Under the boardwalk, down by the sea

Went rollerblading along the beach in Santa Monica yesterday, and it was everything I dreamed it could be. Lots of people were out on skates, contrary to wildly inaccurate reports I’d received from plainly unreliable sources that “no one rollerblades” around here. I skated down to Venice, where there is a fairly impressive unbroken stretch of tatoo parlors, shops selling “tobacco” products, shops selling beach kitsch, and vagrants. I saw a 60-year-old woman on a skateboard with a sail like a windsurfer, which actually works. I also saw a guy on rollerblades holding just the front wheel, engine, and handlebars of a Harley, which was pulling him along. Then I went and stuck my toes in the Pacific ocean. Finally. I’ve been meaning to do that.