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If you'd had the misfortune of stumbling on this page, the God Knows Book and Skate Tour is a tour for the book God Knows What It's Like to be a Teenager.
"Schedule? What's a schedule?"
December 13th -- Mesa, Arizona: Berean Christian Store book signing 10am-1pm, 1721 S. Stapley Drive
December 14th -- Phoenix: Berean Christian Store book signing 2pm-4pm. 3434 W. Greenway
I also visited the Chandler, Pecos, Mesa, and Freestone skate parks.
December 16th -- Bakersfield, California: Berean Christian Store book signing 11:30am-1:30pm, 2140 Wilbe Road
Later, I checked out the Provident Skatepark in Visalia.
December 17th -- Fresno, California: Berean Christian Store book signing 11:30am-1:30pm, 7512 North Blackstone Ave.
Then I skated the Vans Skatepark in Milpitas -- twice.
December 20th -- San Jose, Cali: Berean Christian Store book signing 10am-1pm, 2841 Meridian Ave.
December 21th -- Visited a friend in Redding, NorCal.
December 22rd -- 30st: Christmas with family in Richland and Seattle, Washington.
December 31st: Nothing in concrete yet. But it looks like I'll be at a multi-church New Years Eve meeting in Redding where Chris Cretcher will be among those playing. (I couldn't make it due to weather.)
January 2nd: Skated Freestone and Pecos Skateparks in Phoenix again.
January 4th: Home
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TOUR JOURNAL
November 21st, Denton, Texas -- No the tour hasn't started yet. But I've been busy getting ready. For one thing, I've got stickers in. I'm going to hand them out to skaters and other cool people . . . like this guy:
You can see he's quite excited about the tour.
By the way, my stickers were designed in about two minutes by one Daniel T. Hall. He's great at graphic arts and almost anything creative.
I was interviewed live for about a half hour on radio station KERI in Bakersfield, Cali yesterday. No, I wasn't there. It was by phone. It went o.k.
November 25th, Corpus Christi, Texas -- Interesting day here in Corpus. I was pulling out in my truck to go skating when it felt really strange. I got outside, and I had a tire as flat as a pancake. I noticed a stick stuck in the side of it. That's right: a stick. That must have happened at my place yesterday when I was driving around on brushy ground. There was quite a gash in the tire. It's amazing it didn't blow out or something yesterday.
Anyways, I got the tire replaced and finally went over to Portland across the bay to skate. Good times. The skaters there are cool and mellow. And some of them are really good, too. (Hey guys.)
This was my first time at an all concrete skate park. I figured I needed to go to one before I hit the concrete parks on my tour. I'm glad I went, because it did take some getting used to. The first thing I did was fall right on my rear. But after a bit, it was fun. Better fall and look silly now than on my tour. Maybe on the tour, I'll just look silly.
November 29th, Denton, Texas -- Just to let you all know, I am a fearless skater.
Speaking of fear, I had an interesting experience on the way to skate at Suburbia yesterday. I floored my truck to get around some people going 15 MPH under the speed limit. The problem was it stayed floored, even after I tapped the gas pedal a couple times. My engine was roaring. I was afraid it was going to blow out. So I had to reach down with my hand and pull the gas pedal up . . . on I-35.
Somehow the truck and I survived unharmed. But I think just maybe I should have that fixed before the tour. You think?
December 2nd, Denton, Texas -- Less than 10 days, and I hit the road. So I was busy today getting some stuff done before the day gets closer. Nothing real exciting.
But remember when my gas pedal got stuck on I-35 and caused laughs and near death for the whole family? I took my truck in for a check-up today. And it turns out the pedal just got stuck in a little niche of my floor mat. Something that dangerous caused by something so trivial. Crazy.
December 7th, Denton, Texas -- I'm getting some more stuff done that I need to do before I leave Thursday (Yes, soon!). But I'm also chilling a bit, too. I'm not sick, but I don't feel 100% either. So I figure a lazy Sunday is good.
This may bore most of you, but I'm really impressed with how Berean Christian Stores supports authors, including small ones like me. For instance, they have the first signing of my tour mentioned on the front page of their web site. I've done a lot of book signings, and I can say there's some other chains (which will remain nameless, heh) that have a lot to learn from Berean.
I'm both a little nervous and excited about this tour. I would appreciate your prayers, including for my health. I've gotten sick on these big road trips before. You add my skating into the mix . . . like I said, pray!
December 10th, Denton, Texas -- In less than 24 hours, I hit the road. I'm over the nervousness. Now I'm just excited. If you see this on the road in West Texas or New Mexico tomorrow . . .
then it's probably me.
December 11th, Lordsburg, New Mexico -- Hit the road at 4:20am (My body clock always gets me up early for road trips.) and had a nice drive. Whether Lordsburg is a nice destination... It was either stop in Las Cruces (not enough driving) or Tucson (too much driving). So here I am with no internet (So this is posted a day late.) and no cell phone. I'm feeling kinda isolated, but that's o. k.
