Maui

Cleared some of the sludge in my head, soul and full being
just sittin in Maui listening to the wind and trees.
re-evaluating dreams, goals
simplify, simplify, simplify.

This photo is of Aspen and I.
It was his birthday party...
him and his sister Lily's.
there birthdays are a day apart.
There parents are Jodi and Caleb.
We stayed at their home in the most remote zone.
Dey got plenty Aloha.
Thank you.

Brotha Bob and I

Bob testin' the North Shore Waters

Philosophic Contemplation

Life is a balance of living your desires and being happy where you're at.
The fruitful moment is where past present and future become one.
Eric Lindveit is Mr. Miagi Teachah Animal Undah Covah Romantic .


I'm going to Maui for the weekend and it could be good to not touch a computer for a day or two... or three.
Wow. Let's see if I can do that.
Hmmm.... Can I do without the cell phone too?
Can I get closer to caveman style to gain better perspective on my current status.

We shall see.


Oh. Forgot to mention that I hooked up a new skate setup yesterday morning and rode it to work.
My new skateboard is a Magic Carpet that eats curbs.
Rides as if there is nothing beneath me. Just floats down the street in search of curbs.
Curb Cobbler.


Ok.
Til next time.
Signing off.
-Manny Modigliani Del Mar

My Secret

The secret I always have to remind myself:
Its hard to have hard times in Paradise Hawaii, but it happens.

When money is tight I think to myself well it's warm enough here, I don't need much clothes.
I can breathe. I got arms and legs. I've lived a great life so far.
Shit. I am so thankful for everything I've done so far and have been given. Even without accomplishing my next dream.
When you get bummed or stumped Manny,
Just remember to be thankful and that will set you off with plenty of energy.

Shaka.

Day in the life

Saturday morning go to meet a midwife.
and hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time.
Its fast and I'm stoked its on.
Then its all you can eat Japanese food with Marisa by Aloha Tower.
Marisa goes to work
I stop at the skate shop to pick up some grip tape.
Waves on the North Shore were messy Saturday
Rainy and small on the South.
I go home and start getting creative
then get invited to the neighbors for a dinner party.
One neighbor brings a bag full of volcano smoke if you know what I mean.
One little puff and I'm feelin' the need to stretch and run in the rain.

After a few nibbles of dinner and a beer and talking with some interesting people,
I go for a run in the pouring rain around a few blocks
Brilliant for my lungs.
I go to bed and wake anxious to surf.
My car is dead so I call a few friends to see if they want to surf, but no one picks up.
But my first priority is to ride my girlfriends bike with the basket and my backpack
to the grocery store for some eggs, fruit, some veggies, creamer and bread.
Its a sunny day.
I come home and Woman is happy.
I tell her I need to get into the ocean. I'm fragile and need to get grounded.
Ready to ride my bike solo to Diamond head, I get a phone call from another friend who
I forgot to call earlier, Kekoa.
He says he'll pick me up in thirty minutes.
Marisa quickly cooks up a couple of pancakes with stawberries and an egg and some coffee.
We end up surfing North shore with 3 other friends.
We catch some fun ones. I feel connected to my board and slide around releasing some aggression
We feel great then go for Mexican at Cholos Restaurant in Haleiwa
Food and a couple of beers and back to the town to the south side.
30 minute nap and a wake up call from a guy running an art show in a few days.
I e-mail a few samples of my work,
then a bike ride to Waikiki for a closing art show where wifey Marisa works.
Have some wine and a great talk with the artist and back home inspired to do my own thing.
Eat some ice cream and write in blog.
then bed
-Manny Skate da Surfa Artist

Essentials

Sketchbook drawing

I was looking through my back pocket sketchbook and was surprised by this drawing. I didn't remember drawing or writing it.
And to those of you who don't know, I got a baby on the way.

Letter to my brother Bob

Aye Brudduh,
Great to see you today too. I want to tell you about my day and then I'm gonna post it on my blog, because it was pretty surreal and made me so appreciative of how precious every minute of life is.

This morning I went to the bank to open up a savings account then road a few more blocks to the beach to swim in the ocean and lay around in the shade of a palm tree with Marisa. Then I find out my friend Kekoa wants to drive to the North Shore to surf. He agrees to pick me up in 30 minutes.

So we start riding home and as we are riding out of the beach park we see this man on a single monkey/pull up bar doing the gymnast maneuver when you flip around the the bar head over heals.

He does it once and I think to myself, "damn I can hardly do that trick. I almost always wipe out when I try that"
He does it again, and again fast, then we watch him gain momentum to do it again even faster. Then he slips and falls head first and ends up on his back.

At first I'm like "Holy shit, that was funny" This all happened in less than 15 seconds so far.
And now were about 25 ft away from him. I notice that the man is over 60 years old. Then a couple of people rush to him.

A closer look at his shaved head and I notice a 4 inch cut on the side of his head.
Blood starts pumping out at the pace of his heart beat. Marisa takes the towel from around my waste and gives it to the citizen overseeing him.
Maybe 1 minute an 20 seconds have passed. Maybe less.
The man doesn't talk for at least a minute. Marisa calls 911.
I'm feeling nauseous. I wait a few minutes and Marisa tells me to leave because Kekoa will be picking me up soon and I still have a 15 minute bike ride home.
I'm about to go surf and this man might die from one slip.

I ride home pretty scared thinking how my life can end if I run through another red light on my bike..
and how I can hurt a pedestrian if I ride carelessly. I was like I gotta call up Bob and tell him that I love him.

So I love you dude.

So I end up going to North Shore and surf the cloudy late afternoon at the same spot I paddled out with you and Marisa at Haleiwa... The only thing that was different is that it wasn't 1ft, but 6 to 8ft Hawaiian.
I swear, some of faces were over 20ft. I dropped in on some 15ft+ faces.
The other set waves breaking farther outside were almost scaring me, and the dudes dropping in were fully handling with style hitting the lip 15ft up and then getting in the tube.
It was sick. I was happy to get a few bigger than medium sized waves in the rain all the way in to shore.

Then I came home and cooked dinner for Marisa by 8:30pm.

That was my day.
I love you bro.
Lets stay in touch.
I had a great time with you and Gretchin and LIna.
I want to make it a regular thing that we visit each other often... at least a couple of times a year,
I'm gonna work hard to make it happen.
Maybe we meet at other destinations in the world.
Talk soon.
-Manny

Some Essentials

Communications Station

Mission

Some days I miiss a blog. And I get detached from the world. This blog thing is actually a good tool for being connected to a global communinty. Blogs raise collective consciousness around the world.
In the days I get lost in the grind and making other people happy I hang on to my dreams by a thread. "What the hell are my dreams I ask myself" This blog is my reminder" like a sketchbook but better, because I can house it in a virtual world. I don't have to worry about losing my book. Because this blog is stored very securely by some Super Tech Dudes.

Ok so my mission:
To pass on the tradition of being stoked on life even through rough times.
To be a vehicle for genius ghosts.
To be an ambassador of the moment by creating art that mirrors the moment.
To do my part in the global community of passionate people.
To carry on and develop what it means to be enlightened and balanced.

To live life to the fullest and record those moments so the next generation can realize that life is radical and amazing... and at best constant magic.
My mission is to continue to create so I don't lose site of the light
that fuels me and all my favorite people.

Thats it for now.
Aloha.
-Manny