Footwear Gallery: March 2006

Crocs! They are Everywhere

Recently, in the past month Crocs seem to have taken over my office. People have begun to wear these shoes to work. One woman has about 10 pairs that she bought all at once in the past 3 weeks. She says she has given up all her other shoes. She wears her dayglow colored crocs everyday and they do not match anything she wears. She can match up better but I think she takes great delight in NOT matching her shoes to clothes, just so those crocs stand out.

I do not have any Crocs but I think I will at least go and check them out and see what all the fuss is all about. I have found a great selection at the Dick's Sporting Goods store at the mall.

What the Croc fuss is all about:

they are soft and mold to your feet
they are lightweight weighing only 6 ounces
they have air vents so feet stay cool
they are bacteria and odor resistant
they can be cleaned with water or bleach

Click the picks below to see those styles.
There are many to choose from. These are just 2.

Movement in One Direction

I have never heard of any Japanese people who depart from the cultural norm in that country of removing shoes at the door. I am sure in a heavily-populated country as Japan, there must be a few eccentric natives who stomp around their homes in shoes and who are deemed freaks by their countymen. However, I have never read about any.

I have read of people in shoe-removing countries like Canada, India and Sweden who depart from the norm by wearing shoes in their homes. However, it seems to me that the cultural wind blows mainly in one direction. It seems to be more common for people in non-shoe removing cultures like the USA and Britain to adopt the practise of shoes-off, than for those in shoes-removing countries to abandon the practise.

Shoes in Need of Relaxation

What a day this was. I would almost think that the great shoe gods that are guiding my life from the dark recesses of shoe boxes were mad with me.

10:00am. Ring a ding ding! "This is dirty Fila's english teacher and this last 9 weeks dirty Fila has had some sort of attitude problem that has resulted in her getting a 69 for the last nine weeks. I know that is very abnormal for her as she is taking honors classes and has never had a grade like this before. I think you need to come in next week for a conference." I was livid. She has never had a grade like this before. EVER. dirty Fila has been in the gifted and talented or honors classes her entire school career. Even in kindergarden. I was floored. I made the appointment for next week. The teacher said it seems to be some sort of attitude problem.

12:30pm. Heavy footsteps approaching. Tinker, boss here. It is the end of the month and we need more production. We have 2 more days to hit out goals. We need a reduction of non segmenteds. We need more contacts, more follow up, more closures, more negotiations. Work this list, what was the result of working that last list? What is the progress on the targeted goal list? Please see my email on this client...and on and on and on. It is the end of the month, little worker bees! Chop, chop! Hop to it. Finishing shoes and I just looked at each other. She had heard the exact same thing 2 minutes before I did. We laughed with each other and pondered our purpose in the grand scheme of things. If we die tomorrow, the work would go on and on and on. We decided it would be a Michelob, Margarita kind of night.

3:30pm. Ring a ding ding! "Mom! I forgot to tell you that I have violin rehearsal after school today and I have to stay late. Can you pick me up at 5:15?" (I was going to work late to get to yesterday's emails and targeted lists!) Okay dirty Fila, I will be there. So much for working late.

All throughout the day: Dealing with new girl. Can we say just stop talking? I don't want to appear rude but all that talking she does is a distraction from work. Finishing shoes and I even turn our backs to her and still she talks. God help us!

6:00 pm. "Mommy I got a detention today." I shrieked. She has never, ever had a detention before. Why? She had on the wrong color sweatshirt with her uniform. She wears a school uniform and today she wore something out of uniform. She was asked to take it off and she refused. REFUSED! Mind you. The ipod nano is going to disappear. In addition to that, so will that favorite sweatshirt. Those 2 things will not be returned until grades improve. I am so put out with her. What is going on with her suddenly? My school angel is moving over to the dark side!

