Just ‘Cause you Can—Doesn’t Mean you Should

March 29, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Unless you are doing an Avant Guade school project, you are a couture designer making a statement or a contestant on Project Runway some things should just be left as ideas, not actually viable products for consumption.  I know this gets into a whole debate over function verse fashion, and art is highly subjective. And I’m fan of repurposing resources, but sometimes the effort doesn’t seem worth the outcome.  For example a meat dress, yes it happened, but really why.

Because I love shoes, and this is well known by many, I get sent all types of shoes pictures and factoids, which I love. This week I informed about shoes made to simulate the look of meteorites. Now this sounds really cool, but honestly they are so ugly the novelty was not worth the effort involved to create them. Pockmarked pumice pumps (I like alliterations) judge for your self, I included a photo. And this is a flattering picture.

I have heard of shoes made from discarded furniture- good on them for the recycling aspect, interesting yes, pretty no.

There is a Taiwanese hair stylist who uses the cut hair from her salon to make shoes; they are not ugly surprisingly, but still odd. Not my cup of tea.

I have seen shoes made of old circuit boards, Legos and aluminum cars, creative yes, but still not pretty.

But the winner of ‘yes you can, but why’—drum roll please– pumps made from elephant dung. Yes, you read that correctly, elephant dung.

My shoe fanaticism has not evolved to the point where I will ever think this is a good idea. Pretty, comfortable and/ or functional, these are the qualities I want from my shoes, weird, ugly and gross, I’ll pass. Possibly I lack the sophistication to appreciate high art, I will learn to live with my shortcomings.

Laura

 

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It’s All Rock & Rock

March 22, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Live music, live comedy, actually any live performance is sooo much better than passively sitting on the couch and watching.

Quick example, watching a concert of the Rolling Stones and being at a Stones concert two very different experiences. When you go and see a live show of any kind you are part of it, even as audience you added to the event. There is an energy that can only be perceived when sharing the actual event. Trust me on this as a comedian I can tell you the audience can make a huge difference on the fun level of the show. Just because you are not on stage doesn’t mean you didn’t add to the experience.

There is also an intangible quality to (almost) all live shows. There is energy and an experience we collectively shared that cannot be repeated and was uniquely special for just us in attendance. I think this is why I love performances of any kind. The connection to the performance can touch us; make us collectively feel alive and human, something than doesn’t transfer to the two-dimensional plane of TV.

From a practical standpoint, seeing a concert can be a challenge especially for women. We paid for seats, but will be actually sitting? How far will we have to walk to get to the ‘seats’? Realistically will we be sitting at all? U2, Rolling Stones, Judas Priest, STP, Prince, Lady Gaga, Steel Panther, ACDC, Billy Idol, White Stripes, Van Halen and yes-even Tom Jones, I never sat down once for the entire concert.

This can be a challenge, you need shoes that are rocker cool, and you can walk in and stand in for a long time and my personal preference as tall as possible. The height is not required but a huge bonus if you want to be able to see over the crowd to see the rock stars strut their stuff. These boots are so cool and they fit all my concert going requirements. Tonight I’ll be at 2Cellos, and I suspect again there will be no sitting.

Laura

 

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It’s All Greek to Me

March 15, 2015 By 1 Comment

This English idiom means that something is not understandable.  And  the expression can be applied to countless things and situations. Some would say it applies to trying to figure out women or men, advanced math, (maths for my British friends) science. Ikea instructions, tax forms, the update notifications on iTunes –you get the idea.

I love that this expression is old, really old and is still a current metaphor.  It has been used my many authors, even by Shakespeare in the play Julius Caesar (1599). I doubt “no homo” will still be around 400+ years from now. But I could be wrong.

“Its all Greek to me” is a metaphor. As it turns out the word metaphor comes from the Greek word metapherin (meaning “transfer”)

These booties are covered with the meander motif aka Greek key that took its name from the river Meander, a river with many twists, mentioned by Homer in Iliad. It was the most important symbol in Ancient Greece, symbolizing infinity or the eternal flow of things.

The Greek key symbolizes the bonds of friendship, of love and devotion.  These shoes remind me of my best friend growing up who is Greek. Her parents were immigrants to America. Basically my childhood was a version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. And I don’t have to tell you the papa from My Big Fat Greek Wedding would be proud, knowing all things come from Greece.

Laura

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This is Africa

March 8, 2015 By 1 Comment

I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Ethiopia this week. I can tell you –it left an impression. I have been to a lot of places, all amazing in their own right, even Fresno, no really even Fresno, but I’m sure I will never forget Ethiopia. It is so different than any other part of the world I have yet visited.

If you grew up in the United States or a similar type culture, your preconceived notions about Africa, will not be what you experience. Starting with Ethiopian food. Yes, they have their own cuisine and it is delicious. This is embarrassing to tell you, but it’s so good I actually gained weight in Ethiopia. Jokes on me. And not just one or two pounds, more like five, it’s that good. I don’t actually know how much because scales aren’t really something they care about having around. They value different things.
Ethiopia is a poor country, really poor. But this doesn’t mean they are not happy. They are very quick with a smile, generous, and appear to value the relationship more than things. Life is not easy on many levels, starting with they live among wildlife that can kill you. In one day alone, I saw wild boars, baboons, crocodiles, and hippopotamuses. I am grateful to have made it through my stay without encountering any scorpions or other deadly insects or reptiles. I was however, sitting in a restaurant and a baboon pounced into my lap, they actually have baboon guards to keep this from happening, but this fellow slipped by. I will never forget this experience. Here they accept the wild life and live among it.
I bought these shoes with me knowing I would be performing in Africa, I love these shoes, purchased online, like a good first world shopper. But I ended up leaving them in the suitcase, it just didn’t feel right, Africa’s beauty is subtler, more earthy and less manufactured. Thank you Ethiopia for expanding my worldview and being a haven of a refreshing alternate culture, a place where the Kashdashian’s are virtually unknown. Ethiopia this makes me happy.
Laura

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