What's old is new and other odds and ends

Is it a bit selfish or myopic to say that boots and REI have renewed my faith in humanity? Since the electoral process left me feeling hungover and/or tired and certainly not very inspired when I considered our public officials. And to think that this was only the mid

-term cycle! All I know is that if I were Meg Whitman, I could have definitely spent 140 MILLION dollars on something better. Like supporting Prop 19. Okay, that's kind of a joke.

Since I don't have that much cash lying around, I try to find my happiness in smaller, everyday happenings. For instance, boots! REI sent my much-beloved hiking boots from Spring 2001 off to 'the shoe-sole guy'. I don't know who he is or what his name is, but he lives somewhere in Washington state and fixes shoes for REI. What a job! At any rate, I personally want to kiss this guy! Although the boots still look rather battered and worn, especially in the shitty light (and the photo, taken with a shitty iPhone), he fixed the soles! Well, replaced them. But the shoes should be more or less as good as new. I will keep my fingers crossed that they last at least another 8 years. Then, I won't complain when/if I have to invest in a new pair. In the meantime, it does bring me great happiness to have these back and to daydream about all of the trips that I will take in them!

On a different note, but still talking boots here, I have major lust for a new pair of boots this fall. Obviously boots are the "in" thing, and I already have two pairs of good boots that I like - one pair is black with a heel, the other boots are of the cowboy variety. I like them both very much, but an itch for a 'tougher' looking boot has certainly bit me. I actually went shopping for boots a few weekends ago but came up empty. And then, after looking on-line at Zappos, I discovered these beauties:

Yes, they are Doc Martens, and yes, I might be too old to pull them off. I am, however, obsessed. This obsession will have to wait until Thanksgiving weekend when we are in the San Francisco area and can go to a Doc Marten's store - how fortuitous! Until them, I will just dream about them.

And if they don't fit, I will cut off my bunion or my toes, just like Cinderella's sisters did. Beauty? At what price?

Finally, something that is both old and new: A French-press coffee maker/pot! Old, in the sense that I've used a French press coffee maker/pot for the past eight years of my life, but I've resigned myself to the fact that I have to buy a new one every few years because the pot breaks or one of the pieces falls apart. Last year, we bought a cheaper model - still Bodum, but, again, a cheaper model, and I kind of hated it. Well, we both did. I can't explain it, but the fit wasn't as tight and we couldn't screw all the pieces together well. If you have a French press, then you'll know about what I speak! So, yesterday morning, I woke up, put the kettle on the stove to heat up the water, and pulled out the coffee pot from the drying rack, only to discover that the glass carafe had broken - it was missing a huge piece of glass. I cursed the coffee pot, but then decided that now was as good a time as any to purchase a new Bodum.

And voilá! We have a new coffee pot - and it is RED! I was so set on replacing our coffee pot that I didn't even notice that it could be a different color. We pulled it out last night and after our initial surprise, we both decided that we liked the new color. This morning, when I made coffee, I also decided that I liked the new pot. All's well that ends well, or so it seems! Especially after a nice, strong cup of joe.