7:00 pm. At the mall, you know me. Window shopping for shoes. I spy something. A man with an odd chair. Free massage he says. I walk over and look at him. He looks okay. Strange men rubbing on you can be scary. I ask for his business card. He really is a professional masseuse. So I agree to the free massage. I thought it would be for about 5 minutes or so. 30 minutes later I was a new woman. Right there in the mall. It was almost a godly experience. I took his card with me. I feel I might have to call him in the future for some of his services.

That was a perfect end to a crazy day. It all starts again on tomorrow.

Just another thought: this blog reached a milestone as well. I just looked at the counter and over 100,000 visits have been made to my blog. That is amazing!

No shoes allowed in this house! - MotheringDotCommune Forums

B. I. G. Family gets 1.1 Million Dollars

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a $1.1 million payment to the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G because of errors in a civil wrongful death trial over accusations that he was murdered by rogue police officers.

The penalty was levied by a U.S. district judge who accused police of concealing evidence and declared a mistrial in the lawsuit, which was brought against the city last year.

The popular rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was shot dead at the age of 24 after leaving a Los Angeles music party in 1997.

His unsolved murder has been widely attributed to a feud between East and West Coast rap record labels which had also cost the life of another popular rapper, Tupac Shakur.

Relatives of Notorious B.I.G. claim the shooting was carried out by Los Angeles police officers moonlighting for one of the record companies.

The $1.1 million dollar penalty will go to pay legal costs incurred by the family of the rapper before the mistrial was declared in July.

The family has said it will go ahead with its wrongful death lawsuit and hopes to set a new trial date next month.

Modern Day Search for Cinderella

Shoe Koozie Anyone?

Shoe holders for beverages! Shoe koozies? Kind of cute and they come in a variety of colors. This one is definitely for the "stiletto-fetish" in you.

This one is called pinkadelic.

They are available at Liquid Shuz! Not too badly priced either. Only $19.99 .

This Week's NATIONAL ETIQUETTE AWARD goes to... Burma!

Myanmar- Wikipedia entry

Burma Daily

Myanmar- Lonely Planet

Free Burma

I hereby grant the National Etiquette Award to Burma (Myanmar), because it is customary in that country to remove shoes when entering homes.

There has been a terrible increase in the violence that has been going on in northern Burma this week. The military government is waging a war against the Karen people that amounts to genocide. Many of the Karen are Christians. It is a horrific situation.

Burma has been under military rule since 1990, when the military voided the elections and placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest. The military junta maintains its hold on power through torture, murder and forced labour. It is awful to think of a government treating its people this way. However, it announced this week that it intended to move towards 'democracy'.

Opinions vary as to whether it is morally right to visit the country.

Burma is a country in which Christians are persecuted. For more information on the persecution of Christians, visit:

Barnabas Fund

Open Doors International

Entertaining Forum- Shoes Off

Entertaining Forum- Shoes Off

An old discussion, but a very fierce one!

Design Your Life- Shoes Off, Please

Stewardship

I believe there is an issue of stewardship here.

All that we have is a gift from God. We may enjoy our posessions, but we do need to give account to the Lord of how we have used them.

Carpet cleaning services are necessary to keep homes really clean, but they are very expensive. Replacing carpets costs even more. Having a shoes-off policy considerably reduces the need for maintaining carpets and other kinds of flooring. Therefore, as stewards of God's gifts, I would suggest that Christians ought to strongly consider the benefits of having a shoes-off policy in their homes.

Clean homes can also be more effectively used in the service of the Kingdom. Homes can be put to so many uses; entertaining visiting speakers, providing shelter for those who need it, hosting fellowship meetings (I think a good case can be made for holding all assembly meetings in homes) and Church lunches.

Sport Fusion Shoes

This weekend I was good! I only bought one pair of shoes. These are my latest pair.

They are by SKECHERS and they are the "sport fusion tennis shoes." The model is Bikers Propel. Sport fusion? Exactly what does that mean? I wonder if it is anything like a cross trainer. I have had some cross trainers and they have been more like athletic shoes. These seem to be sporty than athletic. They say "bikers." I wonder if they are for biking? They seem to fit very well. The elastic band makes it fit really snug. I guess(hope) that that will become a little more relaxed in time.