Ever notice how the desert makes good music better?
Long drives through beautiful country really help me pray. Today, especially a lingering desert sunset over distant mountains, was one of those drives.
December 12th, Phoenix, Arizona -- When I loaded up the truck, it was drizzling in the desert. I thought, "Hmm, that's different." When it was raining for a long time as I drove in the desert, I thought, "Hmm, that's different." When I saw snow on hills just above me, I thought, "Hmm, interesting." When it started snowing on me, I thought, "What?!" Remember, we're talking South Arizona/New Mexico. But there was no ice on the roads, and it made for a pretty drive.
I got here in Phoenix before noon and went to skate Chandler almost immediately. To my surprise, there were very few people there. Chandler is impressive indeed, especially if you like big bowls.
I skated for three hours almost non-stop there, then decided to check out the new Pecos skatepark. I've never heard of it. A couple Chandler skaters told me about it. I wasn't expecting to skate when I got there. But it looked so fun, I had to try it out. And man, it skates even better than it looks. It just flows. I can do stuff and have fun on it with almost no effort. (At Chandler earlier, I had to pump and pump to do much of anything.) For me, Pecos is the best place I've ever skated.
And it's just a few blocks from my hotel. Guess where I'm gonna skate a lot.
December 13th, Phoenix, Arizona -- I was thinking this morning: the tour so far has been a blast. But this morning got off to a bit of a rocky start. When I arrived at the book signing in Mesa, I found out that the books had not arrived. I called around and found out the other stores haven't gotten them either.
You know, I didn't plan this tour yesterday. You think the book distribution people would have gotten things taken care of. But apparently not. Anyway, the store manager was cool and let me use my books. And don't worry, folks in future cities. The rest of the book signings are on and you will be taken care of. I've made some calls to make sure of that.
Anyway, after the signing I visited the nearby Mesa skatepark. Sorry I forgot to take any pictures, but to be honest, you're not missing much. It's a big skatepark, but not well laid out at all. It didn't look like much fun to me, so I went over to Freestone.
I had fun there. See the bowl in the far upper right corner? I carved that until my legs were dead. There's a good vibe there, too, both friendly and freaky. There was this one guy who liked to show off. He wanted me to take this picture of him doing a backflip from one bowl to the main bowl:
No, he's not wearing a helmet. No, he didn't land on his head. Yes, he actually made it. No, I don't know how. By the way, none of the public parks around here require helmets. Most kids don't wear them, making me feel like a freak for wearing mine.
Something else crazy: I met this kid that used to live in Denton. It turns out he went to the church skate park that I now help run! He and I had fun carving up that bowl.
Oh, after Freestone, I went to an In and Out Burger. Yummmmmmmmm! Hey, who cares if the books got messed up. I'm still having a blast.
December 14th, Phoenix, Arizona -- Proverbs 15:15, which I read the other day, says "All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast." And I see that with my days. Up to today, I've been having a great time, first of all because God is good, but also because I've had a positive attitude.
Today, on the other hand, it was struggle to keep a positive attitude. The day started great with the news of Hussein being captured. But it kinda went downhill from there. And it was mostly because my attitude just wasn't that good. Yeah, my book signing didn't go very well. But it didn't go very well yesterday either, and I had a blast yesterday.
By the way, yesterday a skater at Freestone asked what a book signing was. I basically told him it's when an author has an appearance at a book store and signs his book when people buy it. He had a quizzical look on his face. So I added, "Yes, they are boring." And he laughed.
And yeah, book signings can be boring and frustrating, too, when they don't go well. After this tour, I don't know how many more of them I'm going to do. Yeah, I know. My attitude is "afflicted." Pray for me.
December 15th, Phoenix, Arizona -- On to Bakersfield today. I'm looking forward to the drive (once I get out of Phoenix traffic). But it's probably not going to be as interesting to you as awesome skateparks or bad attitudes. So this might be all I post today. Tomorrow, I plan to check out the Visalia skatepark. I'll post when that or something else happens. Later.
Later on the 15th, Bakersfield, Cali -- Wow. I'm tired from the drive here. But that won't stop me from giving you...
MARK'S HELPFUL TIPS
1. Don't buy tacos from a taco stand run by white people.
I stopped to get gas before the California border, and I saw this taco stand. I thought, yum! But when I went over there, I saw it was run by white people. I thought that strange, but tried a taco anyway >>> mistake. I mean it was o.k., but just o.k. So I learned my lesson: buy tacos from taco stands run by genuine Mexicans, not by Gringos.
2. Communist states shouldn't be allowed to set their own speed limits.
California has reasonable speed limits for cars for the most part. But the speed limit for trucks is only 55. So trucks are often a problem on the highways as I experienced today.
3. Driving on U.S. 395 has its ups and downs.
U. S. 395 north of I-15 is a pain for quite a few miles. You see, the cities there are allowing development before the highway gets widened to handle it. Hmm, that sounds like . . . Denton, Texas?
