New on this set of pages:
- The whole list of new features has been
moved to a separate page, to save
some space, and reduce load times on the main page...So, please look
there to find out, what's
NEW on the barefoot pages...!
| Page Design by:
| Andreas Spring |
| Design tools used:
| CoffeeCup HTML Editor |
In case you wish to link to
these pages, please use the following button:
(Click on it to view/download) |
|
"Footnotes" about me
(pun intended!!! :))
'My name is Andreas, and I am a barefooter...!'
Doesn't the form of this sentence ring a bell...? Doesn't it sound like a
typical cliché sentence - the confession one would expect from an addict
or the coming-out phrase someone would utter in a TV talk show...? And what
exactly does 'barefooter' mean...?
First of all some bare facts - please forgive the pun - about me:
- Name: Andreas Spring
- E-mail address:
ganesha@barefoot-spring.net
- Homepage:
http://www.barefoot-spring.net/
- born in 1967 in Dinslaken, Germany (a small industrial town north from the
northern margin of the Ruhr, population ab. 70,000) - now a resident of
Mülheim an der Ruhr.
- 6' 5", ab. 280 lbs. (whew! BIG!!), brown, curly hair (in winter),
bald in summer ,green eyes, beard, glasses.
- Occupation: communication service center agent (others call it
call center agent) on a full-time basis, currently answering
inbound calls mainly for a regional telephone and internet provider, doing
internet support. Since we have several companies hiring our hotline
services, I also answer calls from customers of a large computer
company, who have questions about their notebooks (general product
information, no support) and also doing switchboard services for
a company manufacturing machines used in meat processing and butcheries.
My previous plan was to graduate to become a teacher for the
German equivalent of the Senior High School (or British Grammar School):
subjects: English and Social Sciences (a conglomerate subject glued together
from Politics, Sociology and Economics). However, I found the gap between the
theory of teaching, its possibilities and the reality in school life too wide
to continue. So, I'm a college dropout.
- favourite leisure activities and hobbies:
1. Role-Playing Games - the classic version, pen, paper and a bag of dice :)
Currently with three characters in the following systems: SpaceMaster,
Midgard, GURPS.
2. Roaming the 'Net...(Multi-User universes, listservs...
Been there, done that, liked it, stayed with it and made some NetFriends... :)),
also helped in administering two different multi-user gaming universes,
namely The Lion King Muck, and
ELYSIUM MUD
(a now defunct testbed for a Circle-based MUD)
3. Reading ('real' books and graphic novels...
this being the more mature and adult term for 'comics'..., now having discovered
a few manga series, that appeal to me: Angel Sanctuary, X,
Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop)
,
4. Naturism, meaning: skinny dipping... (or nude swimming, if you prefer
the rather moreneutral term...:)) and being nude in general. There is a distinct difference in feeling
between swimming nude and with bathing apparel on your body..try it.
Unfortunately, I still haven't found the right place to do that in the
colder seasons... for the summer, I have a favourite, secluded and quite
private spot at one of the lakes here nearby..., but winter...? I'm still
looking for the winter resort for naturists around here...
As far as being nude in general is concerned, it just is the most natural
and comfortable way of being.
- Some flaws: Well, my overweight, apparently, and yes: I do smoke...!!
- Newest 'addiction' (a healthy one, though): barefooting!!
-my favourite way of walking... except for very frosty winter days,
I never wear shoes!! - in my spare time, that is.
Barefoot bliss... -
studying on campus in the summer sun,
showing off with my favourite footwear: none!
|
About 'barefooters' and 'barefooting' - two terms to be explained...
Historically, the term barefooters is associated with monks and nuns,
especially of the Franciscan order, who walked barefoot to follow St. Francis'
teachings and rules about poverty as the right way to live according to the rules of life given in the New Testament... If necessary, they wore simple and thin
leather sandals, but not more than that. But the Franciscans are not the only
historic example of people walking barefoot...
Depictions on ancient vases, frescæ, tapestries, and various sculptures have shown,
that many an ancient culture stood on bare feet... such as the ancient Greek,
the Assyrians (ancient Near East),
Egypt and the Celts. Proof of this can be found in various places... On a sub-page, linked below aresome depictions showing it clearly
Ancient history on bare feet:
That page covers various civilizations and cultures, in which bare feet were common and accepted part of everyday outfit. Take your time browsing the image archive...
(Thanks for various historic depictions to The History of Costume WWW site.)
It can be argued if you viewed the images on the history page, that one of the greatest empires of the ancient world,
namely Egypt, was built on bare feet, lived in on bare feet and defended on
bare feet as well... just like ancient Greece. Ancient Greek armies
are believed to have pursued
their rather invasive colonization of Southern Europe and North Africa on bare
feet.
Another ancient people to roam mainly Northern and later Western Europe (and
there mainly France, Spain and the British Isles) on bare feet were the Celts.
One might argue, that the Assyrians, the ancient Greek and the people of ancient Egypt might
have had an easy time walking barefoot in the warm climate of their lands. The
Celts, however, partly lived much further to the North, and still preferred to go barefoot
during all four seasons, no matter the weather...
Nowadays, 'barefooter' applies to two groups of people:
Barefoot Waterskiers,
who prefer racing over the waters on the bare soles of their feet rather than
on skies or a monoski, and
Lifestyle barefooters,
who prefer to walk barefoot as often as they can - preferably on all occasions,
and everywhere.
Hence, 'barefooting' means either barefoot waterskiing or walking barefoot as
a lifestyle choice.
