SHOE PORN DAILY

Shoe Porn Daily Returns

2008-01-22T19:15:00.000-05:00

Seriously folks. It's been a long time. So long that it seems appropriate to discuss the reasons for abandoning the blog for so long. Did I say it was a long time?

In May, in a fit of complete madness the shoe porn daily blog went offline in order to find funding to complete another more pressing project. Frankly, it costs a lot of money to fund a shoe habit so that my beautiful dedicated readers can actually read the account of my activities in a unique pair of shoes every day. Seriously it costs a lot and I ran out of shoes, then money, but not topics.

A lot has happened between then and now. My life and shoe collection has grown.

Radical Careering

2007-05-16T00:13:00.000-04:00

This blog is temporarily suspended as a result of radical careering.

Be back soon.

Patience

2007-05-14T23:40:00.000-04:00

Today I pondered why it is necessary to exercise patience in meetings. It just doesn't make sense.

Websters defines meeting as, an act or process of comming together or an assembly for a common purpose.

Patience, comes from the word patient and is defined as a person who bears pains or trials calmly or without complaint or to be steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity.

Ok so we have a process of comming together for a common purpose and suffering, opposition, adversity and pain.

I don't know about you but it seems more appropriate to call a therapist as a patient rather then call for patience during a meeting. Straight jacket anyone?

Haiku Thursday

2007-05-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

Sunshine on my shoes
They glisten like morning dew
In rainbow colors

Navigating the Workplace Jungle

2007-05-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

The laws of business are not unlike the the laws of the jungle.

It's a constant struggle for survival in a world filled with predatory employees at all levels of the food chain, I mean organization. One miscalculation and you'll end up as some body's breakfast. Or worse yet, their subordinate.

This is what recently happened to a friend of mine. She had been working as a manager in her department for about a year when a couple of c-levels and her superior offered her a promotion. She would get a senior manager title but her current group would be split into two groups, half of which would continue to work for her in a new department and the other half would stay in the current division under new leadership. So essentially she would have less people to manage and get more compensation for it.

A year later, a different set of c-levels and her new superior decide that the groups are not working as well apart as they did together. The group that stayed in the original division would have to move into the new division.

Ok so at this point it seems obvious that the other group would roll back under said friend, since a year earlier that was the structure. But the jungle is a treacherous place with lions and tigers and rats! OH MY!

Instead, it was decided that said friend would be managing 3 managers who would then be managing the rest of the group. Except for this 4th group that was going to be managed by another senior manager, at said friends level, who in turn would be reporting to the new superior.

On the surface it sounds like said friend got a hell of a deal. With the exception of having someone as a pier where as before said friend was the only senior manager. Then there is that whole being elevated to a middle management job of managing managers. Oh and there is that whole no compensation aspect of this too.

Whoever coined the phrase, "it's a jungle out there", really wasn't kidding.

The Trouble with NPR

2007-05-08T17:34:00.000-04:00

National Public Radio (NPR) is my absolute favorite radio station. I have been a loyal contributing member since 2000 but I have always felt like the donation hurt a bit. I mean radio is essentially free. You turn the power button on in your car and bam! Music, news, talk, whatever you like. However, I don't think I'll ever feel that way again after visiting my local NPR station. I felt like pulling every bill out of my purse and handing it to the receptionist, but only after I scraped the change out of the floorboards of my car.

No it's not pledge time but it should be just so that those poor souls can have a nice place to work. It doesn't seem right that these hard working reporters and radio personalities have to work in an environment that has broken or missing ceiling tiles and carpet from the early sixties. The battleship grey paint looked like it was chipping off the walls.

Let's not EVEN talk about the parking lot. Ok let's. It's a combination of sparsely spread gravel, dead grass, torn up concrete pieces, packed dirt and pot holes. The employees must spend in the thousands getting a new alignment every month. It's not like this crowd would have SUV's with off road suspension packages, although clearly they could use it to get through THAT parking lot.

I feel for them. Really I do. Here I am sitting in a semi-clean office with updated carpet and tons of natural light. I have ceiling tiles that are completely intact AND a paved parking lot.

H Johnson shouldn't have to suffer through that bad case of good taste in straight jacket white radio booth. Lois Reitzes shouldn't have to worry about ceiling funk falling into her second cup.

Come on people. SHOW THEM THE MONEY! They really need it.

An Angry Restless Sole

2007-05-07T22:05:00.000-04:00

It started on Friday. I woke up in a foul mood and it only got worse over the day. Anything anyone said to me that day irritated me. I couldn't concentrate on anything. I couldn't get anything started or finished at work. That irritated me. I was irritated with other people, myself, the world.

My irritation continued through the next day coupled with restlessness.

Again the day was spent trying to get stuff done and failing. I started a few projects and then stopped prematurely leaving a trail of unfinished projects behind me. This is not typically my MO. I couldn't even get myself organized enough to go shoe shopping.

Why? Everything is going great right? There's more work than I can handle, my main squeeze is as dreamy as ever, Olivia came into the world safe and happy. What's the deal?

Oh wait. Maybe it's because I didn't post any blogs this weekend?

Blue Shoe Haiku

2007-05-03T23:56:00.000-04:00

Crystal blue like rain
Shoes rest on blooming flowers
The sun set too soon.

Beating the Dead Horse with a Heel

2007-05-02T22:35:00.000-04:00

Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.
Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.
Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.
Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.
Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.
Can't blog. Clowns may fire me.

Derogatory or Defamatory - Who is the Judge?

2007-05-01T23:10:00.000-04:00

My main squeeze gets a phone call from a mutual friend. He's frantic because his boss called him into his office first thing when he arrived at work.

The boss had some papers in front of him when my friend sat down. The boss begins by saying, "Apparently the one thing we both agree on is that you should be looking for a new job." Then the boss reveals a paper copy of my friends personal blog.

