mlroseplant

It's funny about that, isn't it? In the past several years, I have been making notes about the idiosyncrasies of my many shoes. One of the notes says, "Not a 3 miler." It took me three tries before I realized that a 2 mile walk in these particular sandals was very pleasant, but each time I tried to go 3 miles, the silly things ate holes in the tops of my feet. The very same shoes are just fine for standing 5 hours at the farmer's market hawking egg rolls, but for some reason, there's just something about that third mile.

It doesn't take much in this day and age for someone to ask, "Why are you so dressed up?" We have always been headed toward the sloppy, but I think the pandemic accelerated the process. A button down shirt and pants that are not jeans will do the trick. The bar is pretty low. Of course, because I habitually wear heels, I'll always be singled out. I just feel like I can't wear heels, no matter how casual, and otherwise dress like I just got ripping down a plaster ceiling. So maybe the whole thing does keep me better than I really am. Pivoting back to the true original subject, I can't really come up with more things that are easier to do in heels, but I can come up with one thing that I thought should be way easier in heels, and it just isn't so. With the prevalence of online shopping, I'm sure most if not all of you have run into those plastic air pillows they often use to pack items for shipping. I think it's a great invention, WAY better than styrofoam packing peanuts, but you have to pop all of those bags in order to dispose of them in a reasonable volume of space. I figured stiletto heels would be the perfect tool for this. Uh, no. Does not work at all. If the pillows were blown up really hard, they might work, but blown up as intended, stilettos do not cover enough area to actually burst the bags. Perhaps if you put some sort of sharp object on the end of the heel it might just pierce the plastic, but then you'd lose the satisfying BAM! It's an idea that should work, but doesn't work all that well.

I took a chance, with the volume set low, and looked up the Vixen video. Now that I hear it again, I kind of vaguely remember it. Once removed from the genre, it's not a terrible song. It has an actual tune. It's a bit cheesy (the modulation on the last chorus really solidifies the cheesiness factor), but to me it's an ok pop song, you just have to think of it as a pop song. There was no pitch correction and no quantizing back then, so most of that must have been actual musicians performing an actual song that didn't have 12 writers and 23 producers. You are so right about the heel shape(s) being instantly recognizable. It reminds me of how my ex-wife used to regard the shoes of the 80s with disdain as being "super dated" looking. With many styles, particularly the lower heeled ones, I can't really argue with her. I am looking at my own collection, and wonder how many shoes look a little long in the tooth.

I was trying to think of anything that I can do more easily in heels besides knead bread dough, which these days I rarely do anyhow. Do I sing better in heels? I think I do, but it's probably all illusion, and there's no real way to test it. I can't think of another thing that is actually easier to do in heels. I'm trying to think through my everyday routine, and if I'm honest, there's nothing that heels don't make harder, if only incrementally. Then it hit me. It's not something one would normally think of as being a practical use, but if I didn't have heels, I probably would not exercise nearly as much as I do. Y'all know that I like to pound the pavement in heels on the regular, and I have just thought to myself that I would probably be more tempted to sit here in front of this computer and talk about heels, rather than going out and walking in them. As an ancillary to that, I no doubt take way better care of my feet and ankles than I would if I didn't wear heels.

I do the same exact thing when making bread, for the same reason.

Sometimes I forget that there is often a big difference between what immediately springs to my mind when somebody says the words "high heels," and what most everybody else thinks. Once I actually watched the video, what I found impressive is not that they're high heels (because they just aren't), but the fact that she would attempt all these climbs in such flimsy sandals of any heel height. Having worn and broken a lot of sandals over the last decade, that would be one of the last styles I'd choose under those conditions.

I have not seen a "convertible" high heel that I find attractive, and to be honest, why would I have wasted the last 12 years training just so I can wimp out and change to flats? I do admit to having brought backup shoes with me on a number of occasions, but I've never actually had to use them! Well, except for that one time, when I experienced catastrophic shoe failure. Also, I don't understand how the shanks work in these convertible heels. They couldn't be terribly durable.

I don't necessarily avoid soft ground entirely, but if it's not too inconvenient, I will definitely take a few more steps to remain on hard surfaces.

I have barely walked 2190 miles in heels in my entire life on relatively flat pavement, much less in mountainous terrain. I like to think that my extensive walking in heels has got me where I am today, but I am also realistic. Also, again from experience, you'd have to probably have 10 pairs of broken-in heels to complete that trip. And that's if you're lucky.

