Tie a Day, Number 85

Last Thursday I wore this interestingly subtle tie. The design on the tie is quite intricate with paisley, but the similarities in the colors allow the tie to be a bit more laid back than some of its brighter counterparts could ever possibly pull off. Not really a memorable tie, but a good choice for the day.

As I had mentioned, the day before, on Wednesday, was Amy's birthday. Being prepared for anything, or at least I thought I was, I asked her where she would like to go for her birthday dinner. She told me she wanted to go to the Cinema Cafe and see Alice in Wonderland with the kids.

It sounded like a great plan, so we rolled in there early enough to get a good table. As soon as we walked in the doors, Sam says he doesn't feel well. I really didn't give it much thought because we had just had cake, and he is 6, so sometimes I try to use my Jedi Mind Trick where I tell him that he feels ok, and I wave my hand like I am casting a spell on him.

Five minutes into the movie, he runs off to the bathroom with Amy and gets sick. I realized at this point that I really need to perfect my Jedi Mind Trick. Obi Wan makes it look so simple.

After Sam and Amy returned to the table, I became confused. I had forgotten all about the movie, but instead was worried about what to do next. Is Sam really sick? Was the cake bad? I ate two pieces and the rest of the family only had one. How in the world was I going to get home with a sick kid in my new mini van? If everyone else got sick too, what would I do then? Do I have any plastic bags in the vehicle?

When Sam made his second trip to the bathroom, I knew it was time to get him home fast. I grabbed Sam and told Amy to ask her mom to bring her and the other two kids home when the movie was over. Being a gambling man, I figured that I had 20 min to get Sam home before he would no longer be able to contain himself.

The trip time from the Cinema Cafe to our house is approximately 15- 20 minutes. The entire time home Sam was having intense stomach cramps while moaning and screaming in pain. Sitting behind me in his booster seat, I tried to hold his hand while I drove home as he writhed in agony.

It is an oddly helpless feeling when you can't do anything but drive and tell your child to practice slow, deep breathing exercises to keep his stomach from cramping. All the while you are driving as fast as you can, avoiding all bumps, sharp turns or sudden stops.

He made it.

While Amy's birthday dinner may not have been what was planned, it will certainly never be forgotten.

Tie a Day, Number 84

Amy's 40th birthday was Wednesday, so I treated her to the all black look.

The tie I chose to honor my wife's momentous day of celebration is a beautiful tie that shimmers in the light. Unfortunately, it has long been "the death tie." Funerals and such have really only been the times when I have brought it out into the light of day. At least this time I was able to wear it in fun.

Tie a Day, Number 83

Tuesday I continued my flower collection with this tie.

A nice tie, even if it does have flowers on it.

I have inadvertently fallen behind on my postings... Amy's birthday was this week, Sam caught the flu, and of course work has combined to keep me away.

Next week I will try to get back to form.

Tie a Day, Number 82

Sometimes I look for reasons to wear ties, because to wear them without a reason is ridiculous. Many ties must have a purpose behind wearing them, a theme, a holiday, or some kind of meaning. Monday’s tie was one of those ties.

I am not a big fan of wearing plants, and I particularly dislike flowers. It is purely a preference thing. I prefer to be seen driving a Porsche 911, but life has decided that I should drive a minivan. We must accept the moment and do what is required of us. Now I like driving my new Kia Minivan. It has lots of buttons, and it fits the needs I have for a family vehicle. We make the best of things and move on.

I prefer not to wear flowers, but my plan for wearing a tie a day for the entire school year demands that my flower ties make an appearance. I am not concerned that wearing a flower tie diminishes my masculinity in any way. In other people’s eyes it might make me seem less manly, but I can’t help what anyone else thinks. If something as trivial as wearing a tie with a flower on it makes me less than an ideal man, I am in trouble because I like quiche (especially if it has bacon in it- bacon makes everything better), too!

So on Monday I chose to wear this tie as a celebration of the arrival of spring. I liked wearing this tie. The blue background has large daisies covering it. It is bright and bold, and I must say that this tie is appropriate for the kick off of spring. It was a good tie day.

Tuesday’s tie will be another flower based tie. It was a rough winter and I want to bring in the new season right. My tie wearing project does not allow repeats, so I must find a way to work in all my ties (Except, of course, the one Christmas tie I missed. That one will not be seen this school year!).

Tie a Day, Number 81

On St. Patrick’s Day, our school had a fundraiser for the Relay for Life team that we sponsor. Everyone chipped in $2 and we could wear jeans and something green to celebrate the holiday. Relay is an easy cause for me to support.