So when I heard this story from my main squeeze the first thing out of my mouth was, "Shit! that sucks." Then I thought about it a little more and said, "Well what on earth was he blogging about how much he hated his job for and why did he tell the guys at work where his blog was located? I mean that's just asking for it right?"

But then I had some lunch and talked through the situation a little more with my main squeeze and came to this horrible conclusion. My friend got fired because he has a personal blog. I read this blog entry myself and I can say this for a fact it was not defamatory. It never mentioned his company name, his job title, any details about his boss, or his bosses boss, no names of any kind were ever used in this blog entry or any previous blog entries. Actually he uses an anonymous handle and as far back as this blog has been published it rants about a lot of things, including work, on a regular basis.

My friend blogged about working for a company who's employees, in his opinion, were a bunch of idiots. It's possible that every thing he published in his personal blog could have been said, out loud, to me at a bar over a beer and could have been overheard by a co-worker. Would that have resulted in him getting fired?

No doubt this situation raises a ton of questions. But for me, this single question begs an immediate answer, "Is it legal for a company to fire an employee who publishes something on their personal blog, that a company representative perceives as derogatory ?"

Flats

2007-04-30T21:40:00.000-04:00

A petition came in the mail. It was inside this huge envelope that was stamped in bright red letters with URGENT, time sensitive materials.

My normal reaction would be to rip it open and read the contents immediately. But not today. Today nothing time sensitive could move me to take action.

Utter a sigh. Listen for the waves lapping against the shore. Envision Forest Gump on a lawn mower, slowly making circle after circle in the green grass. Think ice cream in a puddle on the ground.

This describes the state of mind of the person who recently returned from a brief visit with her family. I feel like a gummy bear on the dashboard of life. Melted.

A Master Class

2007-04-29T23:15:00.000-04:00

The theater was pitch black and only a shadow could be seen near center stage. Then a voice came from out of the darkness. The voice was telling a story about story telling.

The pace quickened, then slowed, then quickened again. There were moments when the speaker was at a frenzied pace and then within a breath took a long slow pause punctuated by the soft sound of music as the story continued.

A woman laughs at a tragedy. A four year old gets a history lesson in persecution. A navy battleship vending machine is refilled. A memory of humiliation and excrement is revisited.

The voice tells the story. The audience listens. We all experience the power of narrative.

Thanks NPR and Ira Glass for a wonderful evening.

Hurry up and Wait

2007-04-27T22:03:00.000-04:00

Airport travel can be such a drag.

You get up at the crack of dawn, shower, rush out into rush hour traffic. You hit every light between your house and the freeway. Get stuck behind a bus that's having trouble maneuvering around a corner it's too large to navigate. Fretting and biting your nails while you sit in the long line of traffic waiting to get onto the freeway.

Then miraculously, you get on the freeway and the road is open. Your only 20 minutes late. It's cool. There is plenty of time. As long as the checkout line isn't too long, which at this time of day shouldn't be a problem.

You arrive at the airport and make your way to long term parking. What's up with all these detours?! Why is the airport always under construction?! Crap there's a new automatic ticketing system which will invariably cost me more time than the old one to get a damn ticket. Stop TALKING at me and give me the damn ticket!! THANK YOU.

Ok just follow the signs to the parking deck where it indicates there are spaces. Now you just have to find one. After two or three spins around you finally find an open spot that's as far away from the terminal as possible. Crap lost 15 minutes on that round, but we're still good there's plenty of time.

So you run/walk toward the terminal and realize that you parked near baggage claim and your ticketing agent is on the far side of the building. Shit! another 5 minutes lost but the lines look good. Deep breaths.

On to the self service ticketing counter (more like self no service in my experience) slightly winded but no worse for the wear. Enter in the confirmation number... shit wrong number..try the other one..crap not working...ok swipe credit card...confirm passanger...check bags...print out receipt...get boarding pass. UREEKA! Check in complete.

Now for Security. "Boarding pass and ID please?" Take your shoes off. Take off your jacket. take your sweater off. Remove your belt, your keys, your wallet. One bin for your laptop. 1 bin for your shoes, jacket, belt, sweater and wallet, 1 bin for your your purse. No beep, no problem. Put on your shoes. Put on your sweater. Put on your belt. Put on your jacket. put the wallet back into your pocket along with your change. Put your laptop back into your bag. OK. Security. Check!

Sweet! Arrived at the gate with 30 minutes to spare. In just enough time to hear the overhead announcement that the flight is delayed.

And two hours later I'm blogging and still waiting.

Party Conversation

2007-04-26T23:05:00.000-04:00

People say the craziest things at parties. Most of the conversations are quite forgettable. But every now and then someone says something so remarkable it sticks with you forever.

Two friends of mine, both single, were discussing the state of their love lives. Normally this kind of conversation is pretty predictable, "I was dating this guy/girl for a while but I wasn't into him/her.." etc. pretty dull stuff.

However my female friend, who is a lot more interesting than the average girl, was discussing her dilemma with a male friend of mine. She was dating two people on and off for a couple of weeks and just couldn't decide which one to continue dating. After further probing by my male friend, she admitted that the problem was that one person was really great, smart, and funny, and the other was the exact opposite. So of course my male friend was like, "So where's the dilemma? It seems obvious that you should go with the smart one. What's the deal?"
My girlfriend says, "well the other one is really HOT. I mean it's hard to break up with such a good looking person. I know is smart and someone I can have a conversation with but god is sooo damn HOT!"

At this point my male friend could have said any number of things but what he did say was the last thing anyone of us would have imagined.

"Jeez, your as deep as a puddle."

The Stiletto Spike

2007-04-25T18:24:00.000-04:00

People can be rude to you in a myriad of ways. One of the more unpleasant rude experiences is what I affectionately call the "stiletto spike." The stiletto spike is a crafty maneuver used by passive/aggressives.

A person using the stiletto spike will open up the conversation with a pleasant topic that is unrelated to their agenda. Smiling accompanied by some light laughter is common during the initial dialogue. Then you are subtly transitioned from the informal pleasantries using a more formal tone which is preceded by a slight pause to enact focus. You are now primed and ready for the insult and injury that is sure to follow.

