The pre-nights posting spree; now with Grotesquely Ugly Shoes

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So, it’s that time again (already?!) when I stay up most of the night to try and swing my body around to nights. This is, of course, tedious. I actually have something I want to be doing; I want to be capturing my mum and Paramito’s wedding – I plugged in the Miglia box, went to load FCP and realised that FCP isn’t installed anymore. Then I looked around the chaos that is the desk, and considered weeping openly. I checked the OS X box in the hope that, like Photoshop I’d’ve stuck the disks somewhere ‘sensible’. But of course, I haven’t. I’ve no idea where FCP is.

This is ‘upsetting’, to coin a phrase. It’s what I’d planned for the entire evening. Capture and then FCP my evening away editing first M+P’s, then Kathryn and my ceremonies.

I may have a solution though, so we’ll see if it works out.

Anyhow, since I’ve got some time to kill, here’s a little early on review of the Vibram Five Finger KSOs.

I’d been intrigued by these since

mentioned them, the concept of bare-footing without bare-footing, and the positive statements she’d made about stress on joints and comfort made me think, hrm, worth a shot. I’m used to paying around 15 quid for my runners, the most expensive shoes I’ve got are my £55 Doc Martens that I bought for work, and which, are now 5 years old and still in service. My *best* pair of shoes, which I wore to destruction were a pair of £6 boots from Bacons, or PriceLess or Shite-CheapoShoe in Birmingham (not even a particularly salubrious bit of Birmingham) – they were in a sale, and I loved and loved them.

So forking out around 60 quid for a pair of runners, not least runners which actually consist of, frankly, very little, was a bit difficult for me. That and the buggers wouldn’t ship to the UK…

But having bitten the bullet, so to speak, I ordered them and they were delivered to Kathryn’s Mom’s house while we were in the States (just). We’d already left, but we were meeting up to say bye, and they kindly brought the runners with them. After a bit of wiggling I managed to get my toes in the right holes. It wasn’t difficult per-se, but I have quite long and dexterous toes (monkey like ;) ). I proceeded to wander around the hotel lobby in a very odd way.

My first thought was that it was freeing, and also that the world seemed a more tactile place.

I’ve not managed to get much wear time in; my job means I can’t wear them at work, but I’ve worn them to the shops, and just around about. And I think my first opinion was right. The world is just a more interesting, tactile place. I’ve always liked my experiences on the visceral side; mountains, sea, forests, fresh air, dirt. I drive a car with the minimum between me and the road because I want to *feel* the road. I ride a bike so I can feel the world going by. I take joy in the world. These shoes enhance that joy.

Going outside barefoot tends to hurt my puny feet. Pointy rocks and bits of jagged stuff dig in and make it an uncomfortable experience. The Fivefingers, well, it’s like going barefoot. The difference between KSO’s and a pair of ordinary runners is like the difference between, say, a Ford Mondeo and an Ariel Atom. I was concerned that the KSO’s, like my ancient Lonsdale (OneStar clone) runners, would suffer from the thin sole making walking on Concrete or Tarmac (or any hard surface) uncomfortable. But the majority of my walking has been on such surfaces and it’s not been a problem so far….although the sight of grass or earth or pebbles leads me to disregard any pretence of decorum and stalk over to whichever surface it is, then walk about on it like a cat, while saying “OOoooh, textured!” (or possibly “Pebbles!”).

I’ve found that zipping up and down stairs and perching, my balance is better. My toes are able to do their job and curl around things or adjust my posture to make me more stable (and lord knows, I need stability ;) ).

The only bad things I’ve found are that there’s no ability to try them on before you buy; mine are very marginally smaller than I’d like, I think, but Howlsthunder suggested that the next size up is actually ‘huge’, since they don’t do half-sizes. I think the next size up would be too big, but I’d like to check. I’m sure that with wearing the KSO’s and me’ll get used to each other. It’s really a couple of millimeters I want, and just on one toe (the big / great toe).

The other thing is people’s reactions to them; most people don’t look that closely at your shoes, but Paramito’s comment I suspect sums their opinion up when they do: “Grotesquely ugly”. I actually don’t think they’re ugly at all; interesting is the word I’d’ve applied. It perhaps doesn’t help that mine are the black/black KSOs, which essentially swarth your feet in a layer of black material and plastic. But quite honestly, these aren’t shoes for people who care about what people think. If you spend your life wondering whether you’re looking suitably fashionable and cool, these aren’t the shoes for you.

But they are the shoes for me, ‘cos while I don’t want people to go ‘ugh’ when they see me, I’d rather be reasonably comfortable than knacker my knees any day :)

And there endeth today’s review.

Quick pop quiz, is Katy Perry’s song ‘I Kissed A Girl’ derogatory or not? I quite enjoy it, in that way that I do, but then I have my concerns about an artist who’s toured US churches and makes comments on her Christianity. Previous knowledge suggests that US Churches, as a rule, do not look on being gay favourably…. and that makes me ‘suspicious’. Unfortunately it’s a boppy bouncy song, and I’m known for liking boppy bouncy songs.

KateWE

Kate's a human mostly built out of spite and overcoming transphobia-racism-and-other-bullshit. Although increasingly right-wing bigots would say otherwise. So she's either a human or a lizard in disguise sent to destroy all of humanity. Either way, it's all good.