Weekly Roundup: Maybe There Really Was A Reason Why I Used To Keep My Hair Short Edition

The last time I was riding skateparks with any frequency was in 2003. My hair was quarter-inch buzz-cut. After being repeatedly and unexpectedly blinded at "Skate Naked" on Friday night, I'm thinking that perhaps there was some logic to that choice.

Friday night was a big night for "progression" around our house. On his third trip to a park ever, John managed to "drop in" to the small bowl. He got within two feet or so of the coping on the middlin' half-pipe you see above. And he did his first "roll-in" down a steep ramp to a pyramid box. As for Dad? Well, I wasn't exactly pulling Matt-Hoffman-style air but I also didn't injure myself. At 45, that's success, right?

Click the jump for this week's contributions and a statement on a recent controversy.

As some of you know, earlier in the week my brother announced his departure from TTAC. The cause of that departure was as follows: TTAC's Managing Editor, Mark Stevenson, chose to retract and delete an article of Bark's that he had approved and published earlier in the day. In the discussions that ensued, Bark quit the site.

Speaking personally, I am hopeful that this problem can be resolved and that Bark can return to TTAC. I do know that he's been contacted by a couple higher-profile media outlets in the past few days, so it's entirely possible that he'll take one of those opportunities instead. It's up to him.

After Bark's announcement, Mr. Stevenson and I had a discussion where I reinforced my commitment to TTAC and my intent to continue contributing to the site. I know that there are a lot of hard feelings all around regarding various issues of politics and censorship on the site, but I remain optimistic about TTAC's future. I'm also --- let's be honest here --- terribly sentimental about the place. With the exception of Sajeev Mehta, I'm the longest-serving TTAC contributor on record, and despite the fact that I was published in three major print outlets last year I continue to think of myself as a member of The Resistance, whatever it might be. We'll see how it all shakes out.

So. This week, Bark had... nothing that survived.

For R&T, I talked about how to find traction on a wet road or track, and I considered the long-term investment potential of gas-powered investment vehicles.

At TTAC, I considered the merits of truly fair trade and brought Rodney back for another tale of forbidden love that managed to trigger the site's resident comic-book-guy-pretending-to-be-a-waifu commenter. Finally, I did a QOTD on trucks.

More than ever in this tumultuous age of timid feelings and turgid egos, it's critical for you to keep checking back here at Riverside Green as often as possible! This remains an advertising-free environment where everyone is welcome, and it will stay that way until one of my hair-blinded landings requires another serious dip into the old medical-emergency fund. Enjoy the weekend, everybody!