We could blame ourselves for all the ridiculous things we've done, but skateboarding makes for a much better scapegoat. 

Here's a very small fraction of the millions of things; some good, some bad. 

In no particular order or rationale. 

Skateboarding made me…

• Wear overly baggy pants, overly tight pants, overly cuffed pants, and pants with hammer loops despite having no intention of swinging or carrying a hammer. 

• Use the words rad, sick, and stoked un-ironically at the age of 36 in professional emails on a daily basis. 

• Wear Fedoras. Seriously, skateboarding, fuck you for that one. 

• Dedicate my life to a toy contraption that's length and width are measured in inches, its wheels in millimeters, axles in a variety of made-up numbers that vary brand to brand and aren't tied to any real unit of measure, and bearings rated by something that may or may not relate to skateboarding at all. Don't get me started on wheelbase and mold stack positioning. Nerds. 

• Feel deeply connected to the lives and deaths of people I've never met.

• Start Drinking. Stop Drinking. 

• Pretend to have listened to more Wu-Tang and punk rock than I ever actually did.

• Develop the unhealthy habit of looking at strangers' shoes for evidence of skating.

• Pretend to know stuff about art.

• Believe in the importance of brick and mortar retail.

• Become so emotionally connected to a skate brand in my teenage years that a piece of their apparel became part of my identity. Yes, it was ZERO. No, please don't tell my employer.

• Idolize vagabonds.

• Ride on the highest of horses because my friends and I can "see the world differently" or some shit like that. I.e., that crack that no one else sees or cares about will cause me to lose sleep and some Bondo at the auto-parts store.

• Keep a box of used wheels, single bearings, and old trucks that I will never use, but hold onto for the apocalypse. 

• Face life-threatening injuries and do absolutely nothing to avoid potential future ones. 

• Write listicles. 

• Become comfortable screaming obscenities and being overly emotional in public spaces. 

• Want to Travel.

• Form friendships with people 10-15 years older and younger than myself.

• Make significant life decisions based on how good cities are for skating. 

• Believe that I'll never die and never grow old. Might have been Modest Mouse. But skating led to Modest Mouse, so more of a chicken or egg situation.

• Overthink a lot of things that matter very little in the grand scheme of life, but everything to me.