My mother died from cancer when I was still in college. While she did not die from breast cancer, it was cancer that was responsible for her death. I always try to support causes for cancer research. One year I even dressed up in drag to help raise money for the cause- no, I will not be sharing that picture! But, I will have to say that I look good in red…

On Thursday, I decided to get my green out. I was a day late, but with a nearly all green tie just begging to be worn, I had to do it. I wore a green shirt and a green tie that has little red paisley like designs surrounded by a white outline. This is the only green tie that I have ever really liked.

Tie a Day, Number 80

I have been in a pretty good mood all week. Maybe it is because I have been picking my favorite ties to wear, or my perhaps good mood causes me to pick ties I like. I haven’t figured out the cause and effect relationship between my mood and my ties yet…

The tie I wore on Tuesday has been one of my favorites for a long time. I remember wearing this tie when I was first hired as a Kindergarten teacher in 1990. I would wear this tie, and at 23, I felt like a serious grown up going to work. I know, I am old now.

Kindergarten, as I have explained before, is rough on ties, and this tie has suffered through its share of wear and tear. The back tie loop that holds the skinny part of the tie in place is gone, and the white silk backing on the tie is discolored from dipping the end of the tie into coffee, water, paint and whatever else it collided with in its travels.

But still, this tie shimmers in the light and looks pretty good with the amoeba like paisley designs scattering the deep blue background. I have no idea if it is in or out of style, but I do know that I love this tie because it reminds me of when I was young and foolish. It always makes me smile.

Tie a Day, Number 79

Monday’s tie is a tie that I have always liked, probably because it is brown and always matches my shoes and belt. This means that I can pretty much throw any pair of pants and shirt combination together and leave the house feeling like I match.

As I looked at this tie again on Monday, I decided that it is ugly. There is way too much going on with the design. It seems like the designer had a couple of good ideas but he couldn’t make up his mind so he threw them all on this one tie and turned in his mockup just under the deadline.

I have come to the conclusion that this particular tie is the fashion equivalent to the “Brown Note.” While I don’t think that this tie emits a tone that will make you soil yourself, it is a hideous brown tie.

This tie will need to return to my closet with a do not wear tag on it.

Tie a Day, Number 78

The tie I wore last Thursday was a new one for me. I should define new since I am sure I have had this tie for at least 15 years. I have never worn it before and I am not exactly sure I know how long I have had it (this might be part of the Alien plot, more below). I chose this tie because I decided that the blue in the tie worked with the shirt that I have that is the most blue, so I gave it a shot.

I think it worked, but the tie’s pattern looks like some sort of Alien Face that is trying to come out. The picture did not come out so well. It is kind of blurry, but that is what happens when you are hurrying in the morning trying to get out the door (or it could be an Alien plan to hide their intentions to overthrow humanity. By appearing as harmless patterns in our clothing, the Aliens are acclimating us to their presence so that when they do make themselves known, we will accept them as friendly while they herd us up like cattle to the slaughter. It could be that the image is impossible to photograph clearly due to some sort of Alien technological advance to keep people from seeing the truth.).

I really did not notice the Alien Face thing at first. I think it was about halfway through the day when I noticed that the tie had something on it. While looking at the pattern it came to me. Rows of bulbous headed Alien faces with insectoid overtones. I really kind of gave me the willies.

I will not be an Alien puppet manipulated to cause the downfall of humanity. I refuse to wear this tie any longer! It must be destroyed. Plus, it is kind of ugly.

This is the Alien Face. Can you see it?

Tie a Day, Number 77

The tie I wore on Wednesday is one of my all time favorites. It is rather busy with many colors, large and small paisley designs, and diagonal lines, but I really do like it. I have never been under the illusion that I have good taste in clothing.

One thing people always say when you are talking about ties is to always be careful to not stain them. Even water can ruin a good silk tie. Considering my hatred for tie pins and tie clasps, and that I rarely wear any kind of jacket with my ties, it is fairly obvious that I have had to deal with stains. This tie has a very large area of discoloration on it.

When I taught kindergarten I had to wear ties. That particular age group is very hard on ties; the kids grab and touch the ties, and then there are paints, markers, pencils, crayons, glue and many other things that can mess up a tie. If I remember correctly, this tie had an incident with some tempera paint. I quickly wiped and scrubbed the tie, but while you can’t see the paint, you can just make out the scrubbed area if the tie is turned the right way.

