This had me smile. My husband thinks peanut butter is gross. Say, Whaaat?

Ha. I know. Great post title. 
It's the very sarcastic title of advd I got for him (the hubby) on xmas. Yay me!
And with Valentine's around the corner I thought I'd throw it out there for anyone in need of a little help to pick a fun (corky?) V-present. Even though we don't do the whole Valentine's day thing. Never have. I know most people here in the US love it, it's not as important in France. Cultural difference. Who cares, it's all about love so no judgment here. 
This dvd will suit any boyfriend, husband, best friend (girlfriend, wife, grand'ma) who enjoys a good old school slide. 
45mn. Super 16 mm. Artsy Longboarding, surfing with quite entertaining intermissions...(try and guess what the dots stand for!).
Starring Alex Knost, Dane Peterson, Kassia Meador and another half dozen inspiring surfers. 
Make sure he (she) opens the gift so that the 1st thing that shows is the title. And look for their reaction. Their look. Their blush. Their smile. Their sweat. I wanna know! 
Make it fun xx 
 

The Montreal based duo at Vallée Duhamel comes up with mind-blowing videos for their customers. I mean at least they blow my mind. I can only imagine the work put into it (check out their making-of). Inspiring creative brain. 

There are no other places like Hawaii to look forward for the winter. At least if the ocean is your playground. 
There has been some massive swells hitting the Northshore of Maui lately. And some massive nut guys to go out and paddle the mythical wave known as Jaws. Until just recently, people would "tow-in" Jaws, meaning a jet-ski would tow the surfer into the wave.  That's how most surfers started ripping huge monster waves such as Jaws on Maui, Teahupoo in Tahiti, Belharra in Portugal (..). Quite an elitist way of surfing though. But for the past few years, surfers have started to drive right down to Jaws  park on top of the cliff, jump out of their truck, grab their board, wax it right there on the red dusty dirt and off they go running down the hill, stretching while analyzing the power and the speed of the waves, counting how many waves per set, getting into the rhythm of the ocean, probably trying to control their speeding heartbeat before launching in a rough white water, hoping their wave's count was right and no massive set will brake as they paddle out. INHALE. Those men and women have taken the big wave surfing movement to another level. Back to a much deeper connection with the natural element. Challenging their limits every day out there. And when at the end of the day my friend sends me a text "I did it..!!!!", I get chicken skin, shout out a loud "Hell Yeahhh" and thank whoever for keeping them safe. Respect. And even though some make it look almost easy, it does take a lot of training to get where they're at now. I have seen surfers, visitors to the island, wanting to get their wave too, bragging about it and not making it past the launching area's white water. Luckily they would eventually make it back safely to shore and funnily enough try to explain themselves : my board was too short, too light, too heavy, I had a cramp in my toe,  broke a nail, my board short was too tight. I am slightly exaggerating but these guys just do not realize that it is dangerous out there, that without a proper training not only they will put their life in danger but also other people's life in danger. There are a bunch of guys doing the safety with their jet-ski. Volunteering. They are there in case one of the surfers need to be rescued but they shouldn't have to go and jeopardize their lives because of some untrained wanna-be-big-wave-surfer. It's a good thing to dream big, someone said "If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough". I relate to this but it doesn't mean all dreams should be taken to reality right at the second we dream about them! We should all work our way to live our dreams. 
Meanwhile, let's them take us on their dream journey with what I believe is the best footage of last week's monster swell. 
Hands down to Paige Alms, the only girl in the barrel that day, ripping at least as good as any other guy!

No joke I am quite obsessed with Muay-Thai boxing and have been for a few years. I got my gloves, mouthpiece, shin guards, you name it. I usually leave my lipstick home then. My very first trainer told me once that he'd love tho see me get in trouble leaving a pub late at night, and watch me fight back. Weird right? He said he'd love to see the other guy's surprise on his face. I know my 120lbs would not be much of a help really but I know I could hurt before hitting the ground. I could and probably would. But it is not the actual reason why I started it. I remember taking a class about 10 years ago while on a trip in New-Zealand. The girl was good, so good, she indeed was New-Zealand's women champ.  It was one class, once. But it got stuck into my bones right away. I did not start training then. It took another 5 or 6 years. But once I found the right guy and started, I was hooked for good. I would miss a good windsurfing or long-boarding session to go throw my punches & jabs & kicks. I realized that not only I was loving the sweat of it (definitely opening-up on my most feminine me here) but that it was helping me be much more balanced in my life, more focus, more accurate in my choices. It puts me, pushes me in a peaceful state of mind. It does its job of healing a somewhat tortured past. 
Okay enough for now. There is more to say about it (that's how passionate I am), but I don't want to lose you quite yet.
Here is a video that combines my addiction to punches, even though it is not Muay-Thai, my admiration for great photography within a film, and the overall editing work that I love.
A short by talented Russ Lamoureux.

And if you want more from Russ Lamoureux - here is another inspiring short I loved. No boxing, at all. I promise.