Computer Style

I'm currently at my house for the summer. To put a nice cap on the end of summer vacation, I decided to accomplish something I've been meaning to do for a while now: I had all of my wisdom teeth (3rd molars) removed.

So. I have a week until school starts and I'm recovering from the excision. My camera, pictures, and clothes are back at my apartment. In addition to that, my old computer that has all of the working parts and software is also back at my apartment. I can't upload pictures. I can't show off my awesome "I (glove) MJ" shirt from a previous blog. At most, I can show off my new computer
While on the topic of accomplishing things, I'll mention that I finally got around to getting a new computer. My old one was on the verge of death. My new computer happens to be in Spring Green.

Green happens to be my favorite color, but the largest amount of time was dedicated to color selection. I still occasionally think that I should've gotten Promise Pink to show my support of breast cancer awareness, but I decided to just donate. It is just a computer, but considering the longevity I force upon my electronics - it couldn't hurt to have something that's a little more...me.

It's the shoes

For a while, I've thought: it's the feet that make the dancer, not the shoes.

I'm soon realizing that, if the feet make the dancer, swollen and bruised feet make an incapacitated dancer. If I keep using the shoes I have, I'm going to dance my way to certain injury.

I'm still on my hunt for a good pair of dancing shoes. Previously, I noted the Nike Air Troupe Mids which have gone on sale again since I blogged about them. I still haven't given in to buying them yet. Unlike Nike Air Troupe Mids, Nike Dunks are more varied and also come in low, mid, and hi options.

If you think about it, basketball shoes for dancing that involves a lot of twisting, turning, and jumping makes sense. It's understandable why a number of people dance in them.

The next thing to contend with is Nike Lifestyles - or street casual shoes that were inspired by athletic shoes. Are they still made with the specifications for the sport that inspired them? I'm leaning towards: no.

After a lot of disappointing searches, it occurred to me to look at sporting good stores online and then I remembered: Eastbay.com

Thank goodness for skater culture. The toes are reinforced with padding for skateboarding in addition to the basketball qualities of the original dunks. I'm going to assume that means I can get up on my toes if I want to. I found my shoes that encompass the support I need and wicked colors. Now it's just a matter of picking.

Compromise

One thing that I've been struggling with for a while...virtually all of my college years...is the transitional "kid-to-adult" wardrobe and also dancing duds (I'm not talking about ballet shoes and leotards, mind you). I've always felt that I could only go for one or the other. While I like that I have a pretty well developed professional wardrobe that also meshes into dressy casual, what makes me sad about it is that it doesn't do much for my dancing interests.

It's taken me a while to realize that I don't have to compromise on this. The thing I appreciate most about my two day obsession with SHINee is that I can incorporate elements in my wardrobe that don't make me feel too awkward about my dancing interests. Pretty much, I'm getting some sensible hip hop gear and I don't feel like I have to get all thugged out. It's really odd. A lot of time, I find myself approaching grown up situations with the idea of how things should be, then, given time I look at the situation from my perspective and think more about how I want it. I'll dress professionally for school, and outside of school is my time - when I'm not grading, I'm dancing.

That aside, among cooler things, check out what's coming for me in the mail in a few days:


It's the "I Glove MJ" shirt by Alex Aranovich. It's up for limited purchase at his online shop on Etsy. The second I saw it, I thought it would be a good time to pay some homage to the King.

A book worth writing about

Males, Nails, and Sample Sales by Stephanie Pierson...

is by far the worst advice book I have ever read.

I'm normally fond of advice books that entail fashion along with the other tribulations of daily life, so when I found this at Anthropologie, I thought it would be worth a look. I had nothing to lose except $7. Looking back, that could've bought me a sandwich.

Having read many books like this, I can say that the one thing that irritates me about it the most is it's structure - or lack there of. I was only able to get through the first three chapters before I found myself looking for the receipt so I could return it.

Introductions generally are short, a little vague, but engaging enough to where you're left with questions and you want to read more of the book until those questions are answered. So I read the introduction "I'll tell you why you should do X. I'll tell you why you shouldn't do Y."

Essentially, the first few chapters read like an introduction in conjunction with a mothers nagging. She told you that "you shouldn't do X" with reasoning as simple as something like "because it makes you look like a snob." End of question. She just goes on to another topic. It was all very non sequitur while maintaining that same structure. And it never seemed to end. I'm quite glad that I was able to return it. I got a sandwich with the money after wards.

For one thing, I don't like books bluntly saying what you should or shouldn't do. Another thing is that if a book is going to do that, they better have some well researched reasons why other than an illogical partial sentence.