Good times… I really did love teaching kindergarten. But some of my ties barely survived the ordeal!

Tie a Day, Number 76

I was very excited today to find out that I am a World Record holder for the most ties worn by a computer resource specialist! Certainly the legitimacy for this record could be challenged, but I believe the goal of the URDB website is to allow anyone to be a world record holder. You just have to set your record holding criteria so that it makes it difficult for anyone to follow you. My one little catch was that in order to beat my record you have to be a computer resource specialist- so I am challenging all computer resource specialists to beat the, “wearing of 50 ties at once” mark!

I will not try to break your record, wearing 50 ties at once was not fun!

I was interested to see that another guy has a record of 97 ties at once. I am not sure I believe it because there was no picture of the man wearing 97 ties. While I am sure it is possible, without a picture it is hard to believe. The funny thing is the record holder was at a party and there were pictures taken of him but the most ties he is wearing is about 10. In any event, he can have the record. I will not be wearing anywhere close to 50 ties ever again!

Today’s Geoffrey Beene tie has sharp points in the design and made me think of a shark’s mouth. I wanted more than just a bland tie today. Teeth, and it has burgundy in it. A tie with a bit of a bite!

I have no idea if I have ever worn this tie before. I am going to guess no. I don’t particularly like this tie, but I chose it to make a statement. Today’s statement is, “Watch out!” I feel aggressive, or maybe just hungry.

Do not wave a Tagalong in front of my face, if you know what is good for you. Maybe I am more hungry than anything else...

Tie a Day, Number 75

Safety- this one word sums up so much of what drives me in life. Today’s tie is safe. Not unattractive, but this tie certainly lacks something. Imagination? Risk?

As I look at the ties I wear, I often see the reflection of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I like my life, I am very happy. What amuses me is that when I was younger I never could have imagined myself as I am today.

Recently, the family had an automotive crisis. We had always joked that we would drive our 2000 Dodge Caravan until the wheels fell off. I was reminded of this as the vehicle barely made it to the dealership for a trade in. The transmission was shot, and one valve was locked up in the engine. I didn’t think I was going to make it. We were looking at repairs that would cost more than the vehicle, so we were forced to buy a new car.

When we first purchased the Caravan, I was upset. I did not want anyone to see me driving a minivan, but with the second child on the way, it made the most sense. It was large, and safe.

I almost cried as I gave up my sporty little two door Honda Accord.

Last week, as Amy and I finally settled on a tricked out Kia Sedona, I was thrilled. This vehicle has just about everything that we could possibly want. Buttons were everywhere! Most of the buttons I didn’t even know what they were for, and I had to read the manual (I know, what was I thinking, reading the manual! Do I lose both my man card and my tech card for that?). Amazingly, this minivan even has seat warmers…

But the most important feature of all? It was safe. I know this vehicle will run, it is reliable, and it will keep my family safe in case of an accident.

Boy, would the 22 year old Al be laughing if he could see me today. Ignorant punk that he was!

Tie a Day, Number 74

The tie I wore last Thursday was a red tie with gold spiral like designs. It went well with my comfortable Columbia shirt.

I am pretty sure I have never worn that tie before, but it is difficult to say because the tie is not a memorable one. Many ties are that way, just like many days can be uneventful.

Last week was difficult for me. I was out for two and half days of work either being sick, dealing with a sick kid (or kids), or a little of both. So my tie wearing was down to just two days. No one had anything serious; it was simply that time for our house to have a drive by germing.

It is funny to me, but there are so many things that you have to learn the hard way when you become a parent. When you are thinking of having a child, you only think about all the warm and fuzzy experiences. You never think, “I should save up for lots of sick days, not just for myself, but for my kids too.” I am fortunate that I have a job that allows me to accumulate sick days in the first place, and I am also lucky that I have always been relatively healthy.

The end result? A short, little, two tie week.

Tie a Day, Number 73

I had no idea there were any such thing as ties from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and now I have found the second one in my collection (my first was tie number 19). Of course, when I was in search of a tie to go with my grey shirt this morning, I stumbled across this tie hidden behind a handful of other ties. I am not sure how I missed this tie, but because it has been hidden from me probably says something about the number of ties I have not worn yet this school year.

This tie goes with many of the colors that I normally wear, grey, blue, and tan. I like this tie. The intricate design is repeated vertically down the tie is not too much, or too little, it is just right!

I think I am going to have to get Sam to come back and help me pick out ties in the mornings. There is not enough danger in my life since I gave up cat juggling.