Week 8 Readings: Daniel Duane

The part of this piece that really caught my attention was the section asking "Why Do You Surf?" from Surfer Magazine in 1995.  The answers ranged from things like "Because my dad wouldn't let me play football" to wanting to connect with God and using surfing as an outlet to do just that, to being free of rules and just being able to express oneself.  I am what the article refers to as a "city dweller"; the information/topics we have been discussing in class are mostly new to me, such as the territorial disputes over surfing locations and fights over getting the best waves.  Therefore, I've kind of made an assumption in my mind that all surfers surf for spiritual reasons or motives involving true passion and connection with ocean.  So, it was surprising to hear about the different reasons listed in the article.  It also was cool to hear about Santa Cruz through Duane's experiences and perspective and compare them with my own.  The personal connection he has with UCSC is a first (from what I can remember) out of all the authors we've read so far.