Month: February 2017

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Treasure Maps, GPS, Liahona!

Whoosh! Tie o’ the Day is a Jerry Garcia. Shirt is a Quicksilver from about a decade ago. We aren’t clashy today. We’re dashing! And not through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh. We are just wearing the dashy tie!

This get-up has been a practical choice for a day of erranding in Deltassippi’s “uptown” district. When you are in a hurry to get stuff done, and don’t have time to engage in a zillion conversations with every human being you’re gonna run into at the store or bank or post office, etc., you wanna wear garb that doesn’t scream for outside commentary. It is impossible to muffle definite clash. And when you are in The Sublime Clash Fashion Zone, people have a tendency to flock to interact with you.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am happiest as a loner/hermit. Attention is not what I seek. But also, Clash/Flash R Me. Clash feels like the right skin for me to live in. (I kinda wish I could be invisible and wear distracting ties that are only visible to me, in my own invisible-ness.) The quest for both flash and solitude is the enigma I inhabit. Being true to who I am requires that I find a way to navigate these two divergent paths in such a way as to make them one.

Nobody’s alone in this venture. Melding the totality of all the turns and corners we are, is what we all have to do. We live in infinite binaries. Think: work/home; public/private; individual/community….and on and on.

I think Robert Frost got it not quite right about those two roads that diverged in a yellow wood. You can’t choose just one road. Some roads choose you. To live your life, you somehow have to take both roads, and then some more. You even have to pave a few. And that’s what makes all the difference.

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If wishes were horses, I’d have a ranch!

 

 

Tie o’ the Day is stickin’ with purple for another day. This neckwear is from Geoffrey Beene. Ragged old shirt is of Old Navy parentage. Remember, polka dots clash correctly with everything. In a way, polka dots are the equivalent of the Little Black Dress: You MUST have a polka dot tie or shirt in your wardrobe. The little dots work for all occasions. (Hey, check out the wardrobe malfunction on the right pocket in the above picture. )

I declared a Pajama Day this morning, but Suzanne didn’t get the message. When she finally woke up and came downstairs, she was already dressed for a regular day. So I’m the sole celebrant of  this PJ Day. The miscommunication was clearly my fault, since I really should have known to stand on the mattress and yell the declaration with a bullhorn, so she would be sure to hear my words through the deep layers of her sleeping-in sleep. I will be sure I do that next time I call a holiday. I have no super-powers and very little power over what goes on in the world, but Suzanne does allow me to use my Holiday-declaring Power when it comes to dictating a Pajama Day.

(The “wish” heading above is in reference to yesterday’s photo that was not situated correctly on the site page–when viewed on some gadgets. It showed up upright on my computer but showed up sideways on my phone and iPad. It is my wish that I am soon able to figure out all the tricks of this newfangled platform. Hey, I’m living in the future, and none of this has happened yet.)

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I WONDER

 

Tie o’ the Day is a purple harlequin design by Alfani. Shirt is a brushed cotton plaid by Sonoma. What I don’t know is this: Why are “flannel” shirts almost exclusively plaid? Is plaid inherently warmer than other patterns? This is one of those BIG QUESTIONS about our existence, I think. It’s right up there with, “Why are we here?” and “Is there life after death?”.

I want to collaborate with Mercedes on a book about questions people want answered the minute they get to the Pearly Gates. I call ’em Bucket Questions, cuz you have to die to find out the truth. This plaid/flannel shirt question is one of mine. In fact, I think most people’s Bucket Questions are pretty specific and could be answered succinctly. We simply want to know what’s up. Here are a few more questions I want answered:

  • What is the big deal about soccer?
  • How many certifiable fools were on the jury of O. J.’s murder trial?
  • Who killed Jon Benet?
  • Does Donald Trump stick his head in a cotton candy machine to build his hair?
  • Why is Michael Strahan ubiquitous?
  • Is there a special circle of Hell for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Yankees? (Oh, please, tell me that there is. And tell me that I’m not going there.)
  • Is Araby waiting for me right behind those Gates?

C’mon. You know you have a bunch of your own bigly and/or minuscule questions flying around in your head, begging for answers. Make your own Bucket Question List. Share it. Just don’t be in a hurry to get into the Pearly-Gated Community, where the answers are waiting to meet their questions.

 

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Howdy, tie-ophiles!

Tie o’ the Day welcomes y’all to an amorphous, alive adventure in Clash Fashion.

Shirt is by Bristol & Bull. Their shirts are catchy, but I do wish each cuff had the second hole, so a wearer could sport a pair of clever cuff links. The tie is a flowery design by pierre cardin, who clearly wanted to be like e. e. cummings. Just because the tie’s blooms are red, white, and blue, don’t go thinking I’m signifying any politics with this outfit. At least, not in this particular post.

The pairing of these two items is a mini-lesson in clash fashion: The tie must pop out visually from the shirt. A high pop-value is the major goal you’re reaching for if you are into this fashion trend. Well, “trend” isn’t the right word, since I’m the only person I actually know who dresses like this on purpose. Anyhoo…

This website is finally up and running, thanks to the magical Suzanne who gave birth to it. She was in labor with it far too long. And giving birth once is definitely enough for her–whether said birth is of a human or of a website. If she or I ever have the need to create another web page, we will be hiring a surrogate.

So Tie o’ the Day now has a spacious interwebby home, with a big yard and a wrap-around porch. But the ties and I will be unpacking and moving furniture around, so the tblog you see will be in flux for a while. And maybe a permanent flux, when all is said and done, is how this online endeavor can succeed in amusing and enlightening us.

Do not resist the Tie o’ the Day. Simon sez, “SUBSCRIBE”.