Knot a Blog: 2007年5月

<< 第一页 < 上一页下一页 > 最后一页 >>

5月29日

Transition 1

Both years of this blog, I have emphasized the season of Lent (no link this time), but there is another season in my year that is quite important for me. We call it Transition, and it begins roughly on the Tuesday after Memorial Day and runs until almost the Fourth of July. It spans four weeks, when we invite a number of visually impaired high school students to the Lighthouse for some special experiences. Basically, they learn "independent living" skills (cooking, household management, shopping, cleaning, making beds), "orientation and mobility" (from white canes to public transportation to guide dogs), job skills, computer training with adaptive software, and a range of activities such as horseback riding, bowling, and dancing.

I began Transition yesterday (5/29), Tuesday after Memorial Day, with a tie with a label "100% Silk / Imported from Italy." I thought it was appropriate because like the gentleman on this tie, the kids are going to have some great adventures with some great support systems (from their family, teachers, and Lighthouse staff). Of course, that makes all the more ironic for me that they could not appreciate it.

And so, it follows logically that on Wednesday (5/30), I'll wear a Countess Mara tie. For me, it is always appropriate, logical, and simply right to wear something from the Contessa, but to me, a Countess Mara tie (like this one) has a couple of special tactile experiences which I might share with a student who is blind. On this tie, the famous monogram is barely visible even to this sighted wearer, but it can be felt, dramatically, against the silk. Also, the enforced neckband of a Countess Mara necktie could be distinctly felt.

For Thursday (5/31), I'm wearing a necktie that identifies me as the computer guy... and as a lover of Peanuts. ("When's the next coffee break," Peanuts, © United Feature Syndicate, Inc. 100% silk, USA). And Friday, although I won't be at the kids' cookout, I shall nonetheless wear my one and only cookout tie, one of the few polyester ties on this blog ("Cookout," by MMG Corp., © Hallmark Licensing, Inc., USA).

21:52 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志

5月27日

Sightings

     Recently, Max, the Maine coon cat that shares these digs, sat on the hot tub, staring so intently through the screen that I went to see what he was looking at. At first, I wondered why he was staring at a water hose. Then, the water hose moved, and Max - I guess - was having his first encounter, not too close, with a snake.
     We've lived here since 2001, and this was the first time I had seen a snake here. At each of the last two places where I have lived before here, there was a snake that had almost a personality. In fact, at the place before this, I felt sad when I found the resident snake dead.
     I know that this response may surprise many people, but having a snake around the house gives the establishment a sort of completeness. In Greek Popular Religion, by Martin P. Nilsson, I found a quote, "Among many European peoples, as well as in other parts of the world, we find the snake as the guardian of the house."  Perhaps strengthened by the presence of the snake, or just enjoying a long weekend, I am going to try to give you here a little bit about the guy behind the ties.
     I noticed recently that my Nepenthes plant was very dry, so I decided to take it into the shower with me, the better to fill up its "monkey cups" with water, although - as far as I know - there are no monkeys around here to drink from the cups...  wild monkeys in central Florida?   So, in addition to the inevitable parrot (I can hardly imagine showering without Dory), I had a carnivorous plant in the shower with me; standing naked before it, I wondered if it were hungry as well as thirsty. About the time the water began to flow freely, the shower got even more crowded as a little frog crawled out of the plant. (The orchids, I am pleased to report, are outdoing themselves.)

