SurfWriter Girls

Sunday, January 28, 2024

Roy Gonzalez – A Vibrant Virtuoso

The Artist of a Thousand Canvases

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Legendary film star Lon Chaney (1883 -1930), known for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, was dubbed "The man of a thousand faces" because he could immerse himself in any role.

Roy Gonzalez might be called "the artist of a thousand canvases" for his epic creations in surf and skate art, comic books, music album covers, murals, media, brands, fashion, and more.

Infusing each artwork with his own electrifying style of kinetic energy, Gonzalez' paintings are the personification of "mind-blowing" art, interweaving vibrant colors with minute details.

In addition to using his art to share his view of the beach and music worlds, his Roy’s Real Tales stories series tells about his life experiences and how they shaped him, hoping that others can learn from them.

SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel were fortunate to be seated next to Gonzalez at a California Surf Museum annual gala in Carlsbad, CA, and to hear his stories firsthand.

Surprisingly mellow for someone whose artworks are filled with so much excitement, Gonzalez was enjoying soaking up the surf vibe in the room.

Waving to the surfing greats passing by, he talked to surf artist Ron Croci and Phyllis Tracy, a “Gidget” 1960s Malibu Beach scene regular, and enjoyed the ohana – sense of family – that was all around.

Calling himself “a Rebel with a Pen,” Gonzalez is an original, who loves to point out life’s absurdities and poke fun at convention.

An iconic artist who is full of surprises, much like Frank Sinatra’s famous song “My Way,” Roy Gonzalez puts his own spin on life and this painting of the blue-eyed crooner.

It’s a spin that’s wild, irreverent, and filled with a passion for living each moment to the fullest.

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to this copyrighted material. Publications wishing to reprint it may contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com Individuals and non-profit groups are welcome to post it on social media sites as long as credit is given.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Surfrider's Wave of Victories in 2023

Protecting Oceans, Waves and Beaches

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

The nonprofit Surfrider Foundation is an advocate for the world's oceans, waves, and beaches, organizing beach cleanups around the world, educating people about protecting the environment, and helping to make the beach accessible to all.

In 2023 it hosted 1,200 beach cleanups in the U.S. alone and removed almost 100 tons of trash, keeping it from entering our oceans and waterways.

Surfrider's Blue Water Task Force monitored water pollution levels at 500 sites to protect the safety of ocean-goers and communities alike.

Surfrider volunteers showed people how to plant Ocean Friendly Gardens that don’t pollute the environment.

And it helped restaurants create Ocean Friendly Restaurants that use sustainable food-handling and service methods.

Throughout the year Surfrider won major legislative victories in pushing bans on single-use plastics, which frequently end up in the ocean.

It also helped improve coastal access to beach spots so everyone can enjoy the ocean.

Since it was founded in Malibu, CA in 1984 by a group of surfers, Surfrider has fought to keep the beaches clean and safe for everyone.

As it enters its 40th year, Surfrider's grassroots, volunteer network is committed to making a positive difference in the quality of our beaches and to ensure that each new challenge is met. By becoming a friend of the ocean, you can help, too!

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Jacqueline Guerrero - Fitness and Food!

New Beginnings in the New Year

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

January is a time for new beginnings. With so much turmoil in the world, it's easy to forget all the positives and the people who are looking to the future to create better lives.

With that in mind, SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel are excited to focus on someone close to home, Sunny's niece Jacqueline Guerrero, a twenty-something who is juggling the roles of wife, mother, and entrepreneur.

After Jacqueline and her husband Sean both completed service in the Navy recently, they moved back home to SoCAL to be close to family and to raise their two young children, Theo and Mila.

Now, with a degree in health sciences and the can-do spirit that comes from her Navy training as a nuclear power technician, Jacqueline has launched not one, but two businesses:

JG Fit personal training and Lil J's empanadas.

When she's not lifting weights and helping people to get in shape, she's lifting 50 lb. bags of flour to make the tasty empanadas her family and customers keep asking for.

A competitive rower and water polo player in college, Jacqueline has always been interested in fitness and strength-building. So, her personal training business is a natural.

As for the empanadas, her Filipino recipe is just too good not to make it a business. SurfWriter Girls agree. And, she never has to worry about having too much inventory. Sean and the kids are always ready to gobble up any extras.

