I can’t help but see red.
Red is the color of an apple and a strawberry
Red is the color of blood and fire.
Red is when you unfortunately lose money or go broke.
Red is a can of Coke and the planet Mars.
Red means you got something wrong on the paper or exam.
Red sneakers, that’s okay too. 😉
(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Just thought this was a really stylish shoe/sandal.
The gems and colors are really standout.
It’s relaxed and happy.
Ladies, this one is for you. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
I just thought these socks with faces were really cute.
I was tempted to even buy some.
But the faces were on the feet.
So you couldn’t see them around the ankle when you wear them.
If you wear the socks without shoes then you can see the cartoon faces.
However, then you also wear out these fun socks
I’m in for fun socks.
Just have to get the faces in the right places. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
What do you think of my special Friday socks?
These make me feel relaxed and happy.
Wishing you all a great Memorial Day weekend!
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Listen, everyone has problems.
Whoever I talk to has something bad and fairly serious to complain about, and there seems to be new things coming all the time.
Just today, I heard from one person who went to the dentist with a tooth pain only to discover it had been silently infected for over a year, and was so serious that it literally could’ve killed him.
Another person told be about having a child with special needs and moving to an area with a school that could more effectively deal and help them.
And a third person told me how they lost their husband many years ago at the age of just 39-years old and being left a widow.
But people make the best of it!
They have to.
I remember my father saying when my mother got so sick with Parkinson’s Disease:
“We are part of the survivors club.”
It wasn’t easy to see her endless suffering while he selflessly tried to help her day-in and -out and cope with the physical and emotional pain of it all.
When I was younger my dad would teach me about not feeling bad whatever the situation, and to always be grateful for what you have, and he told the story:
“There was a poor man who had no shoes, and he felt very bad…that is, until he saw someone else who had no feet.”
It doesn’t take much for things to get really bad in life…sometimes it can seem like we’re literally just holding on by a thin thread.
But as G-d tests us and teaches us, we need to try to look on the bright side and be grateful that things aren’t worse….and yes, they can even get better again. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So there is a saying in Washington, D.C….
“You know you’ve made it when you have your haters.”
This is a very political town!
But more than that, a leader has to take a position.
You have to stand for something.
There are oodles of constituencies and no matter how hard you try, you will never satisfy everyone.
Yes ideally, we always want to create a win-win situation.
However, every give, usually has a take, since the pie isn’t infinite.
Compromise where possible, but hold your ground where necessary.
The key is to choose a direction from your conscience and follow your moral compass and do the most good for the most people and what’s right in the eyes of G-d.
Unfortunately, some people will declare themselves your mortal enemy and try to stamp you out of existence just for being and following who you are.
Many of us who have experienced racism, discrimination, slavery, and even genocide know this senseless hate all too well.
Be strong of of good courage and do righteousness.
G-d is our rock and shield.
Psalm 27: “The L-rd is my light and salvation–whom shall I fear? The L-rd is the stronghold of my life–of whom shall I be afraid.”
So as your enemies advance to step on and try and crush you, remember that G-d will decide where their feet actually land and how they will fall. 🙂
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
So lately my feet have been hurting me.
My wife tells me, “Go to Comfort One for new shoes.”
I say, “But I don’t want to go get nerdy shoes there.”
Like in most arguments, my wife wins and in I march, reluctantly, to the store.
First, they take this scan of my feet (something that looks like the picture above) to show me where my foot is getting pressure (and pain).
Okay, well I already know this, but when you see all the red on the picture, I guess it helps to scare you to getting an expensive new pair of orthopedic-like shoes.
But first, they sell me on some arch supports that slides into the shoe…they seem to feel pretty good, and in fact, after walking around in them for a little while, I actually miss them when I finally take them off.
Give me back those darn arch supports, will ya?
Next, we see these amazing Mephisto shoes (with “soft-air technology”)…made in Europe…the salesman says, their built like a tank.
My wife says, “Oh, my aunt told me to get those too!” We now have a bona fide endorsement.
I pick up the shoe on display and it look like it is pretty rugged with all the right support for walking around…maybe I got to get over that it looks to me like old people shoes (from Haband).
Hey, what do you want Andy–to feel good on your feet or to look like your 18 again.
Okay, I try them on…with the arch supports inserted…and what do you know, I am walking a heck of a lot better.
Well, what about the price…holy crap, I can get 3 pairs of cool shoes at REI for one of these nerdy pairs.
Oh darn it, I have no choice…I am walking better, especially with the hip surgeries from last year still looming behind me.
I get the shoes, I get the arches…I pay the money–too much money!
I feel nerdy or so nerdy, but maybe I’m going for the healing power, G-d willing, of a good pair of supportive shoes.
My wife was right again, and I hate to admit it, but please don’t tell her I said so–it’s bad for her ego and mine. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
Innocent children around the world living in poverty are frequently forced to walk barefoot, without shoes, risking dangerous injury from hard and sharp objects as well as disease from contaminated soil.
Now there are expandable shoes that can be adjusted in the front toe piece and side with snaps, as well as with a back heel strap.
The shoes are made to expand five sizes and last 5 years with high quality rubber soles and leather uppers.
A donation of one pair for a needy child is just $10.
No child–or adult–should ever have to go without the basics like shoes and this can help millions get to a higher standard of living, which everyone deserves. 😉
(Thank you to Michelle Blumenthal for sharing this with me.)
I remember as a child, the nursery rhyme that went something like–“How much is that doggie in the window? The one with the waggly tail.”
Now, it’s not dogs or even mannequins in storefront windows, but people–looking for work.
The job market and people’s self-esteem has gotten so miserably low that they are resorting to displaying their jobs skills or just sitting and looking pretty in storefront windows in an attempt to get attention and get offered a job–or as my mother-in-law says in this humorous way, spelling out each letter, a J-O-B.
In the picture at the top of this post, you can see one guy in the storefront window of the art studio bending wire–presumably for that long artistic piece behind him.
However, it’s not even just starving artists anymore taking this up as a marketing opportunity, as the Wall Street Journal (8 May 2013) reports–regular jobless folks in professions from lawyers, to tax experts, and even former CEOs are having to bare themselves in public displays to try and land a job offer.
Those who have been unemployed for months and years are becoming desperate for work as one unemployed political scientist states, “I’m willing to try anything.”
Despite it being so degrading that he “feels like a monkey…in a cage as people walk by and just stare at me.”
Assuredly, it is a sad commentary on society when people looking for jobs and to earn a basic income are treated literally like animals in cages to be examined, made fun of, or even marveled at in a strange sort of way.
Historically, in red light districts, scantily clad women have been exhibited behind glass enclosures to lure customers and money, but as most people would say “That’s the sex industry!”–however, what starts off as okay for the such social vices ends up by extension as the new normal for our educated, white collar workers.
Never-the-less, some employers are taking notice–they see these window displays of professionals, not as loafers or weirdoes, but as go-getters and even sometimes highly creative based on the sophistication of their window displays–with them in it.
In the picture, the guy in the window with his feet up, glasses off, and soda bottle on the floor behind him is making a marketing statement about himself, but I’m not sure I would hire someone based solely on the callouses, corns, and bunions on their feet. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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