Do you have a favorite sneaker hunting story?
Um, I don’t feel like I have a favorite hunting story, but I do feel like I’m kind of a sneaker hustler. I’m always kind of on the prowl. I’m looking for that unique pair of shoes, or that one pair that’s just going to totally catch my eye. See for me, like when I shop for sneakers, I’m not really looking for anything…. Cuz I don’t, I mean there’s lots of sneakers at Eastbay that’re on sale, but I don’t buy, like just any pair. They have to…like this Saucony [points to a pair], this style, this is me. This really speaks to me. These are really nice. That’s kind of, so I don’t feel like I hunt, I’m always sort of hustling…

The closeted sneaker fiend…
I think I was like, in the closet more like when I was growing up. I kind of did all my admiration from afar. I know I used to sneak up to my brothers’ rooms and look at their sneakers, and even try them on, but I never really talked about it. And I think a lot of that had to do with, that it was just such a frivolous thing, and my parents were just so practical, and they really encouraged us not to go after something that was superficial, like clothes don’t make you, shoes don’t make you. And so I had a lot of admiration, like, on the DL. And even now, when people make a big deal, when I’m wearing something, I get uncomfortable. So for me, it’s like real private….I also like to give people props too, but I don’t necessarily like it when they give me props, because it just calls attention to something that I don’t think is important. Isn’t that weird? Like I have such conflict with it!
You are the most conflicted sneaker fiend that I’ve interviewed so far.
Yea, I’m definitely really conflicted. And I think a lot of it really does have to do with my upbringing and it also has a lot to do with that I’m a really practical person, and I don’t really have a lot of excess, and my sneakers are the only thing.
Yea. Trying to figure out if you can allow yourself that frivolity.
Yea. And so, it hasn’t, it hasn’t like, prevented me, it hasn’t really been a barrier, it’s just something that I struggle with….My father and my mother really preached, like, buy what you need and not what you want. So for me this represents what I want, and not what I need, so to have them in front of me…. so I kind of put them in the closet. And the closet’s really the best place to keep them anyway.

The bubble thing…
The reason I like those [Saucony’s] is I can wear baggy pants, cuz of the little lip on the back. It’ll protect the pants from dragging. See I don’t really like to cuff my pants over. I don’t even like to cuff my jeans….And I love anything that has the bubble look in the back…cuz for me I wear a lot of long baggy pants and my sweats are usually baggy and the bubble look offsets that. It kind of gives it contrast.
You don’t get all the way into the big Shox though do you?
Um, I do like the new Shox that are out.
They don’t do anything for me. That whole thing in the back just seems so ridiculous.
I like it because it allows me to wear my long baggy pants without having to cuff them. And I like the way the baggy pants fold, they kind of lay on it, it looks nice. It’s very classy to me. I like those….I like shoes that have substantial heels on them. I think probably because I’m short….They make me feel tall!