Monday, August 30, 2004

...and called it macaroni

Happy Birthday to me! I'm 29 today.

Guess what? Last night I had this waitress at the Macaroni Grill sing me “Happy Birthday” in Italian. It was her job, but it was nice, and I got some cake out of it. We (me and the parents) were headed to The Cheesecake Factory, but got a nail in the tire and ended up at Friendly Center to get it fixed at Sears. While we were waiting, we ate and it was pretty good.

Tim's Blog

I've met a new person while doing this blog. That's so cool. His name is Tim, he's from Alabama, and we seem to have a few things in common, like music, architeture and sneakers, as he said in his comment.

He's got as good a sneaker collection as I do (actually much better), works for an architecture firm that several of my friendes work fo (Gresham-Smith + Partners, though not in the same office), and good taste in music to boot.

I encourage you to go check his blog TimCity if you like my blog. It's pretty cool.

Saturday, August 28, 2004

CD Review: "Trust" by Boney James

I posted this to Amazon.com, but I'm showing it to you here because I wrote it and I think it's pretty good.

Popular music can be a fickle thing. Take for example, the genre known as “Smooth Jazz.” Some supposed jazz “purists” insist that it’s a stagnant genre, filled with clichés and rudimentary musicianship and absent of innovation. Others champion the style, saying that the opposite is true. Smooth jazz fosters creativity and brings the music to a whole new audience.

Both sides would find plenty of things to justify their position listening to “Trust” by Boney James (Warner Brothers, 1992). This album was released in 1992, and Boney James was on the forefront of the R&B-laced saxophone jazz that would typify the decade. Assisted by the relatively unknown (at the time) producer Paul Brown and studio legends Paul Jackson, Jr, and Lenny Castro, among others, James crafted a fine album of crossover jazz, replete with high-tech synthesizers, soft percussion, R&B backbeats and enough jazzy chord changes to fill two albums. It stuck quite a pose at the time with most of its contemporaries falling into the “elevator music’ category.

Some highlights of “Trust” include the prototype Boney James song “Metropolis,” vaguely Asian-feeling “Kyoto,” and fine smooth jams “Lilly” and “Roadrunner.” Each provides a beautiful stage for James’ alto, tenor and soprano saxophone stylings and paints lush, memorable pictures in the minds of listeners.

Naysayers will be glad to know that the other half of “Trust” is filled with an undefined blandness; even at album release (at the start of James’ search for a signature sound) it was “could be anybody” music. Even the cover of Stevie Wonder’s classic “Creepin’” is boring. These dull tracks sound even more anonymous now, after a decade or so, when nearly every saxophonist with a backbeat and a recording contract copped the style laid out by first-wave artists like James and Art Porter.

If you’re a naysayer like I’ve described, you’ll have ammunition with “Trust.” If you’re a Boney James fan, add to your collection with this release. If you’re on the fence, start with James’ “Sweet Thing” or more contemporary releases. They more accurately show what Boney James is capable of creating.

Thursday, August 26, 2004

the joy of blucher mocs (part two)


Blucher mocs, broken in, though not mine. These are from an eBay listing.

Read part one by clicking on this link.

When we last left this story, I had just purchased my new L.L. Bean Blucher Mocs and had put them on for the first time..

L.L. Bean provides a good description of their products in the catalog and website, but they don’t tell you in the catalog description about the break-in period or how they look when you first buy them. Not much anyway. I read about the break-in period on the little cards that came in the shoe box. They read ‘allow two to three wearings to evaluate fit of shoes.’ More like ten.

They should also have a card that says ‘shoe will be really stiff and weird-looking for the first several wears.’ Because it was. They looked like brown cardboard at first and they were a little hard to tie, because of the stiffness. I wore them to work sockless (gotta be cool, y’know) and had to walk to lunch, which was about a mile or so round trip on concrete and asphalt. I got calluses on my toes and some serious heel pain. Now, I thought, I know a little about what women put themselves through to wear cute shoes, but I’d like to think that a smart woman would have kept a pair of sneakers for the walk to lunch. Not me, of course. I have to be the dumbass that suffers through the pain. I wondered if Eddy had to go through this with his, too. But then again he wouldn’t have walked in them to lunch downtown.

