Pardon The Interruption

...but can I mention some shoes?

Vans Vault x Taka Hayashi No Quarter LX

Proper has come through for me without fail since 06'. Good customer service. Lightning fast shipping. Top tier collaborations. Quality inventory.

I try not to post too many sneakers here and stick to interesting "in real life" happenings, my/our musings on life and other miscellaneous content I/we find thought provoking, but "yoski woahski." (c) 3000. I'll take the brown and khaki hi tops for 500, Alex. The No Quarter LX makes me reminisce of the glory days of 6' Timbs and Polo Ranger boots...with added 09' style points. Coming up in my household, you weren't getting more than a pair of casual shoes and basketball shoes, as necessary, which probably led me to my present ownership tally now that I have a marginal amount of disposable personal income. Even so, my consumption rate has slowed significantly since joining "the real world." My entire lifestyle is somewhere between sneakers and dress shoes so my bank account will have to empathize. Or force-quit. Whichever comes first. Plus, ordering from SoCal is a fitting way to prep for a weekend mini-vacation to the left coast. The thing about style is that everyone has their own. So if you don't swing this way (||), pay me no mind. Regardless, I'm amped, suited and booted.

H-Town Sneaker Summit 09

In lieu of the upcoming H-Town Sneaker Summit Summer 2009 edition, it is only right I reflect on the summits' of past. The last few seemed very well received and honestly, in my opinion anyway, they get better each time. The venues get bigger and the talent gets better. As far as OG’s go, it doesn’t get too much better than Bun B the Ombudsman. He’s a Houston rap staple since the times of yore and our resident oldhead sneakerhead (if you have to classify these things. No shots). I won’t get into my thoughts on what makes a sneakerhead these days, because I surely don’t know anymore. Then again you can’t see the qwerty keys through my jeans, so that probably has something to do with it. But, to each his own. Do you. I just like sneakers anyway. All the labels and whatnot fall by the wayside.

Bun hosted part of the Winter Summit with a raffle giveaway of a pair of his 1 of 1 “RIP Pimp C” Nike Dunk ID’s. He’d already had an in-store at Premium Goods the day before for his t-shirt release in conjunction with The Hundreds.

Screwed Up records and Tapes. Up the street from Active Athlete.

You can see more pics of the event over at The Hundreds. (Editor’s note: Chris from San Antonio in the video below actually probably had the best weekend ever)

All breeds of sneaker enthusiast were in attendance so it made for good people watching. I was with my partner Cabby of Sneaker Lab and 3Kings fame, so as expected, a good time was had by all. The DJ’s played to the home crowd and it felt like 99’ all over again. I had a chance to run into my boy Thomas from The Tipping Point and Bun B the Ambassador himself. As you can see in the video, Bun is very comfortable in the city as he calls out “lames”, berates an onlooker and disses the State’s/America’s dream team, the Dallas Cowboys, all while receiving cheers from the crowd.

Let’s hope this Sunday’s Summit is even better. I’m a Dom Kennedy fan, as you already know, so I’m even more amped to see the performance. In addition, on Friday night, Pac Div, B.o.B aka Bobby Ray, Kid Cudi and Asher Roth are performing at the House of Blues. You already know we’ll be in attendance, so it looks like a grand time to be had for all. I personally think Kid Cudi is meh, but I won't stop the show over one monkey. B.o.B. gets great acclaim and, though I haven’t given his music much burn, people compare him to 3000 and 3000 is top 5. I’ve seen Asher and his live show is bananas. For whatever flak he may get about his music, I respect the energy. Pac Div. Well I can’t say enough about them, so I won’t. Why they’re opening instead of headlining is beyond me, but I’ll be at the venue bright and early to catch they’re performance. Tennis shoes, great performances and surrounded by good people. I can’t really ask for too much more out of a weekend in clutch city. Expect an update post Summit.

Bonus: Push the pictures, receive a treat.

Props to Dub CNN

Reference: Sharing Is Caring

One Shoe Can Change Your Life

While sitting at my workstation a few weeks ago my boss handed me a stack of papers he had printed out from his email. Sometimes he shares HR case studies or other career oriented literature. Other times it’s the typical pictures of Barack Obama from around the world/inauguration celebrations. In more recent memory, there was MJ’s Memorial program. You know, the usual stuff. So, while de-cluttering my desk today I ran across a list he had given me in passing and really gave it a thorough look over. It was an email forward claiming to originate from Regina Brett of “The Plain Dealer” fame in Cleveland, Ohio. After a simple Google search, the origins proved to be valid. I was expecting Snopes to shoot it down, but hey, who knew some email forwards weren’t riddled (used loosely here) with lies and exaggerations. Anyway, she had a lot of good points and I’ve taken the liberty to extract some of them here and paraphrase others. You can check out her full unadulterated list here.

Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
When in doubt, just take the next small step.
Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
If a relationship has to be secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
Whatever don’t kill you really does make you stronger.
When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
Today is special.
Over prepare, then go with the flow.
Be eccentric now.
No one is in charge of your happiness, but you.
Always choose life.
Forgive everyone everything.
What other people think of you is none of your business.
Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
Believe in miracles.
Get outside everyday. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
The best is yet to come. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

Here’s an extra morsel for your pallet if you’ve made it this far. You can apply it as you see fit.

One shoe can change your life.
-Cinderella-

Spotted on the receptionist’s paperweight. Take it for what it’s worth.

Pic