Ask me about my feet.

Yesterday my friend Kim called me and invited me to go on a barefoot walk for children without shoes.   “What do we do?” I asked. “We take a walk. Without shoes,” she replied.  And I was in.

We met at Center Street, where I learned the event was sponsored by TOMS shoe company.  I removed my shoes and had the TOMS logo painted on my face, and we all began to rally with our signs down University Avenue.

And by “we all” I mean…. Well, all seven of us.  Seven of us women in our 20’s.  We got some attention, but not because people were fascinated by our cause.  Cars of student-age boys continuously flipped U-turns and honked at us throughout our walk.  We even got a few whistles.  And I just kept walking along, waving my sign that read, “Ask me about my feet.” No one did, and if they had I don’t know what I would have told them. Because really, there were only three things I knew about my feet in that moment:

1. The bottoms of them were black.

2. They had recently stepped in something wet that may have been dog pee or maybe just spilled soda.

3.  My toenails needed to be repainted and SOON.

And so during that walk with our army of seven I silently prayed that no one asked me about my feet.

At the end of our gallant march I contemplated that protest.  I felt a little like I had just provided free advertising for TOMS.  And I always hoped that the first time I picketed a sign somewhere, it would be for a cause I was fiercely passionate about; and I would wave my sign and yell until my voice left me and feel exhilarated and proud and collapse into bed at the end of the day with a sense of accomplishment for having contributed something great to the world. It wasn’t very much like that. I went home, washed my feet, scratched the blue silvery paint off my face, and went to bed thinking hard about how we’re almost out of milk. 

A not-so-flattering photo of my face, the billboard.

P.S. I really do believe that children need shoes in the world.  So, at the risk of once again being a walking billboard, you might want to clickety click here instead of asking me about my feet.

Awesome List

Writing gets really hard when you have absolutely nothing to release or vent about or wave a picket sign at. Attempting to do so may even be a total waste of everyone else's time. On the other hand, I'm bored on a Sunday afternoon, so will now proceed to waste everyone's time with a list of things that I find awesome...No, that ARE INDEED awesome (in no particular order). I will continue until I have something better to do. This could get brutally boring, and could also be a serious cry for help in the realm of my social life.

1. Squeaky cheese - The Gossner's plant in Logan, Utah holds countless memories for me. A visit to Grandpa's farm during my childhood always meant stopping at Gossner's for a case of flavored milk and a bag of squeaky cheese (it's actually cheese curd, but it's awesome 'cause it squeaks, see). I just went back to visit this weekend and had no choice but to buy some. Memories in every bite! Also, squeaks.

2. Fireworks - Logically those also happened this weekend. Nothing says "America is awesome" like giant colorful explosions. And lots of meat.

3. Spooning - Actually cuddling in any form is a default awesome list maker. I don't think I really need to defend this one at all.

4. Sharks - I think I mention this one in my "About Me" section. Let me expound: they're just real big. And they're sharks. They can just go ahead and eat you in two seconds if they feel like it. And sometimes I swim with them just for fun, which I think earns me at least two points towards making the awesome list (minimum points requirement is still TBD)

5. Scooters - I just saw this word at the bottom of my page under "Labels for this post." It uses scooters as an example, which is awesome, because scooters are awesome. I got my incredibly unsafe and badly-built Razor scooter for my 15th birthday and still use it today (though no longer to get from A to B. Seriously, I have some degree of adult self respect). It has only almost killed me twice and has given a whirlwind first impression of me to others on countless occasions.

6. New shoes - Shoe sale signs should actually read "Self-esteem sale," and if I were a therapist I would tell every disheartened woman who met with me to first go buy the sexiest pair of shoes she could find before we proceeded further. And also get a sassy haircut. The result of these is often a miraculously fresh dose of "I can do anything"-ness, and the two together might completely eliminate the need for therapy. Which would put me out of business. So I guess if I were a therapist I wouldn't do that at all.

7. Trees - I should probably just write a post sometime exclusively about trees and why I love them so much. Besides the obvious eco-friendly save-the-earth mumbo-jumbo, they're just awesome. Sometimes trees give me mushy juice-down-your-arm peaches, which are kind of like eating heaven, and sometimes they give me coconuts, which are kind of like eating tropical island paradise, and sometimes trees are banyan trees, and then I climb them and love my life a lot.

8. Kites - The only time I don't like trees is when I'm flying a kite. Kites are cool because they can go higher than you ever could unless you're a freak that can jump real high. Furthermore there's something therapeutic about letting them get swept away in a light breeze, sailing higher and higher until the $3 anime character face on front shrinks to a speck. It's best to fly a kite somewhere serene and quiet, so all you hear is the flap-flap-flap of the sky tails (truly the official name...read your kite instructions) from a cool spot of grass.

9. Tea - With a little bit of honey, there is nothing more soothing and soul-warming than a good, steamy cup on a bitter cold day. It may be the only thing I enjoy about winter.

10. Heights - I used to be scared of them, but then I realized the thrill of going on really epic hikes and also of jumping off stuff. I don't think birds realize how good they have it. I bet if we just gave them one day to trade places with us they would sit around in their walled apartments all day, wingless and bored and stuck on the ground with nothing to entertain them but blog writing, and spend the rest of their lives appreciating their daily picturesque views of the world, their harmony with nature, and their ability to just...fly.

I just found something to do. Good timing, because I would hate to have ended on an 11.