The strange thing about my dogged determination to wear these shoes regardless of good sense may have paid off in the long run. I can’t say when it happened, but somewhere between then and now, the shoes finally broke in. Now when I wear them, they are soft, and easy to tie. They no longer look like boats, but rather an extension of my body. It’s still missing the well-loved patina of Eddy’s but that will come in time. Since they’re now comfortable, non-callus forming “cool shoes” I feel confident wearing them. They look great with all the new clothes I bought. And because they’re so out the local consciousness, but so appropriate fashion-wise, I get all sorts of compliments and inquiries about where I bought them. That feels good.

I finally got the shoe that I wanted for years and they’re cool and comfortable. Maybe this new-found comfort is what the goobers get when they wear their common boat shoes. That’s no explanation for the various other sartorial disasters they commit, but it’s a start at understanding that I didn’t have before. In any event, I’m looking forward to a long life with my Blucher Mocs, courtesy of 7th grade material lust, Eddy Hicklin, and a mid-year shopping binge. Isn’t life great?

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

a sneaker timeline (courtesy of sneakerhead.com)

I found this on sneakerhead.com and thought it was interesting. If anyone from sneakerhead reads this, please know that I'm a big fan of your site and so are many of my friends. Read below.

1800’s- The first rubber-soled shoes, called plimsolls, were manufactured.

1892-1916 - Goodyear, then a rubber shoe company and division of the U.S. Rubber Company, manufactures rubber and canvas shoes under different names, finally settling on Keds as the best name.

1908- Marquis M. Converse establishes Converse shoe company, revolutionizing the game of basketball for more than half a century and becoming an American icon.

1917- Keds are the first mass marketed athletic shoes, later termed sneakers Henry Nelson McKinney, an advertising agent for N. W. Ayer & Son because they don’t make any noise when you walk.

1917- Converse releases the world’s first performance basketball shoe, the Converse All Star.

1920- Adi Dassler begins producing handmade training shoes in his mother’s washroom without electricity

1923- The All Star gives way to the Chuck Taylor All Star, a staple of basketball players, kids, and rebels for more than 50 years. Also known as “Chucks,” “Cons,” “Connies” these shoes, to date, have sold more than 744 million in 144 countries.

1924- Adi and Rudolph Dassler, with the help of some 50 family members, register their business as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik”, Herzogenaurach, Germany.

1931- Adidas produces its first tennis shoe.

1935- Converse releases the Jack Purcell with its telltale “Smile” on the front. Jack Purcell shoes have gained fame well beyond that of the 1930s badminton/tennis champion himself – they became a staple of early Hollywood and the bad boy crowd.

1948- “Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler” is founded and the world is introduced to the PUMA Atom, PUMA’s first football shoe worn by members of the West German football team.

1950s- Sneakers are the preferred footwear of teenagers and the symbol of rebellion. Cheap, they are worn by students around the world. In the U.S., cheerleaders wear sweaters, short skirts, and ankle socks with canvas topped shoes (or keds). The fashion is officially sanctioned when James Dean is photographed wearing his Levis jeans and white sneakers.

1962-1964- Phil Knight, a business major at the University of Oregon, and his coach, Bill Bowerman, partner to provide a low cost, high tech athletic shoe under the name Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS)

1968- BRS begins marketing new designs and technology and changes their name to Nike. Nike is named after the Greek Goddess of Victory.

1968- PUMA is the first sports shoe manufacture to offer Velcro fasteners.

1969- Quarterback Joe Namath, wearing PUMA shoes, leads the New York Jets to victory in SuperBowl III.

1971- The Nike Swoosh trademark is purchased from a graphic design student for $35.

1972- Bill Bowerman pours rubber into his wife's waffle iron, creating the basis for the popular Nike Waffle Racer; a shoe with the optimal traction of waffle soles, wedged heel, the cushioned mid-sole, and nylon uppers. Nike marketed its waffle soled shoe by saying that four of the top seven runners at the 1972 Olympic Trials wore Nike shoes.

1973- Steve Prefontaine, runner and an American record-holder, becomes the first major athlete to wear Nike running shoes.

1974- Nike releases the Waffle Trainer, with Bill Bowerman’s famous Waffle outsole.

1974- Converse releases the Converse One Star line of shoes, representing an entire lifestyles of “Indie” athlete; individuals whose lifestyle, sports and style are fused together by creativity, imagination and self-expression. Always popular with an eclectic crowd these shoes are now popular in the surf and skate community.

1979- Nike creates the first Nike Air sole units, resulting in the revolutionary Nike Air cushioning. Nike also releases the first running shoe, the Nike Tailwind, with the patented Nike Air technology.

1981- Blue Ribbon Sports and Nike merge to form Nike, Inc.