The key to a successful stiletto spike maneuver is the proper use of distraction. You must be enticed to get a closer look at the heel because you will be fascinated by the way the light is bouncing off the shiny, silver metal. Your focus is narrowed to the single uniform beauty of the forged cylinder when WHAP! The other shoe spike comes hurtling out of nowhere leaving you disoriented and angry from the surprise attack. You're left wondering how that slim shiny agreeable article could cause you such pain.

That is until your large chunky leather wooden heels come pummeling down on the top of their head. That maneuver is called the "platform of bricks."
Shear mass takes them down every time.

A New Soul

2007-04-24T23:15:00.000-04:00

This morning the day greeted me with a message of life.

This morning at around 6 a.m. an 8 pound 1 ounce little girl was born. Her mother was in labor for 25 hours at the end of which the doctors decided it was necessary to perform a c-section.

Both mother and child are healthy and happy. The family circle has gotten a little bigger.

Welcome to the world Olivia.

Lost Soles

2007-04-23T22:31:00.000-04:00

Getting up this morning was bad enough after last week's events. It got worse when I heard a disturbing report on Morning Edition about Chinese government officials forcing women to give birth to still born children by giving them an injection in their abdomen which induces labor within 48 hours. It is UNBELIEVABLE!

According to the report there are still some areas of China that are enforcing family planning laws that deny single women from giving birth to a child and married women from giving birth to a second child. Some of these women were actually reported as having forced abortions as late as nine months into pregnancy. In addition some women were sterilized sterilized without their consent.

How is this behavior still possible? How do legislative bodies get away with this kind of abuse toward women? Has the whole world gone mad? Or have I just awakened from my ignorant slumber?

The partial death of womens rights

2007-04-22T23:35:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, April 18 2007 the supreme court upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure called "intact dilation and extraction" otherwise known to the general public as partial birth abortion.

This procedure accounts for only 1.4% of all abortions in the United States. This means that approximately 2,500 to 3,000 pregnancies are terminated between the 21st and 24th weeks of pregnancy using this procedure a year.

There are many reasons why women and their doctors make the decision to terminate a pregnancy after the 21st week using this procedure. Some are made for emotional reasons and some for medical reasons.

However as of Wednesday, it no longer matters. Women and their doctors no longer have the right to make that particular medical decision. Only Congress and the Supreme Court do.

This deserves a toast doesn't it? So raise your glasses with me people.

Long life to all those in Congress and the Supreme Court who wrap themselves in the American flag, carry a cross, and give birth to fascism in our beloved nation!

Shoe Haiku

2007-04-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

On an ivy bed
the shiny wooden shoe rests
with a heavy sole.

Deja vue

2007-04-20T00:16:00.000-04:00

...a neatly dressed woman said to us, "Excuse me. I overheard what you were saying and I just wanted to say that I think you two are really rude."

Surprised, we both looked at her as she continued, " You don't have to make fun of people just because they work for Mary K."

My friend and I looked at each other and started grinning. I said to her, "You don't happen to work for Mary K. Do you?" She quickly said , "No but I have a really good friend who does and she is a very good person. Mary K is a real company. It's not a cult you know."

At this point I'm trying to hold back the tears that are forming around my eyes from holding back the laughter. I mean what are the odds of the two of us swapping Mary K stalking stories in the DSW within earshot of a Mary K representative? It was like fate was giving me a second chance to re-address this situation. It was crazy and silly and completely out of left field and we were both stunned. Yet the question remained, how exactly do you respond appropriately to this situation? This woman was quite serious and very disturbed.

Thankfully she kept talking, giving me more time to think. She said, "And for the record it's not a pyramid scheme. The people who work there are very professional. I don't think people like YOU should get away with saying things like that. It's very rude."

As she stared at us, I imagined a number of responses that I could have made. My friend was staring at me too, waiting for a response and after a bit of quick deliberating I decided that the following response was the most reasonable. I said in a steady clear tone very slowly, "ummmm. ohh kaaay." accompanied with the cautious, kind of bewildered, your kind of crazy lady, don't shoot me look. She was staring at me. My friend was staring at me and I just kept staring at the lady, silently with raised eyebrows in anticipation of her next move. You could feel the tension.

And then another woman said, "excuse me. Is there a size 8 in that stack?"

Strange encounters of the moronic kind

2007-04-19T00:06:00.000-04:00

This story is a classic and one of my personal favorites because it involves one of my oldest friends in the world. She's actually the one who coined the term "moron magnet" and has been a frequent witness to many of the moronic moments I have experienced when shopping.

My girlfriend and I were shopping at DSW one afternoon. We were in one of the main aisles near the front of the store rifling through the cardboard boxes and catching up. I began recounting a story about a crazy shopping encounter I had the week prior at the local Filenes Basement.

Below was the discussion my friend and I were having:

