Causal Fridays and Barefoot v. Minimal Shoes

Ok, so I just had a total geek-out on my way up the elevator this morning... Today is Friday - for many, Casual Friday. How easy it is to switch letters and change the meanings of words.... Then I thought: "If you just shift the U, Casual turns into Causal. What would 'Causal Friday' be like?" I hope J doesn't read this otherwise he might be ashamed to know me. ; )

Also, I gave some thought this morning to barefooting some more... I mean, I'm sure you all know that I run pseudo-barefoot in my Vibram FiveFingers, but I've eschewed shoes for as long as I can remember. Indoors? barefoot. Running around outside playing as a kid? barefoot as much as I could get away with. Heck, I've always preferred to buy shoes such that I can at least slightly feel the cracks in the sidewalk when I'm walking. It feels weird to me otherwise. So since I've started running around in the FiveFingers more & more, I've been feeling it in my joints when I go back to 'regular' shoes. I feel the shift in my joints and alignment. Or rather, I'm aware of them... Odd. as a result I am now trying to buy my shoes with as flat and thin a sole as possible and as flexible or roomy as possible (It totally goes against all financial sense to pay for as little as possible...) The thing that is intriguing me right now is that even in minimalist shoes, I do not ambulate in the same manner. Barefoot or in my VFFs, I walk lightly and lead with my toes, touching down the forefoot or midfoot first and then compress into my heel. With my minimalist flats, I still find myself landing on my heel and it feels very awkward to try and walk in a different manner in them. I need to ponder if it's because my brain has been "programmed" for so long to walk in a particular manner with shoes on (then one would think it'd translate to the VFFs also) or is it more that the construction of the shoes does not lend itself well to having a natural gait while keeping the shoes on my feet? I need to go contemplate.

Another random thought for the day: I passed a car on the highway yesterday that had 3 wheels - one in front, two in back. Sorry, I did not have my camera for once. It looked brand new. It had a curved windshield, sides, looked like a 2 seater, was TINY, had a normal steering wheel, and a roll bar. It appeared to be a convertible with the top down. Anyone know what that was? I tried to check out the make & model while driving by, but the words were all long, in tiny print, and a script-ish font. What kind of marketing sense does that make????