Why did I buy them? Did I need them? No! They were pretty. Pretty colors and a style I have not had before equates to pull out the plastic and buy, buy buy! So that is what I did. They were actually on sale for about $30.00. On the website they are full price still. Skechers has an entire catagory of sport fusion shoes. There are quite a few styles, but these are the ones I like the best. They all seem to be in the $50 or so range. Not bad.

The Red Stiletto Car!

Wow! What an amazing car! You know I want one! I first heard about this on CAR TALK. I listen to Car Talk on some saturdays on NPR. Click and Clack! They are funny. This shoe car was designed by David Crow. It took him about four years to complete it. Fiberglass and hand rubbed paint! Waaaay Cool!

Living with a Chinese Guy

In my second year at university I shared an apartment with my best friend, Jason, and a Chinese student.

He went by the English name of John. All of the Chinese students had English names. He was a nice chap. Most of the time I got on with him alright. He used to leave the kitchen in a mess some times (so did Jason, occasionally) and I used to get really irritated when he spoke on his mobile phone at 2.00 a.m. or when he had his Chinese friends visit late at night. I came to the conclusion that at 2.00 a.m., Chinese is a repulsive language. Somebody melted the kettle lead on the hobb one time. I ma not sure if that was John or Jason.

Back then, I had not yet come to my conviction about shoes-off in homes. I thought removing shoes was a good idea, but I was quite happy to wear them in the flat and at home. I had not yet broken the habit. I did notice that John always wore slippers (or they might have been described as flip flops) in the flat. I also noticed that when his Chinese friend visited, he changed into similar slippers or flip flops. I did occasionally go in his room with my shoes on. He expressed no objection to my doing this. I hope he did not mind. These days, I would be far less tolerant than he was.

I did share my faith with him once or twice. I am not sure how much he understood. He even watched part of the 'Left Behind' movie that Jason and I had borrowed (I do not endorse the film or the book). Apparently one of the actors was famous in China.

John was very supportive of the Chinese government and seemed to believe all their propoganda, for instance, he claimed that most people in Taiwan wanted to live in China.

I did not keep in touch with him. I have no idea what he is doing now.

Schutz Shoes: Busy Shoes

Now I must say that I do not really care for any of these shoes. They are all by Schutz but they are just so busy. The only thing you can wear with them are solids. They have lots of other shoes of course that are not so busy. These are just not so pretty. Some are on sale for about $65. The original cost was about $100 or so. They are part of the Schutz Women Collection.

Thie Week's NATIONAL ETIQUETTE AWARD goes to...Belarus!

Belarus Page in Wikipedia

World Factbook: Belarus

WWW Belarus

The Virtual Guide to Belarus

I hereby grant the National Etiquette Award to Belarus, because it is the custom in that country to remove shoes when entering homes.

Informed readers will realise that my choice of Belarus was inspired by this weekend's election.

It is a great disappointment that president Lukashenko has been re-elected into office with a landslide majority. It is higly likely that the result was rigged. Though there are demonstrations against the result and the opposition leader has refused to recognise it, there does not seem to be the energy of the Orange Revolution that occurred in Ukraine just yet.

Lukashenko is arguably the last dictator of Europe. He has domminated the country and prevented democracy for years. Soviet totalitarianism is alive and well in Belarus.

Change of Attitude

I believe my coming to a dogmatic postition on removing shoes in homes has given me a more positive outlook on life.

I used to be a bit prejudiced towards other cultures. I was a bit Xenophobic. I was also a little uncomfortable with the idea of interracial and even international marriage.

However, when I decided that shoes-off in homes is the ideal way forward, I became more open and accepting of other cultures. I began to like the idea of cultural diversity. I stopped feeling so hostile to ethnic mixing and even started to like the idea of travel.

