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12月24日 End of the Goethe MemorialIn case you are wondering about the title, tradition has it that Goethe's last word's were "More light!"
I'm writing this on Christmas Eve, a miserably humid day, but a very Floridian Christmas Eve, with the doors to the screened porch open and the windows up. This will finish up my first year's record of neckties, although I do have another entry or two that I want to add later.
Tuesday (26th) and Wednesday (27th), I'll continue to brighten up the darkest time of year. Tuesday's tie (Cellini for J. Riggings, silk, US) is a mess of colors, brocades, perhaps even a stain, but who could tell? There are even some stars for the holiday past. And, to top that, Wednesday's tie (Oaktree, silk, Korea) leaves me speechless.
These two days have a sort of holiday significance. Both days (26th and 27th) are birthdays of lovely ladies. On the 26th, I'll join a good friend and co-worker in celebrating her birthday, and the 27th has a double significance for me. It is the birthday of that necktie-wearing diva Marlene Dietrich and also the second anniversary of my employment at the Lighthouse for the Blind.
Thursday (28th), I'm off from work and neckties, and Friday (29th) gives the year a gracious and reflective close. The label on Friday's tie, the last of the year, reads "Sistine Satin, Countess Mara, New York." There is a store label "Kepp's, Naples, Marco, Tampa, St. Armand's Key." This is a lush, lovely tie with the CM monogram blending into a muted quasi-paisley design with some flowers and leaves either trying to get into (or out of) the swirling design.
At the end of June, I wrote that I had worn and blogged 135 neckties during the first six months of 2006. For the second half of the year, at the end of this week, I shall have worn (oh, rare and radiant future perfect of the verb) 122 neckties, with six vintage ties and twelve bearing the label of Countess Mara.
For the year 2006, 257 ties will have been worn and blogged (future perfect, passive voice: you can't keep an old English teacher down or keep him from distinguishing between shall and will.)
Consider this simple greeting no broadside in the "Christmas wars," but may your holidays (I'm generous enough to include all of them) be even better than you expect, and may your life be enhanced by lovely neckties, good friends, and time to appreciate them.
Copyright © 2006 by Michael Segers, all rights reserved
Click on photo to enlarge 12月14日 More Light The last time I visited my little hometown in Georgia, I wore a necktie with a pattern of outlines of the state of Florida, to indicate where I now live. This time (12-17), I'll be a little more subtle, wearing an orange tie. This is another homemade tie, wool, I think, with no identifying labels of any sort. There is a somewhat irregular (handmade, perhaps) stitch up the back of he tie, but it seems to hang well, and I am looking forward to wearing it to wake up my sleepy little town.
I'm taking off Monday, but on Tuesday (19th), I'll wear a black tie with multi-colored dots and irregular gold shapes (with textured lines) lighting up the dark, which is pretty much what this month's theme is all about. (Mitchelli, silk, China)
I got two ties for Christmas presents today, which I shall wear the first two days of the new year. What a novel idea, new neckties!
The previous entry was on the 14th. We are now up to the 19th. It was a long trip up to south Georgia, a trip as much in time as in space.
Now, I'm back in Florida, where now is now, or at least it is supposed to be. Tomorrow (20th), I am continuing to spread some light , now with a touch of blue. It seems that one label has been cut off. (Designer Silk House by Executive, New Yor, Paris, Milano)
On Thursday (21st), I'm wearing a tie that seems to want to be paisley; at least the little paisley critters are too big to show up. This necktie is made of wool, but a rather light wool, which is good, because we are having a summery December, with windows up and doors open tonight. We'll probably turn on the air conditioner before we go to bed. (Bert Pulitzer, imported wool)
Neither of those two ties identify a country of origin.
These will be the last ties I wear and blog before Christmas, so enjoy them, as I shall, but enjoy being with your family and friends and celebrate freely whatever holidays (and whatever you call them). Special greetings to the various people that I've been in touch with through this blog this year.
Copyright © 2006 by Michael Segers, all rights reserved Click on photo to enlarge 12月12日 More Light Needed Moving right along, on Thursday (14th), I'm wearing a tie that certainly is bright enough... but which needs some light cast upon its mysteries. To begin with, it has the Countess Mara monogram on the front and a Countess Mara label on the back (silk, US). It also has the distinctive Countess Mara neckband, which I like.
But, it also has a signature, "Rivellino," on the tail. Rivellino is the name of a Brazilian soccer player and also of a necktie shop in Chicago. But, I doubt that this tie was purchased in that shop, because it also carries a store label, "Kirby's / Tampa." Who done it, who sold it, what is it? Well, for starters, it is a festive tie that I am looking forward to wearing.
Friday (15th), I'm wearing a tie with the label "Missoni." It was in the stack of ties I had picked out to brighten up this dark month when I noticed that Burl Veneer is wearing a necktie with a similar label and providing a link to he company's website, which can be accessed in English or Italian, appropriate for an Italian company. But, this tie also has a mystery, a label proclaiming that it is "Made in Spain." Of course, I have ties with the labels of US companies, which were made in a variety of other countries.