I have continued to wear pumps this week, only now I have an actual picture! My son and I went to the mall yesterday to buy Mama a new computer. It's the first time I'd been shopping at a mall in well over a year, I bet it's been more like two years. I managed my Steve Madden Daisies reasonably well, and even got a compliment from a stranger! They are the mauve colored ones I introduced a while back, and for some reason, they do not look it in this picture. I wore the same pants and shoes Sunday to church, but a different shirt. These Maddens are becoming quite comfy to wear for longer periods of time, despite the fact that they're not leather. They're almost giving the Vince Camutos a run for their money. The other thing of note is how much my feet don't hurt. Some of you may recall my story about going to the mall in my brand new boots 12 years ago, and nearly not making it back to the car because of the pain. I didn't think about it while I was there, but it's the same mall, we went to the same store, I had higher shoes this time, and it didn't even occur to me that I might get sore feet.

Welcome to the both of you @Goose and @CrushedVamp. It's funny that this subject should come up at this time, because I was just recounting my first time in heels not very long ago. Now, 12 years later, it's a very ordinary part of my life, but for some reason it never gets boring. I wear heels every day to some extent or other. I can't remember the last time that I thought to myself, "I don't really feel like wearing heels today."

It has been 10 years at least since I started shaving my legs. I have been shaving the tops of my feet since I was a teenager. No one has ever mentioned a thing about it except for my wife. If someone ever does mention it, I have the perfect comeback prepared. "Because hairy legs with Daisy Dukes look terrible!" Which is simultaneously the whole truth and kind of a smartass answer. My construction buddies would appreciate it.

I have actually worn pumps 5/7 days this week, and in each case, I wore them with slightly flared pants, which seems to be back in style again. Probably more radical flares are actually in style, but mine are recycled from the last time. Most of my stuff is super skinny, and I have adopted that style for the last 10 years to the point that my flared pants, of which I have only two pair left, are practically New Old Stock because they've been worn so rarely. I get by with skinny jeans better than most guys because I'm pretty small, but it is nice to have a little variety now that I've allowed myself. I will say that it is much easier to get flared pants on and off that it is skinny jeans, and pointy-toed pumps do go rather well with flared pants. One has to be careful with round toes and flared pants because under the wrong circumstances, it looks like you have no feet. I do not have my flared pants hemmed super long, They're an inch to an inch and a half off the floor. Certainly not the style of the early 2000s, where the ideal was to show just a tease of heel between the floor and hem. You could barely see little pins sticking out, leaving the gazer wondering whether the wearer had mere kitten heels or proper stilettos. In some ways it was alluring, and in others it was frustrating. Not so with the latest iteration of flowing legged pants. I have been mainly wearing Steve Madden single sole pumps this week, but I did break out the much neglected Nine West Plantera platforms also. My favorite pumps, from a fit standpoint anyway, are my Vince Camuto Carra stacked heel pumps. They are very pointy-toed, so they work well with flared pants. They are single sole with a slim, tapered heel about 5/8" wide in plain black leather. They are remarkably tall at 4 3/8". I say remarkably because when you glance at them, they don't look all that tall. It can take you by surprise when you put them on. They are pretty steep compared to what their styling would suggest. If you scroll back to my October 2nd post, you can see pictures of them. I haven't taken any new photographs since then. The crazy thing about these pumps is that they fit. When I used to see women who wore pumps every day, I think this is how they must have fit. Not tight in the toes, and yet I don't walk out of them with every step. It's like I can just slip them on and go. Or I could, were they 3/4" lower. I still have to warm up in them before I step out of the house. What I'm saying is, unlike most of my other pumps, I do not have to wait for my toes to rearrange themselves inside of the shoes for a few minutes after I put them on. And, they're the only single sole pumps I own that I've actually walked in for exercise. I may be wrong about this, but I believe they're the only pumps that I've worn for a full day all at once. Unfortunately, they are beginning to suffer from that flaky deterioration that so many non-leather linings exhibit. It's not that bad yet, but eventually I suppose they will become unwearable. I plan on wearing pumps again to church today, we'll see what I end up wearing. In the meantime, it's going to be clogs for my morning constitutional. I still prefer shoes that do not touch the back of my heel.

We have some weather in my locale, I was supposed to work today (yes, on Saturday), but the whole job is shut down. I needed to move my car off of the street, and I slipped into the heels that were closest, walked outside, and nearly fell on my backside. Freezing rain is so much fun! Walked back inside, got my flat boots to move my car, and still am fortunate to have remained upright. Advice to first timers: Do not walk on ice in heels. In fact, do not walk on ice unless it's absolutely necessary!

I can remember my one trip to Thailand, which by many metrics was a waste of time, but that's another story for another day. It just occurred to me that they have a sort of narrowboat in Thailand as well, but I don't recall thinking they actually needed to be narrow. I can just remember the drivetrains being about as simple as you can get, with whatever engine tipped backward at about a 10º angle, and there being a very long, direct-drive shaft with a propeller on the end of it. No gears, no clutch, no nothin'. Just a long shaft sticking out the side of the engine. Somewhere, on some drive, I've got pictures, but they predate the earliest pictures on my phone.