1982- Nike releases the first of a long line of shoes, the Air Force 1. This durable shoe has been released in a low, mid, and high-top versions. The Air Force 1 has survived over two decades with little change to its basic design and continues to remain a legacy and a fashion statement with its numerous colorways.

1985- Chicago Bulls basketball rookie, Michael Jordan, endorses a line of Nike shoes and apparel. Nike releases the first Air Jordan.

1987- The first Nike Air Max shoes is released, giving athletes their first real introduction to the Nike Air cushioning. Nike also releases the first Air Cross Trainer, a shoe cushioned enough for aerobics and court sports.

1989- Puma releases its “Trinomic” sport shoe system

1991- Puma introduces its high-tech “PUMA disc system” sport shoe.

1996- PUMA introduces the first foam-free midsole with PUMA CELL technology.

1998- Bauer Nike Hockey is formed, dedicated to producing quality footwear for hockey players.

1999- PUMA basketball star, Vince Carter, is name NBA “Rookie of the Year”

1999- Nike co- founder, Bill Bowerman, dies in December.

2000- Sales of Nike Golf soar after Tiger Woods switches to Nike golf balls wins three majors during the season.

2001- Nike introduces the Nike Shox, the most advanced support technology. The Shox system is based on columns of specially engineered foam that provide superior impact cushioning thus creating a new revolution in shoe design.

2003- Nike acquires long-time shoe manufacturer, Converse, Inc.

2003- Converse re-issues authentic presentations of classic athletic performance shoes such as the Chuck Taylor All Star and the Jack Purcell. These editions are now popular with fans of nostalgic fashion and those wanting to return to the purity of past sports eras.

Saturday, August 21, 2004

chipped ham productions (my friend evan's blog)

My friend Evan Cantrell has a really cool blog called Chipped Ham Productions.

He's been maintaining this blog for a short while and it tells a little about him, his family and his interests. A couple of his main interests are comics and sciernce fiction, with occasional segways into fantasy. Some of his favorite TV shows are "The X-Files," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "24." I'm not as into these things as he is, but I think it's really cool that he's found things he loves as much as I love malls and shopping.

A couple of interests that we share are architecture (he's an architect, too), music, and beautiful women (check out the pictures of Jessica Alba on his blog). I think you'll really love his blog, so why not stop on by.

Thursday, August 19, 2004

nyc: super heroes and sneakers

My friend Evan offered this unique perspective on my recent trip:
Relating comics and your trip to New York...I watched a special on the Travel channel last night that I had recorded a few days ago.

New York Marvel Super Hero Inspirations

It was a really cool look at some of the landmarks that had inspired Marvel comics. I'll have to try to visit them someday.

Then I found this and told him about it:
Bringing it all full circle with a very Steve perspective, I found a unique pair of shoes inspired by Spider-Man on the internet that’s sold in New York and on the internet. It’s only in kids’ sizes, but it’s very cool. Click on the link below:

PickYourshoes.com: Nike Spiderman Dunks

They also have Hulk shoes on this site. Both would be excellent collectors’ items. Thought you might get a kick out of them.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

mr. swain goes to town

a first-hand observation or two on my day in the city (August 14, 2004)

I almost missed my trip to New York this weekend. I guess some of you are wondering “He went to New York? I didn’t know that.” Well it’s hard to keep everybody informed about things these days. All of you (even the ones I don't know) are great friends of mine and I’m a man of few words (really), plus it doesn’t seem like I had the free time I once did. Or I’m getting old. Either way, I’m telling you now. How’s that. I thought so.

The first road block was my dad coming to get me from work. He got there about 6 (I get off at 5, but he refuses to remember), and then when we went home I had to help my mom with some heavy lifting and rearranging (at the country club) that always seems to pop up when I need to get out and have some fun. I was scared that I was going to be late, but we worked it out…barely. You know my life. Pretty typical.

I rode all night on the bus from Roanoke to the city. And I saw where the new Cabela’s in Hamburg, Pennsylvania is located. If you’re on I-78 between Harrisburg and Allentown, you can’t miss it. Didn’t get to go, but I want to go up there real soon.

I was on a shopping trip run by a bus tour company (Abbott Trailways). We spent 8 hours in Manhattan Saturday site-seeing and shopping (mostly shopping) and spent the night in Secaucus (AmeriSuites, Harmon Meadow) before coming back Sunday afternoon. We ate at Pizzeria Uno in New Jersey (Doug L. and Todd R. are salivating reading this I’m sure) and I got to try the All-American Dessert that Todd R. raves about. BTW, it’s good Todd. Real good. I liked the whole thing, from the vanilla ice cream to the hot apples and cinnamon. Excellent.

