All right, ladies, we've heard your complaints, gripes, moans, and groans about the lack of females reppin' it in the skate world. So here you go-an assortment of letters from some skate lassies across the world. The words of wisdom we dug out of our mailbox this month are more than your average girl talk. Send us a love letter at twshasmail@yahoo.com. Or blow us a kiss at:
TransWorld SKATEboarding
Attn: We've Got Mail
353 Airport Road
Oceanside, CA 92054
This month, the best letter gets a board from Santa Cruz.
LETTER OF THE MONTH My boyfriend Travis Zemke died of cancer on October 12, 2005. I have been reading all of these letters in the February 2006 issue and they just make me think of him. The first one I read was the Letter Of The Month. I was at Travis' house with him when Hurricane Katrina was on the news. He just kept saying that he felt bad for all of the people down there. He also said to me that he couldn't hit up all of the skate spots down there that he scouted out last time he was there. See, skating meant the world to him. He couldn't go a day without skating because it would just bother him until he got on a skateboard. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be writing to you. I wouldn't be into skateboarding. If Travis wasn't my friend and my boyfriend, I would be sitting on my couch eating chips, drinking soda, and playing video games and getting fatter. All I wanted to say is how much it could influence other people to help them find skateboarding. Skateboarding kept him alive for as long as he lived.-Francis X. Moeller Jr., Wausau, Wisconsin
Though I'm sure your loss was a great one, it sounds like your man devoted every day to something he loved. Most people will live their entire life without knowing how that feels. Keep skating.
JOSIE GROSIE I've been skating for two years. Girls are always spoken of in completely gross terms. Guys will ask you out at the skatepark while you're skating. I've been asked out at the skatepark by four different guys. I say, "No. But hey, you want to see me land a switch kickflip noseslide?" Usually they just walk away. Girl skaters should get some respect. We like to look and smell good, but it doesn't mean we are always looking for a good lay. Some girls actually have morals. Some people attempt a Christian lifestyle. We don't want to see that kind of garbage.
TransWorld SKATEboarding is the only mag I read. I enjoy skating in every way. But I hate it when it gets corrupted. When I get a TransWorld, I go through it and rip out the trash that is not connected with skating-even when it's not girls. In your April issue there was a picture of Eminem in there. What is that all about? You should really consider getting some girl skaters in the magazine not just porn stars. I noticed in one of your recent issues you had Lyn-Z Adams in there. That's a start, keep going.-Angie Myers, via e-mail
Maybe you should try a skate date. Pretty yourself up and take that guy who's been eyeing you out to the skatepark. You can bust your kickflip noseslides, then make out in the bowl.
ROUGH TIMES IN RUSSIA First I want to thank all you guys for doing such a great job. You see, it's quite problematic to stay in the skateboard world when you live in Moscow. You've got misunderstanding from cops, parents, and boys (they are suckers-the fact that I'm a girl who loves skating makes them furious). We've got all that terrible non-skating weather and lots of different troubles. Nevertheless, my desire to ride is still great-yeah, desire but no opportunity. My mom actually destroyed my board because she thinks it takes up too much time. I know I have to enter a university soon and she really worries about my future-but why? I waste so little time on skating. That really sucks. I just don't know. You see, all she says is, "If you go on riding this piece of sh-t, you're not my daughter anymore." I love my mom very much, but I can't give up skating. Man, I don't know wh to do. I don't have any money to buy the board or a ticket to L.A., but I know I must live apart from my family-I can't stand it anymore. Please, if you answer my mail, could you be so kind as to send the answer to this e-mail. I'm not sure I'll be able to buy your mag anymore.-Alex, via e-mail
A skater hater for a mom can make life pretty rough. But once you're off at college, you're free to skate your little Moscow heart out without worrying about Mom focusing your board.
TO POSEUR OR NOT TO POSEUR The word "poseur" is so loosely used in everyday conversation. It's so loosely used, that even people who are actually poseurs call other people poseurs. What's up with that? Skateboarders nowadays get no credit or respect whatsoever because of people who are poseurs. People like Tony Alva, Stacy Peralta, and Jay Adams are no longer respected for the new millennium of skateboarding that they created because people who are poseurs have ruined the whole definition of the word "skateboarder." It's pathetic! I've been into skateboarding for a while now, and because I'm a girl, guys and other people automatically label me as a poseur. I just want some freakin' respect. I like skateboarding for what it is, not because I think that the style is cool or whatever-unlike the real poseurs. Well, now that you've heard me bitch and whine, I'd just like to say that I love TWS and don't ever change your skateboarding magazine style!-Schylar Fizzle, via e-mail
Holy poseur! What the poseur are you talking about? I was posing as a poseur just the other day and no one poseured me out as a poseur. Wait, does this mean I really am a poseur?
SKATE-UAL HARRASMENT At 22, I am the one and only die-hard girl skater in a small town in Michigan. Due to that fact, it's not a surprise that my first board was stolen years ago (I miss that wonderful Affiliate) and the inside of my last month's mag was shredded. Yesterday, someone smeared sh-t all over my new board.
