I was thinking the other day about the parallel lives of being a skateboarder from the 1980s to the present and being a computer nerd from the 1980s to the present.

Remember the world before the jocks and beautiful people took it over?

I do.

I remember skating when it was a good way to get your ass kicked. Now, there are influencers peddling performance plans to build core strength and monetize you “personal skate brand”.

I remember the early, freeform days of the internet people the “normals” were allowed in our sandbox. The days of z-modem, BBS software, and port conflicts.

We survived both takeovers. This baby blog here is a testament to the idea that we can be free of the corporate culture that threatens our shared history.

The idea of the freedoms of the past and how they relate to the constraints of the present will require more thought and I am sure it will become a theme. For now, I am just happy that I can write here and skate a curb. Simplicity over branding. That is our penicillin.