What is going on with these two ties? I need help!
Copyright © 2006 by Michael Segers, all rights reserved Click on photo to enlarge 12月3日 Let There Be Light! As I was digging around in the vaults the other day, I noticed a great number of great ties that have not fit into my theme weeks, although I probably could have come up with an appropriate theme. Hmm, holidays are coming up, and so, an idea for my first theme month was hatched. In fact, it might almost be a theme-less month.
The month of December, with the winter solstice coming up, is a time of darkness, and yet, many spiritual traditions include celebrations of light during this time of darkness. Consider the candles of Advent (which begins today) and the star of Christmas and Epiphany, just within the Christian tradition. Then there is Hanukkah in the Jewish tradition. We can't forget Mithra, who is the real reason for the season, at least so far as that season involves the 25th of December, because before the birth of Jesus, Romans commemorated the birth of Mithra (whose mother was a virgin) on what is now called Christmas.
The point of all that is that this month, I'm going to do my part to brighten this dark month with neckties that are united only in their bright, perhaps even audacious, colors. The ties certainly speak for themselves, and I won't have a lot to say or write.
Tomorrow and Tuesday (12/4-5) might be called the Jack Sprat and his wife ties. One is a skinny piece of polyester, one is a fat piece of especially nice silk. On Monday the 4th (happy birthday to my brother Mark), I'm wearing a short, skinny tie by Steven Rand (US, polyester). If it were any bigger, its colors might be too much.
Tuesday's (12/5) tie is about a foot longer and almost twice as wide. At last, I have a Buddhist tie, since prominent in the design are eight-spoked wheels, the dharmachakra. (The Buddha's first sermon is known as "Setting Rolling the Wheel of Truth.") The colors, the silk, the really good construction all make this ironically luxurious for a Buddhist theme. In fact, if I remember correctly, the Vinaya, the code of behavior still followed by Theravada monks to this day, does not allow Buddhist monks to wear silk. (Pangborn Design Collection, silk, Italy; the tail of the tie has the name "Pangborn" printed onto the silk)
On Wednesday (12/6) I'm wearing a necktie which, for me, has a sort of tribal feel to it. Perhaps something shamanic is going on within the patterns on this tie? I really like the blue, and this tie was included any time I tried to work out a week devoted to blue neckties, which I haven't done. (IMM, silk, Italy)
Thursday's tie (12/7) takes us back to the homeland of silk. On the label, there is, in English, "100% pure silk" and... two Chinese (I guess) symbols. The designs on the tie are a little off center. Does that make it defective? To me, it gives the images more energy.
Friday's necktie (12/8) to me seems to have a sense of humor. The blue, gray, and red (on red - barely visible) shapes and white lines play a lively set of jazz themes and variations that somehow never quite get back together.(Zylos, George Machado, silk, US)
Monday (12/11) the tie is truly wild, with a rough design that feels to me like pieces left over from several nights of dreams. The previous tie is smooth, shiny, almost suggestive of neon. This one (Adolfo, no identification of fabric or country) is made of a heavily textured fabric that I cannot identify. This is truly one to think about.
By the way, it seems that the prohibition against silk for Buddhist monks is limited to their rugs., according to this passage. Moreover, Muslim men are forbidden to wear silk.
Excuse me if the picture of the neckties for Tuesday (12th) and Wednesday (13th) burn out your monitor. Tuesday is a very festive occasion, when we have our yearly lunch for the combined staff of the Lighthouses in Tampa and Winter Haven. It is an amazing group of people, and this is the only time of the year that we all get together socially. I'm honoring the occasion with one of my most festive ties.
Let's consider what is going on here. To begin with, the tie has basically a diagonal stripe, but the lighter stripes are enriched with a pattern that seems based on ancient pottery. Then, imposed onto this humdrum affair is a glorious bouquet of flowers and ribbons. This is another tie with which I have a love/hate relationship, like the "Addiction" ties. This one is from the "Rush Limbaugh/No Boundaries Collection. As I've remarked before, how ironic, for a man who imposes so many boundaries. The tie is all silk, and typical for its label, made in the US. It has the signature gold chain keeper. Some of my Rush ties have lost their chains, but this one is pristine. Along with this tie, I'll wear something I haven't worn in years, a shirt with French cuffs, and that means I'll also be wearing cufflinks. French cuffs used to be standard when I was a kid, but I can't remember having a shirt with French cuffs in some thirty years.
Wednesday's tie - back to the daily grind - is colorful enough but doesn't really sustain much discourse. (Camden Court, polyester, US)
OK, I have to say it. Was it just a coincidence that I thought of "Addiction" ties when I began to write about a "Rush Limbaugh" tie?
Copyright © 2006 by Michael Segers, all rights reserved Click on photo to enlarge |
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