Dumb Advert

I saw a television advert for vacuum cleaners. It showed a family dancing about their house with a vacuum cleaner.

The excitable voice-over said that this vacuum cleaner would keep the carpet really, really clean.

If the family in the advert wanted to keep their carpet really clean, they might like to stop dancing about their house with their shoes on. That would be a good start.

Encouraging Answer

I saw something in the newspaper to cheer me up today.

A correspondent had written to the Times' etiquette column. This person was from Seattle and was asking about the increasing popularity of the shoes-off rule. The correspondent described it as a 'fad' and felt it was 'abhorrent'.

The columinist did not think that the practise was abhorrent and urged the propriety of complying with such an expectation. He said the shoes-off policy was becoming increasingly popular in London as Seattle.

I think that the shoes-off rule is probably more popular in Seattle than London, however I have read internet rumours that suggest that it has gained popularity in London. I suspect this is because of the international character of the city, as well as because of its dirty streets. This is a great encouragment to me.

Irish Shoes

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I started the day with my new Celtic Woman CD. I was saving it for today. I had to go on a business trip for work today so, I was able to listen to the entire disc on the way to where I was going. I had seen the Celtic Woman perform on PBS several months ago and I was blown away. They were fab! The CD was great. They did 2 of songs that were also on my Lord of the Dance CD. You know how I love all things celtic! These 2 cd's are great.

Thinking of doing some Irish dancing tonight? Make sure you have the correct shoes. All available at Corrs Irish Shoes.

James Roy Highland Ghillie: $40

Fully-padded in-sock, and extra double padding

under the ball of the foot area. It has a soft and

durable leather upper leather upper and a full black

suede sole.

Irish Hard Shoes: $155

The 'Champion' Split-Sole Hard Shoe is for dancers

of high proficiency and is an advanced dancers

shoe. Latex padding throughout, adjustable straps,

heel counter to help protect against blisters,

breathable inside lining, and the softest, most

flexible, yet durable, leather.

Irish Soft Shoes: Split Sole Ghillie: $55

Performance ghillie has a gloss version black leather

upper and comes complete with double padding at

the ball of the foot, padded in-socks for extra

comfort, and elasticized side loops at the ankle.

Irish Dance Sneakers : $135

Soft and flexible upper and split-sole design of a

dance sneaker with elements of its hard shoes.

Michael Flatley and Celtic Tiger

Michael Flatley's Shoes!

Irish Drinking Toast

When we drink, we get drunk.
When we get drunk, we fall asleep.
When we fall asleep, we commit no sin.
When we commit no sin, we go to heaven.
So, let's all get drunk, and go to heaven!

Irish Blessing

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer
you.

Irish Curse

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

I Would be Thrilled

I would be quite delighted if I saw a house in Worcester which had a 'Please remove your shoes' sign on its door.

Personally, I think this is not the most polite way to ensure shoes-off, but I would still be very pleased to see a house with such a sign. I would feel that there was somebody of like-mind in this desolate city of Worcester (the English version, not the one in the Massachusetts).

I think if I saw a house with such a sign, I would probably drop a letter of appreciation through their letter-box; just to encourage them in their courageous stand.

How to Care for your Oriental Carpet

Childcare Forum: 'Illness and Remove Shoes Policy'

Flavor of Love: Hoopz and Flavor Flav

Flavor of Love: Flavor Flav and Hoopz

Sexy Hoopz pictures

Flavor of Love 2

Flavor Flav is having a baby! See article below! Who IS pregnant with Flav's baby?????

Nicole Deannae Alexander was born in Detroit, Michigan on July 12, 1983 to an Italian American mother and African American father.

Hoopz pictures!

Hoopz has been arrested for assaulting a police officer! Read more about it below!

