Two things I’m very particular about - sneakers and furniture. The former has consumed  since roughly ’92, the first time I laid hands on an Eastbay catalog. Unlike many people in the “street culture” world, my main thrust for liking, using and consuming sneakers came in playing tennis. For some years I recieved a fair number of reebok tennis shoes, to the point where I still will only play in them. These came from ball boying tournaments. Nike tennis shoes were what I wore for leisure. My favorite shoe of all time is the Challenge Court LWP.

In more “reclaiming youth” moves, I’ve returned to another favorite tennis shoe as my daily wear for this summer. The Wilson Pro Staff Classic. It’s cheap… roughly $40. It’s well built. It also has great features… including a terry cloth lining around the heel cup. I have the mesh ones now. I will probably get the leather ones for winter.

What makes them most appealing to me is comfort. They aren’t super cool. Or even remotely hip. I can also be guaranteed that unless at a WASPY country club, nobody else will be wearing them. And, that, in a nutshell is what drove some of my early interest in sneakers. Not exclusivity in the marketing sense, but exclusivity in the true sense of being the only one in the room wearing them. With the pro staff classic I feel I have regained some of the joy I felt owning the ugliest color of a given shoe in high school. I have them, others won’t wear them. Brand never came into play. Price didn’t fuel cool. I did what I wanted and formed my own version of what I wished casual and leisure clothing to look like.

Enough of those thoughts…

On furniture I am also rather particular. I’m pained that I’ve not yet reached the economic stability that allows for avoiding Ikea all together. However, I do make an effort. That means that despite absolute essentials (bed, bookcases) my place is rather spartan. I own two chairs and a stool. The stool was built for me by the librarian at my old job. It is a 17th century style joined stool with woven seat. It will last 150 years of hard use and is incredible. The second chair is an Eames Arm chair I bought for $80. Try matching that at Design Within Reach.

Last, is this Windsor chair. I am very attracted to Windsor’s for their variation in form. This, obviously, is an arm chair with turned legs and stretchers. Slight bow back. Always more comfortable than it looks. I wish I knew the origin, but in reality, I just swiped it from my fathers basement. Being that all day I am engaged in some technology, be it this computer, the phone or meetings with site designers, having something to look at born far from this era soothes the soul.

That, really, is my point I guess. The feeling evoked in the antique. The story behind the building. I’m attracted to those types of objects. Those that allow me to slip away from contemporary reality and be reminded of industry past. In my line of work it is important not to lose sight of history. I think it equally important to do the same in life. Keeps perspective. Builds a context for change.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 16:38 and is filed under Common stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.