One thousand.
Today marks the day that I publish my thousandth personal post on KicksOneTwo (and also post a rare picture of myself). That’s almost three years of a brand-new article every single day at 8AM, be it an opinion piece, a list or an event recap.
KicksOneTwo has done a lot for me. When I conceptualized it while sitting at a desk at my shitty office job in December of 2013, it was just something I wanted to do for fun because I enjoyed writing about the culture I love. I never thought that it would open new doors, introduce me to great new friends, teach me so much about dedication and hard work (do you really think that over the course of writing an article for a thousand days straight, I never once had a day when I didn’t want to write at all?), and least of all, land me a paid writing gig at the very best shop in Minneapolis (shouts to PIFF, my favorite place in the whole world).
In honor of making it to quadruple digits, I thought it would be only right to look back on a few of my favorite articles (I could dig up more, but when you’re a thousand deep, you’re bound to forget a few) in KicksOneTwo’s nearly three-year history, starting at the beginning.
TCSAX III Recap-2014
The first event I ever covered way back in Spring 2014 was a learning experience to say the least. It was the first time I ever really marketed and promoted my work, and also the first time I ever met my Piff brothers. I’ve still got an old Scotty Piff sticker I was given at the event floating around somewhere.
The Ten Ronnie Fieg Commandments-2014
If you’re going to be doing any type of blogging whatsoever, lists and “best of” articles are absolutely essential, and “The Ten Ronnie Fieg Commandments” was the first list I ever wrote. All ten commandments still ring true in 2017 … I guess Ronnie never dropped the stone tablets.
Starting Five: Jordan Bachmier-2015
When I originally started “Starting Five” articles, I thought it would be a great way to show what people in the Twin Cities sneaker community were rocking, and shine a light on some of the people who’d showed KicksOneTwo love. Jordan’s got a lot of heat, and brought doubles of each pair (a solid flex) We shot the shoes down at a tennis court, and to this day, I’d wager he’s got the most fire Starting 5 of all, which is a pretty big accomplishment, seeing as lots of folks brought out the heat for their features.
Be Yourself-2015
I always strive to give advice/life lessons in my writing whenever possible, and I always encourage everyone to be themselves, and do what makes them happy. This wasn’t one of my longest pieces, but the message in it was very important to me, and I hope it made a difference for a KicksOneTwo reader or two.
I mentioned above that blog readers love lists … well so do I, and this was my favorite list I ever wrote for KicksOneTwo. 2015 was a fun year to be a sneakerhead
The 3 Best Kicks For Traveling-2016
Short, simple, and to-the-point. Sneakerheads love talking about what the best shoes to take on trips are, so this was a breeze to write.
Yeezy Season 3 Review/Thoughts-2016
Being able to watch Yeezy Season 3 live-streamed in a theater was a memorable experience … and one I had to share my thoughts on. Writing a recap of such an enjoyable, dramatic event was a ton of fun.
TCSAX 7 Photo Recap-2016
Watching your content get better is awesome. If you go back to the TCSAX 3 recap, and then look at the TCSAX 7 recap, you’ll see the progress … both in quality of writing, and quality of photos. That’s pretty damn cool if you ask me.
Refined And Kind: Sneaker In Charleston, SC-2016
When I was down in Charleston in the spring of 2016, I stumbled upon their local sneaker spot, Sneaker … and immediately fell in love. The store’s aesthetic was wonderful, and the owner, JP, was an awesome guy. He let me come into the store a few hours before they opened, shoot a bunch of photos, and write a recap, plus get his in-depth thoughts and opinions on the sneaker game. One of my favorite things I’ve ever done for KicksOneTwo, hands-down
Summer Sixteen: A Polaroid Retrospective-2016
At the beginning of Summer 2016, I grabbed a small Fujifilm Instax camera, and shot portraits of my friends all summer. At the end of the summer, I compiled them into a retrospecitve. I got some great portraits, and even though the formatting was a bitch, this post was a lot of fun (and a departure from the norm).
Thank you all so much for your support over the years. It’s truly what’s kept me hammering away at my keyboard both here and at PIFF (check out all my PIFF content here if you’re so inclined) each and every single day, even when I don’t feel creative at all. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from KicksOneTwo, it’s that creativity isn’t a switch that you can just flick on … but dedication to your craft will get you through when that switch is in the “off” position (it happens to the best of us). I often say “we” in KicksOneTwo articles, even though everything on there (with the exception of a few articles from my good friend Bobby in 2015) is 100% my work. This “We” is everyone who’s told me they enjoyed an article, given me an idea, let me shoot photos of their sneakers, or shown love in any other way. Ya’ll are the best.
Before I go, I’d like to dedicate this 1,000th post to my wonderful grandmother, who passed away early Saturday morning. This one’s for you Mum. Now that a thousand articles are out of the way, I’ve got a thousand more to write, so you can bet that there’s gonna be something new and fresh here every day at 8AM for years to come.
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