100 Days, 100 Ties

It should be patently obvious that I did NOT resolve to stop my tie-centric puns to subject-ify my blog posts. I shall not apologize.

My baby brother

Okay, the last tie of the year, and we had a little fun. My younger brudder Grant and his wife Mo gave me a brand new tie for Christmas. You can see it, and my brother, on the right. My brother is the bearded, tie-less fella. Stay tuned…I’m sure I’ll soon tell you what he does for a living. And, no, he’s not an astronaut. Nor is he a shepherd. Anyway, this picture is our most common pose…Mom insists every couple of years that we re-enact her favorite photo of the two of us, taken when we were, perhaps, 15 & 18.

Pillow Tie

At first glance, and even at second glance, it’s a beautiful tie. A few good blue hues on a white field sounds like a winner, and this one proves the victory here. But! There are two surprises with this strip. A) It’s a clip-on tie. B) It’s inflatable. “What the heck!” you exclaim. “Whyforeartthou inflatable, you tie?” It’s a Pillow Tie. If I’m wearing it and I get tired, I can simply inflate the membrane and use it as a pillow. Check out this and other life-extending trip tips on their efficiently named product on their efficiently named website.

Well, for New Year’s Eve, we were at a party hosted by some friends of my parents. Their wonderfully fun son, Jason, was sporting this awesome bow tie with suspenders. Great smile on this kid…

Thanks for reading in 2010, and I look forward to entertaining you in 2011…Brooke

Julia loves Christmas Day. Of course she does. What 9-year old doesn’t? She got some great presents, but this year was the first that I recall that she was really excited about what she gave other folks. She made it very clear that I would love my present from her, and I’m surprised she didn’t let the cat out of the bag.

So, of course it was a tie. Had to be a tie. Had to be a Christmas tie. Santa playing golf (the fat man has a pretty nice follow through!). Since it was Christmas Day, I had to wear it, right? Good thing my green shirt had a collar so I could put it on right away…

Thanks, my sweet little Julia. I do LOVE IT.

SWT - Stepson With Tie

My stepsons also received new ties for Christmas, and Josiah wanted a quick lesson on how to tie it. He is a natural (well, he was a Boy Scout, so knot-tying is easy for him), so he got it on the 2nd try. Wear it well, JT, and welcome to the GWT fraternity.

Today I’m leaving for the somewhat warmer climes of the Florida panhandle. A little sun, a little golf, a lot of oysters. I am NOT bringing a tie. Unless I borrow one from my Dad (a distinct possibility) on New Year’s Eve, I won’t be posting for the rest of the year.

I know that I always thank you at the end of each post, but I want to take a moment to tell you how much I have appreciated your readership, your comments, your encouragement–and YOUR TIES!–since March 16. I have worn, and written about, 194 ties since then, and it couldn’t have been done without your feedback and following. I look forward to reengaging with you on January 3 as 100 Days, 100 Ties nears the 200 mark. Please keep reading, as I will probably get to one year’s worth of ties before pulling the plug on this endeavor (British translation: endeavour).

Thanks for reading…Brooke

I thought my holiday ties would be all used up by the time I got to Christmas Eve Eve, but I remembered that one of my remaining bow ties had failed to make the cut during Bow Tie Fortnight. So, I dusted it off and fired it up for Christmas Eve dinner, over at Diane’s.

This tie was a part of a bow tie / cummerbund set that my brother and I wore to high school formal dances. One of these days I’m going to find some of those formal pictures and be able to match some of the TdJs with actual events!

Speaking of bow ties and actual events, I unearthed this old photo of the Cotton Carnival scarabs, circa 1988 or ’89. Several times this month, I have featured the holiday ties of Chip Crain, who sent me about 10 or so pix of his festive collection. Well, that’s Chip on the far right, with yours truly next to him. From there we have Jay Keegan, Preston Dellinger, John Carter, Spence Wilson, Fred Schaefer and “Too Tall” Todd Adams. For ten straight summer nights, we got limoed around and generally did what we’re pictured here doing. We protected the queen (Chip’s sister, Kim) of Cotton Carnival and menaced the 40 or so carnival princesses and their escorts (who just wore plain tuxedos, not the tails).

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Kind of a fun day, Thursday. Woke up charged and ready to get to work, even though the week had but one day left in it. Of course, Christmas was upon us, so my work day was cut short with mini-celebrations throughout. Oddly enough, they all had ties involved in some way. They do seem to follow me, don’t they?

