The way I look at tricks is if I really have my mind set on one, I'm going to learn it until I can do it 10 or 20 times in a row. I want to perfect it.

Thrasher' magazine's Skater of the Year is clearly my No. 1 goal. The only way I get that is skating. Other than that, I haven't set that many outrageous goals. If I got Skater of the Year, that would just really add to it all and make me feel really good. Whether it's this year, next year or five years from now, that is my goal.

Hopefully, kids realize you can do anything you want. Skateboarding can be that gateway.

I've cut down on a lot of stuff this summer, just so I can hang out and be a normal kid for a while.

I was very inspired by Les Blank's film 'Burden of Dreams.' I think what's unique about his film and the two I've made is that they're close examinations of filmmakers and how their own emotional experiences reflect in the material they're rendering, and vice versa - how that material sometimes colors their own lives.

The advantage doesn't come because you can run more than someone over 90 minutes. The advantage comes when, in the tenth minute, I'm sprinting back and making another guy chase me. By the end of the game, that guy's worn down, but I can still keep going at the same pace.

My wife has been my greatest earthly inspiration. She excels in eloquence, the poetry of words, empathy and graciousness.

These were the moments when I was disappointed and frustrated, when I got so low because it seemed all my hard work had been wasted. But the moments passed, and the motivation to go back to rehab was there again.