I have never watched this show at all until yesterday. I was at my mom's house and dirty fila turned it on. Can we say that Flavor is the ugliest man alive? It was the season finale of the show and it was down to three woman when this cat fight on video was caught. Spitting! The lowest of the low. New York was a screaming banshee and so tacky. She and Pumpkin (the blonde who did the spitting) are in the same category--skank! In the end he choose Hoopz. She is a very pretty girl. Whether that is going to be a real relationship with marriage in the future? Who knows? I thought he had an engagement ring in those little boxes. I was expecting him to give Hoopz a ring. Instead it was a grill! A grill for her teeth! Man is that ghetto. Upper and bottom and she put them in on the spot. Way too ghetto for me.

This is the cat fight between Pumpkin and New York. It was something!

The Winner

Her site can be found here: Darling Nikki.
There has been an update to the site. The one above is her first site. This one is her newest one where she can be booked for celebrity bookings and appearances. Hoopzonline.com

I hear that since the show she has not returned a single call to Flavor Flav.

That love sure was short lived. I found out thru Wayne that there is another casting call out for women in the Atlanta area for Flavor of Love 2 . He is still looking for love. If you think you can put up with Flavor Flav, be sure to get in line for casting of the next show.

Casting call for Flavor of Love 2.

Here's another!

Flavor Flav on the Tom Joyner Show talking about him and Hoopz no longer being together. Listen to his interview here: Flavor Flav and Hoopz No Longer Together.

Hoopz has been arrested. Her 15 minutes of fame have maybe been stretched to 25 minutes!

Former Flavor of Love star Hoopz was arrested on Tuesday (June 13) for assaulting a police officer. According to reports, the reality star was jailed for allegedly attacking a police officer outside of her Dearborn, Michigan home. The incident happened after police were called to her residence to investigate a noise complaint filed by one of her neighbors.

Hoopz (real name Nichole Alexander) asserts the officers took her into custody after voicing complaints that neighbors were harassing her. "He walked up, took the door, opened the door back up. Grabbed me by me neck and I just remember flying down these steps, " said Hoopz in a statement. "While I 'm falling, I gripped on to him and we fall. Now we wrestling and two more cop guys come and jump on me."

The Detroit native claims the quarrel left her bruised. Hoopz has been the subject of controversy in recent months after winning VH1's Flavor of Love. Although Flavor Flav picked her as the winner of last season's show, the pair announced shortly thereafter that they are no longer romantically involved and will remain just friends.

Why is Flavor Flav liked so much? Read this article and see why he tends to be so endearing. It has to be an "in person" thing because there is nothing remotely attractive about him. Nothing that would make me want to even think about going on a date!

