New Publication: The Unfulfilled List (Gravel A Literary Journal)

A quick post here. Gravel Magazine just released a piece of flash fiction/free verse poetry of mine that can be found here. The 50 word piece, a result of my recent effort to produce quality, single serving literature (discussed here), aims to explore the idea of lists, their meaning, and their endgame purpose.

For those who didn't click, see below:

The Unfulfilled List

Two Eggs,

Four Apples, green in color,

One bottle of cinnamon—ground,

Three bananas, overripe,

One promise,

Four dried, Turkish Apricots,

Three pineapple cores, moist,

One gallon of organic milk, free range,

Two pounds of brown rice,

Four mandarin oranges,

Conceits collected,

Wet paper torn in half,

Smudged ink.

Personal Footwear Recommendation Service

Skora Phase in action.

As a featured Optimal Runner and guest blogger for OptimalRun.com, they recently invited me to Personal Footwear Recommendation Service. This service, which can be found by clicking the title above, takes you to an easy to follow, easy to complete form in which they ask you a variety of questions about your status as a runner, your style of running, the shoes you wear, what you like about them, what you don’t, the events you are training for, etc. These questions, which will take you about five to ten minutes to complete (maybe less, I filled mine out on my phone), allow you to create the local running store experience from the comforts of your couch, car, office, boat, or in my case sitting on the beach.

try out their new

Yet, this form is far more complete than a local running store, where a few questions are asked, a treadmill is used, and an employee (typically a strong runner himself) quickly leads you into one or two models he prefers. Optimal Run takes this process a step farther—they examine your answers, pull from their stocks, and present you with a three minute video (in my case) that not only describes in detail the models they have pulled for you, but also why these models fit your profile. They matched my preferences (less shoe, built in tongue, wide toe box) with models that I had yet to try, but might fit me better, both of which seem interesting to me. What adds to the intrigue is that they know I am an Ambassador for Skora Running and thus, instead of taking the easy way out as often found in the local store, they searched for other options in order to expand my horizons.

Screenshot of the Video

Too often you walk into a store, say you wear Altra, and well are handed another pair of Altra. Not to

say Altra doesn’t make a great shoe, the One is in my rotation, just that sometimes these shoes aren’t working for you and an attentive salesman, in this case the form you provide, will find said information and lead you into a more preferable option. That said, Optimal Run often runs weekly coupon specials, posting them on twitter, and if available, they will give you a code with your recommendations. They have free shipping and no questions on returns for a total of 40 days. I have undergone the purchasing process, buying a pair of shoes for a friend, and also gone through the return process in order to understand the ins and outs. They ship priority in all directions, maintain a high level of communication and work to create a satisfied customer.