For the example, the grand nabobs at your office have recently seen fit to replace the old BunnOmatic coffee pot with the new, fancy-lad, single-serving pod machine which brews the perfect cup every time. The old way was fine, as long as you poured your cup from the pot in the first three minutes after it was produced. Later than that, the coffee tasted like the sludge scooped up from the floor of your brother’s garage. And now you must admit, that it is amazing what the good coffee can do for your mood at the place of the office.

Of the course, some of this natural enthusiasm for the fruit of the brown bean has been tempered by the overly bombastic manner in which the corporate panjandrums have introduced the improvement, with grandiloquent pronouncements and frequent reminders that ImInTech Corp “cares for its family of associates.”

This would not be so troublesome, except that over the past year nearly half the “family” has been “right-sized” out of existence, this while your CEO, Mr. Amenhotep, recently spent two millions of the dollars having the seats of his private jet reupholstered in crocodile and hippo leather.

But, at least you still have the job, and the coffee tastes all the sweeter for it.

Here is something else that will undoubtedly make your working day more pleasant…

Beautiful, glittery platform pumps from the Jerome Rousseau

Dear Manolo,

We’re just three weeks into the new year and already I’ve got the doldrums. Maybe it’s the gloomy weather, maybe it’s the let down after the holidays, maybe it’s the fact that I’m stuck in a nowhere job, but whatever the reason, I need a pick me up. Please suggest something fun to get me out of this funk.

Amanda

Manolo says, it is the statistical fact that the third Tuesday in January is the saddest day of the calendar, the single day of the year when you are most likely to be down in the dumps.

It is not just the middle of the winter, but the exact time when the Christmas credit card bills begin to arrive, reminding you of your profligacy in buying your father that gold-plated nose-hair trimmer. $199.95! What were you thinking?

Worse, it is around the beginning of the third week, when your ambitious new year’s resolutions start to fall by the side of the road, like the crumpled receipt for your unused gym membership, blown from the window of your leased Lexus.

“I’ve lost four and a half pounds on the Low Carb, Cabbage Soup, Maple Syrup, Grapefruit Cleansing Diet,” you say to yourself as you step off the scale this morning, “time for a celebratory donut!”

What is required now to ease the pain is shoes; colorful, ridiculous, happy shoes such as these yellow, canvas, daisy-print, platform sandals from RED Valentino. Ayyyy! They are so cheery!

Thankful….ayyy! Look at the calendar! It is already the second week of November!

There is so much to do in the next two weeks. First you will have to order your free-range, humanely-dispatched, heirloom turkey from the butchers shop, you know, the shop with the hipster butchers who have the tattoos and the ironic handlebar mustaches.

Yes, these young butchers, who ride home each night on their fixed-gear bicycles, are generally well-intentioned, knowledgeable about the meats, and friendly, but still, you miss Stan, the old Polish butcher with the big belly and the twinkling eyes.

Things have not been the same since Stan sold out to these jackanapes and retired. Stan always had time for to flirt with the old ladies, and tell the little jokes, or to give you some beef neck bones for the dog. And the fresh kielbasa he made every Tuesday in the back of the shop was sublime.

These new people, they stock fancy Italian sausages, which they refer to by the pretentious term salume. But… the meat is still good, if more expensive, and you’ve developed the appreciation for the heritage breed animals.

So, you get out the phone and dial up shop to place your order, 15 pounds should be big enough, yes?

“Stanislaw’s Meats,” says the familiar voice on the other end.

“Stan? Stan is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Mrs. G.”

“I thought you retired, Stan.”

“Nah. I got bored sitting around the house. The missus yelling at me all the time. So, I come back to work.”

“Didn’t you sell the shop?”

“I did. I’m just here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, helping out. These boys, they’re good butchers, Mrs. G., but they don’t know the first thing about sausage, so I’m making some kielbasa today.”

Ayyyy!

Let us give thanks for the small but vital pleasures of life, for good food and good people.

Speaking of the sublime things for which we should give thanks, shoes!

Such as these Bette Suede and Mesh Slingback Platform Sandals from Gucci. And look, they are also available in the black, for evening wear.

Of the course, given what the Summer of 2011 was like, this is not necessarily the bad thing.

Indeed, if you could, you would jam your foot down onto the accelerator of the life-mobile, spewing gravel and little chips of asphalt into the face of the Summer of 2011, as you sped away.

But you cannot.

The great tragedy is that life is not the car your can drive from place to place, stopping when the mood strikes you. It is more like the intercity Greyhound that occasionally conveys you through scenes of breath-taking beauty, but more often is stuck for long periods in industrial wastelands, or enormous stretches of poorly made tract homes.

