I just read this post which mentioned Bubble Tea, something I had never heard of. But–and it’s funny how things coincide–just yesterday, Dawn was telling me a story about how, her brother went to the doctor’s office with his wife and new twins, and the doctor recommended adding rice cereal to the formula. Except, her brother the brand-new-father had never heard of the baby-cereal and asked, “You mean the puffed rice, or . . . ?” Which immediately made me picture a bottle of formula with little bits of puffed rice bobbing along on the top (would be really hard to drink, don’t you think?) But follow up that conversation with a beverage with tapioca pearls the very next morning . . .

And then, I just finished reading a book about the “American Gothic” painting. You know the one, the man, the woman, the pitchfork. I finished it last night, after reading it on and off over the last two weeks. Then, this morning, I’m flipping through the newspaper, and there it is, at the top of the “Today” section of the Newark Star-Ledger, an article on the painting.

Then, there are Chappy’s favorite neighbors, who we haven’t seen since April. Yesterday, we bumped into them just as we were taking Chappy out for a walk–and then invited them into the house to see our revamped bathrooms and kitchen, since they’re working on their bathrooms as well. Nice visit. In fact, they were walking downtown to the library to return a copy of David McCullough’s 1776, which Mr. M. hadn’t finished yet, so I offered to lend him my copy. Then today–just before we passed their house on our walk, Mrs. M. drove by on her way home from work, and invited US in to see the bathroom that they’d just done. Months with barely a glimpse and then, two nice, long visits, two days in a row? Another coincidence.

Further, the book I just finished reading, “Bellwether” by Connie Willis, which is all about fads and chaos theory, coincidence, and how one thing can lead to another without anyone realizing it. It’s a delicious read, really. One of those multi-layered, interweaving kinds of stories that follows a scientist who’s trying to track the origins of fads, another scientist who’s studying chaos theory, an incompetant office assistant, and, oh yes, a flock of sheep. Let’s not forget the highly amusing flock of sheep. This is a fun little book, by a very gifted author. She usually writes sci-fi kinds of books, but with unique twists, but this one isn’t actually sci-fi-ish at all. It’s just . . . fun. I most like her books where her quirky sense of humor comes through, and trust me, this is one of them.

  Okay, let me digress here into a fashion question. I was tempted by these very cute sandals, on sale at Anthropologie.com. I was swayed by the curled-up toes, the beads on the strap, their general uniqueness. Who wouldn’t think these were adorable? And, they were on S.A.L.E.

The problem, though, is that, as a rule, I don’t wear flip-flop/thong kinds of sandals at all. They give me blisters. Which makes them kind of painful to wear.

So my question is . . . why would I buy them? Well, they’re cute. But more  importantly–does anyone have any tips on HOW to wear them so that I won’t be limping around? Because I’d really like to be able to keep them, but it’s not exactly sensible to keep them if I can’t wear them . . .

You know which shoes I’d really like to have, though? These. They look absolutely great and comfortable. Pretty. Wearable. But . . . $138 is kind of a lot for a pair of shoes, don’t you think? I can’t help it, though. I covet them. I wonder what the odds are of Anthropologie having my size when/if they ever go on sale?

Now, as to knitting and spinning, there’s nothing actually new to show you tonight. Basically, just shoes and chaos theory.

• Tags: General, Reading • Permalink:Shoes and Chaos Theory //