Ever since I first started riding a skateboard in 1986, I would always take care of my equipment and resell it once I was ready for something new. I would drive around to skate spots in my mom's station wagon with a backseat full of used equipment. SELL SELL SELL was the name of the game... I took to it. I don't know when PHIL BOERSTLER opened Paradise Sailboarding Company, but I first started going in there in 1986. Not too long after first going in, Phil hired me. I don't remember the application process or how it all came about, but outside of lawn mowing and house sitting, selling skateboards at PARADISE was my first job where taxes were taken out. I've stayed in contact with Phil over the years as I have always seen him as a stand up guy.  We got together for lunch soon after I landed in town.

Phil and his cannon!

After lunch I got a tour of Phil's current business....Paradise Currency and Flags. He got turned on to Civil War history and memorabilia after 9/11 and started out trading currency from that era, and has now branched out to military flags and even cannon replicas from the Civil War. I'm routinely interested in what's he's doing and he enjoys hearing about my path in life.

Phil and Wes at the skate party

Brodie organized a skate date with all the old skate pals and a dinner afterward at a local bar called the Anchor. I bugged Phil to join us and I think he was nervous at first, but finally agreed to show up. All of the old skate gang knows him since he was one of two skateboard sellers in Wichita for a few years. He ending up having a blast reconnecting with some of the guys.

 

the FAMILY in Kansas

I'd seen my Aunt in OKC and it wasn't a week later until  we were hanging out again. This time in Andover at my cousin Michelle's house.

Mary, Magnus, & Alison on the sofa

Michelle lives with her husband and thier roommate MAGNUS. I was told that Magnus sits on the couch just like anyone else and later in the evening saw it for myself... We all shared some dinner and caught up on the past. As large as Magnus is, he sure is nice like a pussycat.

MAGNUS poses for the camera!

I got to hang with my niece and nephews, both together and separately.  I met Will for lunch at Blessed Sacrament several times and hung with him and his buddies while they ate and laughed. One day I was able to play in the soccer game after lunch. I felt too CREEPY to take out the camera around so many kids at lunch... so this is the only picture I took from those days...

here's hoping!

Will and I walked home one day and hung at Brodie's house...Zephyr wasn't around that afternoon so we tried out the drums without instruction.

Will pounds out some beats.

I met Kelly one morning while she was out on a walk.... Let's call it a class project.

Walking for Jesus.

I couldn't hang, so I split but not before having some words with the teacher leading the charge.  Another day I went to see Kelly compete in track... trying to get a spot for REGIONALS. KELLY sure can JUMP>

SOCCER. Will at the end of the season.

 I was able to watch two of Will's soccer games.  Both Kelly and Patrick are coaches of the team. Will is a great goalie and ball handler. After the last game they did awards and had a squirt gun fight.

Patrick and his 1st game of FARKEL.

I took Patrick out several times... First we hung at THE DONUT WHOLE and played farkel. I think he dug it.  Not long after we returned to the donut whole for an IMPROV COMEDY performance. Patrick volunteered and was pulled up on stage and got to RAP. 
 ONE night we went to see PIRATES of the CARIBBEAN and then went to ALL STARS sports from some carnival rides and go carts.

Patrick couldn't get enough, 1 ride for me, nearly had me ralphing.

fun times at ALL STAR

Mario Andretti, I mean Patrick Burns.. No fear on the track.

 Aunt Mary reached out to KERRY and we all got together at Alison's house one weekend day. Alison has a beautiful dog too. I failed to get a pic. Next time.

Kerry, Kelly, & Patrick check out the Traveling Free Box.

next up.... random KS occurrences.

VEGAN donuts - kansas style

last post was about Mother's Day and that was a SUNDAY.....not sure what happened on MON and TUES, but Tuesday night I put out the call about going to The Donut WHOLE for vegan donuts the next morning at 6am.  Only Brodie and Bianca rsvp'd... but as I was gathering the troops outside the van WED morning, WES JENKINS shows up out of the blue....

Wes was out walking his pooch @ 6am

Wes mentioned he'd seen my post and wanted to join us... He was gonna walk home and meet us there. Wes only lives 6 blocks from Brodie's.   Wes, Brodie, and I went on what turned out to be my first SKATE ROAD TRIP in what must have been 1989. We traveled to EAT CONCRETE skatepark in Omaha, NE. Was it for a Demo? or just to session?  I can't recall.. I do recall seeing Justin Lynch and Steve Berra there tearing it uP!

WED is the only day that they offer any VEGAN donuts.

I'm really hyped on the WHOLE DONUT. It's a real hang out.   Donuts and beverages, free wifi and plenty of tables to sit upon. PLUS there is a stage for local performers. music, science, improv... I caught some of each while I was there. I was thanking my lucky stars that they even offered a vegan donut. Every WED they make about 5-8 varieties of their cake donuts with the vegan mix.