Now this next clip is Classic. New York and the Girls. What can I say. They are embarrassing!

~~~~~

Flavor Flav's 7th Child!

Flavor Flav, who's dating "Flavor of Love" winner Deelishis, is expecting a child — his seventh — with another woman, his manager, Clifton Johnson, confirmed Thursday.

When things didn't work out with Nicole "Hoopz" Alexander, who won the first season of his hit VH1 reality show, Flav resumed an "on and off" relationship with the baby-to-be's mother — "hence, the conception," Johnson said. The baby is due in early January, he said.

Johnson would not reveal the mother's identity.

Deelishis (real name London Charles), whom Flav chose in the recent second-season finale of "Flavor of Love," is reportedly standing by her man.

"She understands that this is definitely something prior to her involvement on the show and her involvement with Flav, and she says she supports him regardless," Johnson said.

Flavor Flav (real name William Drayton Jr.), 47, founded the hip-hop group Public Enemy in the `80s. He found fame anew in 2004 on the third season of VH1's "The Surreal Life." He has since starred in the network's "Strange Love" and "Flavor of Love."

This Week's NATIONAL ETIQUETTE AWARD goes to... Serbia!

Government of Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro: World Factbook

National Tourism Organization of Serbia

Free Serbia Net

The Royal Family of Serbia and Montenegro

I hereby grant the National Etiquette Award to Serbia and Montenegro, as it is customary in that country to remvoe shoes when entering homes.

I heard the news of Serbia's former preseident, Slobodan Milosevic's death on Sunday night. How did he die? It could be that the question will spark an international controversy, now that Russia is questioning the autopsy of Milosevic's body.

The trial of Milosevic for war crimes had been going on for years. It was such an incredibly lengthy process. Would he have been convicted eventually? Who knows. It is a great shame for justice that the process was interrupted by his death. God will judge him regardless.

There are many Evangelical Christians in Serbia, however, as with most places, they are weak and divided.

Carpet Cleaning Guide

How To Take A Shower

This email was cuirculating around the office yesterday. Raises some good points! Funny!

How To Take A Shower

Like a Woman:

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.
Walk to bathroom wearing long dressing gown. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas. Look at your womanly physique in the mirror - make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.
Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone. Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.
Wash your hair ! again to make sure it's clean.
Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner enhanced.
Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.
Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.
Rinse conditioner off hair.
Shave armpits and legs.
Turn off shower. Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower. Spray mold spots with Tilex.
Get out of shower. Dry with towel the size of a small country. Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.
Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head. If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Like a Man:

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.
Walk naked to the bathroom. If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the 'woo-hoo' sound.
Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your ass.
Get in the shower. Wash your face. Wash your armpits.
Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.
Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.
Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.
Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.
Wash your hair. Make a Shampoo Mohawk. Pee.
Rinse off and get out of shower.
Partially dry off. Fail to notice water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.
Admire wiener size in mirror again.
Leave shower curtain ! open, wet mat on floor, light and fan on.
Return to bedroom with towel around waist. If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the 'woo-hoo' sound again.
Throw wet towel on bed.

This Week's NATIONAL ETIQUETTE AWARD goes to... China!

China (PRC) page in Wikipedia

China Internet Information Centre

China Today

World Factbook: China

I hereby grant the National Etiquette Award to China, as it is customary to remove shoes when entering homes in that country.

This one was a bit obvious, as my parents are currently on holiday in China. I had some great discussion with my fellow bloggers about the future of China on my other blog recently.

China is the country that everybody is talking about at the moment. Its economy is doing very well. Some people think this will continue and that China will come to domminate the global economy. Personally, I am rather sceptical about this. I think the idea of China outgrowing the USA is a Left-wing fantasy.

The Church in China is growing, but it suffers fierce persecution. For more information about the persecuted Church worldwide visit:

Barnabas Fund

Open Doors International

Discussion: "How do I get people to take off their shoes when they come in my house!"

Shocked Shoes!

Yanni arrested for domestic violence!

Shocked I am! Yanni is my idol (2nd after MC Hammer). Yanni has been charged with domestic violence against his girlfriend. I got to see him live a few years ago and he was so good.

That long hair.

Those tight black leather pants.

Be still my heart! He is just a little tainted now in my eyes. How could he mess up so! I have every CD he has ever put out.

Yanni Mugshot

The musician Yanni was arrested at his home after an alleged domestic dispute with his girlfriend, authorities said.

Yanni, whose legal name is John Yanni Christopher, was arrested early Friday and faces a domestic battery charge, according to a police report.

The Greek-born singer-pianist denied the allegations.

Yanni asked his girlfriend, Silvia Barthes, to leave his beachfront home in Manalapan on Thursday night, the police report said. Barthes, 33, told police she attempted to pack her clothing but the 51-year-old musician threw it on the ground.

She told officers he then grabbed her arms and shook her, throwing her on the bed, and jumped on top of her, according to the report.

Yanni told police Barthes kicked him, and he believed he injured his finger during the incident, the report said.

No one answered a call to a telephone listing for a John Christopher in Manalapan late Monday. But the musician said in a statement he was innocent.

"These allegations are cruel, false, without merit and baseless," said the statement released by his manager, Danny O'Donovan. "At a more appropriate time and place, I hope and pray I will have an opportunity to address my fans and colleagues all over the world."

Canana.com

These were the last two Yanni Cd's I purchased. They are great!

Footwear Gallery