Well, isn’t that Ironic?

The last month has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. It started off in Southern California for the Forum and Special Blend catalog shoots and #FORUM movie premiere.It was great to see everybody, but it was weird at the same time because there was no Foursquare Outerwear shoot scheduled and Peter Line wasn’t there. I always enjoy getting to hang with Peter, he’s a fun dude. After that whirlwind ride, I was on a plane to Thailand with my wife for a very rare vacation. We’re just busy people and don’t make the time for vacations. Thailand is amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone, the food is great, the people are nice and it’s cheap once you get there. About halfway through the vacation, in Phuket Town, I checked Instagr.am and saw a post by Forum’s Art Director, John Alvino, saying things you only say when something is over. I got curious and started reading other posts and figured out that Forum was shut down…it was a tough realization being on vacation, looking at my sleeping wife and faced with the uncertainty of suddenly being unemployed. To be honest, it really had an effect on the rest of the trip and things certainly went downhill, I got sick and am only now getting better. To follow up bad news with terrible news, our little Norah Bug, a 5 year old cat and beloved family member passed away due to emergency surgery to remove an aggressive cancer. I can at least say that she never suffered a day in her whole life…she will be dearly missed.

I decided to begin the job hunt and went down to SoCal where many Snowboard companies reside and look at the options. I ran into Austen Sweetin and we had a great time hanging. I stopped by Burton to chat and also down to Transworld to see how things were. Afterwards, I met up with Austen and the Zeal Optics crew in Mammoth for opening weekend and had a great time. Zeal’s really got their shit together and the dudes were awesome to hang out with. A great many thanks for the extended hospitality from Mike Filander of Zeal, he rules! I’m back home now and the job search hasn’t improved, I’ve gotten many sorries, we’re all set for the season. The timing of this is pretty poor, most companies already have this coming winter’s season dialed. Trust me, I’m not looking for a pity party, I’m going to find something no matter what…I have to. Here’s the ironic part, since I’ve been home, I’ve somehow got the cover of the three major Snowboard Magazines in the United States…It’s the most unlikely scenario ever and I’m not even sure if it’s ever happened before. Truthfully, two are December and one is January but because of the way they distribute, they are all currently on the news stands at the same time. All of them are Forum Snowboard riders on the cover, Jake Welch is on the cover of Snowboarder Magazine, Austen Sweetin is on the cover of SNOWBOARD Mag and Cam Pierce is on the cover of Transworld Snowboarding Magazine…We’re all out of jobs, the brand is dead and there we are…and for those of you who think that this is out of kindness for the brands being shut down, the mags pick out these things far in advance, there’s cover committees to go through, proofing, etc…it’s not the way it went down. So here I am, at the top of the world, at the bottom of the world, it’s fucking crazy.