Why Is 'Shoe Dog' Considered A Must-Read For Startup Founders?

It's wild how Olivia Attwood's shoe choices can turn into mini-fashion movements almost overnight. I've watched her step out in a chunky heeled sandal or a glossy knee-high boot and within days my feed is full of people trying to recreate the look. Part of it is confidence — she makes statement shoes feel wearable, which makes other celebrities and influencers less scared to pick bold silhouettes. Also, her edits mix high street with investment pieces in a way that shows you don't need a six-figure wardrobe to get a magazine-ready vibe. I pay attention to what she pairs with those shoes: simple tailored pieces, denim with a strong hemline, or mini dresses with oversized coats. That pairing strategy is contagious. It influences not just designers and retailers who watch for what moves off the rails, but also stylists who start suggesting similar shapes for clients. For me, the most interesting ripple is how a single pair of shoes can revive older trends — think block heels, lug soles, or statement straps — and suddenly they’re back on the red carpet and in high-street windows, which is endlessly fun to track and try out myself.

Whoa, seeing your dog with a droopy face can feel like a punch to the gut, and I’ve been there watching a pup look off-kilter and wondering what to do next. If the droop appears suddenly — like overnight or after a known injury — I treat it as urgent. Sudden facial droop can come from facial nerve paralysis, a bite or blunt trauma, a stroke-like event, or even tick paralysis in areas where ticks are common. If it’s accompanied by trouble breathing, swallowing, excessive drooling, weakness on one side, or rapid changes in behavior, I’d head to emergency care immediately. For milder, gradual drooping with no other red flags, I still call or visit my regular vet within 24–48 hours so they can examine for infection, dental abscesses, ear disease, or signs of a neurological issue. I always take a quick video showing the droop and note when I first saw it — that saved time during one frantic visit. Bottom line: sudden + severe = go now; gradual or isolated = vet within a day or two. Personally, I sleep better knowing I’ve got an appointment booked when something like this shows up.

I've had a soft spot for awkward-faced dogs my whole life, and when one of my foster dogs developed a visibly droopy face after an ear infection, I learned a lot quickly. First thing I found out was that surgery choices depend on what’s causing the droop. If the facial nerve is being compressed by middle ear disease, a ventral bulla osteotomy to clear infection and decompress the nerve can sometimes restore function. If the nerve was cut or severely damaged, direct nerve repair or nerve grafting (using an autologous graft like sural nerve) may be recommended by a specialist. For chronic or irreversible paralysis, surgeons often do static or dynamic procedures: static options include fascia lata slings or cheiloplasty to support the lip and reduce drooling; dynamic options include muscle transposition such as temporalis muscle transfer to help lift the lip and corner of the mouth. Eyes are usually the most urgent concern. To protect the cornea we used temporary tarsorrhaphy and conjunctival flaps while waiting to see if function returned. For long-term eyelid protection, partial permanent tarsorrhaphy, medial or lateral canthoplasty, or eyelid sling procedures can be done. Recovery and prognosis vary — some idiopathic facial paralyses improve in weeks to months without surgery, while traumatic or neoplastic causes may need early surgical repair. Watching that dog regain some symmetry after a temporalis transposition was quietly joyful, and it made me realize how much small operations can change quality of life.

Sports memoirs have this incredible ability to connect with us on a personal level. Thinking back to reading 'Open' by Andre Agassi, I was initially drawn to the behind-the-scenes tales of his tennis career, but it turned into so much more than that. The way Agassi shares his struggles with identity, pressure, and self-acceptance resonates universally. His journey from being the son of a domineering father to discovering his own passion and voice made me reflect on my ambitions and the obstacles I face in pursuit of my dreams. Moreover, the raw honesty in such memoirs can inspire you to confront your own challenges. Agassi's candid accounts of his mental health and feelings of inadequacy reminded me that we all have our battles, even those who seem to be on top of the world. It pushed me to reconsider how I deal with setbacks in life, whether in sports, work, or personal relationships. You can come away from these stories with a newfound sense of resilience and determination, seeing not just the triumphs but the struggles that lead to growth. In short, memoirs like Agassi's have the power to transform our understanding of success. They teach us that it’s not merely about the accolades, but the journey and the people you become along the way. It’s a reminder that the stories we all carry—in sports and beyond—can shape our perspectives in profound ways, and that’s something special.

