Jeremiah Overman is like a picture in the waiting room of a doctor's office. You stare at it for a while until you lose interest and pick up a magazine. Not until your focus completely shifts do you realize what it was you were looking at.
There's no sense in trying to understand his motivations. I've spent a long time doing so, only to be beamed by a curve ball every time I think I have some vague starting point. What I do understand is that whatever drives him must be unbearably hot, because he moves fast.
I have come to realize that some people have a natural talent for skateboarding. It's obvious when you watch someone skate if they have it or not. What difficult to decide is how much of this ability has to do with being fearless, crazy, stupid or just really talented.
Jeremiah is all four for sure. I've seen him walk into a strip club with a camel hair trench coat and not even know that he was doing something wrong. Countless times I've said to myself, "what a dick," while he just laughed rolling away. He doesn't seem to have the same fears most people do, and that's whats so fascinating. If he does, he hides it really well. For example my concerns are always with what will happen if I fall trying a trick, where as Jeremiah seems to only ever be motivated by the reward of landing it. This approach is infectious and makes any session with him a good one.
Skating with him is always interesting. His ability to piss you off, motivate you and make me laugh always leave me thinking who the fuck is this guy? And I think a lot of people must think that when they first meet him. I know I did.
There is a lot about Jeremiah's past I don't know about, he doesn't talk about it very much. His childhood, adolescence and first year in college are all a mystery. I met him when he had been skating for less than a year. This was three or four years ago and it was obvious he was not only changing as a skateboarder but as a person too. He was motivated, to do what I don't know, but he's steadily gotten crazier and more unpredictable ever since.
Before we met, someone showed me a video of him fire cracking a six stair. No introduction could've been more appropriate. His complete disregard for convention is more like a fire cracker than any other trick I know of. Needless to say it became his signature, at least in my mind. And like most dumb shit he does, it makes me smile when he does it.
Jeremiah's personality isn't defined by skateboarding though. As much as he'd like it to, it doesn't. Well I guess it is, but not because he's constantly talking about skateboarding. It's how he walks down the street; with the same recklessness that he skates it with, it's his eyes darting around the room looking for the next hurdle to jump, the next confrontation to amplify, the next near death experience to brush off, the next incredible story to tell, or the never ending, unbelievably dumb situations that he gets himself into that all somehow only makes sense when he's on a skateboard.
His approach to anything is full throttle. You'd think he'd crack or there be some kind of break down, but I haven't seen it happen. Whatever happened to Jeremiah to make him act this way should be identified and taught to children in schools. He's a maniac. A man on a mission that won't reveal his motives. He's built for the road. He always seems to be having more fun than anyone else. And if he looks stupid doing it, he doesn't seem to mind. He brushes off embarrassment as carelessly as he does shake from his shirt.
Jeremiah is special. He's one to watch. It's impossible not to. And if you're lucky enough to get to know him, you'll see why everyone who does, loves him. He'll inspire you, piss you off and let you down, but you'll come back for more. It's in our nature to be fascinated by shithead, rebel, misfits. 
