Shoegazers of the globe come find me, that is if you can tear your gaze from the ground. I do not know if it is a sign of the beginning of the end of young age or a spontaneous transition in perspective from a 'pure aesthetic' (an infatuation with the essence of art) to the ánti-Kantian disposition (an unpretentious cafe with cheap coffee, unloud music, and an affirmation of a slightly smelly bathroom stall - the art of essence), but these days (or rather TO-day) my infatuation rests with the ground, or rather the things that fall there. This is urban archeaology, and it is composed at any moment of everything accidentally dropped, left and fallen, lost and found.

To put all of this another way. Sure you went to the bar and drank there and had a good time for your part, but the stray polaroid from 1997 of a chain smoker & Santa's little helper you found on the ground just outside the Oude Kerk along the way...now THAT is forever. And the fat bag of dope that just happened to be under your chair when you got there...that will last another few days at least.

Everywhere I find things. That is what shoegazers do, and it is what we gain once the novelty of architecture has dissolved in a coctail of breeze and beer. It is time, shoegazers, to put our archeaological expertise to good effect and help the others, so satisfied with drink and sky, to add to their satisfaction the treasures of the earth.

1. Fridays are the best days to find the things 'worth finding'. I do not know why this is the case, but I suspect it has something to do with a spike in coffeeshop 'take out' purchases as visitors and locals exchange cash for stash.

2. Medium sized establishments with medium traffic flow where locals and students regularly mix yield, in my experience, a higher proportion of lost treasure than places that really 'pack in a crowd'. While it is true that more people = more things potentially dropped, it is also true that the more ground visible and accessible = greater chances of spotting the object and being able to retrieve the object spotted.

In addition to this free advice I will take it upon myself (and other shoegazers are more than welcome to join me) to keep a record of notable finds so that other collectors know where serendipity tends to reside in this metropole. Moreover, I shall store significant non-consumables (except stray notes and pictures which will be hung in my home and ridiculed accordingly) in the computer bag crammed in my wardrobe just in case any of you, visitor or native, simply want it or desperately want it back.

Were you on the Prins Hendrikkade today? Did you lose your blue earring not far from the Scheepvaartmuseum? I'm thinking of you!

Viva la Amsterdam Lost and Found! Viva la Revolution!!
-M.S. Glennon