But, you are obliged to do your best while on the trip, by making friends with the fellow passengers, and trying to keep the spirits up.

And, what better way to buoy one spirits than with beautiful shoes, such as these luxurious suede and fox platform peep-toe pumps, the Splash from the Christian Louboutin?

While you are waiting for the Manolo to return, here is the pair of Stuart Weitzman platform sandals the Manolo saw on the feets of the Southern lady yesterday.

The preppy Southern espadrille, perfect for the Belle Meade ladies!

Coffee! Coffee! Shower! Coffee! Clothes! Coffee! Go!

Must get to office to do that thing that will get you that promotion that will result in worldly success!

“Get out of the way,” you shout to the cars that are impeding you on the turnpike, “I have places to go, dammit!”

You arrive fifteen minutes early to the office, the testament to your diligence and can-do-it attitude. You leap from the automobile and race through the lobby, past the Ed the Security Guard.

“You go, missy!” he says genially to your back as you hit the elevator at the run.

“No time to talk, Ed,” You shout over your shoulder.

Up to the 6th floor, into your seat, boot up the computer, ignore the emails, and buckle down for the meaningful session of work. Ten minutes later the boss arrives, he nods his head, clearly happy to see you there at your desk.

Mission accomplished!

And now, you can click over to the real internet, to enjoy the first day of the week as is customary, by looking at gossip sites and beautiful shoes.

Look! Miu Miu Patent Leather Platform Mary Jane Pumps, with the bow!

Manolo says, the weekend, it has almost arrived, and you have the big plans, oh yes, you, Little Miss Quiet-in-the-Corner, have the big plans, very big plans, indeed: dining, dancing, canoodling, the whole romantic magilla.

But, you will need shoes, beautiful simple shoes that will perfectly accent the simple pale dress you have selected for this evening of amour.

Look! Burberry platform sandals, in the mysterious “smoked trench” color! Perfect!

Manolo answers…

As the Manolo said, this has turned out to be one of the most interesting and difficult Whose Shoes Wednesday challenges ever.

It is perhaps not surprising that no one identified this week’s celebrity of note, as we do not think of Bianca Jagger as being the comfort shoe lady, but that is what she has become.

Bianca Jagger and Dasha Zhukova

Like many of us, she has tragically developed the bad feet.

I think the tassel accent brings a playful energy to any footwear collection. We aren’t talking about what dangles off of your grandmothers couches or the rope that ties a small town’s community theater curtains together. This fringe is updated, fresh and aimed at your ankles.

These Vena Cava Ankle-Tie Platforms feature white leather tassels. It’s like ornaments for your feet.

Perhaps you’re a fan of something a little more bold and adventurous? Check out these Jeffrey Campbell Mary-Lou Ivory Suede Wedge Bootie. With both suede front fringe panels and dangling tassels, these booties really take the trend into overdrive.

These Miu Miu Woven Leather Platforms are an interesting consolidation of many recent trends. The smooth leather tassels dangling from the braided canvas ties bring the multimedia look of the shoe together.

So next time you hear the word “tassel”, don’t think of the dangling distraction hanging from a high schooler’s used car rear-view mirror, but rather the fashionable accent swinging around this season.

A bit loud and extremely eye catching, I think these Jeffrey Campbell Salvatore Wedges are perfect for adding color to the gray scaled mundanity of everyday life. These wedges are a wonderful homage to honor the late great Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo (specifically his 1937 wedges, worn by Carmen Miranda, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn), whose lovely designs can be seen here. With each step you take it’s like you’re punching the day in the face with a rainbow. Available in nude and silver, these wedges are so bright and lovely, it is as if they were dyed using the blood of a unicorn. I love them, I’d wear them. Would you?

But even if you would, that doesn’t always mean you could (e.g. me running a marathon or Jennifer Garner making a good movie). This concept is also perfectly illustrated by these interestingly gorgeous Jeffrey Campbell Benched Cut Out Platforms:

Jeffrey Campbell really wins the prize for beautiful originality with these. To me they look like a pair of Picasso constructed high end rocking horses that you wear on your tootsies, but in the best way! There’s no doubt that these shoes are interesting and exciting…but are they wearable? Arch support is nearly entirely eliminated, and I fear the worst when it comes to issues of rubbing your soles the wrong way. Then again…the beautiful earth tones, the sleek vintage style with an overdose of originality, they seem like they would go with anything and everything and can’t help but want them! I just don’t know if I could actually wear them. Could you?