Earlier today I put on a pair of shoes. The memories they brought back to me call for a written down short story.
In Columbus Ohio, where I spent my exchange year, they have this great monthly event called Gallery Hop. On the first Saturday night of every month, at a district called Short North, all the shops and galleries will be open later than usual. Normally the area is not buzzing with people but during Gallery Hop it suddenly gets crowded. (Helsinki people could compare this to the annual The Night of the Arts.)
Even during the winter months, the local ice cream delicacy celebrity Jeni's has lines all the way around the corner and shops like Tigertree and galleries like Roy G Biv and 83 Gallery are just full of people enjoying music, Late Night Slices and of course the main thing - art.
During some time in spring 2012 I was on my way to hop in and out of Short North galleries with the dearest Gun Young Kim. We started from Royal Factory Atelier, the shop that sells both vintage garments and locally designed clothes. And there they were: a perfect pair of strappy shoes, the only pair, in my size! (I returned later to gather my finds. The shoes are the detail in the story that reminded me of Short North.)
After the suitable amount of gallery hopping and ice cream we used to meet our other ceramics friends at the Ace of Cups that normally is a rather rock'n'roll type of a concert place. For us the reason to this was Heatwave, this vintage 50's and 60's vinyl night where everyone would dance their feet sore. This time it wasn't the prom themed night but that did happen, too. My American prom experience was vintage and fun!
