David_illwind_Weiss' Close Encounters

Close Encounters of
David "illwind" Weiss
Waverider Local
Los Angeles, California

Home page: My Home Page

"'Tis an ill wind that blows no one good."
- Shakespeare

"Which posters to alt.surfing have you met, surfed, or tripped with, where and when?"

How I started surfing: I got into surfing a lot later in life (age 35) when my 2 boys were involved in the local "Junior Lifeguard" program. They were about 8 and 9 years old, doing the summer program at Will Rogers Beach (Santa Monica). One day they came back from a session all excited about the surfing lesson they had. "Dad, you've GOT to try it!" But let me backtrack a bit... I always loved the beach, and as a kid used to go to Playa del Rey to bodysurf and boogie board (at that time it was just canvas/rubber rafts). Read rest of my story here.

August 2001. I am vacationing in Oahu now (our once-a-year, or twice-a-year if I'm lucky, trip). I've always enjoyed the postings of Mama_Süs and the rest of the Oahu "gang." Yesterday, surfing at Süs' home break, there she was paddling out on her sponge. It was a good way to meet her, since I had just taken off on one of the better sets of the afternoon, about head high, ending the ride over the shallow reef. She suspected it was me. I had emailed her last week, giving her a description of what I would look like - a skinny 54-year-old geezer, surf hat and all (skin doctor's strong suggestion). So, for better or worse, it was easy for her to pick me out in the small crowd.

August 2002. We've been in Waikiki for five days now--my wife, my mom & dad (in their late 70's), two adult daughters, and me. Surf has been inconsistent, but with some occasional head-high+ sets, especially late this afternoon at Publics. Sus and I surfed together for a while Wednesday and this morning we drove to Waimanalo to swim at the nearly white sand beach close to her house. It was SO beautiful -- until my wife got stung by a man-o-war. The old meat tenderizer remedy worked fairly well, but we stopped by Sus' house and she whipped out some vials of benzocaine which helped even better. Thank you, Dr. Sus!

We'll all go see Blue Crush tomorrow -- perhaps adding our 2 cents to the newsgroup reviews. Also plan to take all the folks on an outrigger canoe ride. Should be zippy with the surf active as it is. More Waikiki observations to follow.

Aloha,
illwind

Postscript: I'm a musician with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, play the oboe. I sometimes use my real name, or more often "illwind" ---kind of a pun on my instrument. Shakespeare wrote in one of his plays "'Tis an ill wind that blows no one good." And Ogden Nash, in his funny description of the oboe, defined it as "an ill wind that no one blows good."

AS Points Log: I have...
... met the following ASers	...surfed with these ASers	...traveled with these ASers
	Süs "Mama Süs" Shawhan
0 x 1 point =	1 x 2 points =	0 x 3 points =
0 points	2 points	0 points

Point totals: 02

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The AS Hub used to be found at http://altsurfing.org/ but the domain name ownership lapsed. Blame lemmings!

Last updated on 06/21/08

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