NKS Outtakes: Your Foot Can Pay Homage

Here’s one that got left out of Nobody Knows Shoes. Doing a bunch of true shoe parallels just felt too broad. But, anyway, the idea is to teach stacks and flows by also teaching how to lace shoes in different styles which resemble each box type. You can vote stacks and flows with your feet.

See here: the Ladder closely resembles a stack. And, while you’re lacing it, kids, notice how each box in the ladder goes out of its way to stay independent. The laces cross over the bridge of the shoe in a very orderly style.

Right, and when you use stacks, all your images and paragraphs and things neatly go. Top to bottom.

It seemed to me, the sawtooth is a fine way of thinking about flows. You’re still going top-to-bottom, but the laces kind of weave left-to-right as they go.

And I guess evading stacks and flows, using coordinates directly, would be like a slip-on shoe or something. Or having gum stuck on your shoe. I don’t know, don’t ask me.

Anyways, a few years ago I visited my aunt. Her family calls her “Big Mol” even though she’s really all wispy. She’s a dedicated and bookthirsty librarian. Her personal shelves are all Bliss (BC2) or something. Anyway, she saw how I was tying my shoes, which was a very primitive rabbit-round-the-tree style and she gently took me through the turquoise turtle knot.

Seriously, it’s a good knot. Thanks, Big Mol!