ME: "So on Thursday I went over to Filenes to find a summer dress for that BBQ on Saturday. I was going through the racks when this woman comes up to me and says "Hi. I like your outfit. My name is ___. I noticed that you have a great sense of fashion. Are you currently employed?"
FRIEND: "Reeeeally."
ME: Yeah but it gets better. I was a little suspicious but I answered her politely, said thanks and asked her why she asked. She pulls out a business card and says "I'm with Mary K and we are always looking for young fashionable women. Would you like to come in for an interview? I think you would be a great fit."
FRIEND: "YOU'RE KIDDING!"
ME: "nope. This woman just came up to me out of the blue and asked me to work for Mary K. Can you believe it! I was getting solicited in Filenes at 2 in the afternoon."
FRIEND: "Ok. The same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago in Marshalls but this one was so savvy. She never mentioned the name of the company she worked for. She just said they were doing interviews at the Regency hotel and I should drop by for more information."
ME: "So you didn't know she was from Mary K? Did you go?"
FRIEND: "Sure I did. I was curious about the opportunity so I showed up at the hotel but as soon as I saw the Mary K sign I left. It was really weird because all the women there looked so perfect. Like porcelain dolls."
ME: "Totally! The one who accosted me was beautifully made up but she looked like she had a pound of makeup on her face. She was dressed professionally though so I didn't really think twice about talking to her."
FRIEND: "So what did you tell her?"
ME: "I told her that I was employed and I appreciated her offer. I can't believe this same thing happened to you. You know stores have policies against solicitation. Do you think they are aware that this kind of thing is going on?"
FRIEND: "I don't think so. But I have a feeling they train them on how to do this as a way of cold calling."
ME: "I can't imagine that they would tell them to go into stores and stalk the customers to get them to go to a Mary K pitch."
FRIEND: "Well they do kind of have that cult feel to them. They dress similarly and the speech you heard was almost exactly the same as the one that was delivered to me with the exception of mentioning the company. Maybe it's scripted."
ME: "Ugh. What a creepy thought."
FRIEND: "I know. I'm not going back to Marshalls again."
ME: "GREAT. So if I want to shop at Marshalls or Filenes undisturbed I'll have to resort to wearing sweats and no make up to prevent a member of the Mary K cult from successfully profiling me. That sucks."
FRIEND: "Well you can just tell them that your not interested in pyramid schemes. That's what I plan to do next time. If there is a next time."

And then...to be continued.

What a Sicko!

2007-04-17T20:50:00.001-04:00

As a woman there are certain disdainful things that are associated with having breasts. I'm not talking about those common problems like, the tenderness during that time of the month or the shelf effect. No. I'm talking about those really dreadful moments when the breasts cause the opposite sex to do any number of abominable things in public.

Case in point.

I'm shoe shopping with mother on Saturday. Shocker I know but stick with me here.

We are sharing a seat on a bench and trying on shoes when this older gentleman (I use this descriptor as it was my initial impression) approaches. As he gets closer he stops, takes a long stare at my chest, winks at me and as he's winking he opens his mouth and smacks his licks with his tongue.

Did I mention my mom was sitting right next to me?

So after the initial shock. I looked at him and frowned hoping he would just continue walking by. But NO. This guy has the gall to just stand there and decides to chat it up with me! He says, "wow, those shoes are nice. You planning on going to a wedding?"

Now. I ask you. What on gods earth am I supposed to do with this broken down, 60 plus, ex Don Juan, who needs a serious wardrobe update, staring at me in the middle of the shoe store smacking his lips and starting up the small talk?

I could have been rude and said none of your business, but for some reason my "good behavior" meter was set to high. I could have said, dude keep walking, but that may have needlessly drawn out the conversation, which I didn't have the patience for. I could have ignored him, but then again, that's not really my style.

What I should have done was thrown the shoe I had in my other hand at him while screaming, "NO YOU CAN'T LICK MY SHOE PERVERT!!!" but my mom would have been mortified. So instead I gritted my teeth, sucked it up, smiled and said, "yeah something like that." Then looked away from him and said, "Hey mom, what do you think of my shoes for the wedding?"

Yeah I know. It's a real let down. The creepy one got away without receiving his deserved humiliation. I have no excuse. But damn, he did it in front of my mom. What a sicko!

Tales from the Dark Side of Shopping

2007-04-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

There is something about shopping that taps into an area of the human brain which manifests itself into the most strange and bizarre behavior that I have ever personally witnessed.

People do and say the craziest shit to me when shopping. My girlfriend's explanation for this phenomenon is that I have a moron magnet embedded in my forehead.

I tend to believe her because the alternative explanation is there are so many morons that it is virtually impossible NOT to run into one every time you leave the house.

So in an act of futility, I'll be recounting these bizarro acts all week in the hopes that a public purge will demagnetize the force that attracts these morons to me. Wish me luck and may this force never be with you.

The Accidental Sale

2007-04-14T23:10:00.000-04:00

There's nothing better than a good sale. Unless, you run into a good sale by ACCIDENT!

My mom and I were doing a little girl bonding at our favorite shoe store and were greeted by an associate who said, "Hi. We're having a one day only special on all our discounted shoes. Take an additional 30 percent off after the initial discount. "

I look at my mom and I'm like "OH YEAH!"

Needless to say we spent the afternoon trying on every discount shoe in the joint and chatting it up with the other shoe happy gals in the aisles.

We came home with our shopping bags full and our purses devoid of currency. All in all a good Saturday.

The Practical Exotic

2007-04-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

This is a true story about two people.

Person M: "I really love your car. I've seen it in the parking lot at the office and it's really nice."
Person C: "Thank you. It is a beauty."
Person M: "What's it like?"
Person C: "If you like you can find out for yourself. We can take my car back to the office."
Person M: "Really? Hey person P can you take my car back to the office? I'm going back with person C."
Person P: "uh ok. sure."
Person C: "Excellent."

Narrator: Person C had taken the car for a spin around the parking lot and then decided to let person M take the wheel back to the office.

Person M : "Wow this car is so cool! It handles so nicely."
Person C: "It's great isn't it. Ok, now give it some gas on this turn. That's it. Don't worry about it slipping out from behind. It's not going anywhere. Feel how the tires are pulling the car down?"
Person M: "Yeah that's crazy. It's so smooth. Oops, I better slow down. I think I'm going 20 miles over the speed limit."
Person C: "All to frequently I let the car get away from me on the freeway. It's a a real pleasure to drive. The commute to and from work is a breeze."
Person M: "I can only imagine."
Person C: "I really wanted a car that I could commute in. It's a practical exotic."
Person M: "Sure. I can see how the Maserati would be."

And for a brief moment in Atlanta two worlds collide.

Montessori Days

2007-04-12T15:22:00.000-04:00

I was sitting in my office staring at my computer and contemplating my navel. Everyone goes through this in their work lives. You've temporarily lost the ability to get anything done. Answering email seems like the only task that you can somewhat accomplish, but it has nothing to do with helping you solve the current set of problems sitting on your desk.

