Archive for the ‘ChipCrainChristmas’ Category

Can’t spell ‘O Christmas Tree’ without T-I-E…

December 10, 2010

It feels easy to stick to the Christmas carol lyric theme in my quest to annoy the world with my tie puns, as ‘Christmas’ contains 66.666667% of the letters used to spell ‘tie’. But, ’tis the season, right? And this was a perfect time to work Ernst Anschütz‘s 19th century (thanks, Wikipedia, I don’t know what I’d do without you) ditty into my blog.

I have always maintained a healthy respect for December 9th. For some reason, its being the last single-digit day in December (yes, every year it is!) meant something. I once broke up with a girlfriend on December 9th, and declared that it was far enough away from Christmas that we didn’t still need to exchange gifts. Unfortunately I declared this only to myself and was left scrambling to a nearby shop when she, a couple of weeks later, declared she was on her way over to deliver my gift. In the sitcom version of my life story, the gift will be 5 Beef Jerkies (with one half-eaten) and a Cosmopolitan from the local convenience store. ‘Tis the thought that counts.

Anyway, Julia and I were able to finalize the tree selection process on the 9th, trading ‘Faux Tannenbaum’ for a lovely Scotch pine just in time to beat the 9th deadline. Now, instead of finding storage space for a phony, I just need to find it for my brand new tree stand. Pictures to come after we decorate this evening…

My Tie du Jour was gifted to me from friend and Chamber member Joe Smith. This is mayhaps the 4th or 5th tie of his that I’ve worn; he presented me with a bag of 7 or 8 ties one day, declaring that he just didn’t wear them much anymore. A true gift that keeps on giving, especially to a guy that wears a different tie every day. So, Tie No. 181 (maybe even 182, wow) is from Bill Blass, their Black Label line. It reminds me of fish or raindrops. And thus ends the symbolic portion of 100D100T.

Chip, version Dec9.0

My main man Chip comes through with his next holiday tie. Before his contributions are over, I need to find a picture that I have with Chip from the summer of (maybe) 1988. He and I were Scarabs, the protective detail of the Queen of Cotton Carnival. His sister Kim was the Queen, and by protective detail I mean we wore tails to 35 parties in 10 days and, um, imbibed our, um, derrieres off.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

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Christmas Tie Is Here…

December 7, 2010

…happiness and cheer / Fun for all that children call / Their favorite time (tie) of year.

My absolute favorite Christmas carol. Well, except for maybe “Little Drummer Boy”, especially when performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby. Don’t believe me? Check this video out…even though neither of them is wearing a tie.

Before I forget again (and I don’t have the Flexeril to use as an excuse these days, so this is just the 40s creeping up), I would like to catch up again on Chip Crain’s ties. He’s my friend from Memphis who has enough holiday ties to wear one a day from December 1 thru Christmas Day. He told me that this one on the left was a perfect Monday tie. Oh, Chip, you’re no Scrooge (she’s no longer in your life, I believe)! And here on the right is my playing catch-up (catsup?) and getting back on track.

To use Troy Aikman’s favorite line, “I gotta tell ya”…these ties from Chip, and these gift ties that I’m wearing, are really getting me into the Christmas spirit. Diane and I went through and separated some of our holiday decorations this past weekend, and I thought it would be rather depressing. Au contraire, mon holiday frère…Julia had a great time, figuring out which ornaments she wanted at Mommy’s house, and which ones she wanted here at the Flat. It was so cute I didn’t even get a hint of sad (that’s probably a stretch–she was doing much better than I).

Then, I found out one of my best friends from home, Mark Mesler, will be traveling up here with his family right before the holidays, and I’ll be able to hang out with them for a good portion. And, I found out that, when Julia and I fly down to Florida, my brother Grant and his wife Mo will be on our same 2nd leg. We’re going to surprise Julia…I love being a dad, especially this time of year.

Mr. Beene (not the funny one)

Anyway, let’s get to my own Tie du Jour. It’s one of the three ties I received from Margaret Gergen, the Manager of the North Shore Retirement Hotel, after speaking to their Open Forum group. It’s a lovely Geoffrey Beene, not exactly Christmas-y, but with this red you can get away with wearing it on any holiday. Well, except maybe for Halloween. Or Easter. This would be a great July 4th tie (and a save!)…

Thanks for reading, and happy holidays…Brooke

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