Well... I've been asked to reminisce on my ATLAS days and some truely memorable moments on my life. This is an attempt to do so. ATLAS lives on but so must I. Consider this a farewell letter.
The ATLAS days were some of the best days of my life; skating all day, getting high and drunk later on, just living the life. I must bid farewell to this lifestyle and this crew. I have mixed feelings, but I know our legacy will live on. We must all move forward with our intensity and passion for skateboarding and our lifestyle. Us greats will all meet up again, I know it. If you give up what you love most, it will always come back to you. I give up on skateboarding and all willingness to continue. It is pointless to strive for an unattainable goal. Not to say I've stopped skating, but to idolize it in an unhealthy way. I love skateboarding, but I love you more. That is why I must quit this falsehood. I'll still rep the old gang, but I'm hanging up my leadership for it.
The number one all time memory I have with the old gang is when we are all together. This is countless times. I remember when we would skate Santa Fe mall in Duluth. That was my first time being dropped off at a random location to do whatever the hell I wanted. Joe's parents took us one cool fall or winter morning.
We got an early start at 11 am. Robert came that day. I don't really know the names of the places we went, but the images are still vibrant in my mind. I know the paths we took, the schools, parking lots, and business complexes we skated, and where we went for lunch (McDonald's). We saw Snakes on a Plane that day. There is a dollar theater there and Joe would make comments about couples that would take dates there. We filmed some lines there, skated the movie theater ledge, we did almost everything. We wandered all day. Out on a grand, seemingly urban adventure. It was awesome. It was all on foot, no cars. I think that's how I like it.
Another time that sticks out is the first time we went down Memorial Drive. I actually went with Bret and I think Robert and some people. We went to the Rent A Center there. It's torn down now but damn, that was a fun spot. All these adventures I talk about stem off other adventures and they build on each other. Eventually we discovered a parking garage at DeKalb tech, skated there for hours. We would hit that spot and smoke a black and mild or something. I got a manual kickflip out on a manny pad there. The footage is in one of my video parts.
I think cooler weather skating is always my favorite. Those seem to stick out to me. You skate to keep warm, nothing counterintuitive about it unlike summer skating where you're hot when you step out the front door.
We waxed an H an R Block ledge one time, my brothers and I. It was rad. There is a three stair shortly after wards and a bank next to the stair set which is part of the parking lot.
Bombing hills and searching out secret spots behind shopping centers was always the best.
Writing about these times is I think more universal than showing a video of them. I hope these memories will transcend time and space to where others can relate.
Memorial Drive and Duluth stick out to me the most of great skate adventures. Feel free to share your own. There are way too many for me to even remember. These were street skating days, we didn't dwell in the parks. Whatever happened? I think the drugs and laziness got to us. A life of convience overtook us maybe for the better, but I am going to try to live this lifestyle forever, but there is no telling what the future holds.
Goodbye memories, you will not be hearing from me again. Peace...
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