On days like today I go Montessori. Let me explain.

Years ago I was working with a partner who was having some trouble detaching herself from her email. We had some pretty serious problems with our project and our deadline was quickly approaching. Intervention was necessary.

So I invited her to work from my home the following day under the guise that at a minimum she would not be dragged into a meeting and away from the task at hand. I forgot to mention the part about not having access to email because I didn't have a wireless network.

But for all my efforts to get us both in a physical space to allow us to focus on solving the problem, neither of us actually had the mental capability to do so. We were as dry for fresh ideas as dead fish scales.

So we decided to take a break and make a fresh pot of herbal tea. While waiting for the water to boil, my partner started looking through my stack of cookbooks and we started a discussion about cooking. I'm not sure how long we were talking about cooking before my partner said, "Holy smokes! I think this is the answer. We should..." What followed really isn't the important part of the story.

The important part of the story is that the cookbook was in fact the spark that lit the fuse to get the intellectual flames roaring again. Although cooking had nothing to do with solving our problem, the act of completely divorcing ourselves from thinking about it did.

As we sat back down at the kitchen table to document our solution my partner turned to me and said, "you know, this must be why kids do so well in Montessori schools. We should really do this more often."

So now when I need a little inspiration I think about taking a Montessori day.

The Nature of Black and White

2007-04-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

I woke up completely worried about my day. I woke up late. I wasn't motivated to go to work. I had a 1 p.m. appointment that I was dreading attending because I was absolutely POSITIVE it was going to be bad news. It was raining outside.

If I had the ability to fast forward to tomorrow, without blinking I would have.

In the afternoon I met a very nice older man at my 1 p.m. appointment. We were chatting it up for a little bit, discussing a pond he had installed in his backyard that was giving him trouble. He also mentioned that he was moving soon. Although he didn't indicate why he was moving, the tone of his voice and his eye movements suggested that it wasn't really something he wanted to do but rather something he had to do. I could feel the sadness in his voice and I was sorry for him.

I could totally relate to him at that moment. I felt like my whole day was filled with things I had to do, not things I wanted to do and I might have been better off not even getting up at all.

Later on someone told me that the reason this gentleman was moving was because he was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor and he was going to be unable to navigate the stairs in his own home.

I was floored. I was heartbroken. Then I was ashamed.

Ashamed for thinking that this man and I shared any commonality and arrogant of me to think so little of the day I was given. I wanted the day to go as quickly as possible and yet for him the day may not have lasted long enough. I was in complete control of my schedule and yet this man was at the mercy of someone else's.

Our meeting was one of life's small gifts. It repositioned me to the proper perspective with which brought to light what really matters.

The color of blood

2007-04-10T18:05:00.000-04:00

There are times in your life when it is necessary to stand up and fight. Sometimes your opponent draws blood. Sometimes you draw blood. It doesn't matter who draws first, only who draws last for that person is usually the one left standing.

In the last meeting of the day, one of my work mates attempted to slay me in front of my peers. This person is very young and strong minded but not seasoned enough to understand the subtleties of corporate warfare. The young fighter has been anxious to spar for some time and has tried numerous times to bait me into open warfare but I have been hesitant to engage because it would benefit neither of us to do so. However, as every seasoned corporate warrior knows, you must choose your battles wisely, regardless of who charges first.

Like in the last film of the Samuri Trilogy, "Duel at Ganryu Island" by Ina Gaki the battle is won by knowing and understanding your own weaknesses and then exploiting those of your opponent. My opponent is younger, stronger, and over confident. I am older, wiser, and always doubting my own strength. When I am doubtful I carefully watch my opponent and learn from their behavior. This is how I came to understand my opponent's weakness and with this knowledge exploited it to their detriment.

Today I drew last.

Shoes: Love and Hate

2007-04-09T18:36:00.000-04:00

Life is filled with inseparable opposites. You cannot have the good without the bad. The yin without the yang. The beautiful without the ugly. The sacred without the profane. The left without the right.

It is inevitable that you will run into a situation where you must deal with these opposites simultaneously, as I did this weekend over dinner. I had the most incredible meal of which the scrumptious flavors I can still recall on my tongue right now, yet I had to suffer through some of the worst service I ever had the displeasure to experience.

It's the same thing that happens to me when I'm shoe shopping. I find the perfect pair of shoes and then they don't have them in my size. I find the shoes in my size but they are way too expensive. The price is right on but they aren't appropriate for the current season.

This weekend I found the perfect physical representation of my inseparable opposite emotions that make up my footwear obsession. They were so hot that I just had to wear them right away. Of course as a result I now have two blisters. One on each heel. How appropriate.

Shoe Traveling Trips - Part 2

2007-04-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

So we have discussed how to select shoes for the traveling part of the trip but how DO you select the shoes that you will be wearing after you have gotten to your destination?

It's horrifying, it's frustrating, and it's exhausting but it must be done. You can't bring your whole closet with you even though you want to. You can only bring a few pair but here are some tips on how to choose just the right shoes and ensure footwear confidence throughout the duration of your trip.

Know the fashion culture of your location. For example: the shoe selection for Rome would have to be very high end: lots of strappy heels, pointy toes and leather sandals. I mean it's part of the fashion triangle of the world my friends, dress accordingly.

Whereas in contrast if you were visiting New York mixing and matching some low and high end shoes like a pair of edgy creepers or retro walking shoes and a pair of casuals like an Anne Kleine with say a Givenchy boot thrown in for good measure would work. In NYC anything goes but bad taste! Know the fashion culture of your destination!

Of course understanding the local weather outlook and how you will be spending most of your time walking, cabbing it, or scootering around should also be taken into consideration. Also, having a rough idea of your itinerary is helpful since you can do some Internet fashion reconnaissance on some of the places you may be going to eat, dance or just chill.

