Well, this is quite the reunion. How’s it going folks? It’s been a few years, but, I’m back here at Transworld. Thanks to my man Jaime for having me come back through. A lot has changed since a lot of you saw me sleeping under that ramp at Tampa Pro. Yeah, that was me, everyone was huddling around like they were on a safari and saw a dead animal just mere feet away. Good times, friends. Anyways, since that near death “vacation,” I’ve put the bottle down and chosen the sober life. And, no I’m not here to preach, but what I can say is my newfound sober life has been pretty damn incredible. Let me guide you through my first few weeks, and some things that helped me put down the bottle for good.
Being Broke
I ain’t gonna sit here and lie to y’all. If you think chefs make good money, you’re vastly mistaken. It’s actually just like skateboarding; majority have drinking and drug problems, get paid in cash and/or tax-free, and barely make it check-to-check. I’m sure Calvin at McDonalds was making more back then, than your average chef now. Moving forward, when the pandemic hit and no one was seeing unemployment or working, them pockets start hitting “E,” and when you don’t have the pleasure of sliding the bartender anything they want to eat for copious drinks, drinking might be an issue. Plus, I was always more of a social drinker, so like any good alcoholic, my at-home alcoholism only occurred between 3 a.m. and one hour before I had to be at work. And, on my way to work. Then, at work. You get the picture.
Finding New Hobbies
One day I was at Burger Supreme (plug!), looked over and saw the most beautiful Motobecane vintage street bike. I’d bought a ’79 Fuji Espree about a year ago, tire went flat and I had things to drink so the tire never got fixed. So, I see this Motobecane and it’s mine. Walk inside, ashy legs and all, “How much for the Motobecane outside?” Dude charged me $50, and I threw it in my friend Julie’s trunk before he could look up how much it was actually worth. After that, I was riding out pretty normally. Then one day, I was going for a ride and looked down in my yard. Which leads me into…
Gardening
Yo! Sober or not, this is a top five thing to do in life. There’s really no debating it. Skaters like things explained to them like skateboarders, so I’ll explain it like skateboarding: Planting a garden is like building your first ramp, box, railslide, etc. Once your plants start growing, it’s like when you slowly first started learning tricks. The comparison is eerie actually. Linking with gardeners, finding new nurseries, new plants and different kinds of seeds equals finding new skate homies, new skate spots, new skate shops and different stickers. Plus, it’s great for the mental aspect to just be outside. Just like skating. See how easy that is? In the end, you reap the benefits of your rewards with your own grown food. And speaking of food, I got a pop-up kitchen to get ready for, and a lot of other things going on I’ll get into next go around. In the meantime, here’s my quick Korean BBQ Marinade recipe for everyone.
Clyde’s Korean BBQ Marinade
1 cup brown sugar (or agave)
1 cup blueberries
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons ginger
4 teaspoons chili paste (if you can’t find Gochujang, Sambal is fine)
Food processor, BOOM… can be used as marinade, or sauce.
Alright, I gotta run. Y’all take it easy out there, and until next time. Peace.
Clyde gardening at home in North Carolina.
*Also check out Clyde’s classic Top 10 Worst Tricks in Skateboarding page below from a few years back.
Original Post from this site