Hi folks,

Know what "nonpareil" means?

I'm subscribed to the www.dictionary.com "Word of the Day" and that's today's word. Every day they send me a new word (it's in their email's subject box when I get up and fire up); if I don't know what the word means I open the email and find out.

If you're a reader, writer (can't be the latter without being the former) or just like starting off the day with new information (knowing things), subscribing to the www.dictionary.com Word of the Day is a no-brainer. 

I usually know the word so I just delete the daily email. If I don't know it, I open it, learn something, and get on with whatever I'm doing. (If I don't know it, after reading it I'll move it to my "Word of the Day" file so I can look at it again later, imprint it in my memory bank.)

Your subscribing to the Word of the Day and therefore learning stuff will improve your life, if just a tiny bit. So if nothing else, this current message will probably have been worth your time, no matter how scattered and lame the rest of it turns out.

Click here to find out what "nonpareil" means and to subscribe to "Word of the Day."

Last week I got a DVD in the mail. Surf filmmaker Arsen Brzostek sent me his newest "Going With The Flow" film, which brought back some memories, painful and otherwise. See, Arsen and his crew showed up at Pavones in July of 2005; they were surfing around Costa Rica with pro longboarders Kevin Connelly and Jesse Timm (above).

I ended up traveling up the coast with the guys, surfing and in general participating in the making of the film. For those of you who have read my new book, Can't You Get Along With Anyone?: I was a couple months from the events that would lead to my bolt from the home I built at Pavones. I'd just gone through my "collision" (at the El Presidente Hotel in San Jose) with my former girlfriend as described in Part Six, Chapter Thirteen.

I was sick with TB and Lyme disease and another malady (I can't pronounce) and fraught with my dark shit and terminal loneliness and you name it. But Christ, in the film I look old and bent and skinny and just an all around mess.

I remember how my Pavones bro Kim came up to my house and expounded to Arsen and co. on his new age/surfy philosophy. I was a couple months away from the revelations about what Kim was up to. More fond memories.

But on the up-side, I enjoyed my time with Arsen and Kevin and Jesse and Keith (Novosel, a talented photog); they helped take my mind off what I was going through. Good guys and holy shit Kevin and Jesse can ride their logs!

I may recommend the film in an upcoming DSP, provide you with a link to it. (It's not done-done yet; I got an advance copy). Unlike with Zen and Zero, because of my life circumstances at the time it's really hard for me to be objective about this one. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching extremely talented longboarders in action, you'd like the flick. (I'm talking about Jesse and Kevin; I wasn't surfing -- or thinking, or doing anything else – well at that time.)

Shit. This message is already getting long; I had a bunch of things to say. I can see I won't get to them.

Here's another Neal Miyake shot from the North Shore.

http://www.hisurfadvisory.com/photos/070113_rs07/070113_04.jpg

Quite a few of you have written asking about my old buddy, Captain Zero, a.k.a. Christopher, whose real name is Patrick.

He's hanging in there, still down at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. Here are a couple photos, one from circa 1982 when he was in Africa hanging out with George Adamson, of Born Free fame. As mentioned in Zero, this may be the last photo taken of Adamson, before he was murdered by poachers. (Patrick took the photo with a self-timer.)

The other one is from 1992, just after Patrick moved down south. That's the Hogfish Ranch in the background, plus his dogs Sweetpea and Jumbie and one of Sweetpea's pups.

 A last thing, and why I haven't put out a DSP for a while: I'm busy becoming a publisher. I'm now Bandito Books, Ltd. Wow. I just hope I don't become what I hate.

I'm getting the U.S. edition of CYGAWA in order, putting together press releases and so forth and so on (endless stuff). All goes well with my book, I'll be looking for other bad boy (and girl) authors to publish. (Don't send anything now! I'll let you know when I'm ready for that.)

I really want to do something worthwhile with this. Please wish me luck.

Click here for the "Note On This Edition" that will appear in the U.S. edition of CYGAWA. It'll tell you a bit more about Bandito Books.

One thing: I'm putting together some of your email responses to CYGAWA as part of my press kit. If you sent me a "review" and you DON'T want a review blurb and your name used in my press kit, please let me know.

Listen: A big reason I'm becoming a publisher is your response to the book. You gave me the confidence that the book is good enough to put everything I have into it. "Thank you" doesn't come close enough to saying how I feel about this, no matter how Bandito Books turns out.

You have no idea.

The other thing I'm doing is organizing these outgoing messages – the format and material – so there will be something for everyone. I'll also make it a formal once-every-two-weeks e-zine. I'm not quite a one man show, but close. So bear with me. (My site guru, John of iluminada.com, has been… well… a godsend… to say the least.)

So hang in; it's going to get better. And please continue to send me links to good web stuff, especially humor. I'm going to act as a sort of clearinghouse. For each e-zine edition I'll have a list of subject matter you can go to, from surfy to politics to humor to writing-about-writing to (your) art, and so on. There will be a Forum and a chat room and other stuff.

So no matter what you're interested in, you'll be taken care of.

I'll be in touch.

Allan

Afterthoughts:

As part of my e-zine, I'll be publishing stuff you send me. Here's one that's been on the site for a while. If you haven't already read "The Surf Guru" by Doug Dorst, give it a shot. Click here.

Here's a goofy one I wrote. Click here if you haven't read "The Final Voyage of Thor Heyerdahl."

I just got back from a couple weeks traveling in Mexico, looking for a new tropical paradise. I may have found it. More to come on that.