However, if all else fails and you open that suitcase and nothing works, remember the high heel maintenance golden rule of travel, "if you don't have it buy it when you get there".

Shoe Traveling Trips - Part 1

2007-04-05T23:59:00.000-04:00

Traveling is fun. It's especially fun when you have a long weekend ahead of you and your main squeeze along for the ride.

Invariably, after the romance of traveling has subsided you are faced with the dreaded question of what footwear to select for the transportation part of the trip. I'll address the horrifying exercise of selecting footwear for the rest of the trip later, the memory is too recent.

Well, in order to select the perfect shoes for the occasion I always consider the 4 major travel considerations in making my selection.
1) Location: which in this case is New Orleans.
2) Temperature: Currently between 70 and 50 degrees from day to night respectively.
3) Transportation Type: The 2000 bitchin' VW Passat.
4) Velocity: An average of 80- 100 mph (which as every well traveled girl knows can cause swelling in your extremities).

Since traveling in the car is mostly about sitting for long periods of time with short bursts of time spent walking in and out truck stop restrooms, obviously there is no need for high heels.
Since swelling is inevitable on a 7 hour road trip something with give would be more comfortable, ruling out anything form fitting or with pointy toes. Additionally there doesn't seem to be a need to wear any "shoe stoppers" since the number of people you will run into at a roadside gas station with an appreciation for stylish footwear is minimal at best.

So we are left with flats of some sort that breathe. Since the only flats I currently have are either flip flops or sneakers I opted for sneakers since I have a real aversion to getting my bare feet wet in restrooms. I just love road trips!

Shoe Psychology

2007-04-04T23:13:00.001-04:00

You can gain a lot of insight into a person's Psyche based on their shoes.

Being a self proclaimed shoe whore, who has paid more attention to shoes than any normal person should, I'm going to share with you my gross generalizations based on my years of observation:

1) A person who wears the same pair of shoes every day is someone who is uncomfortable with change.
2) A person who wears a pair of shoes that are worn around the soles or has holes in them is lazy, careless, and has a self destructive tendencies.
3) A person who wears open toe sandals with socks all year long is generally unhealthy and has a fear of intimacy.
4) A person who wears open toe sandals all year long but wears socks only in the winter months has a superiority complex and suffers from anxiety.
5) A person who wears the same style of shoe but in several different colors tends to be hyper-focused and not very original.
6) A person who only wears closed toe shoes has control issues.
7) A person who only wears open toe shoes has trouble with authority.
8) A person who doesn't generally wear shoes is either a baby, a homeless person, or an idiot.
9) A person who wears between 5 and 10 pairs of shoes is well adjusted.
10) A person who wears more than 20 pairs of shoes embraces change and likes boundaries.
11) A person who wears more than 50 pairs of shoes is complex and moody.
12) A person who wears more than 75 pairs of shoes suffers from separation anxiety.
13) A person who wears over 150 pairs of shoes is obsessive-compulsive, has strong ties with the past, and has no limits.

What do your shoes say about you?

Pink Power

2007-04-03T22:42:00.000-04:00

My aunt once told me that just because your feeling bad doesn't mean you should look bad.

On many a day I have taken that advice when I was worried, anxious, nervous, or just generally felt crappy and when I looked in the mirror I felt a little bit better because I looked better.

Today I had one of those mornings when it took every bit of energy I had in me to get out of bed. So I turned up the dial on the dressy meter in the hopes that I would feel better if I looked better. I put on a suit and my favorite pink shoes.

When I came downstairs my main squeeze said "Girlfriend you look hot! Want to play hookie?" I smiled, gave him a kiss and said, "Would love to but it's time to storm the castle babe." As I grabbed my bag and my to go cup of tea, I silently thanked my aunt for her words of wisdom and the fashion gods for the color pink.

No space for me

2007-04-02T16:22:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be out of a job in 2 years. Let me explain.

I work in technology, actually I work in a small niche of technology that is affectionately called interactive design. I'm someone who's sole purpose and passion is to create experiences that are intuitive, useful, engaging and delightful.

After compiling my analysis of the current trends in online user communities I have come to the conclusion that people who are participating in most online communities are not interested in having a good experience. Take MySpace.com for example. The site is cluttered with ads, you have to scroll endlessly to get to the content, and the navigation changes it's location depending on how you customize your page to name just a few. Yet, in all it's awfulness, it boasts the largest online network of people ever in one community. What does this say about the people in this online community? What does it say about the people who designed it?

You know what it says to me? It says there is no space for me.

Shoe Mojo

2007-04-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I was reminiscing about a good shoe day and today my shoe mojo was on.

Sometimes you get what you ask for and if you're lucky, you're credit card is ready.

Serendipity

2007-03-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

While getting dressed this morning I was reminiscing about the day I bought these boots. It was one of those serendipitous days when you're out shopping without an agenda and then find that perfect thing.

I took an extended lunch and went to my favorite boutique for a quick look see and found these wonderful Franco Sarto cowboy boots. I tried them on and they fit like a glove. As I was putting them back into the box the sales associate said to me "You know there are also a pair of black ones available. Did you want to swap out the color?" Without consideration of my financial future I said, " Nope. I'll just take both."

So I bring them up to the cash register and the other sales lady says to me, "wow, these are great. Did you find these on the sale rack?" I responded, "Um I don't think so. Why?" She says, "Well these are only $25.00 a pair. What a bonus."

Don't you wish everyday was like that?

What's in a name?

2007-03-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I had a Dilbert moment yesterday when my boss told me that there was no need to be thinking about a strategy for the deployment of this suite of products.

Actually his words went something like this, "It's not necessary to have a strategy for the product suite. What is necessary, is that we have a really good name for it."

So I'm thinking to myself.
Sure that makes sense. Let's decide on a really good name for "the product suite" then once we have that, it will be obvious what products should be part of the suite. As a matter of fact, we won't even need to specify what the products are. The name should tell the whole story!

