I suppose I’m reacting to the media types. Why spend 2000 bucks on a suit and not wear a tie?
I’m hopelessly old fashioned. I attended a funeral over the summer and one young relative wore a T-shirt and flip-flops.
Why are women expected to dress to kill when men are content to look like a janitor at a highschool?
Stephen, that last line was a great one!
I can’t imagine wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops to a funeral but then again, I can’t understand people putting their feet up on their desks at work, but apparently it’s a done thing these days. My cousin, who was an assistant county attorney, told me how he walked into the office of a younger lawyer who had his feet up on his desk, and it was all he couldn’t do not to knock them down.
In my book a suit is a totally different beast than a sports coat. I would not put on a suit without a tie–though at an after-party I might unknot the tie (“why yes, my bowtie is real”).
And I certainly judge those with the audacity to skip the tie at a black-tie event (I shudder even to describe their delict).
I will, and routinely do, wear a jack without tie if I’m going somewhere casual, like for cocktails.
I always liked the idea of hats. I tried wearing a hat for a while, but it never really felt natural to me.
I think the fight has been lost. I believe Kennedy killed the hat.
I should say, JFK killed the respectable forms of men’s headwear. The current generations love baseball hats, but they have absolutely no sense of hat etiquette.
It isn’t hard to find a middle-age man, from a respectable background, wearing his baseball cap not just in someone’s home but to the dinner table.
No $2000 dresses but I do my part to re-establish the hat as a fundamental male fashion accessory.
In winter I favor a wool Nepali headwarmer supplemented by my Borsalino and my Donegal. When I’m feeling frisky I’ve even been known to sport a beret.
In summer I prefer my Guatemalan palm leaf.
But no ties. That’s because I detest suits. There are appropriate alternatives when it’s time to put on some swank.
A wonderful memory from childhood in the small town I grew up in was associated with the Easter bonnet. The ladies would go to church to debut monstrous hats with hallucinogenic floral arrangements and fruit salad.
I wear a fleece lined knit hat when I walk in winter and in the rain I wear a brimmed dome hat that I made for myself that matches my London Fog raincoat (made in Maine, U.S.A.) I’ve worn, sometimes, over a tailored suit, since the very late seventies. The raincoat is classic vintage now! I’ll also wear a baseball style cap in summer to block the sun out of my eyes.
There was a thread where we discussed changes in life and retirement plans. I couldn’t find it so this seemed like the next best spot.
Robert, what news about retirement? By my reckoning you have just retired or about to. Plans?
Let me announce that I myself will retire at the end of the year. Working on will not substantially improve my financial status. I’m at the point where time becomes the most valuable consideration. I’m very fortunate. I’m mostly healthy. I own a house inherited from my Dad on 4 acres in semi-rural Georgia. (I’ve been back and forth over the last few months and will continue to do so until the end of the year.)
Plans? I want to travel of course. I want to seek out the darkest places on earth. (By darkest I mean with the least light pollution. What did you think I meant? Ha!)
The Atacama Desert in Chile
NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia
The White Desert in Egypt
I want to travel to these places as much as is possible by boat. (I want to take at least one long sea voyage.) I figure just getting there will be an adventure in itself.
And I would like to drive back and forth across the US at least once.
Will I make it to all these places? Well I don’t require luxury but I do need good health. So now’s the time to lead the alarm clock free life.
Stephen, congratulations on your upcoming retirement!
Now, that darkest places comment of yours actually brought to mind some of the lyrics from Dylan’s “A Hard-Rain’s A Gonna Fall.”
The spots you mention seem like perfect places to view the heavens.
Yes, do it while you’re still able to do so with relative ease.
if any of you bloggers know Tibet or have been?
Unfortunately, I’ve not been. It must be a great place to see and experience. I had a few Tibetan students, and they all emanated such warmth.
After finishing my M.A. I was offered a job teaching English in Nepal, and while I seriously considered it, my prospective employer made it clear the living conditions were primitive, so I decided against it.
The only time I’ve ever been in Asia is when we were in Istanbul and stepped over to the Asian side, which is a bit like saying I’ve been in Boston because I was at Logan Airport. I had a roommate in college from Kyoto, so I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. There’s a direct flight from MSP to Tokyo that’s just under 13 hours, which is not all that bad, so hopefully we’ll be able to do that in the next few years.
I, too, love early Dylan.
** you do not have permission to see this link ** another early song, which was never as well-known and is certainly not as poetic or as easy to listen to but does paint the picture of a Northern Minnesota not of majestic forests and lakes but of miners and their plight and which has always meant a lot to me.
I saw the recent biopic on the plane over to the US this summer and quite liked it. I thought Chalamet nailed him. I haven’t seen I’m Not There but would like to, especially Blanchette’s portrayal.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
evgendob
Robert
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