About the West Virginia Surf Report!

Hello, my name is Jeff Kay and this used to be my website.

I say used to be because I started TheWVSR as an online journal, a place where I wrote about the music I liked, reported on the altercations I had at Subway (or wherever), and bitched about yard work, etc. The original version of the site was inspired, fully and completely, by Krista Garcia. So, blame her, not me. The buck stops somewhere else, dammit.

In the early days the readership consisted of my brother, four or five guys from my high school, and a couple of ex-coworkers at a now-defunct record store in Greensboro, NC. At that point it was certainly my website, because I contributed most of the pageviews.

But over the years TheWVSR has evolved. I’m now very proud of the community that surrounds it. We call ourselves Surf Reporters, and we’re bound by a common tendency (ability?) to see the absurd in everyday life. Most of us are well into adulthood, chronologically speaking, but still haven’t made the full transition, emotionally.

How can you tell if you’re a potential Surf Reporter, you ask? Well, do you still laugh at fart noises, like fifth grade never ended? Do you think this picture is funny? Do you walk around Target stores paying attention to the other shoppers, assigning insensitive nicknames, and providing an ongoing play-by-play to your long-suffering significant other?

If you just shouted, “Yes! That’s me, exactly!” then welcome home, my friend.

A Personal Story for Illustrative Purposes

Many years ago, in olden times, I was on a date with a woman named Gina. We were sitting in a hipster restaurant in Atlanta, and she told me a story.

She lived in an old house, you see, that was broken-up into three or four apartments. Early one morning she was sleeping there, and was awakened by a strange, groaning noise. What the hell? It felt like the whole place was shaking. What was going on?

Half-awake and fully-confused, Gina sat up at the exact time a water pipe exploded in the wall beside her bed, and she was blasted — ass over tits — into the floor by a powerful rush of cold water.

I couldn’t stop laughing, and Gina was offended. “I could’ve been seriously hurt!” she said, just as serious as eye cancer. And I couldn’t believe it. How could a living, breathing person not see the humor in such a thing?

Yes, and Gina is an example of a person who probably wouldn’t enjoy our little world here. She’d say it was sophomoric and mean-spirited, missing completely the fact that we laugh at ourselves as much as anyone.

But that’s cool. I wish no ill will toward her, or the pole she had jammed way up her tightly-cinched ass. I hope they’re having a fine life.

However, I’d be willing to wager that the rest of us are having a lot more fun… real-world, adult-themed responsibilities, or no. And a few of us regularly gather here at TheWVSR.

The day that started happening, when this site no longer belonged to me alone, was the day it became something special. The readers make it, and I will forever be in their debt. Well, maybe not forever… but for a while, anyway.

Please join us! There’s always room for one more

If you’re new here, and the site seems like a good fit, I hope you’ll join us. The comments are always hoppin’, so just jump in with both feet. No reason to be shy, ’cause God knows nobody else is.

And in case you’re interested, I spent the first twenty-three years of my life in Dunbar, West Virginia. Since then, I’ve lived in Greensboro, Atlanta, the Los Angeles area, and Scranton, PA. I’m happily married, and we have two middle school-aged boys. This site has little to do with West Virginia, specifically, but West Virginia has a lot to do with me, generally. So, there ya go.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy your stay. -Jeff

Contact the West Virginia Surf Report

My email address is jeff [at] thewvsr.com Just replace [at] with @ and you’ll be good to go. I try to answer every message, but my success to failure ratio isn’t very impressive. Please don’t take it personally if I don’t get back to you right away. I’m up to my ass in alligators over here.
A better bet is to friend me at Facebook, and send messages there. I don’t know why, but I do better with direct messages at FB.
Same goes for Twitter, although I don’t sign into my account every single day. There might be a small lag at Twitter, but I’ll answer you eventually. I can’t stay away for long.

Contact the West Virginia Surf Report the old fashioned way

My snail mail address: Jeff Kay, PO Box 88, Clarks Summit, PA 18411

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Once subscribed, you’ll receive directions on how to grab your free book. Then you’ll be a Surf Report VIP, and will be told about occasional super-secret updates the more casual readers will never see, and will receive various other goodies along the way. It’s the Surf Report super-sized!

Best of the West Virginia Surf Report!

Over the years we’ve occasionally hit upon some things that caught the attention of people outside our little circle. Here’s a collection of some of our greatest hits, so to speak.

Where I’ve Lived: a Google Maps Tour

Everywhere, except our current home near the resort community of Scranton, PA, that is. I’m mildly paranoid, you see, and don’t think it would be such a great idea to post a picture of where I sleep, on the Internet. Funnelpants might get loaded-up on Little Debbies, and come seeking revenge.

Buy Me a Beer!

Hey, I’m not proud. If you wanna buy me one, I’ll take it. Beer is good,very good. Thanks in advance!

A Brief History of the West Virginia Surf Report Paper Zine

TheWVSR existed before the Internet. In fact, it started way back during the Reagan Administration, from my boyhood home in Dunbar. Here’s a brief history of how it all got started.