But first, let’s discuss the Tie du Jour. This Santa-adorned tie (the 2nd holiday tie sent to me by my friend Collyn, aka ModFruGal) has a couple of things that are slightly off, at least to me. First, we have the two American flags behind St. Nick. Now, I am not familiar with his workshop, or any other rooms in his North Pole, so perhaps there is a display of all of the world’s flags. But, for some tie maker to assume that Santa is a patriot is rather silly to me. Oh, sure, I imagine that Americans have sent more letters to him over the years, but come on.

Second, he seems to be enjoying a pull off of some sort of pipe. Now, he could be depicted smoking the reefer after his big trip, or perhaps he needs to freebase coke so his body can withstand the rigors of supersonic, open-air flight. My sources tell me that he is smoking a powerful narcotic distilled from frozen reindeer chips, available only to Lapplanders and elves. Ah, drugs.

Jeffy Flie

Natey Flie

Pauly Flie

So, on to the mini-celebrations. Most Fridays I have lunch with a group of friends…we call our appointment  FLIES, which stands for Friday Lunch Information Exchange Syndicate. The information we exchange is usually pretty puerile, what you’d expect when you get 3 to 8 guys eating a $6 meal together. Oh, and we had beer this time. Anyway, I found some musical ties at the dollar store and gave them to my FLIE-boys. Nate Lindsey, Jeff Trzaskus and Paul Hletko decorated theyselves to get some GWT fame coming their way. By the way, love Paul’s cheesy wink&point.

After lunch, I accompanied my dad to the Northwestern game, for about a half and a half. NU got out to a 20-0 lead to start the game, so there was to be no Christmas shocker for Mount St. Mary’s (they sounded like a Catholic junior high school, and played like one). Anyway, a juggler came out at halftime, and he was wearing a tie. Even though my sweet seats (thanks Jeff P. & Goose Island!) were only 13 rows off of the court, this pic is as good as it gets with the iPhone.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

And with that subject, I remind you to get your ears checked. We only have two of them, and they’re supposed to last as long as you wish to listen to what your friends are saying to you. Thus ends the public service message portion of my Post du Jour.

As far as the other portions du Jour, let’s get right to it.

No Moon over the North Pole

My Christmas TdJ is the 5th in the series of 5 mystery ties that I received, under mysterious circumstances, from a mystery reader. As with the Tie du Thursday, it is doubly suited as a gift/Christmas tie. From the house of Mark Shale, along with stripes of garland, it depicts a series of happy, Santas who are not choosing to moon the general public (seems a reasonable request, wouldn’t you agree?). Stay classy, Christmas tie-Santa.

Well, since I’m waiting until (yikes) Monday to write this, I had the weekend to collect some pix. And, by the way, this Monday is a day off, so there will likely be no tie.

Friday night, before dinner at Gruppo Di Amici, I went to a wine-tasting at Taste Food & Wine down in Jarvis Square. Gordon Coy of Heritage Wine Cellars took us on our journey through a few delicious wines (even a delectable port).

Saturday night, Julia and I stayed at Evanston’s Hilton Garden Inn, thanks to a great stay-cation rate. It just so happens that it was their staff holiday party, so on the way back from dinner, we ran into a few of them in mid-party mode.

Here’s HGI’s Director of Sales, Barb Klein, with her husband Greg, who had a great blue tie.

And here are Amanda Spak (Reservations Coordinator) and Victoria Baran (Sales & Catering Mgr), who are helping GWT Beno feel better for missing the festivities. Beno, it seems, worked the front desk whilst staffters drank the eggnog. Yep, that’s right, all eggnog.

And, it’s time to start a new category…FWT. Figurines With Tie. This little Hummel guy, that was probably handed down to Diane by her late grandparents, is delivering Valentines, resplendent in his little bow tie. I will not be actively seeking new FWT, but you never know where they’ll pop up.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

In the spirit of Christmas, I have fallen somewhat behind, as I now find myself on Saturday writing about the Tie du Thursday. Oh, well, it’s the thought that counts, right?

The Tie du Thursday is doubly fitting, as it is a gift tie, from my friend Dan Murrell, who has been a GWT a couple of times over, and is a regular contributor (Cats With Ties, the comic strip, etc) to 100D100T. He said a student (before starting his career in development, Dan was a French teacher) gave it to him a few years back. At first glance, it just seemed like a run-of-the-mill (that phrase seems more fitting in the clothing industry, now don’t it?) polyester tie with a bunch of Santas. At the second or third glance, however, the TdT reveals itself as cheekier than most. Yes, that is Old Saint Nick dropping some red woolen trou, giving a fond, bare-assed salute to the naughties on his list.

Thursday night was the holiday party for the Young Professionals of Evanston, held at the Evanston Golf Club (located actually in Skokie). As I’d been at another work event the night before, I didn’t really stay for very long, but I did manage to snap a couple of GWT alums in various states of tie-wearing.