Where’d I shop at: Macy’s (of course), H&M, The NBA Store, Lord & Taylor, Bloomingdales, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys, Salvatore Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Niketown, Rochester Big & Tall and your standard assortment of mall-type stores in their most decked out versions. You’d likely say I was lying if I told you Old Navy is actually better in the city than in the suburbs, but I shit you not. It is. It has a lot of the same stuff they have at the ones around here, but they have a lot of exclusive product too.

I almost ate at The Plaza hotel, but Kevin balked at the price. Of course at NikeTown he paid over $140.00 for a pair of Muppet-green Air Force Ones and a matching T-shirt he’ll likely never wear (but I’m the one that’s being excessive.). We ended up eating at the 59th and Lex restaurant in Bloomingdales, which I can recommend.

Okay, it’s time to disappoint everyone: I didn’t get any souvenirs for you guys; I missed the subway, Grand Central, the Statue of Liberty, Tiffany’s, many of the ethnic neighborhoods (not enough time), the strip club (sorry Rich) and countless other things. But I’m going back. And I’ll miss them again (ha ha). Just kidding.

Yep, the trip was killer, y’all. All of you who haven’t been need to go. Without question. Kevin and I covered a good portion of the city from 34th to 59th on foot. It was a haul, but I saw so much. Bought a couple of things, but didn’t overdo it. Got a few pictures that came out good with the disposable camera.

I’m a little sore leg-wise from the walking, but I got some generic Ben-Gay type stuff from Wal-Mart when I got back.

I was off work on Monday. Sorry I missed Judy’s birthday of course, but glad to be off. I went to get the mail and I saw a little too much yard clutter. I have looked at the excess crap that was in the yard at home and at the club long enough and had to do something about it. So I cleaned the yard in both places. Sometimes I impress myself I try hard enough: for example, I moved a thirty foot tall tree, piece by piece today. It was exhausting, and I’m not done in the least, but in both places it looks a little more like people care about their surroundings. My dad got embarrassed that I cleaned up that he started mowing. That in itself was great, if nothing else.

Thursday, August 12, 2004

sneaker reviews, part three (New Balance)

Part three of my sneaker reviews follows:

New Balance MX609 (white/blue)
Like I’ve said before, Dick’s in Greensboro is THE place to buy shoes. I got these shoes in my narrow width there in November 2002 and wore the hell out of them for over a year. It’s not much to look at, but it’s easily the best looking shoe in the NB 600 cross-training series and it’s comfortable with a capital C. I had a pair of 606’s and 608’s before, and they don’t compare.


New Balance M991 (gray/white)
The old-guy shoe! These shoes are as corny as Orrville Redenbacher, but if you ever wear them, you’ll love them. They are sooo comfortable, and they coordinate with a lot of things. Premium shoe all the way.


New Balance M806AT (gray/black/yellow)
Ordered this one from Cabela’s. I’m more in love with the look of this shoe than the shoe itself. It’s a cool looking shoe; very contemporary. I replaced a pair of 805’s with these, and I have to say, the 805’s win by a landslide. When the 805’s finally broke down a few months ago after years of hard use, I still thought about throwing out the 806’s instead of the 805’s. It’s not that they’re not cool in their way, but they aren’t comfortable (the upper is too stiff) and they don’t coordinate with causal wear as well as I had hoped.


New Balance M475 (black/white)
This was all about the color. Usually, I try to avoid buy shoes solely based on fashion decisions. But I wanted a black shoe, and this fit the bill. It’s a little wide for me but it’s cool for the rare occasions I wear it. I bought it at The Shoe Department at Four Seasons Town Centre in Greensboro.


New Balance M1221 (white/blue/red)
I bought these from Nordstrom to replace a pair of Nike Air Structure Triax that I adored for many years. This is a fitting replacement; in fact it may be a little more sophisticated. It’s got advanced cushioning and anti-roll technology that makes them stable, good for anything shoes like my Structures were. If I ran, this would be the one shoe out of all of the ones I have that I would use.