If the name is short enough people won't have any trouble remembering it. It would have to be unique enough so that it could appeal to the widest amount of people. It would have to be generic enough so that people would have no trouble pronouncing it. It would need to be compelling enough so that people could assign their own definition to it. Then we wouldn't actually be required to deliver "a product" we would be delivering "THE" product based on peoples needs, wishes and desires. It's the name of a product that is so short, catchy, generic, and compelling that people all over the world would be willing to get hysterical over it and through gobs and gobs of money at the people who created it! It's brilliant!!!

But the name....the name...what name fits these criteria.

Oh yeah! GOD. Shit. I think that domain is taken.

The Grass IS Greener

2007-03-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

Today over tapas, a colleague and I vented our frustrations about work and the state of our lives. It's always fun to get together with old work buddies to get a pulse for whether or not the grass is really greener on the other side. In this case it was really really really green but not in a good way if you get the drift, or rather the waft.

My colleague is required to go to a monthly management training class in order to help "keep up to date" in the latest management strategies, tactics, and other management related information. It's important for a person who has been in management for the last 15 years to be required to go to a monthly training class that is being taught by a 25 year old corporate trainer.

As was made clear to me over lunch. The class was reviewing a new management book (of which the author and title are being withheld because I don't plug products I haven't interacted with) concerning a methodology around logical thinking. This in itself is amusing however, the real education came during the portion of the class when the trainer was discussing the history of logical thinking. According to the corporate trainer, logical thinking started to take hold in the 16th century and there were many examples of this in Roman history.

My colleague being a bit of a history "buff" was aware of the small error in statement but decided to let the minor infraction go uncontested based on this quote from one of our favorite movies, "Forget it, he's rolling."

Out of Manna

2007-03-27T12:44:00.000-04:00

Working in an environment where the ratio of boys to girls is 10:1 can be humorous as well as educational.

My office is adjacent to an empty office often used by the office inhabitants as a private call room. The interior walls that separate the two offices is paper thin making it easy for me to hear the muffling sounds of the conversation taking place. Normally I just put my headphones on and tune out the world for an hour or however this time my curiosity got the better of me.

In my defense (lame defense at that) the person on the other side of the wall has a pretty strong voice and the conversation was just damn intriguing. As he was talking on the phone I was listening to a one sided conversation. Here's a snippet of what I heard:
"yeah so we got this group together and went over to the lake. It was Tom's first time at the lake so I wasn't sure how he was going to do. But he did ok."
Pause....
"Oh yeah we had enough weaponry."
pause........"(robust laughter) He was sooo scared! I told him not to swing the axe. Then he was laying on the ground howling."

So at this point I'm wondering if I needed a security lock on my office door since I was sharing my work environment with a psycho who plays with sharp objects and laughs when people hurt themselves.

But then I tuned into the conversation again and heard this:
"Yeah they tried to kill us but the wizard was throwing spells like crazy and took out the troll in no time. We were invincible! Until of course I realized I was out of mana and my ghost body was returned to the inn. Next time we should bring a sage along."
Pause...
"Yeah let's connect later tonight. I'll talk to him and see if he's available for the campain. Bye."

So later on in the day, as said workmate is leaving for the day he says "have a good one." To which my response was, "You too and don't forget to bring the sage."

Meeting Etiquette

2007-03-26T21:19:00.000-04:00

I wonder sometimes whether or not I chose the wrong career. It happens on days like today when the schedule is packed with meetings. In general there is a lot of talking and not much real discussion.

The meeting participants were interested only in making their specific points and were not listening to other's points. Not one person acknowledged the previous person's point, no one summarized a previous point, or even at the very least related the last person's point to the one that they were making. I lost count of the number of times people interrupted each other and the phrase "Let me finish" being loudly stated while the other person was talking.

Talking at each other. Talking over each other. Talking, talking, talking and more talking but not much meaning being conveyed. The output of the meeting was a bunch of doodles on my notepad and overwhelming exhaustion.

Where has all the conversation etiquette gone anyway?

Tammies

2007-03-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

Today I decided to spend the afternoon walking hand in hand with my main squeeze in our favorite part of town. It was a great day to peruse the local boutiques, have a margharita and get some sunshine.

So we stop into this great little shop that specializes in locally made clothes, purses and shoes. The clothes rack was stocked with dresses that were just amazing. So I pick this cute little black and white number off the rack and the sales girl says, "Girl that's gonna look so amazing on you!"
I turn the tag over and take a look at the size and say, "I don't know, it seems kind of small." "Try it on. Your tammies are gonna look amazing in that."says the sales girl.

I look over at my boyfriend and give him the "what did she say?" look and he just shrugs. So I'm thinking to myself, ok did she say lammies, bammies, sammies? Nope sounded like a t sound like tammies. What the hell are tammies?

"um ok, I'll try it on.", I said. The sales lady walks me over to the dressing room and I slip on the dress. I exit the dressing room to get a closer look in the mirror and to my surprise it fits rather nicely. The sales lady rushes over and starts fidgeting with the dress and says to me, "Oh it looks faaaabuuulous! I just knew it would make those tammies look outrageous!" I shoot another inquisitive look over at the boyfriend with no avail.

Ok, I thought, I gotta ask.

"Did you say tammies? I don't get it?" The sales lady gives me a big laugh and starts tugging at the dress in the breast area and says, "tammies girl. See? You got a set of MURDEROUS TAMMIES and this dress is gonna kill someone!"

Ode to Bandaid

2007-03-23T23:29:00.000-04:00

Oh bandaid, oh bandaid,
Oh how I love theee
You stop all my bleeding
You stay stuck to me
Through rain and through sand
Through heat and through cold
Oh bandaid, oh bandaid
How I love you so.

Spring Aid

2007-03-22T09:56:00.000-04:00

With spring finally upon us I broke out my favorite pair of open toe sandals. You know the fashionable yet comfortable ones that every good girl has in her closet waiting to be freed from the shoe box after a long winter.