I totally get wanting to find free reads—budgets can be tight, and books are expensive! But I’ve gotta say, 'Matriarch: A Memoir' isn’t legally available for free online. The author and publisher put a lot of work into it, and they deserve support. That said, you might check if your local library has a digital copy through apps like Libby or Hoopla. Libraries are low-key treasure troves for free access to books, and they often have waitlists for popular titles, so it’s worth hopping on early. If you’re really strapped for cash, keep an eye out for giveaways or promotional periods where the ebook might go on sale for free temporarily. Some authors do that to build hype. Alternatively, used bookstores or swap sites like Paperback Swap might have physical copies for cheap. I’ve found some gems that way! Just remember, pirated copies hurt creators—so if you love a book, supporting it helps ensure more get written.

The heart of 'Matriarch: A Memoir' beats with the raw, unflinching exploration of family legacy and the weight of matriarchal roles. It’s a story that digs into how generations of women shape—and sometimes fracture—one another, often under the shadow of societal expectations. The memoir doesn’t just recount events; it dissects the quiet battles fought in kitchens and living rooms, where love and control tangle in ways that leave scars. What struck me hardest was how the author frames resilience—not as a triumphant march, but as a messy, sometimes reluctant survival instinct passed down like heirlooms. There’s also this haunting undercurrent about the stories we inherit versus the ones we choose to tell. The narrator peels back layers of family myths, revealing how silence can be as formative as spoken wisdom. It’s not just about one woman’s life; it’s about how her choices ripple through time, altering the trajectories of those who come after. The book left me thinking about my own family’s unspoken rules—the kind that shape you before you even realize they’re there.

Every few months I find myself revisiting stories about Elvis and the people who were closest to him — Ginger Alden’s memoir fits right into that stack. She published her memoir in 2017, which felt timed with the 40th anniversary of his death and brought a lot of attention back to the last chapter of his life. Reading it back then felt like getting a quiet, firsthand glimpse into moments and emotions that other books only referenced. The book itself leans into personal recollection rather than sensational headlines; it’s intimate and reflective in tone. For me, that made it more affecting than some of the more dramatic biographies. Ginger’s voice, as presented, comes across as both tender and straightforward, and I appreciated how it added nuance to a story I thought I already knew well. It’s one of those memoirs I return to when I want a calmer, more human angle on Elvis — a soft counterpoint to the louder celebrity narratives.

Grab a pencil and let me walk you through the kinds of drills that actually change how you invent dogs from thin air. Start with gesture and silhouette work: set a timer for 30 seconds and do thirty little dog gestures, focusing only on the line of action and basic proportions. Don’t worry about fur or details — capture the bounce in the spine, the tilt of the head, the weight over the hips. After a bunch of 30-second sketches, do a round of 2–5 minute thumbnails where you simplify the body into ovals, cylinders, and triangles. The point is to make the dog readable from a distance, so try to make each thumbnail readable at thumbnail size before refining it. Next, mix anatomy studies with imagination drills. Spend short sessions drawing skulls, the major limb bones, and the big muscle groups, then immediately invent five dogs that exaggerate one trait from those studies: massive paws, whip tails, barrel chests, or giraffe-length legs. Add memory exercises: study a photo for two minutes, hide it, then redraw from memory. Compare and repeat. Play breed mashup games (combine a greyhound with a corgi, or a husky with a basset) to force you to translate real features into stylized forms. Clay maquettes or poseable toys help if you like hands-on reference. I also recommend value thumbnails and silhouette-only rounds — if a dog still reads with only value blocks or a silhouette, you’ve nailed the design. I learned a lot from books like 'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' for observational focus and from various anatomy sketchbooks for specifics, but the key is short, focused repetitions, variety, and having fun inventing characters. After a month of these drills, your imagined dogs start feeling alive, and that never stops making me smile.