hopeless old men on skateboards

That’s an interpretation of a Bruce Lee idea, Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against. from that I came across as I was posting this comic. It’s a theme that I often return to. Do things for their own sake and for personal satisfaction. Probably just an old guy’s way of coming to grips with waning powers and watching all the ripping youngsters.

Hey, I just completed the first collection of my comic as a softcover book and have made it available through a publish on demand website called Lulu. You can purchase Hopeless Old Men on Skateboards volume 1 as a full color version, a black and white version econo version or a downloadable PDF here. The book is 7.5 inches square with a full color cover. This volume includes the first 100 comics with the original titles and rollover notes.

I’m really pleased with how it came out and I’ve started working on volume 2.

I always liked the jumpsuit/coverall. My dad wore one occasionally. It also has futuristic connotations for me, people in science fiction stories from my youth were frequently sporting monogarb. I am an advocate of the union suit for cold weather wear – no waist gap . I suggested a drop seat would be a good addition and Brad concurred. I think he’s on the right track going with the baggy version. The skin-tight unitard is a frightening thing to contemplate. Of course our speedboarding cousins might disagree.

Guys who build concrete skate bowls in their backyards are the real heroes.

I use an accountant for my taxes. He saved me a bunch of money the first couple of years. My business affairs used to be more complicated. My wife and I are both freelancers. I’m diligent about categorizing all my expenses and so I can get good easy reports out of my check writing software. The accountant sends me a tax-organizer every year and I fill it out and send it back. I end up spending a few hundred bucks but it’s easier and I really hate being unpaid part-time bookkeeper for the government more than just about anything especially when I don’t respect the people in office.

I think someone dropped this joke on a comment on one of the earlier strips but I swear I had the whole series lined up, waiting to be drawn.

I wish I’d thought of this storyline about three weeks ago. I had friends who missed skate sessions over tax weekend this year. It’s really hard to ante up when you know those dips in Washington are wasting all that money on war.

I met my wife Carolyn at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. She’s an artist and we lived in the same dorm my junior year. I was an art history major. We shared a class called Contemporary Issues in the Visual Arts and used to walk over to the art building together. A couple years after I graduated, we got married and moved to New England for a few years. We’ve been back in Portland for almost twenty years and have two daughters. Gillian, our oldest is finishing her second year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and our youngest, Kathleen will be going to Reed College in the fall. The girls skate the miniramp a little and Carolyn is supportive. She’s working on an illustrated book about a skateboarder kid.