Sunday, April 17, 2011

The Goddess of Victory

Friday, April 8, 2011

Writing a blog is hard work! It's fun and rewarding, but there's more to writing it than meets the eye. And for a person like me who obsesses and worries about every little thing and has a perfectionist streak a mile long and can find more things to procrastinate about than you ever dreamed possible, it can be the biggest time suck around -- even bigger than Facebook (I bet you didn't think that was possible) -- and keep me from doing something important (like my taxes -- hey, I still have 24 hours before they're due, it's early yet!).

Take this post, for example. I've been agonizing over it for over a week. Nothing I wrote was good enough or interesting enough to satisfy me. Well, I finally decided that enough was enough, and that I needed to take a page from Nike's book, and just do it (and for the record -- I have hated that slogan with a passion ever since it came out!).

shirt -- Once 1 Again (thrifted)
jeans -- Delia*s
belt -- Dockers (thrifted)
shoes -- Dansko (outlet)

Once again (haha -- do you see who made my shirt?), I did the jumble of necklaces around the neck. I edited said necklaces once I saw my first few pictures. Since my pictures are taken at the end of the day, it can be somewhat horrifying to find out that I was walking around all day long with what, in effect, was actually a piece of toilet paper stuck to my shoe!

I also played around with the tucked-in vs the untucked look but this time, I actually think the tucked-in version was better. You can see how awful the tucked-in version was here.
 
untucked version
talk about gritting your teeth and bearing it ...

I did kind of like this -- for a jeans look, that is. It was really comfortable, and I think I looked "nice" even though it didn't have the "wow" factor that I was aiming for. Dressing up jeans is hard!

The top was a much prettier sparkly copper color than what is showing -- I tried to pull out the color by taking a close-up picture, but I still don't think that I got the color all that right. And for a change, I also had an easy time of deciding what shoes to wear -- my sparkling Danskos were almost a perfect match!


I bet you're wondering why I hated that Nike slogan so much. The Center for Applied Research, a consulting company in Philadelphia, PA, and Boston, MA, said it pretty succinctly, "Nike responded to [Reebok] by releasing a tough, take-no prisoners ad campaign that practically shamed people into exercising." I never thought that people should be shamed into exercising or, for that matter, into doing anything. Sometimes you "can't" just do it (whatever "it" may be), and I thought the slogan and the ad campaign minimized people's struggles. That ad was a trigger point for me whenever I saw it.

And this is being said by a girl (woman) whose first pair of real running shoes were a pair of white Nikes (with a red swoosh) from Rockaway Sporting Goods in Denville, NJ. I got them way back in 1973, when there were not a whole lot of girls in NJ who ran cross country. We had to run in the boy's JV races because there were no girl's teams to compete against.

I had very conflicted feelings about those shoes. My parents bought them for me, and they were a real treat -- it was one of the first things that I remember getting that I really really wanted, price be d*mned. But I also remember feeling strange about them. Nobody else on my team had such expensive shoes, and why did I think I deserved them?

 
blazer -- Old Navy (thrifted) 

Did you know the following:
  • Nike is the Greek goddess of victory, and is one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins.
  • In 1945, Bell Laboratories developed Project Nike, an anti-aircraft missile system contracted by the U.S. Army. 
  • Ever since the 1928 Summer Olympics, Nike is on the face of every medal. She holds a palm frond in her right hand and a winner’s crown in her left.
Do you remember the Nike slogan?
Did you like it? 

And are your taxes done?

8 comments:

  1. Yes, yes and no! I filed an extension. I have a different experience with the "just do it" slogan. For me, I used it as a means of encouragement. When I feel lazy or a little tired and I start over-thinking whether I should or shouldn't, will I get home too late? Are the trails still muddy or dry? Etc... I tell myself to just do it. Just get out there and start running, I can take it easy, I can turn around if I'm indeed too tired, but I need to stop thinking and start doing.

    I totally understand how you interpreted it, I had never considered that viewpoint before. It's always interesting to hear another interpretation!
    :) f
    The House in the Clouds

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  2. You always have something of value to say, and your blog inspires and makes me re-thing my views daily. As for the "just do it", I feel a bit like the poster above, it's a way to motivate people that may be stuck with a case of inertia. I do a fair about of motivational interviewing in my day job, and its funny the barriers that people have to lifestyle change and how something as simple as "playing a different tape in your head", can really turn things around.

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  3. We use an accountant, so fortunately my taxes have been done for a while. I hate doing taxes!

    I like the top tucked in.

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  4. I do remember the Nike's slogan. My mom was a big Nike shoe fan, though not a running enthusiast. When I went into a middle school that had physical education (most elementary schools were cutting out recess), I bought a pair of Nikes. I ended up wearing them once or twice and wearing my Chuck Taylors everyday.

    I have to report tax info for my FAFSA so mine have been done since early February, thankfully!

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  5. We have the two kids to be in college this fall/must do early for FAFSA thing going on, too. I always enjoy your posts; I love your sense of humor. I saw your name and blog (and mine too!) on Terri's Perfect Blog post!

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  6. Sparkly Danskos!? That's why your clogs always look so much better than mine.

    I was gifted a pair of Nike's around the same time that you got yours...because I had gained a lot of weight my first year at college and this was to encourage me to begin running on an indoor track in the winter. Result: lots of old guys stalking me. It's a shame that people made you feel bad for the shoes. My middle daughter was a distance runner and shoes are important!

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  7. @Fabienne -- Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. After breaking down in tears when I was trying to do mine, I ended up filing an extension too. so depressing.
    @northeastchic -- awww, thank you!
    @Rebecca -- you are so lucky!
    @Megan Mae -- why was your mom a fan of Nikes? And yes, I am jealous of you!
    @Debbie -- it was a huge thrill to see my name on Terri's post!
    @Terri -- the Dansko outlet has all sorts of clogs that I haven't seen in the stores (and they're like half price too!) It was me who made me feel bad! That is just part of me -- never felt very deserving of things.

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  8. I love this top on you - fabulous color.

    I have an affinity for Nike because they are an Oregon company, I grew up running and only ever wore Nike's, and our state track meets were held in Eugene - Track City, USA.

    I don't think much about the "Just Do It" slogan except to think that it's a brilliant bit of advertising in that it's so well known. Love it or hate it, you know it and you know it's Nike.

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Thanks for reading. Honest opinions and constructive criticism are always welcome.

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