BUT if you survive the aggravation, you get to see some interesting desert, including lots of Joshua trees.
That's enough. I'm tired.
December 16th, Fresno, Cali -- Somebody must have prayed. The book signing in Bakersfield went great. Met a lot of really cool people there, too, including a young aspiring writer.
On the way here to Fresno, I took a side trip to the Visalia Skatepark. It was different than what I expected. It was a rough looking crowd. And there was some nasty graffitti. It looked like skating in the hood. It made me a little nervous, to be honest. But the skaters were cool to me. And I decided to try the place out. I was about to put on my helmet when I realized NOBODY in the park was wearing a helmet. So to keep from being laughed out of the park, I left the helmet in the truck. It was probably the first time I skated without a helmet.
I had fun carving the two half-bowls at the top of the pic and the snake run they lead into. You can get really creative here. But something else I didn't expect: no lights. So with my bad night vision, I couldn't skate for long. I'll probably go back tomorrow afternoon though.
December 17th, Fresno, Cali -- Wow, another excellent signing today. Then I went and skated at Visalia again. The BMXers were really doing their thing (and very well, too) so it was a bit hard to do my thing much. But that's o.k. There was this one little kid who was jumping his bike all over the place. Awesome stuff. Oh, and remember that nasty graffitti I mentioned last night? Someone used one of my stickers to, uh, strategically cover it up a bit. I guess that's good.
After yet another In and Out burger (Yummmmm!), I tried to find the Fresno Skatepark someone told me about at the signing. But I wasn't having any luck finding it so I came back to the hotel early. I'm a bit tired anyway.
Something interesting a manager told me at Berean (where I had my signing): Jerry Jenkins, who co-wrote Left Behind, had a book signing there -- and sold only three books! Man, I'm going to remember that next time I have a poor signing. It sure makes me feel better about the two poor signings in Phoenix.
Tomorrow I actually get to stay with friends, and then keep staying with friends and family pretty much into the New Year. That will be nice. I'm getting a little lonely on the road here.
December 18th, Newark, Cali -- Today I did what I've been wanting to do for years.
I drove over the hills to Lawson's here. Then we went to the Vans Skatepark in Milpitas. It was even better than I expected. Half the big room is ramps and boxes, which I love. But the part I probably had the most fun on was the double bowl. Here's my mad style in it.
Both of us got really tired. But we pushed it to get the most of the two hour session. There were very few skaters there 'cause we went to an early session. But this one skater was really good and fun to watch. And it was fun getting to skate with a friend for a change. So it was close to perfect.
Oh, I've known Lawson since he was in 3rd grade. And I was kinda a big brother to him when he was 12 and 13. Those were good times. Then he moved out here to California. He's 18 now and the bassist for Printed Blanks. We went over the drummer Josh's house tonight for a bit. He's cool and has a cool room, too.
Tomorrow, I'll probably skate Milpitas again. Then Lawson and I will hang out and do something. Saturday is the last book signing at the San Jose Berean. I'll drive straight from there to more friends in Redding. If something else interesting happens, I'll post it.
December 20th, Newark, Cali -- I had fun skating Vans again yesterday. But right at the beginning of my session, I took a hard fall on the back of my right hip. That did not feeI good. I skated fine the rest of the time though I fell on that spot again. (Ouch!) Sitting afterwards was another matter. I ended up getting a swollen ugly bruise back there the size of my palm. Skater Jake back in Denton is so proud of me now.
Well, I got the last big book signing down in San Jose today. So I better jet.
December 21st, Springfield, Oregon -- I'm beat. So I'm might add details and pics later. Anyway, the last book signing in San Jose went well, including meeting the "Duchess," who took this pic of me.
I then drove to Redding. At my hotel, I got an ugly surprise. My bruise had at least doubled in size. It was (and is) huge. I was concerned. But I wasn't in pain and feeling any numbness, so I figured it was o.k. but still...
This morning, I went to church and lunch with Chris C. His place outside of Redding is really nice. And with a rain overnight and morning sun, everything was green and flowing with water, really beautiful. And Chris has not one, but two creeks in back of his house. As we talked, we agreed the move from Krum was really good for him.
Then I drove here, stopping to gawk at a spectacular Mt. Shasta and to check out the Medford Skatepark. No, with my scary hip bruise, I decided against skating. But the place is cool. I might come back and skate someday.
Like I said, I'm beat. I'll add stuff later. Also, I'll probably create a page 2 to make it a little easier for you unfortunate dail-up users.
Oh yeah, tomorrow I drive to my Christmas destination -- Dad and Lia's. After all this driving, it will be nice to chill with them for a few days. Oh and do they know how to cook.... Christmas is going to be nice.
December 22nd, Springfield, Oregon -- After a good night's sleep, I add a couple pics to the above entry before I hit the road. I forgot to mention the Medford skatepark has a skateboard tree. Skaters throw their broken boards up there. You can barely see it in the far upper left corner of the snake run pic.
The adventure continues on page 2.