I've been skating for years, and it seems the older I get, the more torment is dished out for my skating. The guys around here put me up to insane tricks, the girls look at my scars-which I'm proud of-in horror, and my coworkers encourage me to stop (they are mainly 30 or older). To me, skating is a way of life, so regardless of what harassment I receive, I won't stop. No matter if you're a guy or girl of whatever age, skating teaches you to understand what it is to be independent and having to take responsibility for standing alone.-Crystal Stone, Cedar Springs, Michigan
Try equipping yourself with a can of mace and a Taser gun. Anytime someone tries to dish out some torment on you, let them have it. Your magazines and boards will thank you.
NO TRICKS FOR CHICKS I'm really mad! You know what sucks? I'm a fifteen-year-old girl who loves to skate, and I have no skater friends because no one around here skates. And I look through every TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine I get, and I never see any girl skateboarders. When I grow up, I want to be a pro just like Bam Margera-he is my favorite skateboarder ever. Anyways, I live in Batesville, Arkansas and it sucks. I was born in California, but we had to move to Arkansas. I really hate it because the closest skatepark or halfpipe or anything is two hours from my house. So the only place I can skateboard is on my road. It is so rocky that it eats up my skateboard wheels. I've been skateboarding for about a year, but I'm still pretty good. I can ollie and stuff like that, but I have nowhere to practice. But I will never give up! I'm all alone 'cause girls are too afraid to skateboard. Well, I'm not! I just want people to understand what I'm saying.-Cara Brown, Batesville, Arkansas
If you want to see more girl skaters in the mag, then skate hard, hook up with the right photographers, and get some tricks. Like you said, other girls are afraid to skate, so it's up to you.
KNOBS IN 90210 I recently came upon something while I was doing my current events homework: a news article stating that at Beverly Hills High School they were going to new lengths to keep us skaters out. The article stated that every weekend, forty or so "gothic-looking skateboarders" were wrecking the school. Also, it says that Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is influencing many teens to skate there. Encouraging us to do things like "chip paint" or "scrape railings"-definitely a huge deal. Beverly is such a great spot, and seeing all the tricks that go down there is really inspirational. If they knob Beverly, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll put on some baggy pants and start listening to rap. I'm trying to start a petition to keep this from happening, but I need some serious support. Who plays video games anyway?-Carol Flanigan, via e-mail
I hate to be the bearer of even badder news, but it's too late, Carol-the rails have already been knobbed! We saw the same article (check out the Warm Up Spot Opener in June's issue). The only question left to ask is: Anyone got a hacksaw?
OLLIE, OLLIE ORPHANAGE I am writing to you from sunny Atlixco, Mexico, and as you may have noticed it is really hot over here. I am a Berlin City local from Germany who chose to work for four months in an orphanage in Mexico and of course I got my board with me. Not only that, I talked all my friends into doing a donation so I brought a bag of ten boards, shoes, and mags with me. The kids in my orphanage are all excited about skateboarding so now my question is pretty obvious: How can I get the newbies into jumping down shit and grinding 20-stair-rails so I can exploit their talent to my advantage? I already asked several local circuses, but none of them are willing to expose the kids, so could you please come up with a fresh idea?-Robin Hartmann
Well, for starters, that's a pretty dumb question. But if you must know, build a spot where the kids can skate every day and polish their skills. What's that? You don't know how? Well check out p.107 and p.110 and the all-knowing TransWorld will once again provide the answers.
I was doing my current events homework: a news article stating that at Beverly Hills High School they were going to new lengths to keep us skaters out. The article stated that every weekend, forty or so "gothic-looking skateboarders" were wrecking the school. Also, it says that Tony Hawk's American Wasteland is influencing many teens to skate there. Encouraging us to do things like "chip paint" or "scrape railings"-definitely a huge deal. Beverly is such a great spot, and seeing all the tricks that go down there is really inspirational. If they knob Beverly, I don't know what I'll do. Maybe I'll put on some baggy pants and start listening to rap. I'm trying to start a petition to keep this from happening, but I need some serious support. Who plays video games anyway?-Carol Flanigan, via e-mail
I hate to be the bearer of even badder news, but it's too late, Carol-the rails have already been knobbed! We saw the same article (check out the Warm Up Spot Opener in June's issue). The only question left to ask is: Anyone got a hacksaw?
OLLIE, OLLIE ORPHANAGE I am writing to you from sunny Atlixco, Mexico, and as you may have noticed it is really hot over here. I am a Berlin City local from Germany who chose to work for four months in an orphanage in Mexico and of course I got my board with me. Not only that, I talked all my friends into doing a donation so I brought a bag of ten boards, shoes, and mags with me. The kids in my orphanage are all excited about skateboarding so now my question is pretty obvious: How can I get the newbies into jumping down shit and grinding 20-stair-rails so I can exploit their talent to my advantage? I already asked several local circuses, but none of them are willing to expose the kids, so could you please come up with a fresh idea?-Robin Hartmann
Well, for starters, that's a pretty dumb question. But if you must know, build a spot where the kids can skate every day and polish their skills. What's that? You don't know how? Well check out p.107 and p.110 and the all-knowing TransWorld will once again provide the answers.
