universal

i believe i have mentioned it here and here in a round about way ... but i think its time to address it more directly.

i think i am a bit behind the curve. the universal shoe curve to be specific. As a kid, adolescent, and even a young adult i didn't really partake in what has become evident to me... THE WEARING OF CHUCK TAYLORS.



Now, i know you may be thinking, "what is she ranting about now, everyone knows that chucks are aren't a new thing!" and this is true. But i was realizing this morning as i was on my hands and knees digging for my left chocolate brown chucks in the back of my closet that i now own more than one pair of this universal shoe. To be exact - I have 3 pairs ... which yes is a bit much, but if you know me at all you know that i tend to by multiples of things that i like. My very first pair of chucks were the typical and safe black and white. i bought them, not when i was 12 or 17 or even 20. i think i was actually 21! Did you get that folks, i was of legal drinking age before i owned my first pair of chucks. We had an awkward relationship, as most first relationships are, and it didn't last long for us. i wore them on occasion, they really hurt my feet all the time (i have sensitive or wimpy feet one might say), and i kept them in the back of my closet until i packed my boxes and bags for DC. they were given to a better home at that time. i was sad that it didn't work out between us ... everyone else seemed to like get along with them - why didn't i? i gave the shoe another chance when i came across a $10 HOT PINK pair in Marshal's on a visit to SoCal a year or two ago. we have been friends ever since.



Well now that i am safely and securely in my MID-TWENTIES, i apparently am all about the chucks these days ... but let me explain. it is not that i haven't liked chucks the whole time, i just felt like i wasn't the type of girl or person that could wear them. they were reserved for those cool alt-kids, which funny enough i was friends with. i just never felt like they fit my personality or "image" (can you believe i just used that word in reference to my teenage self? ridiculous, i know.) i grew up wearing vans mostly and then branched out into more girly shoes as i got older.

now that i am a graduate student i am all about the comfortable but still fun shoe to walk around campus in. it wasn't that i specifically sought out the chuck to be my shoe of choice per-se, it was more of a serendipitous event. Already having my hot pink pair i was desirous of a more versatile color to wear on a more regular basis. i really wanted a brown pair of the prison issue vans but could never find them in my size. Then, a few weeks ago, I was browsing the Home Goods/Marshal's store here in Eugene and what do you know ... brown converse chuck taylors in my size for ... get this ... $19.99. At that price, who can only get one pair?! I promptly bought a turquoise pair as well.

i bother to blog all this now because my search this morning prompted some thoughts on the whole image thing i had when i was younger. i was thinking ... what does this mean that i now where chucks as an adult but never thought i could or should as a kid? it dawned on me that i had never really felt like i had an image or a fashionable projection of who i was and what i was all about. Sometimes it bothered me and sometimes i liked it ... i felt more versatile. But now i feel like its just me. i don't have a specific look or defined style that projects my image ... at least i don't think i do. i don't really feel like a fashion style could really portray the many facets to my personality. i like not being pegged or compartmentalized by my wardrobe on what i might say or think or what music, movies, or art, i might like.

What is so interesting about chucks is the wide variety of people that wear them. Old, young, crazy, mellow ... every color and race ... tons of people wear them, or should I say ROCK THEM. Even indie hipsters wear them and they don't like to wear anything that other people wear. it just goes to show how universal they are. Some may say that is a bad thing ... but i think its great. i like that so many different people with different personalities, beliefs, views, and dreams all find the design so compelling. Really, its a design and marketing wonder.

Anyway ... the only other thing i have to say about chucks is this:

In my semi-extensive world traveling (ok, mostly to Europe) i have found three things present practically everywhere -

Coca-Cola
McDonald's
CHUCK TAYLORS

* Hey top three world dominating brands - just so you know - The Body Shop and Starbucks are on your tail.

retail therapy

My horoscope for today:

"Building on what you already started sounds more attractive to you than beginning anew. Beautiful Venus enters your 2nd House of Possessions to remind you of the pleasures you crave. But be cautious about putting yourself in a financially precarious position as you seek emotional satisfaction through the material world. Ultimately, stability is more important than fleeting gratification."

This weekend I was in a bad mood and was a little upset in general ... never mind that. The point is how I approached these feelings: I went shopping ... and it made me feel better. And then the next day I went and returned the shoes I bought the night before.

yes we can

I just found this on my friends Facebook page ... I am totally in love ...

PEACE ... LOVE ... and stamps are now 41 cents

Went to the downtown Post Office in Eugene yesterday. The line moved at a decent pace. Four clerks were helping customers ... all four had long hair ... only one was a woman and her hair wasn't the longest in the quartet.

Middle-aged Eugene hippies that ended up with real jobs ... workin for the MAN even. I wonder how long each has worked for the US Postal Service.