From Unbearable to More Than Wearable

Not long ago, I purchased some comfortable walking shoes. The search for such a thing was eternal, as I have rather high arches, and for some reason, many stores don't have a walking shoe section any more - they just get thrown into the corner with all the other shoes no one loves. Poor shoes.

The ones I finally found with enough arch support were Avias - the oil and slip resistant ones, like I wore when I worked at Old Crusty Buttface. (That's Old Country Buffet - I have colorful nicknames for places I hated working.)

These are the lovely shoes I purchased.


Ten kinds of ugly, right? Plus, they're the kind of shoes that are extra chunky on the sole, so people like me with size ten feet feel even more like hobbit-esque freaks than usual. But they were comfortable, which was the most important part for me. Looks are something I can work with, and work with them I did.

First, I found a silver sharpie. Next, Spousal Unit reminded me we had an extra pair of purple laces from back when we did the wedding thing. And POOF! It's a different pair of shoes.



On one shoe, I did my usual doodle designs of little swirls and the occasional star - I even put them on the tongue. On the other, I put my favorite words and phrases, such as calliope, juniper, cellar door, and "Winter is coming" (from A Game of Thrones). I even had enough room for one of my favorite poems, which is by David Ignatow and most appropriate for a pair of walking shoes.

The City
If flowers want to grow
Right out of the concrete sidewalk cracks
I'm going to bend down to smell them.

I still have room for other favorite words and doodles, so I get to keep recreating my shoes as I get bored of them. Meanwhile, they'll keep getting me to work with less of a limp than usual. Hurrah for that.

My aunt, upon seeing these, suggested that I make shoes with little swirl designs and sell them. I joked that I should just sell black shoes with a silver marker. Actually, that's probably one of my better marketing ideas...

(Wow, for someone who claims to hate shoes, I sure blog about them a lot, don't I? Weird.)

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