Brighter Days, Where have they gone?

This was the Hell Car. It belonged to Jeff Cope. I have known Jeff over 20 years. We don't see each other much these days. But he is just a phone call and a few miles away.
Thats me in this photo with the Hell Car. Location = Mint St. and Carson Ave. Circa 1988

I was maybe 13 here ^

Clubing days. Early 90's
L-R or should i say Tallest to shortest. Rob Wiles, Jeff Cope, Justin Deathridge and me.

L-R Steve, Justin,Greg,Jeff and me

Top L-R Jeff, Hank and Steve

Bottom L-R Justin, Me and Greg

Brighter Days, Where have they gone?

life as an adult is tough these days. so much to do so little time to do it.
i was never the kid who wanted to grow up. most of the kids around were in such a rush to become "older" and for many reason. some wanted to work. others wanted to drive cars. many wanted to be old enough to drink or smoke. All of this rushing around.......
As for me, well i seemed to pass the time doing just what i wanted to do. Playing outside. Be it on a skateboard or a bicycle. Sure we had video games around back then too, but it was never enough to keep me inside. The only reasons i can remember comming inside were because.
1. It was raining and you can't skateboard when its wet. It's bad for the board, the grip tape, and the wheel berrings. As a kid we didn't have alot of money to replace these things. We did have a back up plan for rainy days. We would wait till the older kids picked us up in their cars to take us in to down town charlotte so we could sk8 in the underground parking decks. (NOT always a reliable resource)
2. Lunch. For the most part we would stop to eat when it was too hot outside and we need a break. Mom always kept the shelves stocked with raman noodles, frozen pizzas, chips and home made cookies. On these lunch breaks my friends and I would eat everything in site. Then as the food coma set in we would watch videos. Studying every move. The board and how it was shaped for different kinds of tricks. The body mechanics of the skater. The twisting of their waist (360s) or the dorsi-flexing of their foot durring a kick flip. We would (MOCK SK8) these moves in front of the TV. After watching the videos for a few hours, some times less if it was a good video we would head back out to our concrete jungle and finnish up whats left of the sunlight.
3. Injurys. This is never a good thing. Mostly tweeked ankles. and on some days, (Clay Bayne) a broken arm...... Nothing else mattered. Dings to the shins, busted knees and elbows. The saying back then was "If we could walk, then we could skate"

OK, Time to get on my soapbox.
I remember Charlotte back in the 70's. My Granny would take me down town to do her shopping. Who knew that a little less than 10 years later i would skate board in those same dirty streets for fun? Whats more, Who knew that i'd ride my bike for a living on those streets for a little over 10 years. Yeah, i've seen my city grow up. I'm not really sure it was for the better. In fact, I want my old Charlotte back. Kick out all of these ass holes from NJ and NYC. All i ever hear them bitch about is about how bad Charlotte sucks for them. Here is a Q: for all of you yankee fucks. If your citys are so fucking superior to Charlotte, Then why are you still here? Go Back! Go back to your shitty citys and live right on top of your neighbors. Have fun with your 3 season years. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. I've lived up north. It sucks! I'm tired of you yankee fucks messing up my city, trying to make it like your great city. Tearing down my city's history so you can build another starbucks. Like my city needs another shitty coffee shoppe. I'll have the mom and pop's coffee shoppe coffee thank you very much! "Finger"