THIS IS WHAT MADE ME WHO I AM

"Not terribly far back in the day"



This is my answer when asked when I started skateboarding. I was about eight, when my parents and I went to the local sports store. Skating was more popular in the mid '80s so boards were easier to find. I didn't know anything about boards and what made one better then the other. So the graphics on the board are what sold me on the Santa Cruz "Slasher." I was a kid so I was too easily impressed by gross graphics like a nasty monster riding a knife-like skateboard. Fortunatly the graphics did not stop my parents from buying it for me. Since it was my favorite color, I had them put blue grip tape on the slasher board. The blue grip tape covering the board is what helps me stay on the board.

Later, in middle school, Jimmy Greer, a friend of mine invited me over to his house downtown one afternoon after school, and told me to bring my board. It had been years since I was last on it, but I did it anyway. That might have been, NO, it was the greatest thing I've ever done. Riding again, made me a real skater. Skating is, well it can be, more of a lifestyle than a sport. If I hadn't started skating, I would not have the friends I've had for the last fifteen years.

I also wouldn't be a photographer. During the early 90s, I was reading Thrasher, a magazine for skateboarders. I saw that they had a contest going where you could send in photos of you and your friends skating, and if your photos were selected, then a professional skate team would spend an afternoon in your hometown skating with you.

And so one day, I'm lying around on the couch when the phone rings. "Hello?".... "Hey Aaron, this is Thrasher magazine, guess what???? YOU WON!!!!" In addition to skating with this professional team, I also had two photographs published by the magazine.