Well thats's all the sneaker talk I can stand today. Hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

sneaker reviews, part two (Nike Shox)

Here's part two of my sneaker reviews:

Nike Shox NZ (silver/white/black/red)
Seems like I’m always in denial about wanting these shoes I buy, but I resisted this one for many months before I broke down at Finish Line at Carolina Place in Pineville (Charlotte). This shoe is one of the most comfortable I’ve ever had, and it’s so “new school” it’s crazy. It seems like the shoe was made personally for me. This one gets a lot of compliments to boot.


Nike Shox Turbo (white/black/silver)
I shouldn’t have been able to find this shoe. By the time I decided I wanted it, they were gone from most of the shoe stores near me. But fate intervened and I found them at the Finish Line at SouthPark during their grand opening in my size. I’ve only worn them once, but they are both comfortable and cool-looking.

Coming soon: Part Three (New Balance)

Thursday, August 05, 2004

sneaker reviews, part one (Nike Retros and adidas)

I decided to break the shoe reveiws up into three categories: retros, Nike Shox and New Balance. It makes the posts shorter and easier to read. Here goes:

Nike Air Force 1 Mid (white/white)

This should have been a no-brainer. I’ve liked these shoes for a long time, but couldn’t bring myself to buy them. I thought the assault of that much white on my size 13’s would be too much, plus cleaning them would be a challenge. It’s not a shoe that looks great dirty. But one day at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Greensboro, which sells exceptional shoes for a big-box store, I might add, I got the urge. Haven’t looked back since. To date I’ve only worn them a couple times, but they are sooo phat. I wonder how they played basketball in these things, though. I mean it’s a nice looking shoe, but God is it heavy. I don’t buckle the ankle strap and I keep them loose. They look real good.


Nike Air Force 1 High (white/black)

I bought these on a fluke. They were just there in Hibbett Sports in Martinsville, a place I very rarely go, because the mall it’s in kinda sucks. Anyway, they had been sold out everywhere else for months and seeing them there I had to have them. They’re not terribly comfortable despite the cushioning, but they have the coolest ankle strap (worn backwards hanging off the shoe as I’ve seen others do) and people ask me about them favorably wherever I go. That’s heaven for a shoe guy like me, not that I need validation, but still, it feels good.


Nike Delta Force ¾ (white/red)

I wanted the high top version of this shoe so bad when it was out in the ‘80s. Seemed like everybody that was cool (to me) had them at the time. I almost had it. My dad was going to get me the white/natural colorway at Cox’s Fashions in Rocky Mount, but I wanted some color (plus my elementary school “rival,” Travis Thorp had that color). So we went to Leggett department store up the street which had the white/blue colorway (which nobody I knew had) but charged more for it. My dad refused to spend the extra 10 dollars to get me what I wanted and I think I ended up getting a pair of Nike aerobic shoes, or some cheap shit like that. Not a great story.

Fast forward to 2004. Nike retroes the ¾ high, which wasn’t that popular back in the day, and didn’t sell this time, but Dick’s in Greensboro had it on sale (told you they were fly) so it gave me an opportunity to get something like what I wanted at a lower price than Nike charged in 1987. It’s a “pretty shoe” as my mom says and the “sure-grip” lining (my words) hold the feet in place very well. I love these shoes.


Nike Dunk Premium (khaki/brown/white)

These are the rarest shoes in my cache, but I almost didn’t buy them. I thought they were cool, but the color combination of the brown and khaki didn’t seem very fun. Belk SouthPark (can you believe a department store got some rare shit like that? But that’s BSP for you) finally put them on sale for next to nothing, and I bit the bullet. The materials are first rate, and the Dunk is one of Nike’s coolest basketball shoes ever. They’re hard to coordinate with my clothes, but it’s still so cool. Definitely a winter shoe. Looks silly with shorts because of the color.


adidas Superstar 1 (white/black)

This replaced an old pair of Superstars I had for a few years. It’s an aesthetic masterpiece. Something about this shoe is so right, it’s scary. There are more comfortable shoes; there are more technologically advanced shoes, but the Superstar stands on its own as the ultimate sneaker. The best adidas has made, by far.

Coming soon: Part Two (Nike Shox)

Monday, August 02, 2004

the joy of blucher mocs (part one)


L.L. Bean Handsewn Moccasins, Blucher Moc

I went on a little shopping binge this summer. It’s shameful, because even though I’m always rallying against excessive materialism and conspicuous consumption, I’m also a mall nut and a packrat (and, I might add one hell of a bargain hunter) and on top of that was probably a little depressed, too. So I was at malls a lot, looking for a lift (I guess) and also discovered I was finally had a nice enough body to wear t-shirts and shorts without looking like a war-torn starving villager in one of those old “Care” commercials.

