"The sea's only gifts are harsh blows..."

"...the sea's only gifts are harsh blows and, occasionally, the chance to feel strong. Now, I don't know much about the sea, but I do know that that's the way it is here. And I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong, to measure yourself at least once, to find yourself at least once in the most ancient of human conditions, facing blind, deaf stone alone, with nothing to help you but your own hands and your own head..." -Primo Levi (from book Bear Meat)

Well, today we got to test out those boards we bought last Sunday. We met someone with a car and headed to a beach about an hour away called Dee Why (I thought it was D.Y., which could have stood for something that makes sense). It was overcast and apart from the few spread out swimmers and other (more experienced) surfers, the beach was ours. I was thrashed a few times by the tallest waves I have ever encountered while clinging to my willy board like a wet cat. About an hour, a litter of salt water, a chaffed chest and a pair of banged up knees later, I finally managed to stand up on the board and ride a wave for a few wobbly seconds. It stared raining so we went and grabbed lunch at fish and chips place that claimed to have the freshest offerings in town. After lunch, it was back to the waves....

After getting home, we relaxed for a little bit before were invited to go ice skating. Turns out there's a rink right next to the church and I have never noticed it before. The ironic thing is I left my home a frozen waste land, yearning for warmth, now I'm spending my Friday night skating around on ice. It was actually my first time, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was. I never  fell down, even the Canadians were impressed.

Other highlights this week:

-finished the majority of our filming for our Exchange festival project.

-One of the Mexican girls have adopted Bearden, Stephan and I and now we go over to her hour every Tuesday night for diner.

-We went dumpster diving again. Found a crate and came up with a system where I can lash a few of them together, hang them in my closet and fashion a place to organize my clothes. I need a system cause I'm starting to merge all the neat little piles folded on the high self into one big pile...on the floor.

I'm curious to know what people want to read more about. What to add? What to leave out? More of this, less of that. Or just questions in general, just leave a comment below.