i was cleaning out a box and found this photo of me when i was 13 years old. i was going to niu valley intermediate school at that time. that year, i got suspended from school twice for fighting. i use to work after school cleaning classrooms for $3/hour. i didn’t have a girlfriend or didn’t even like girls. i custom made my hair style by sleeping every night with hair clips because i wanted to look like gerry lopez. that was my favorite shirt i wore almost everyday. i didn’t have hair pubic hair yet. i use to hate my teachers. i ran away from home. i owned a moped even though it was illegal for anybody under 15. i never got allowance. all this said, i was a cherry boy searching for attention, searching for my soul, and lost as can be. i would like to think that this was the turning point in my life but it actually got worst. way worst.
so decades after, there is no wonder why my old teachers and middle school friends can’t believe i turned out not such a bad person. haha. the only things that didn’t change since then is my love for surfing, best friends, and my custom made haircut.

Awesome balance!
Good morning 5:40am.
Small waves again today.
Bowls knee high.
Waikiki knee high.
Diamond Head waist to chest high.
Light winds so super clean conditions.
Sunny and warm day.
Surfing all day again.
Have a wonderful day!

had a super fun morning session with Ueda-san from Nara. his first time in hawaii so i could tell he was nervous in the water. most japanese surfers are so kind that they won’t paddle for a wave if somebody else is paddling for it. i tell them “go, go, go, go, go!!!” then after the 5th “go” they go. haha. we surf again tomorrow so i’m sure he will feel a lot more comfortable in the water. i was impressed on Ueda-san’s surfing level. more ripping tomorrow!

first time surfing in hawaii, and first time poke bowl in hawaii. combination spicy tuna and shoyu tuna over rice. a perfect hawaiian surfers meal! get some good sleep and see you in the morning.

the waves were small today. biggest spot was diamond head and depending on the wind, i think we might end up surfing there tomorrow morning.

radio shack’s stock just went down under a dollar per share. back in the 80’s and 90’s, radio shack was the only place to go for electronics. i use to go into the store and dream and dream. i didn’t have money to buy anything but i use to go just to look. in 1999, the stock was trading for $80 per share. $0.92 cents today? so imagine all the stockholders that kept their shares all these years? huge loss! and the bad news that if the shares stay below $1 for 30 consecutive days, it will get pulled off the stock market. OMG! another giant company goes down!

my friend Derek sent me this photo this morning when i was driving to work. i had to pull over and laugh! haha! ahi fever! fishermen are dreaming ahi now. even me. my bedtime was at 8pm tonight but i drove 30 minutes to a guys house to buy some ahi lures. i just got home and it’s 10pm. i ended up buying lures and we ended up talking about fish. and this is a total stranger i just met tonight. super cool guy. i hope i get a day off soon so i can maybe catch a big ahi!
had a TV photo shoot this afternoon with this super famous comedian from osaka. from the time i met him, throughout our surf session, to the end, i was laughing and laughing. he was super funny and you should see how good he could surf. amazing! coming to osaka TV this summer.