Sidewalk Surfboard Line

A sneak peek at a few of the decks I have been designing & developing for my skateboard line. Refueled Sidewalk Surfboards will be available online, at exclusive skate shops and boutiques soon. Stay tuned for details.

Guest House

Refueled Magazine was back in Austin for a second time to hang out with singer/songwriter Amy Cook and her girlfriend-hotelier extraordinaire Liz Lambert. Ms. Cook is the cover feature for Refueled’s Fall issue, due out this November.

I was there to shoot footage for a short promo video I’m directing/editing to accompany the release.

We were invited to stay at the guest house. As one would expect from the person behind the Hotel Saint Cecilia and the Hotel San José , our quarters were hip, modern minimalist and very Liz Lambert. A vintage white wire chair and cactus welcome guest into the two bedroom/loft home.

The stark black & white, tiled bath came supplied with fluffy white towels and Marfa Brand soaps.

A turquoise vintage International Scout and chair adds a cool pop of color.

A ticking mattress in a small nook off the kitchen made a cool spot to catch a nap and answer emails.

Photos taken with my iphone.

A Recycled Retreat

Cinco Camp, Roger Black’s West Texas retreat, is made of five shipping containers on his 3,000-acre ranch. “I wanted something that blends into the landscape and could be installed and eventually removed with minimal disturbance to the environment,” he said.

Mr. Black, who was the art director at Rolling Stone in the 1970s, and at The New York Times and Newsweek in the 1980s, is now a publications consultant. He built this house, a nine-hour trip from his Manhattan apartment, last year. He stays connected to the outside world by satellite broadband. His few visitors include his nephew, a cowboy, whose image is reflected in the sliding glass door fitted to the front of the container.

The units, finished off site and set in place by cranes, retain their original exterior doors. When sealed, they keep out the elements, not to mention snakes.

The living room has a flat-screen television and midcentury furnishings bought in New York and San Francisco. The painting is by Carlos Montes de Oca.

“Out here, I get back to reality ... whatever reality is," Mr. Black said.

Photos: James H. Evans for The New York Times

Don't Stop Skating

Back on my longboard this past weekend after a month off with a foot injury. Felt so cool gliding down those sloped streets.

When Skaters Grow Up

Jay Shapiro, a skateboarder and musician, and Claire Bigbie, an interior designer, turned a Victorian in San Francisco's Noe Valley into a skater’s dream house. The couple met 10 years ago at a skate park in Rhode Island; they bought their house for $1 million in 2005.

A dressing room has wallpaper by Tom Dixon, a plastic chandelier from Urban Outfitters and a taxidermy deer named Harry. Ms. Bigbie — who had been collecting furniture since she was 14 — has filled the house with vintage and contemporary pieces.

A bathroom designed to look like a pool, with depth marks and pool coping, reminds its owners of the skateboarder’s nirvana: an empty pool. A black laboratory sink Ms. Bigbie found at a salvage yard was fitted with customized faucets; that red is Million Dollar Red by Benjamin Moore.

The ground-floor studio has a rolling garage door that opens to a garden designed by Flora Grubb, with “a Palm Springs desert vibe,” Ms. Bigbie said, and succulents in big pots.

Artwork by Ms. Bigbie and Mr. Shapiro’s friends hangs in the kitchen; the paper on the wall at right is Angles, by Erica Wakerly. Ms. Bigbie painted the mantel in the bedroom Benjamin Moore’s Pool Party Blue; the bottles on it are by Sara Paloma. The Hella Jongerius vase on the floor is from Ikea.

Photos by Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Red Stripe