It was the perfect storm.

I bought a lot of shorts and t-shirts (and baseball caps) during my binge, along with a few extra pairs of sneakers to go along with them, because you can’t rock the new gear with old kicks, y’know what I’m sayin’? Sorry, got a little ‘hood there. Anyway, I was set...unless I wanted to look a little classier (I was wearing this stuff to work, too). Where should I turn to kick it up a notch?

The old-school.

Preppy was hot this year, so boat shoes seemed like a logical choice…but not really. You see I’ve always liked the general style of boat shoes, but the way that people wear them kind of dampens my enthusiasm for them. For one thing they’re not “dress shoes,” but yet people around here persist in trying to wear them to dressy occasions, usually in a color that doesn’t match anything else they’re wearing. My God, if I see another goober in a blue denim shirt, black pants, white socks and brown boat shoes calling themselves “dressed up,” I’ll hurl. Strike one. Then there’s finding the right type. The market is flooded with cheap Topsider knockoffs and the good stuff is hard to find, especially in my size (13 B). When the appropriate classy pair of luggage-brown Sebago boat shoes was found at Nordstrom, they cost over a hundred dollars. Strike two.

My inspiration for the right pair of causal shoes came from a person that no one who knows him would ever associate with “style”: Eddy Hicklin. Eddy’s a land surveyor, and not a particularly flashy one at that. But he’s a tall, slim guy who’s in decent shape, and he could make whatever he was wearing look nice. The dude could rock overalls and a bright yellow Green Bay Packers sweatshirt with a Packers bucket hat and still look great! We used to work together and on some of the days he didn’t go out into the field, he would wear an old pair of L.L. Bean Blucher Mocs in the “cactus” color. They had a few years on them, but they were great on him, worn to the old-shoe perfection that we all enjoy when we find a shoe that’s “just right” and wear it ‘till it falls apart. This could be the shoe I need to buy, I thought.

I’m on the horns of a dilemma, though. No one outside of a few people who haven’t let the ‘80s go and/or hard core Bean fans are wearing these shoes these days. Eddy’s looked at least 5 or 10 years old. They peaked fashion-wise around here circa 1987. At that time, preppy was in, and almost anyone who was cool in my age group had a pair, either the real ones or a Sebago, Bass, or whatever knockoff. Even Kmart had them. I didn’t have any. I was too shy to ask for anything because my family was kind of broke at the time, and it never struck my parents’ consciousness that I wanted any, anyway. So I grew out of it and moved on, but a certain part of me wanted to have a pair, even when they were woefully out of style in the grunge-covered world that was ‘90s fashion. To tell you the truth, other than when my friend Todd Martin bought a pair for work back when we were in college I wasn’t sure if they still made them. Or if my flat narrow feet would look good in them. I was miserable when I really shouldn’t have been. God, they’re just shoes, I thought, what’s the big deal either way?

The answer to my question came in the mail. I went to the mailbox one day in the spring and out popped the latest L.L. Bean catalog. On page 56, they had them: the old Blucher Mocs I remember, in my size for less than $70.00. This was it. I was going to get my perfect summer shoes and if they didn’t work, I would utilize L.L. Bean’s liberal return policy. When I got up the nerve to call, they were backordered. I began to question my decision. Was it a sign? Naw, man stop being stupid, I told myself. After a month of backorder and a daily check of the package tracking once they were shipped (the internet: we love obsessive people!) I got them in the mail on a Saturday morning. I was excited, to say the least. I put them on right away.

coming soon, part two
find out what happend after I tried them on...

Sunday, August 01, 2004

steve’s sneaker collection (in no particular order)

I love shoes. I don't know why, but I do. I've got at least a couple dozen pairs, but the closet right now is dominated by my sneakers, so I thought I'd let y'all in on my stash. They are:

Nike Air Force 1 Mid (white/white)
Nike Air Force 1 High (white/black)
Nike Delta Force ¾ (white/red)
Nike Dunk Premium (khaki/brown/white)
Nike Shox NZ (silver/white/black/red)
Nike Shox Turbo (white/black/silver)
New Balance MX609 (white/blue)
New Balance M991 (gray/white)
New Balance M806AT (gray/black/yellow)
New Balance M475 (black/white)
New Balance M1221 (white/blue/red)
adidas Superstar 1 (white/black)


In a few days, I'll follow with some reviews of these sneaks.