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My view on fashion is convoluted because it is ironically so simple: who gives a flying flip about what gender it is supposed to be for if its what you want to wear? I wear leggings because they are warm and comfortable compared to sweatpants or long johns. And I think it is great that guys are wearing high heels because they were originally men's fashions. I don't care that women wear them now, but I would love to see it go back to where it is common place for men to also wear them. I really cannot define it, but I just like seeing outfits that are well thought out and coordinate well. I can't define it, but I know when I see it.

Ah, like the belly button piercing, for example. It seems that there was some video back in the 80s, during the MTV times, whose popularity instantly made that particular piercing a female-only thing forever. To put forth an unpopular opinion, which seems to be a thing on social media at the moment, so I'll bring it here: We like to say heels were invented by men for men, and while that's technically true, nobody was wearing what I consider "real" heels until the 1950s. Even King Louis XIV, whom many people like to look to for inspiration, did not wear "real" heels. At least not in that famous painting. The Persian cavalry did not wear "real" heels, they were for utility. The point is twofold: Firstly, what we are talking about centuries ago is fundamentally a different animal than what we have today, and second, it kind of doesn't matter anyway, because they are firmly entrenched in the worldwide psyche as being feminine, and it's going to be damn near impossible to get them back. There is one hope, though. Long hair and earrings. We did get those back from the girls, so maybe high heels are simply unlikely, rather than impossible.

My podiatrist advise me to wear at least 2.5 inch heels to deal with my extreme high arches. I go to a nail salon where it is more of a coop, where each nail tech has their own clients and manicure stations, but share space and pedicure stations. Very, very hard to get in for none-regulars. And I get great leg and foot massage, too. I wear open toes throught the year. Not much this month. I too let my nail tech do dealers choice, bt many times I have a design in my head when I come in. After the pedicure I get my manicure. I have damaged figernails so I get acrylic nails with gel color. Ran errands this morning, 4 random compliments on them. Men can get colored fingernails. PS. My podriatrst loves my nail color.

If you look at King Charles II’s coronation portrait he’s wearing real heels - they look to be about four inches. And at 6’1” he didn’t need the extra height. And the earlier Persian cavalrymen, while they were not wearing towering heels - about 2 to 2.5” - they looked like what we would say today were very feminine ankle boots. And bear in mind that when heels were in vogue for men, men were also wearing silk stockings, lace and bright colours, They all went together. I think it was real enough by our standards

I'd love to see a return to that too, but once something has become "feminine" it seems to be forever out of bounds to all but a very small percentage of men.

And the beauty of boats is that if your neighbours are noisy, nosy or you take a dislike to them, or even if you just want a different view out of your galley window, you just fire up the engine, let go fore and aft, take the tiller and go. Against, that, of course, is that boats do not appreciate in value ...

That is the beauty of houses. Twenty years ago people bought them to actually live in but now houses are how average, everyday people make an investment and cash in on that equity. Its pretty easy to do and no huge risk. Add in the need for towns to have tax revenue and there is a LOT of reluctance to let the housing market fall. Not that it can't, but it is the last thing they want. With the stock market averaging 7% per year, and the housing market averaging 17% pe year, it is easy to do the math. Myself, I love fixer-uppers.

3.8 quake is mild at best, most here will not even notice that. I've been throught several 6+ and two 7+ quakes, and many many 4's and 5's. I knew about the termites when I purchase it. When I bought it, it had no working windows either. It a tear-me-down, but it has triple in price in about 10 years.

My block heels tend to be a bit smaller than that, with one exception. I know I mentioned it somewhere else, I just can't think where--probably on my personal thread, because I remember posting a picture of my "motorcycle" boots with heels that are 2 inches broad, super huge for me. I am still debating about whether I want to keep those boots or not. Despite their hugeness, the heel caps are wearing out at an alarming rate, and I'm going to have to spend money on them if I want to keep them. I don't hate them, but had I known just exactly how big the heels were, I don't think I would have bought them in the first place. 1 1/4" in heel width seems to be pretty average for block heels in the rest of my collection. In addition to having to pay money to get the heel caps replaced, I'm afraid that they will lose the near perfect sound that they currently have. I know that Vibram or some other similar material is far more durable, but I also know that the boots will lose their "tock, tock" sound. Seems silly, but it's right up there on the list of important features for me.

After four days in a row of practice, I believe I am back to normal. The super cold weather has left us, at least for now, and I can stand to walk outside again. It may be that I will feel like taking some pictures again soon. It's kind of too bad I missed the last couple of weeks. I wore knee high boots to church two weeks in a row!

Here is the outfit from 2 weeks ago, and yes it was f'ing cold !