Underappreciated Talent
July 27, 2008
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2026 preface. I dug this up while rebuilding the site and realized it’s doing more work than I knew at the time. Stalefish Labs had been around since 2002 — six years older than this post — but this is the first piece of writing I have that explains the why behind the name: that committing to the uncool is its own kind of cool, and that being yourself in public, especially in pursuits the mainstream dismisses, is a quietly brave thing. A philosophy I’m still working through. Worth keeping the original here unchanged.
Thanks to my friend Catherine for this little gem. The guy’s name is Guy Wright, and he’s a modern master when it comes to yo-yo’s. That’s right, yo-yo’s. It’s a frustrating, often solo journey to work hours a day mastering a skill that you know only a few select people will ever appreciate; most people will look down on the oddball person who chooses a “childish” activity outside of the mainstream. Throwing a perfect spiral, driving a car in a circle really fast, and hitting a tiny dimpled ball out of a small make-believe beach are much more worthy “grown-up” pursuits.
If I sound a tiny bit bitter, it’s because I’ve walked in Guy Wright’s shoes…still do, in fact. I was a skateboarder back when skateboarding very much wasn’t cool. As I continued skateboarding throughout the end of high school and even college, it wasn’t uncommon for my parents to brag to other people about my computer abilities, even though I was undoubtedly more talented on the skateboard. But that’s how it goes — I didn’t blame them. What are the odds they would meet someone who would be impressed by the fact that their college-aged son could do a stalefish air or crail slide revert. Unless they happened to run into Frank Hawk (Tony’s late Dad), the odds were pretty close to zero.
Now I’m older and skateboarding is nearly in vogue. It’s almost possible to even get respect as a skateboarder these days. But it will probably never be respected in the same way as mainstream sports, and that’s OK. In fact, that’s a good thing. I think Guy Wright the yo-yo man sums it up best: “I’d rather see the world remain a more interesting place than everybody know about all this stuff and none of it be special to anyone.” I couldn’t agree more. Do what you love, even if you’re the only one who appreciates it…yo-yo on!