The Ryan clan steps up to the plate

ROUND 1

our posse cleaned out a dozen pretty quick

ROUND 2 had me taking some home for the next morning

What do we have here...>?  Round 2 looks like sugar coated, strawberry frosting, coconut w/ vanilla, vanilla frosting, and fruity pebbles covered. Where as if you look back toward the top, ROUND 1 featured a few plain cake and choco frostings.   The vanilla frosted dreamboats ended up being my fav!

This was the morning that HK decided to set up a show at the DONUT WHOLE.  It turned into a saga getting the the show set up...... but that story is for another day....

Mother's Day in KS

So after the big night at the farm, I rode back into Wichita to meet Brodie, Bianca, and Zep for Mother's Day Brunch at D'Sozo's Vegetarian dining establishment! When I got to their house ALF was waiting for me.

alf is one of my favorite kitties on the planet.

I've known Alf for years now and there was a time when he was peeing inside the house frequently. During those frustrating times Bianca offered to let me take Alf back to San Diego with me. I couldn't pull the trigger to do it, and they've since rescinded the offer.

Brunch at D'sozo's

We met some of the home schooling bunch at the restaurant and their once a year all you can eat BRUNCH was delightful. Waffles with blueberry syrup, biscuits and gravy, tofu scramble and loads of fruit. That's Zephyr on the right beaming at the camera!  One of the reasons he's so elated is that he has a crush on a certain young lady at the table.

the first of many home cooked meals from Bianca!

We stayed in for dinner and a fine dinner it was. Prepared by the mother of the day, Bianca.

a familiar sight in the Ryan's backyard

I would look out back often times and witness the above scenario. Bianca was consistently tending to the garden...either weeding or watering.  And Brodie was either picking up dog poop or some other task.

next up....vegan donuts in Kansas.

the 1st day in KANSAS

If my memory serves me correctly, I stayed over on Friday night in OKC and drove into Wichita on Saturday afternoon. First stop was recycling....I hadn't had much luck finding recycling since AUSTIN and had acquired quite the load.... On my way to the center, I saw this sign.....

seeing an IDA street sign is always a good omen.

IDA is my favorite band that is still together. I travel the country to see them when they play out, which is only a few shows a year. I was at this show in 2010 Santa Monica.

I stopped in and visited ENDLESS RIDE and then skated down some familiar terrain to visit the VINE's on my old street of Mission Road. I wasn't sure I would see Bianca til the next day, but I caught her at home for a hot sec and she showed me her sprouting empire in the basement! She's growing and planting up a storm.

Seed to seedling to garden.. Bianca is doing it !

Lucy had been telling me about a rock/bluegrass festival called STRING BREAK on the outskirts of Newton, KANSAS, for the last few months... At first I wasn't sure if I'd be in KANSAS to see the FEST, but I rolled into town, just in time... After leaving Bianca, I drove out to Newton and got down to finding the farm where the Festival was happening.

It didn't take me long to find Lucy.

Months before after first hearing about the fest, I assumed that Lucy was playing the festival, but that wasn't the case.  BUT Albert's band, Sissy's Spaceship, was playing. Albert is Lucy's brother and I skated with him in high school in their family swimming pool. My first pool ever.

Lucy shoots SISSY SPACESHIP - Albert on vocals and lead guitar.

Also, I dug the name and assumed it was a play on term SPRING BREAK, but I came to find out that the fest is in honor of a local musician who died of cancer named Kirk Rundstrom. Turns out he always used to break strings on his guitar during most sets, hence the name of the festival.

the FREE BOX is unveiled in Kansas

I spent most of my time in the shade nursing the FREE BOX. and listening to the music. Nice and relaxing

The FREE BOX enjoyed the show.

self portrait

That night I fell asleep in the van listening to the sounds of live BLUEGRASS music. The next morning I was on recycling duty and bounced before any of my pals had risen.

Off to meet Bianca, Brodie, and Zep for Mother's Day Brunch at D'sozo's!

OKC

After shaking loose from my dreamy morning date with Margaret, I drove into Norman, OK, to visit some shop accounts and see what sort of fun I could drum up. I always have high hopes for Norman
A.) because Mrs Clinton loves the Sooners... "BOOMER SOONERs" she always says.
and
B.) two of the most radical women I ever met in college originated from Norman. Betty Quick, P.I. & Debra Nicholson will be visited later in the blog. I'm on a quest to find them in the NW.

What I did find in Norman was a large college campus and The Earth Cafe!

The Earth Burger was outstanding. I love the carrot stix as a side.

An overview of the bowl at the Edmond Skatepark

After visiting a few shops in Norman and OKC, I just so happened to link up with my cousin KIM and my aunt MARY at a street fair in Edmond, OK. We walked around and I heard all about their purchases, then they drove me over to the skatepark in EDMOND.

