Two Days in Paris

photos by Bill Maxey


I had hung a postcard of the Steps of Montmartre in my cubical for many years; it followed me around for a few jobs. And then in late August, early September of 2001 I visited London and Paris. I was single and wasn't to meet my beloved Jay for 6 more months.

I stayed with my dear friend Nancy in London, and my friend Bill, who was going to Germany for a film festival, offered to arrive a few days early and escort me to Paris, as it would be my first time there.

The Louvre? It was beautiful, lit up at night. But I was there to imagine where Anais Nin and Henry Miller might have had coffee and to visit Jim Morrison's grave. Why the headstone of Oscar Wilde had tons of lipstick kisses all over it, I'll never know.

We walked a lot and I ate crepes with Nutella, petite loaves of bread and cheese, walked into fabric shops and saw the view of the entire city from the hill at the Sacre Coeur. If you haven't been there but saw the film Amelie (see 2:46), you know what that looks like. And when I did walk down that beautiful staircase, I really took it all in.

I'd been holding onto a mysterious roll of Holga film all of these years - until just recently when I finally had them developed. Looking at the photos, I feel like I lived a magnifique little dream.

Our lives are magnificent dreams of our very own creation. What shall we create this year?

Art and Freedom

I really dig this print by Mark Warren Jacques. I found it in the back of Surfing Magazine. Mark lives in Portland, Oregon and is a member of the Together Gallery collective in the Alberta Arts District. He's going on a nomadic tour throughout California with an artist friend of his and they want to inspire others to find creativity, optimism and freedom in their own lives. Groovy stuff.

Jay Watson's Mavericks Shoot Now on Drift

Perspective of Jay's boat, the Huli Cat. Photo by Peter McBride


Jay Watson (my old man) shot the Mavs contest this year. Drift Surfing put something special together for you. It's so awesome. Grab a cup of goodness, and enjoy the ride.

David Hanson Draws the Captain Fin Team

This drawing of the Captain Fin team is too good for words.

His bio reads, Born to Lose in O'Side. He's into music, skateboarding and surfing. For more on how much David Hanson rules, check out his site.

Surf Fridays!

I had these kids hanging up in my bathroom at my old house in 2003. They're not kids anymore. I don't know who the young man is, but don't you just love his stance? That's from an issue of Longboard Magazine.

And then there's Prue Jeffries showing that wave what's what.

Happy Surf Fridays all you good peeps. I am happy we're all in this life together.

---

update: That's Zander Hartman from Malibu; thanks to Worm for the ID.

Style for Miles

From Issue #65 of Juice Magazine

When did you first ride the Arizona pipes? It was 1977. It was a whole group of us that went - Stacy Peralta, Tom "Wally" Inouye, Waldo Autry, Gregg Weaver, Scott Williams, Bob Biniak, Warren Bolster and me. I was the only girl. It was amazing. It was really a phenomenal group of skaters. We went in search of those pipes not knowing if we would actually find them, let alone be able to get to them without being caught and kicked out.

That was the first time that a well-known group of pro skaters had gone to skate them with a photographer. We all got on a plane and rented cars and went in search of something amazing. When they came into view out in the distance, it was just insane. The closer we got, the bigger they became. It was really surreal. The car was rocking and everyone was losing their minds.

As we got to them, everyone just kind of scattered with their bag of boards. There were so many sections that everyone just took their own section. It was unbelievable.

Ready Steady

Red Longboard by Jessica Nichols

Untitled, 2010 by Ryan Tatar

Charlie Galento, Pipeline, Circa 1960s by John Severson for SURFER

Dear Diary: Part Four

January 25

Dear Diary,

in the night, I was counting my money in my piggybank. I had $4.98.

I told my mother and she gave me two pennies to make it! $5.00!

Surf Fridays!

Hey bro. 'Sup.

Singlefin Yellow

Yes, just put your wetsuit on already

Traffic Jam

Oh, snap

Longboard Parade

Way to go Mom and son

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

So much fun when Cowells is breaking

There are lots of waves for you

The sun is setting but there are still waves to catch

Happy Feet

Surf Fridays!

The Mavericks contest is ON. Saturday, February 13. This is something that I get really excited about and this video just pumps up that excitement for me. Of course that was a 15 foot day and contest day will be 30-40 feet, up to 50 foot faces.

This was the first year they had the contestants vote on whether the contest got the greenlight or not. 17 out of 24 voted yes this week. The swell is coming from a different direction than normal, so it could be more dangerous than usual out there. This article explains a little more about what the conditions should be like. And here is the heat selection.

Another super exciting thing is that Jay might get to be on a boat tomorrow shooting the contest. Of course the demand (number of photogs) outweighs the supply (space on boats) so we are crossing our fingers right now. I'll let you know what happens!

UPDATE: 7:35am Saturday morn - Jay is on the boat!

I go to yoga a couple of nights a week and there's a guy named Drew who's in my class - last night he told me that he's a tow-in driver at Mavs. He practiced with some of the guys who flew in earlier this week. He told me that Jack O'Neill's grandson is a big wave surfer and flew in from Kauai. Drew is going to be a back-up driver tomorrow and also do rescue if needed. I asked him if yoga helps him feel stronger for driving the jet ski and he thought for a moment and then said, "Nah, you've just got to hang on"!

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone. You can watch the contest tomorrow here, it starts at 8:05am Pacific.

Surf Fridays!

The first half of this captivating silent film is footage of surfriders in the 1920s, with Diamond Head in the background. The second half shows Hawaiian natives going about their everyday activities.

Surf Fridays!

Snapshot I took of Steamer Lane in May, 2005

Jay and I are in the midst of attending nearly every flick at the San Francisco Film Noir Festival. These movies are priceless and the sold out crowds at the Castro really make it fun. Any other noir fans out there?

Hopefully we'll get water logged on Sunday, though sadly we won't be going to Half Moon Bay due to this recent spill. Thanks to the Surfrider Foundation for keeping us informed. I hope you all have a gorgeous weekend.