     Yesterday, I walked past the dining room, where Dory and Max were looking out the window. "It's raining out there," Dory announced, and it was. I hadn't even noticed, but Dory keeps up with the weather as well as with his cat friends: Max and Lady, a Manx.
      The sightings of love bugs are not so welcome. It seems that I am sighting more of them than ever before, although it just may be that with my new car, I'm more aware of them, and with my new eyes, I can see them better.
      This weekend, I thought about visiting one of the Buddhist temples in the area (you can find such temples in your own area in a thorough online directory), but as I checked some websites, I realized that we are around about the time of Vesak, perhaps the most widely observed Buddhist holiday (across all the traditions), and I thought I would rather drop in on a more normal day. Vesak is a day to remember the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, who was to become the Buddha, his attainment of Nirvana (Nibbana), and his Parinirvana (Parinibbana), which is not exactly a synonym for the death of a Buddha, but it is close enough to get the basic idea across, and I tried to get the ideas across in my re-telling of the story of the Buddha.
     On artistic fronts, I've re-read Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev , with the sad realization that I first read it forty years ago. It hasn't improved a bit since then, and I still don't understand why Yevgeny Bazarov is regarded as such a great literary creation.
     I've also re-read  Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut , and I am pleased to report, it has gotten so much better. As I read the novel this time, I was struck by Vonnegut's use of bricolage (a word that I celebrated and linked to in a recent entry, but here goes a link to a definition again). In the opening pages of the book, Vonnegut pulls in a Christmas carol, a dirty limerick, and a music hall song. The whole book, in fact, drags together history, personal experience, and stereotypes of science fiction with an unresolved tension.
     Today, I watched yet again Forrest Gump. This was the first time that I ever connected it to the line from Macbeth, "It [Life] is a tale / Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, / Signifying nothing."
     The first time I watched it and again today, I shared it with a friend (sometimes referred to here as my Designated Shopper) who, like Forrest, carried a friend out of battle, and, perhaps, is still carrying him, as you can read here.  As soon as the film was over, we changed channels, and there again was Gary Sinise (who, I still feel, deserved an Oscar for his supporting role, with all its complexities, more than Tom Hanks deserved the Oscar which he received for essentially a one-note performance), this time hosting PBS's Memorial Day Concert.
     Yesterday was the 39th anniversary of my graduation from high school.  I have remarked that it was inevitable that I would end up working with computers, because when I graduated from high school, I had more experience with a computer than anyone else in my class, because I had - one time - actually seen a computer.
     I wish that I could write more about my work as a rehabilitation technologist and computer instructor for people who are blind (it is because of that job that I have to wear a necktie), but I must respect the confidentiality of those for whom I work. Recently, I worked for someone who has just completed her master's degree and just started a new job; she did not begin the degree program until after she lost her sight. (I have to add, she has a husband who is an afficionado of neckties.) And, an elderly man clutched my hand in both of his and wet it with his tears, after I set up a video magnifier for him.
     Thursday and Friday of last week, I had to go to Tampa for two days of training with the three computer people at our office there. Much as I dislike having to put in "hiney hours" (that is, training hours spent sitting on your rear, as a former co-worker of mine used to express it), I felt that these two sessions were very much worth the drive to Tampa and the hours spent.
     I also felt very honored to be included in this group of people, not so much because they so outclass me with their knowledge but moreso because they challenge me with their insight and compassion. I must say that I did not ask myself, "What's a nice English major like you doing in a group of techies like this?" One of the other technies is an English major. But, beyond that, I must respect their privacy as well.
     I have Memorial Day off tomorrow, and I feel compelled to quote in closing a banner that I spotted in Forrest Gump: "Support our GI's. Bring them home now." Drawing from two recent experiences, I'll say, "so it goes" (as Vonnegut concluded every reference to a death in Slaughterhouse-Five) and "That's all I want to say about that" (as Forrest said several times).

Ironically, an entry titled "Sightings" has no pictures. So, here is a link (click on the image) to an album of Buddha images (and a reminder that despite all the references to Buddhism in this entry, I am not a Buddhist):

23:13 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志

5月16日

A Walk on the Wild Side

After my recent celebration/obsession involving Lou Reed, I'm stealing the title of perhaps his most famous song for this sequence of ties that celebrate the wild joy of wearing wild neckties. Some of these leave me pretty much speechless. Yes, with my logorrhea... speechless!

I'll finish this week (5/18) with a bright beauty from Charing Cross (USA, silk) and start next week (5/21) with a necktie more somber in color but every bit as exciting in its design. I wish I could capture its rich brocade (Henry Grethel, Italian silk, US).

Tuesday (5/22) has a silk tie from Halston (US), and Wednesday (5/23) changes directions a bit, with a tie with two labels, Robert Stewart and "100% Shetland wool, Loomed in Scotland."

For a finish, I'll close with an odd tie which seems very suggestive of Florida, with its orange and green and its subtle botanical shapes. The label, "Meier seide/100% silk, soie, seta, seide" makes me think that this might be a German necktie (and that would be a first for me.) And, I'm finishing this walk on the wild side with a tie bearing the name of the wild man of neckties, Rush Limbaugh, from his No Boundaries [how ironic] Collection, silk, US (of course). This one is in very good condition, complete with the gold chain on the back.

We had our Mayfaire Art Show, on the banks of Lake Morton, here in Lakeland, Florida. Last year, the festivities were moved to Lake Mirror, because Lake Morton was getting a makeover. This year, artists and swans were back where they belong. Unfortunately, Melinda Doolittle is not where she belongs, since she is off American Idol. Meanwhile, Christopher, who for some time had seemed like the member of the Sopranos gang most likely to be the next to go, finally went, with a little help from his uncle.

20:46 | 添加评论 | 阅读评论 (1) | 固定链接 | 写入日志

5月9日

Callipygian at last

Moving along through the merry month of May, I am going on another vocabulary splurge or surge with a word that I don't think I've ever been able to use, callipygian. How? Why? Well, welcome to the wonderful world of neckties... at least, of my neckties!

