On the brief walk from my office to the train station, I had a few moments of crazy sensory awareness. Or was this the closest I’ll come to a moment of Awareness? It was mostly auditory and visual. Eh, I don’t know. Anyway, I was aware - all at once - of:

Sound: helicopters overhead, the puffity-sucking sound of an old man smoking his pipe alongside me, the jangling of metal dog tags on a pair of dogs getting walked, seagulls crying, the rhythmic splashing of water against the dock, the soft sounds of my ballet-flat-clad footsteps compared to the clomping of the business men walking ahead of me, the old man speaking in Italian on his cell phone and repeating “ciao” over and over trying to get someone off the phone, the possibly-homeless man repeating, “Good evening, spare some change?” to every passerby, the wind whistling and rushing by my ears when it kicked up, rush-hour horn-honking a few blocks off…

Sights: the Hudson River catching the light of the late afternoon sun and splaying it along the train station and wood of the dock, long strips of sunlight cast onto the walkway from between the buildings to the west of the river, the tendrils of smoke from the old man’s pipe moving very slowly and thickly despite the windy day, the tessellations formed by the hexagonal stones of the walkway, the tips of my striped shoes appearing and disappearing rhythmically from under the hem of my skirt…

…reminding me of something Stephen Pinker wrote - that one of the most amazing things we do as true bipeds is walk upright. With every single step, we’re defying gravity and saving ourselves from falling by just a fraction of a second. A toddler learning to walk really is a big deal in those terms.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much in the olfactory sense group since I didn’t take my allergy medicine and am a congested girl.

In other news, I will be Twittering a bit (again, after my aborted efforts last year because it bored the crap out of me) every now and again. It will be an easy way to post quick stuff when I’m on vacation–or when I’m just really busy this week.

I feel compelled to do some Pilates and go running since my rock-climbing plans for tonight didn’t pan out. I happen to have gotten all addicted to a sport that requires a partner; this is highly uncharacteristic of me, but it happened. Tough. The friend with whom I climb regularly and have climbed regularly since September (”my climbing buddy”) is on the West coast at the moment and, thus, not able to belay for me. My efforts to arrange otherwise didn’t pan out for tonight, but I’m making an effort to arrange something for tomorrow night. If not, I will be doing a LOT of running. It’s just not as fun or rewarding or challenging. Boo-hiss.

I can’t believe it’s 9:00 already. I guess that’s what happens when you get home from work after 7, though. The hours run away like horses over the hill… to adapt and paraphrase a phrase. But something that will feel wonderful will be collapsing into my bed tonight and maybe getting rid of this headache. Ah, bed. Ah, slumber. You elusive temptresses.

I’m a strong proponent of rewarding oneself for a job well done. Over the last four months, I’ve been working fervently to get into better shape and I have managed to shed a respectable amount of weight. As a matter of fact, it’s equivalent to, say, a three-year old child. Yes, I’ve essentially shed a toddler. I felt it was time to reward myself for this accomplishment in some way.

And by “some way”, I mean “with shoes.”

I made my first visit-with-intent-to-purchase to Zappos.com (since I’ve read amazing and miraculous things about their customer service for many moons on Consumerist.com), and narrowed down my search to black heels, 3″ high or less.

The shoes pictured here caught my eye; the shape, the curve of the heel (not visible here and the image on Zappos cannot be saved), the stitching and all the other details.

It’s got a certain modern sculpture sensibility to it - except it’s a shoe.

Then I saw the style name : Oolong from John Fluevog’s “Teapot” collection. There are also styles called Darjeeling and Sencha, among others. I am guessing the collection name is derived from the shape of the heel; it’s quite reminiscent of the spout of a traditional teapot. I’m a girl who loves her tea. Could it be fate?

Cheers to free overnight shipping from Zappos. The shoes arrived at work on Friday and I was placing them on my feet before lunchtime to see how they felt and looked. Office opinion was positive, and they’re quite comfortable. One commenter stated, “They’ve got just the right amount of toe cleavage!”

Another item I purchased (not as a reward, but because it’s officially and finally winter here in the metro New York area) was a long-sleeved t-shirt from Etsy. If you’re not familiar with Etsy, it touts itself as “your place to buy and sell all things handmade.” Essentially, it’s a shopping site where artsy-craftsy people who make their wares can sell them - and other people can buy them.

For the last two years, I’ve done at least some of my holiday shopping through Etsy because you can find things that are truly one of a kind - or at least made in a very limited quantity. It also feels sort of good to know that you’re supporting an independent artisan (an actual person who will email you back if you have a question and include a handwritten “thank you!” note or extra treat with your order) rather than a production line somewhere in Macau. I’m just saying… and now I’m getting off my soapbox.

So here’s my purchase - a green t-shirt silk-screened with an orange gingko leaf. I love the shape of the leaves. It’s also a striking color combination.

I wore it to work earlier this week (because it works with a black skirt and sensible shoes). It was nice to answer the, “Where did you get that shirt?” question with, “Oh - I ordered it on Etsy. The artist silkscreens them on demand.” Eyebrows arch and the inquirers say, “Wow. I didn’t know people did that. That’s very cool.”

Yeah it is.