La Jolla Skatepark

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

In the new issue of The La Jolla Light was an article highlighting a recent proposition made both at the La Jolla Town Council’s Park and Beaches Committee and La Jolla Parks & Recreation Inc. meetings for a skate park in La Jolla. My roommates and I were very excited, as we have been talking of constructing a half pipe in our yard for over a year. Everyone kept yelling, “Did you hear!? They might build a skate park in La Jolla!”

The article pointed to the lack of space for local tweens and teens to skateboard and hopefully provide them a place to skate instead of in front of businesses. For the nation’s most expensive housing market a few skateboarders is a huge concern. I can’t say I’ve had much trouble with La Jolla skateboarders. A few months ago there were some kids skateboarding on our trashcan – we weren’t too concerned – it wasn’t long ago that we were doing the same thing.

The big thing that this community doesn’t realize is that it isn’t the local teens that will be using this skate park, its all the kids at UC San Diego! I graduated from there and let me tell you, there are students skateboarding all over the place. Pretty soon all those kids will be over running the La Jolla Recreation Center Skate Park. I think the smart thing to do would be to build the park closer to the university, maybe somewhere near La Jolla Shores? or closer to UCSD?

All I know is that It makes me excited to know we may have a skate park in La Jolla soon! I’m not too sure if it will eventually happen or not, but if it does I foresee a lot of broken bones…

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The Urge to Create

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

I read a really interesting article in the latest Wired magazine today about the availability of high-end manufacturing solutions and how the are fostering innovation and rapid development with small startups. from things like Chinese factories accepting smaller custom quantities to increase margins, affordable 3D printers and co-op equipment workshops, It really got me excited. But I wasn’t sure what I was so excited about, I wanted to create, I had to build something, I needed to feel productive. I instantly rushed to the workbench and starting putting together an small outgoing mailbox for our front door (we still have our mail delivered through a slot, how cool is that?) As nice as it was to work with my hands, I’m not sure that I really quenched the thirst I had.

Before I read this article I sat at my computer for eight hours staring at photoshop creating web design mocks. It was a productive day, but at the end of it I still felt I hadn’t really created anything. Maybe I’m beginning to feel that web design has lost its charm and that lately all I’ve been doing is creating the same sites with just a slight tweak to the 960.gs, I’m not sure. But, when my day is over I don’t have anything to hold in my hand, and I’m starting to feel that void. Maybe I need an IPad. There is definitely something special about a physical item. holding it in your hand and feeling the texture, it’s a satisfying feeling to say I created this. So is this urge to create just simply that I want to build items and put my inner (although not very skilled) craftsman to work? I think it has more to do with simply creating, I think there is a certain amount of innovating that I’m also lacking.

I do a fair amount of talking with some of my friends about new business ideas and possible websites. It seems like everyone I know is actively trying to start something new. It would appear that being able to say “that was my idea,” or “I started that,” holds just as much awe as being the craftsmen. So I’m starting to wander down all these seemingly divergent thoughts and I’m trying to make sense of it all and really understand what it is I feel lacking. What I have reasoned is that I want to be involved. Yeah I’m on Twitter and Facebook, but the involvement I’m talking about is at a more fundemental level than using the products, I want to be involved with the creation, innovation of the tools of society.

Ok, so I design websites and people use these websites as “tools” to accomplish goals, so why am I not satisfied. I think deep down its that I want to create something that insights real change beyond the task at hand. I aspire to change the way we will approach some aspect of our lives, at least until someone discovers a better way to do it.

In the end I’ve said a lot, but not that much. I know I have the urge to create, but how I will satisfy it, well if I knew that I wouldn’t have written this.

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