I slipped them on and giggled. My toes are finally free from the closed shoe bonds that held them so tightly together. No more socks or panty hose. Nothing but bare skin next to that soft leather. Or so my romantic side was convinced this morning. Reality set in this afternoon when I was feeling a sharp pain emminating from my big toe. That's when my right brain took over for the left one and recognized it was spring.

Time to break out the bandaids for the long blistery summer ahead.

Starving for Chocolate

2007-03-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

Today I sat in a 4 hour meeting. There was no agenda. There was no stated purpose. There was no direction. There was very little meaningful conversation. There was no listening. There were no decisions made.

I spent most of that time poking my feet in and out of my 40's style linen chunky heeled shoes that were hidden underneath the conference room table wondering how many other women were doing the same thing. Starving for chocolate.

The other shoe drops

2007-03-19T19:30:00.000-04:00

"um..excuse me." Suddenly aware that I was blocking the escalator, I moved forward and to the right to watch the nicely dressed woman behind me walk purposefully toward the entrance. Through the wall of glass I saw shoes neatly presented on plastic stands. I took a deep breadth and opened the tall steel doors.

Inside were more shoes then I had ever seen in one place in my entire life. I felt a grin creep over my face as I scanned to my right and to my left. In every direction I saw hundreds of shoes neatly displayed in wide rows. Just a single shoe on each shelf with the inventory below stacked one on top of the other. They looked like they were categorized by style. On the left wall moving toward the center of the store were high heals of all heights and styles. In the center were flats and boots and then moving from the center over to the right were flip flops, sandals, and running shoes ending in a row or two of mens shoes. Finally, in the back just beyond site, were the discount racks.

It was a shoe whore's wet dream come true. Xanadu at last ! All these shoes for the seeing, sampling, and taking! So many styles, textures, colors, and materials to choose from. I can't wait to try some of these pretties on!

But for some reason I wasn't moving any closer to the aisles. There I was, just standing there. My mouth upturned in the most foolish smile while paralyzed by the mere enormity of the scene. Then came the first question. Where do I begin?

That's when the first tinges of panic started to come over me. Then a wave of questions flooded over me. With the casuals or the discount rack? Or should I forgo reason and begin with the high end designer aisle? What if I find too many pairs I like? How much money do I have this month? Do I have enough in my checking account to cover overages? How many shoes can I fit in my car? Do I have enough time to see everything? What time does the store close? What if I don't find anything in my size? What if I don't find anything I like? What if I find too many shoes I like? How do I decide which ones to take home?

"maam? Can I help you?" The question was ringing in my ears. I turned in the direction of the chipper sales associate and said, "I don't think so. Thanks for asking though."

I was sweating. My heart was pounding and I felt really tired. As I turned to face the door the chipper sales woman says, "Didn't find anything?" My response, "Oh I did. I found that I need to shop at a smaller store."

Hanging by a shoe

2007-03-19T19:04:00.000-04:00

Stress is a real pain. In the neck, in the shoulders, in the lower back, need I go on? You get it. A good pair of shoes can get you through the day in comfort and style. Shopping for shoes can alleviate that stress. At least that's what I thought until my first foray into warehouse shoe shopping.

The mere memory of that day makes my right eye twitch. It was a nice cold windy day, a little gray outside. The perfect day for shopping. A friend of mine told me about this place about 5 miles north of me that had great deals on shoes. Funds were low at the time and I was feeling the itch of a good deal so I decided to drive up the road and check this new place out. I had never heard of it since I was used to buying my shoes second hand and at local boutiques. However I had high hopes.

It was located in a new shopping mall right off the freeway and parking was ample. This was a pleasant change since the boutiques I frequented were in metered parking zones. I was feeling good. I got out of the car and was immediately assaulted by the enormous sign on the second floor of the mall. My heart skipped a beat and I whispered"whoooooa." Cautiously I got on the escalator and headed up to the entrance. At the top of the escalator I froze.

My mouth dropped open and my heart started thumping like a small bird. "holy shit. It's awesome!"

To be continued........

Pounding the Pavement

2007-03-16T23:06:00.000-04:00

Pounding the pavement

with tan leather high heel shoes

walking is no fun

Lucky Shoe Day!

2007-03-15T15:28:00.000-04:00

Once in a while you have one of those days when everything seems to go right.
You wake up in the morning just before your alarm clock goes off and you feel well rested.
You get to open the new box of tea you have been waiting for weeks to open until your old tea has been used up so you can have a really really fresh cup.
You open your email box and you have a fedex tracking number notification email for that internet purchase you made weeks ago that is no longer on back order.
You have lunch with a colleague who complained all throughout lunch about their current work mates and then talks about the good old days when you were there.
You get a call about a great job opportunity and how anxious they are to meet with you.

Today was that day in these shoes. Savor the moments.

Shoes Are Important

2007-03-14T12:06:00.000-04:00

When I was 5 years old I was running in the sand underneath the boardwalk of my family's cabana. My cousins and I were playing hide and seek when I stepped on a chard of glass which cut my big toe. It was the last time I ran underneath the boardwalk...barefoot. This incident taught me a lesson - Shoes are important.

So the next day with a big band aid on my toe I went on a quest to find a pair of shoes to wear to the beach. My mom was astonished as well as dismayed by my choice. I had picked out a pair of gold strappy clear Lucite high heels from my mom's closet. My reasoning behind the choice was simple, if I was going to be like the rest of the kids on the beach I needed to look like I was barefoot, but I didn't want to REALLY be barefoot, so a clear shoe was essential and the shiny gold straps were pretty.

As it turned out, I didn't get to wear those to the beach that day, I ended up going with a pair of bright red jellies, upon my mom's recommendation. However, it marked the very first of the numerous days to follow that I would spend looking for just the right pair of shoes to wear.

Recently a friend of mine said to me, "You probably own enough shoes that you could wear a different pair every day and never wear the same pair twice for a whole year."

Hmmm.. that sounds like an interesting idea. Maybe I should try that.