ZJ Boarding House is one of the coolest stores in Los Angeles, maybe the world. This place not only has a clientele, it has its own subculture. I love those movies about the early days of skateboarding (Lords of Dogtown, Dog Town and Z Boys) chronicling the culture of the 70's, the inception of skateboarding, the creation of the actual boards, and the lives of the eccentric, charming, talented guys who rode (Stacey Peralta, Tony Alva, Bob Biniak). I was one of those kids in the 70's, but many miles away in New York, riding from the top of our town to the bottom with a troop of long haired boys who were part of my posse. I wasn't amazing, or famous, but I sure was having fun! We - Charlie, Dave, Paul, Evan, Eric and I, lined our boards up against the wall in Dave Callahan's house, grabbing them one by one (ala rifles in "SWAT") and rode down Dave's driveway, down Calumet, down Villard, zig-zagging our way down to the Hudson River. People would yell at us and say, "get out of there, boys!" I was quite offended every time. Our parents grew grey hairs worrying. We were having the time of our lives.
Today, I went to ZJ Boarding House with my boys. Beckett was so excited because Grandmom is buying him a new board, which he gets to custom design. We were helped by a gentleman named Florine ("Flo") who helped Beckett select a board, trucks, wheels, and screws. It was really neat to see him take the non-stick surface stuff, adhere it to the board, drill holes, attach the trucks, screws, and wheels. For a child to whom choice is very important, this was an awesome interactive experience. All throughout the assembly, Flo chatted with us about all the different skate experiences he had, cool skate parks, some of which his friends helped design. He pointed out the dude behind us chatting with his friend loitering around and said he rode for ZJ's team and won in a category of the X-Games. Aidan and Beckett were in awe. It's all come full circle now - Beckett will be the one having the time of his life, and I will be the one worrying. Still, seeing the joy on his face as he strode out of the store with his new board, we were all jazzed.
Those were certainly some fun times! Last christmas I bought Wyatt (8 yrs old) a long board for christmas. Since I didn't want him to ride alone I bought one one for myself as well...its awesome! I had forgotten how much fun it is. Skateboarding is one of those things that makes you feel like a kid again...thanks for the memories Becky! Merry Christmas to all.
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