Douva

Apparently Vader isn't familiar with skysurfing boards, but question #20 was "Is it a surfboard?" He then went on to guess wakeboard and snowboard, so I guess he was close. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I really like it. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I've been informed that I look twelve-years-old without facial hair. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I bought a Pat Benatar CD a couple of weeks ago. Good stuff. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

http://www.dropzone.com/chat I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I've got a lot of great childhood memories. I'm not sure I could ever nail down an absolute favorite, but it would almost certainly be a memory of my dad and me doing something together. Off the top of my head, having water gun fights with my dad at the lake is a pretty sweet memory. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Nah, there aren't really many skydivers in Southern California. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

clicky I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

http://www.dropzone.com/chat I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

House of the Dead If you rent it, you MUST watch the director's commentary. These quotes probably aren't exact, but they're pretty damned close: "We were going to put a lot of character development here, but we just ran out of money, so we went with the voice over instead." "We were behind schedule, so we devised this scene where she finds this book that explains the entire plot." I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

On a side note, don´t end sentences with prepositions. "Is" is not a preposition; it's a helping verb. And there's actually no rule in the English language about not ending sentences with prepositions, just like there's no rule about not splitting infinitives. These are often thought of as rules because they do exist as rules in Latin, but in English they're guidelines at best. Consider how much clearer it is to say "Where are you from?" than "From where are you?" or "You are from where?" I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

CLICK HERE I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

After all my anal retentiveness about grammar and spelling (both of which I suck at), I actually used "accept" instead of "except." I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

When I’d been jumping for just a few months, my first DZO said something to me that has, over the years, taken on a lot of personal significance. He was talking about his twenty-some-odd years in the sport, and I was talking about what a big part of my life skydiving had become. He told me that anyone who stays in the sport long enough goes through cycles--There are times when jumping is the focal point of your life, and there are times when jumping takes a backseat to other things. That has definitely proven to be the case in my life. For my first two years in the sport, my home drop zone was Westex Skysports, near Midland, TX. It’s just a tiny, one Cessna drop zone, but I bought a small travel trailer, set it out behind the hangar, and spent every weekend making as many jumps as I could and making as many friends as I could. But after two years, my situation changed, and I moved to Austin for work. Suddenly jumping took a back seat to things like not starving. For the next three years, I only made about twenty-five jumps a year. I struggled with work and life and kept skydiving in the back of my mind. After three years in Austin, my life and finances became a little more stable, and I was able to start jumping regularly again. For the last two years, I’ve spent nearly every Friday through Sunday at Skydive San Marcos, just south of Austin. It has become my second home and the people my second family. For two years, I’ve felt like I had everything I could ever ask out of life. And now, sadly, it is once again time to move on. In the last two years, I made about six hundred jumps, earned my AFF Instructor rating, went from having about nine jumps on a beginner skysurfing board to competing at the national skysurfing championship, and developed a core group of friends like I’d never had before. As I prepare for the next stage of my life, I want to stop and reflect on a few of the things I’ll miss the most about Skydive San Marcos and a few of the things I’ll never forget. I’ll never forget that first weekend after coming back to the sport when I had my SCR ceremony, got drunk, and bought a skysurfing board. I’ll miss that first half-hour or so at the drop zone every Friday where all my cares are hidden behind a cloud of euphoria at being back where I belong. I’ll miss the way everybody shouts my name, like Norm walking into Cheers, the moment I walk on the drop zone. I’ll never forget the two weeks I spent living at the drop zone during the AFF instructor certification course. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a more stressful, miserable, and ultimately rewarding experience in my life. I doubt I’ll ever see another group of virtual strangers bond together and support each other the way we all did. I’ll miss those Saturday and Sunday mornings when it’s clearly going to be a nice day, and the sun is peaking over the horizon, and the morning dew is still on the grass, and nobody is at the drop zone yet except the staff and the diehards who slept in the bunkroom, and we all just sit in the breezeway drinking coffee and preparing for the day ahead. I’ll never forget the camaraderie that Jeff and I shared in training toward a common goal, and I’ll never forget the support our drop zone showed us in helping us get to Nationals. I doubt anyone will ever understand how much it meant to me to be able to walk onto the drop zone on any given weekend and see half a dozen people wearing L.A.S.T. shirts. I’ll miss that dirty old couch in the back hallway that Kevlar jokingly dubbed the “Skysurfer’s Lounge.” I’ll never forget those bad weather streaks when we mastered every board game and card game in Central Texas. I’ll miss those sunset loads when all the day’s work is done, and we get to leave the tandem rigs and camera helmets and AFF students behind and fill an entire load with staff and diehards for a tracking dive. I’ll miss those old, creaky peer and beam buildings that now feel more like home than my apartment. I’ll never forget the birthday party Kim threw for Jeff and me. And thanks to the footage of me pole dancing that’s still floating around somewhere, neither will anybody else. I’ll miss the way everybody knows each other so well that we can talk almost entirely in inside jokes (Wilson is right--Wasps would be better than monkeys). I’ll miss the constant ribbing over the skysurfing tights I stopped wearing a year ago. I’ll miss the many friends I made, the students I mentored, and the people who mentored me. Most of all, I’ll miss my family--Those people who became much, much more than friends. We stood by each other through disaster, through injury, through love and loss, and through a whole lot of drop zone drama. We got to know each other so well that sometimes we probably knew each other too well. We spent holidays and vacations together. At times, we pretty much lived together. We weren’t perfect--Like all families, sometimes we fought. But we were always there when one of us needed a hand or a sympathetic ear. There aren’t many venues as adults where we can build those kinds of relationships, and I hope those of you in my skydiving family appreciated our time together as much as I did. I have no idea what lies in my skydiving future. I know all of these things exist at other drop zones, but this was my chance to reminisce about MY drop zone. Blue skies, Skydive San Marcos. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

It's working for me. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[voice of creepy twin girls from The Shining] Come play with us.... [/voice of creepy twin girls from The Shining] I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I think I just got a little wood. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Thanks, man. I'm going to miss you, too. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Attention All SoCal Peeps, It looks like I'll be moving to L.A. in about a month. I'm not sure yet where I'll start jumping (probably Perris, since I know some people there), but if you see a lonely Texas expatriate walking around your drop zone carrying a five foot carbon fiber board, please come say "Hi." And if you live near The Valley and think you might want to grab a beer sometime, drop me a PM. Blue skies, Douva I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

Congrats, Dave. You've nearly lapped me. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I know everybody will miss the "gay pride" parachute, but the complete pink and black ensemble is VERY HOT. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I came here to skysurf and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum! I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[inappropriatemoviequote] "You know what I like about high school girls? I keep getting older, and they just stay the same age." [/inappropriatemoviequote] I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I have a clean shaven face for the first time in nearly eight years, and I'm still a little unsure about it. I'd like some opinions on whether I should keep the new look or go back to Douva Classic. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

I'm currently dealing with it by not skydiving. There's no animosity or bad blood between us; I just miss her too much to be around her right now. Also, an AFF instructor definitely needs to have his head in the game, and I figured out when I tried to jump yesterday that I definitely don't. So, I'm going to take off another week or two to recover. This definitely isn't something that's going to make me quit jump or leave all my great friends to start jumping somewhere else. Heck, I just signed a one year lease on a house twelve minutes from the drop zone, so I'm not going anywhere for a while. I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.