Kim and Mary watched me ride my toy for a few minutes.

From the skatepark we drove back to Kim's home in northern OKC and had a terrific BBQ dinner and hang out session. I slept in the van and the next morning I had the pleasure of meeting Kim's son, Jatin.
All evening and into the morning, I was hanging with the ever energy filled, MAKO.

Kim's puppy, MAKO~

next stop WICHITA.....my birthplace.....

Tulsa - Mrs C

My primary mission in Tulsa was to see one of my dearest and oldest family friends, Mrs. Eleanor Clinton. Early in my life, Eleanor was a large influence  - one of the 1st radical women that I ever interacted with. Mrs Clinton was humorous with a dry wit, generous, and the life of the party. My father did decorating work for her and her husband and over the years they became grand friends. Some of my earliest memories circulate around trips my family took to visit the Clinton's either at their home in Tulsa or on their ranch on Ft. Gibson Lake in Oklahoma. Fireworks, ping pong, the jukebox,  water skiing, yachting, tennis, pinball, ice cream sandwiches, and swimming off the dock were all on the table when at the ranch.

Eleanor and I take a walk.

A few years ago as my mother was ailing, I reconnected with Eleanor and have been staying in touch ever since.. Mainly a call out of the blue or on a holiday. Late last year I had told her that in the spring, I was coming over for a visit and she hadn't forgotten. I arrived at her home in Tulsa right after lunch and I found her out on her stoop conversing with her across the street neighbor. We talked and talked and talked and then took a stroll around the neighborhood. That evening we went out for a salad and then stopped into the grocery store for ice cream!

Eleanor and I do the shopping.

And finally we ate some ice cream. Eleanor was insistent that I sleep in one of the guest bedrooms and thus far on the trip, I'd only slept in the van. I was proud of this fact and wanted to keep a perfect record, but there was no convincing her and she can be very stubborn and I wasn't going to argue so I slept in a bed that evening. (editor's note: to this day, that was the only night I didn't sleep in the van)

Eleanor and I ate ice cream.

The next morning we had a light breakfast and I took her to an early lunch at Be Le. Either she was really gracious or really liked the fake pork. We came back to the house and had more ice cream and I was off......She wanted me to stay another night but realized that I was anxious to get to Kansas to see Kerry and the kids. I can't tell you how NICE and REFRESHING it was to have so many wonderful chats with Eleanor over those 30 hours. There are few people in my life that know what my parents were all about. Eleanor has only the fondest memories of my father and it was outstanding to get to rehash those thoughts.

Mohawk Skatepark, Tulsa, OK.

 The rest of the afternoon was spent working... visiting the shops and skateparks and linking up with Matt Phipps, local filmmaker. As I was rapping out with Matt at the van outside his home, a gorgeous young lady approached and asked us what we were doing. "Slinging DVDs", was my answer and we got to talking from there.... Turns out that Matt casually knew Margaret. They were all talking about the local Cinco de Mayo festivities happening in downtown and I was quick to ask Margaret if she'd like to take me down to see the Mexican Wrestling and to get a bite to eat. Surprisingly she said she'd love to and that she'd be back in 30 minutes to collect me.

Margaret elected for two patches out of the Free Box

Sure enough, 30 minutes later, she strolled back up to the van. After a brief visit in the free box we were on a walk into downtown. Dinner at Elote - locally sourced Mexican cuisine and home of the local Mexican wrestling league. The place was packed for the festivities, but with a little sleight of hand Margaret found us a table and soon our order was in.

Epic dinner at Elote with Margaret.

I was getting nervous about loosing daylight for some pictures, so once we heard the wrestling begin, I ran out and snapped some pics.

First the parking meter maid was on top.

Then all of a sudden the PANDA POWER made her move.

We watched several different wrestling matches after dinner including a high intensity doubles match. We leisurely strolled back toward her house enjoying great conversation the whole way. I didn't want the night to end and stated my thoughts and Margaret, very diplomatically, suggested an early morning bike ride!

6:30am we are both wearing helmets!

Margaret had talked the previous evening about the bike trails along the Arkansas river. I was particularly psyched because this was the first time my bike made it's way outside of the van. We set out on time for some early morning adventure. We ended up at her favorite coffee shop and I watched her drink coffee and sat in some neat outdoor chairs. Ultimately we ended up back at Margaret's dwelling and soon she was making us pancakes!

First homemade pancakes of the trip!

Time went on, the pancakes were delicious, and then it was time for Margaret to get ready for work. And I was off back to the van after a short piggy back ride. Thanks for such a FABULOUS time, MARGARET!

Next stop - Norman and then meeting up with my aunt and cousin in OKC.

Ripley lives in the backyard at Margaret's pad. Super chill!