Witty & Wise Ties, Trivia & Lies
Tie o’ the Day and I feel batty. Cufflinks join us in their Batman capes. Added Bonus: The capes’ Bat Signs glow in the dark! We aren’t hangin’ in the Bat Cave, nor are there bats in my belfry. I have a tattoo on my left shoulder that says Mom’s version of a curse word: HELFRY! Yes, it rhymes with BELFRY. That word comes out of her mouth when she’s angry. For example, she might say, “Helfry! Why didn’t those cookies rise like I wanted? Darn flour!” 🍪
When I bought Tie o’ the Day at the Salvador Dali exhibit in Monterey, I knew it would feel at home in our house when it saw our living room clock. I was correct. I often look up to check the time, and Tie is hangin’ and chattin’ with its clock pal. The Dali painting which inspired Tie is one of his most widely known. It’s called THE PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY, and its melting clocks sometimes remind me of how, over time, Mom’s memories are melting away. 😭
Tie/Bow Tie o’ the Day are evidence of a crime. It was committed on my behalf, by my better half. Apparently, my maniacal passion for ties has become a bad influence on the hallowed/haloed Suzanne. While she was in Southern Utah for work this week, she became a flat-out thief — just for me — when she stole these DO NOT DISTURB placards from her hotel room. Honestly, I’m glad she was bad. I’ll be hanging these on doorknobs of rooms I occupy wherever I go, especially My Tie Room!
If I were a tie, I would consider being this Tie o’ the Day. The colors work with, and in contrast to, each other beautifully. Tie’s hearts look they could be falling heart-fetti– having been tossed into the air to rain down upon us all. It is within our power to cover our families and communities with blizzards of love, compassion, and even actual organ donation hearts. Love is not just a feeling. The word LOVE is also a verb. It is action. Act your love.
Tie o’ the Day’s winged, masked, arrowed-up Cupid’s got me contemplating the risks involved in loving someone. The stakes are bigly in the love game: your time (sometimes whole decades), your energy, your heart, your vulnerability, etc. You can lose a relationship because you neglected to take care of it. You can lose it to death, or something else beyond your control. I think the opposite of FAITH is not DOUBT: it’s FEAR. And FEAR is DEFEAT. LIVING means to have enough faith to risk loving. 🌹 🍫 💌 🍓
The dolphins on Bow Tie o’ the Day liked the ocean waves, but not enough to leap into the water. We watched the hefty harbor seals play on rocks, as a few otters floated by on their backs. Yeah, it was a pure nature day at the beach. And then we went to a sea-side restaurant and ate tasty sea nature. Suzanne had fish-n-chips, which is her favorite food group no matter where we go. And I consumed as much calamari as my belly could hold.
Tie o’ the Day presents Valentine-y pink, with a Fish Friday school o’ fish. When I was a wee sprite, Dad drove me and Poppo to camp at a lake. We fished, and they cleaned my catch, cuz I wouldn’t touch fish innards. We made a bigly fish haul. Dad cooked a campfire dinner, and we sacked out in the camper. When I left the camper to pee early the next morning, we were already parked on our front lawn. Dad hated being away from his mattress. 🎣 🛌
Tie o’ the Day felt my “meh” today, so I wasn’t alone. I’ve got a sure-fire shake-up-the-funk thing I do to get me out of my blah. I drive my rode-hard ’98 Hombre west to find a washboard road. I crank up the music and barely creep along. Love me my truck. I hope I die before it dies. Shout out to Sahara Motors. Russ sold Hombre to me on a handshake in 2001, even though I was broke. Integrity pays. ‘Links tell me Hombre needs bikini-clad-women mudflaps.
Suzanne wanted chicken chowder crock potted. I threw in the ingredients and started it cooking, and double-checked the recipe. Everything was in the pot, including the half-and-half the recipe said not to add until the chowder is done. We might be eating chicken clabber instead of chicken chowder for dinner. I figured I should get some chore done right today, so I threw on Tie o’ the Day and have been organizing books and culling files. I ran out of paperclips and considered using my ‘Links. 🍲
Tie o’ the Day both clashes and matches Shirt o’ the Day. ‘Links are keeping us on the V-Day trail. Here’s a secret Suzanne will disown me for telling: One year, she forgot Valentine’s Day. And then the next month, she forgot my birthday. She wishes I’d forget those things happened. Suzanne is normally thoughtful, but she had been extremely busy at work. But still,….. She felt guilty down to the toes of her soul. So she bought me a car. Guilt is good! 😏 🚗