I decided to recently purchase a new pair of shoes. Since I was little, I was tormented by the process of buying new shoes. No shoe store in the past carried my shoe size. I wear a really wide size 10.5 now, but even as a child my feet were especially wide. Color and style were severely limited. With internet purchasing, my pain was alleviated somewhat, but selection was still limited and expensive. This dilemma caused me to only have pair of shoes at a time. I know, this must be shocking to all of you shoe fiends. About ten years ago or so, selection increased. I still bless the name of New Balance every day as they have come through for me again and again. This time, however, I wanted to go with some nice dress shoes.
I initially looked at Rockports’ Office Essentials for about $100. They looked beautiful and came in my size at Zappo’s. For me, black is the only color for dress shoes. I know others like the reds, browns and so forth, but a black shoe goes with just about everything. Despite the utter beauty of the Rockport, my frugality reared its head and I decided to go with Nunn Bush’s Baker Street for $20 less. I had a hard time deciding between ridged toe or plain toe. I eventually chose the plain toe. This shoe featured a rubber sole, a very comfortable insert and a beautiful classic look. While still a little tight due to its newness, it is one of the best looking pair of shoes that I have ever owned. Now, just have to save up some money for a new pair of New Balance tennis shoes.
This review is beyond overdue. After returning from Utah, I had planned to watch this movie with my cousin, Jake, and mein bruder, Dougie. Doug unfortunately came down ill and was unable to accompany us. I had read some slightly negative reviews online and carried with me a little trepidation. Not over the material, but the length. Peter Jackson decided that one book would provide enough material to film 3 really long movies. This is exactly the opposite in the trilogy where he had to cut some material just to get it down to a correct length.
Since I have not posted since November, I thought now would be an excellent time to detail my past month and a half. I finished my thesis defense. Since the post where I had just turned in my first draft, I had a second draft to finish. In some ways it was almost like writing a second paper. I lived on Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, and junk food. Except for the arrival and departure of food and little sleep, all I did was type. I did learn quite a bit from this experience, however, as I began to feel the effects of heightened blood sugar. I have since modified my diet by eating much healthier.
This week I have tasted defeat like nothing before. I was defeated by those pansies in Alabama that continue to use a silly euphemism for menstruating as their sports’ greeting. Then that defeat was overshadowed by the national tragedy that occurred on election night. First, let’s start with LSU, because it is the most optimistic of the two outcomes. LSU played its heart out and Mettenburger impressed me like never before. We had a better offense than at any time in the last 2-3 years. The defense played phenomenally as well. The stupid decision to play a prevent defense inside the red box is not their responsibility nor was the outcome. The sheer joy of watching the team kick Alabama’s bloody red ass was joyous, tinged only with a slight bitterness that a great quarterback was able to pull off a victory by the skin of his teeth. Our team is young and by what I saw on Saturday night, is going to rock the football world next year. If the coaches don’t get in the way, of course.
They say that earlier generations displayed the moral fiber and steely nerves that our present dissolute generation lacks in spades. Looking around at current groups of youth, I can hardly put up an adequate defense against such beliefs. Awash in technological addictions and moral subjectivity, it is a wonder the barbarians at the gate just don’t knock on the door. We would surely let them in, if only for the short amusements our sensory overloaded attention spans could revel in.
This weeks’ events in Louisiana football were bittersweet for me – LSU with its first loss and the Saints with their first win. It really stinks losing to Florida, although it will be much worse losing to those “people” two states over. I really want to gloat to Mr. Cy (my brother’s ex-father-in-law) on Facebook. He is always posting about those menstruating pachyderms. Other than this issue, I have always had a great deal of respect for him. I really want to upset their national ambitions. I would like a SEC team to win the National Championship again, consolidating our football superiority on the rest of the nation, but not Alabama. Saban is the devil, to bring in a Water Boy paraphrase.