Welcome back to Hang 10 with Birdie, where we catch up with friends Birdwell has made along the way, in and out of the water. This time, we’re at the beach with Alanna Parra, Oceanside-based surfer, photographer, and traveler. Growing up in the historic surfing town of Cardiff, Alanna was always familiar with surfing and its culture, but she spent most of her time in the mountains on a snowboard, drawing a different type of line. Her recent re-discovery of surf was inspired by trips to San Onofre, where she saw women like Karina Rozunko and Makala Smith expressing themselves with such natural style. She’s making up for lost time, and we sure enjoy watching.

 

 

1) What's your super power?

• Eating excessive burritos

 

2) Which three people, living or historical, would you invite to dinner? Why?

• Joyce Hoffman, Françoise Hardy, and Joan Baez… three largest girl crushes

 

 

3) Where are you as you answer these questions?

• In a charming falling-apart apartment beachside in Oceanside, California

 

4) Favorite book?

• John Steinbeck’s East of Eden… My favorite book that i’ve never finished

 

 

5) Guilty pleasure?

• Too many to list. Mainly includes junk food and junk movies

 

6) What’s in your car trunk right now?

• 2 logs, a midlength, some fold-chairs and a conglomeration of wetsuits, swimsuits, film, wax and musty towels

 

 

7) Any pre-surf rituals you MUST do?

• Good tunes are required before any surf

 

8) Coolest animal you’ve bumped into out in the water?

• 8 foot Great White who swam next to my board last year out at Sano… Can’t say I’d want to see him again though…

 

 

9) Last product you recommended?

• Non-bake cookie dough, thats right… you can eat it straight out of the tub

 

10) Best memory in Birdwells?

• Fijian glassy waves