It's often said that young people today aren't as hard working or motivated as previous generations. But, when you look at what Jacqueline Guerrero is doing and see how animated she gets talking about her businesses, it's clear that she's got her eyes on the prize.

And husband Sean is on board, too, supporting her aspirations and following his own post-Navy career path. For this young couple in the New Year, it's "Full speed ahead!"

Happy New Year to All

Anchors Aweigh!

SurfWriter Girls

Surf’n Beach Scene Magazine

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Ho! Ho! Ho! The Day Before Christmas

A Surfrider Christmas Story
By SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

It was the day before Christmas and all through the beach

The seagulls were flying and eating everything in reach.

The stockings and beach cleanup bags were hung by the recycler with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

Photo by Ric Magdaug

The surfers were all up from their beds

While visions of waves danced in their heads.

Tony and Seth and Mike and Jeff were out at the shore gathering litter

And Gilbert was making sure the morning coffee didn’t taste bitter.

When out past the breakers there arose such a clatter,

The Surfrider volunteers strained to see what was the matter.

Off down the pier they raced like a flash,

Fearful that the vision they saw might crash.

For there in the light of day what did appear,

But a surfing Santa without his reindeer.

Toes on the nose, he was lively and quick.

Shooting the curl, it really was St. Nick!

Decked out in his red hat and board shorts by Hurley,

He shouted, “Cowabunga, dudes! I got in early.”

Before anyone knew what to say,

Santa was well on his way.

His white beard flowing, he shifted his sack,

Leaving the surfers to stare at his back.

Over the roar of the waves, they heard him chuckle with glee,

“Don’t worry. Tomorrow your presents will be under the tree.”

Wishing you these gifts of the holiday season:

Family and friends, clean beaches and joy without reason.

Photo by Greg Kishel

SurfWriter Girls Sunny & Patti

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to the following copyrighted material. For permission to reprint or excerpt it and/or link it to another website, contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com

http://www.surfwritergirls.blogspot.com

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Discovering A Sea of Gifts

Celebrating Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gifts

Written by SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

During the holidays when much of the focus is on gifts – what to give and what we’re hoping to receive – the best gifts of all may not be in stores, but waiting for us to discover on the beach.

“The beach is not the place to work, to read, to write or think,” begins Anne Morrow Lindbergh in her much-loved book, written in 1955 – Gift from the Sea.

“Rollers on the beach, wind in the pines…One falls under their spell, relaxes, stretches out prone. One becomes, in fact, like the element on which one lies, flattened by the sea, bare, open, empty as the beach, erased by the tides of all yesterday’s scribbling.”

With “patience,” Lindbergh writes, one will come to experience the “gifts from the sea.” Whether it’s a rare shell or a perfectly-rounded stone, a strong emotion or a new sense of awareness, the gifts will come.

Lindbergh, the wife of famed American aviator Charles Lindbergh, found solace by the sea and shared her musings in her books.

In keeping with this, SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel wish you a Christmas stocking filled with your own gifts from the sea:

Simplicity. Studying a sea shell found on a walk, Lindbergh observes how simple it is. “One learns first of all in beach living the art of shedding, how little one can get along with, not how much.”

Solitude. “It is a difficult lesson to learn today…to practice the art of solitude,” writes Lindbergh. Yet, alone on the beach, she “watched the gulls…dip and wheel and dive for the scraps I threw them.” And, felt a kinship. “The beauty of earth and sea and air meant more to me. I was in harmony with it, melted into the universe.”

Friendship. Lindbergh savors the gifts of friendship exchanged on the beach, openly and freely. “The pure relationship, how beautiful it is!” she notes. “Strangers smile at you on the beach, come up and offer you a shell. Nothing is demanded of you in payment, no social rite expected.”

Home. Gazing at the oyster beds, Lindbergh recognizes the importance of home and of “forming ties, roots, a firm base.” She sees each oyster “has its place on the rock to which it has fitted itself perfectly and to which it clings tenaciously.”

Balance. Lindbergh’s closeness to the sea with the ebb and flow of the tides gives her a “balance of physical, intellectual, and spiritual life. Work without pressure. Space for significance and beauty. Time for solitude and sharing.”