David “D-Fish” Fisher is resplendent in an old school art deco (I don’t know if it’s art deco, it just felt right) strip. The headphones, I believe, are NOT attached to the tie, althought that may be a good accessory idea. Owner/founder of RockStar Consulting, D-Fish spun tunes for the YPE gang. No word yet on whether the eggnog was spiked.

And we actually have another DWT (David With Tie)…David Tognarelli, banquier extraordinaire at the Evanston branch of First Northern Credit Union, also attended the YPE feast wearing a tie. And, if you think that you recognize his tie, your thinking is right on track. I loaned my Tie du Tuesday to him. Ah, ’tis truly the season of lending.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Well, the Tie du Jour is pretty fantastic, I’ll assure you, but I don’t think it’s actually the wonderfullest of 2010. It is up there, but I’m not ready to give it the trophy just yet. I just went onto a Christmas carol lyric page and found a bunch of ways to put ‘tie’ in there. I’m pretty ill, when you get right down to it, and these tie-pun subjects are only further proof for the authorities to use when they lock me up in a nice, padded room.

Wednesday was the Chamber’s final Business After Hours, hosted at the Hilton Orrington. The December event always takes on a more festive feel, and the Orrington played their part in putting on a fantastic party. Santa visited, and gave out elf hats and shoes. 100D100T did participate in the curly-hat, jingle-shoed mayhem, and there may be pictures in upcoming posts. Stay tuned, elf fans.

I told you about my visit to the open house at Lee Allison‘s loft studio, and I decided to wear my newly-acquired Christmas tie to the BAH. When I saw it, I knew I’d be walking away with it that night. Oh, yes, I paid for it…I’m no thief. Vagabond, cad, scoundrel, perhaps…but not a thief. Anyway, descriptions of my moral self aside, the tie is just fantastic…Christmas trees in t’ree shades of pink.

Lots of GWT joined us last night at the X-BAH (Xmas Biz After Hrs), so let’s get to ’em.

Newly appointed Director of Community and Economic Development for the City of Evanston, Steve Griffin came all the way from Virginia to attend our party. Well, actually, he’s been here for a few weeks, but we’re happy to have him, and happier still that he wore a tie festooned with candy canes. Not that my camera is good enough for you to actually see the canes. That would be just too much, now, wouldn’t it?

Billy

Next is Billy Cross, who’s with Country Financial…he actually did travel from his home to come to the BAH; it’s just the South Loop, but we appreciate his effort all the same.

Simon

And how could I not mention our skilled bartender, Simon. His tie is hard to see here, but it went perfectly with his all-dark attire.

Patrick

Michael

Patrick here (I didn’t catch his last name) attended with Michael Karras, a GWT alum, who’s with Fordham Capital Partners.

Tyler

And we have Tyler Drendel, who’s in the sales group at the Orrington.

Sorry for the quick and non-verbose descriptions of my GWTs, but I had to boogie.

Thanks to my 6th-grade knowledge of the periodic table of elements (and a quick confirm online), I am able to come up with a scientific subject for today’s post. According to smarter people than I, Einsteinium has no known compounds, so my Titanium-Einsteinium dream may only be a reality on the sun, or someplace hotter than Illinois.

Well, now that I’ve got the periodic table up, I can have some fun with with it. My name (S-Au-C-I-Er) would make up a compound of sulfur, gold, carbon, iodine, erbium. Yes, that ranks up there with one of the gooberiest things I’ve ever done. Erase!

Van the Man Heusen

So, what got me here was gold. My Tie du Jour is a Tie d’Or. Quite apropos for the holiday season, I must say, and ’tis a gift from the mystery package from last week. The third in la collection mystérieuse, the TdJ is from Van Heusen, which, according to their website can only be found in their outlet stores (and various resale shops). But, it is an eye-catcher, and I liked picking up the small flecks of gray (British translation: grey) in it with my gray shirt.

Birdie!

I’d like to demonstrate here that I can indeed use my brain: I’d like to present Chip Crain’s next holiday tie, on time and without forgetting for a day or three. Wheee! Using your noggin’ is FUN!

It was 30 years ago today…one of the coolest ever GWT, John Lennon, was killed in 1980. I wasn’t quite eleven years old, and barely knew what it meant for the world to lose him so early. And I realize there are about a billion or so people out there who are probably bigger Beatles fans than I, but it’s strange to think he was 41, the same age as I am now. Not to say that he would definitely have changed the world or my life in it, but you never know what he and his opinions could have managed in the internet age.

My friend Jenny passed along some great pics of some quilts that have been crafted out of ties. Here are a couple of my favorites. Couple equals three today, apparently.

Thanks for reading…Brooke (the dork)