First, a confessional moment. I have scrambled up the ties and dates a little. There was an honest mistake to begin with, involving my taking a day off, and then, I changed the order of ties on purpose. But, I hope I can leave my sins behind me and let the calendar catch up to my blog.

This entry's theme is botanical. A friend of mine says that he doesn't think real men should wear floral ties, but I especially enjoy my floral ties. Permit me to stretch that to include, as this entry does, leaves (which were, as I've mentioned before, common in earlier neckties) and fruits and vegetables.

We'll start with a couple of days wearing floral ties. For 5/10, we'll go rather to extremes (with a pink shirt, nonetheless) with a tie that proves I'm truly brilliant or a blooming idiot (Leonardo Italian All Silk). Then, we'll retreat (5/11) to a delicately flowering vine (Fremaco, Florida, polyester).

Next, for our botanical field trip, we'll study, celebrate, or at least wear leaves. Who knows? Perhaps a well-placed fig leaf was the beginning of all clothing? So, join me in this leafy celebration, with a Perry Ellis Portfolio Italian silk number for 5/14 and one of my few Hugo Boss creations (silk, made in Italy) for 5/15, a tie which had been hidden away in a drawer with other ties celebrating quadrangles, a recurring theme of this blog.

After flowers and vines, what do our little green friends give us? Right, good stuff to eat, good stuff to wear, and a good chance to use offbeat words. For 5/16, we'll go corny, I think. An individual ear looks like corn, but this south Georgia farmboy has never seen corn grow like this. I suspect that Ralph Lauren, who designed this Chaps silk tie, never saw corn grow like this or any other way.

Finally, we get to these charmingly Structured pears on a silk tie from Structure. Look at these Rorschach pears. Oh, if only the front pear had been moved slightly sideways... definitely callipygian. As it is, almost callipygian. But, rejoice, I get to use this almost unusable word! And wear some lovely neckties.

Lakisha just went home on American Idol. I'm re-reading Fathers and Sons, and I drove to St. Cloud, Florida today.

20:55 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志

5月3日

My Blue Period

Here's a puzzle for you. What is the common element in these four ties? Well, it's a puzzle if you haven't first read the title. All four of these neckties are blue. Otherwise, they cover quite a range of my collection. First, tomorrow (5/4), I'm wearing one of my vintage ties, and it is to take in the best part of its design that I am including the ends of the ties in these pictures. Most of my vintage ties have lost their labels over the years, and most of the few remaining labels don't bear names that I recognize, but this one is different. It reads "Original Van Heusen," and then "Van Cruise."

I'm visiting my mother this weekend, and so I'll wear a tie on Sunday (5/6) as we go to church... and I have a little laugh, because this elegant tie is from my holdings of "Cocktail Collection" ties, and it is an electron microscopic image of a Margarita (one day late for Cinco de Mayo), not exactly what those small town churches welcome.

So, I'll take off Monday (5/7)to travel back, and when I go to work on Tuesday (5/8), I'll probably have a case of the you-can't-go-home-again blues, to continue the theme of this grouping of ties. Nothing can cheer me up like Countess Mara, and it's one of her ties - one of many - that I'll start my truncated week with. I'll follow it (5/9) with my one and only Ike Behar tie. All of these ties except the first are silk. The Ike Behar tie has a label, "Hand Made in Spain."

On other fronts, I've been enjoying The Sopranos. For what it's worth, that series probably has more neckties than anything else currently on tv. I've also been enjoying Tales from the Crypt, which I missed when it originally aired in the '90s, but which is being shown again on the new Chiller cable channel. It's hard to generalize about the episodes of this anthology series, but I have spotted some impressive neckware.

I've also read Kurt Vonnegut's acidic little book of essays, ramblings, and eruptions, A Man Without a Country. It's well worth the very little time it takes to read. I also dug down into the CD collection and came up with Lou Reed's New York from 1989. I was like a teenager, playing it over and over, every minute I was in my car, for several days. It was strange that such an album could make me feel almost nostalgic for the good old days... of Kurt Waldheim, Oliver North, and Bernard Goetz (no links for them). You can check the lyrics here. The last time I went drove to Georgia, I stocked up with Buffy Sainte-Marie, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits. Unable to sleep one night in the motel, I fantasized each of them being the guest mentor on an episode of American Idol, one of my guiltiest pleasures.

The first orchid I ever succumbed to, almost exactly two years ago, is putting on quite a show, with eight blooms. Most amazingly, they don't match. The last one lacks the spectacular purple center petals against the white outer petals. Think of a gentleman wearing a white dress shirt without a tie. To me, the orchids are male. I refer to this, my oldest, as Grandpa. And, if you want to know why I consider them male, check the derivation, which will just about cost this blog its family-friendly rating.

22:32 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志