100 Days, 100 Ties

May as well stick to rock, as I tramp back to the AC/DC well once more (Tieway to Hell was the other). This little ditty has anthem written all over it.

Anyway, on to my Wednesday, which truly was a day full of Wednes, whatever that may be. If Wednes is networking, then yes, I had that, as our Business After Hours was held this evening.

Tie No. 297

My Tie du Jour for this occasion was a late pickup from Unique Thrift Store. It’s from Joseph & Lyman, a mark of Bloomingdale’s, due to the fact that the store was founded by brothers Joseph and…and? Take a guess. Yessiree, Bob [insert your name here if it isn’t ‘Bob’], it’s Lyman [you shouldn’t insert another name here, since ‘Lyman’ is the correct answer]!

Throwing it with this shirt was kind of a lark, but I think it works out okay, as the shirt actually has a little orange stripe next to the green one.

Of course, since it was a networking event, we had a couple of GWTs in attendance at the Hilton Garden Inn.

First, we have Tom Hegelberger, HGI’s new sales guy (sorry, Tom, wasn’t sure the exact title…I doubt “sales guy” will be on your business cards). He is a big fan of ties, so we’ll have lots to talk about.

And, Robert Griffin, of Griffin Financial Strategies, was sportin’ a sweet Jerry Garcia tie.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Paid my fare, don’t wanna complain;

You get to me you’re always outta champagne.

Treat me like a bum, don’t wear no tie,

You ain’t nothin’ but a waitress in the sky.

–Replacements

Love love love that song, the ‘Mats rockin’, rollickin’ homage to the flight attendants in attendance. Love it even more that it talks about tie-wearing, or the lack thereof. Chances of finding a pic of these guys posing as Rockers With Ties was slim at best. But the good Google giveth, and I believe that’s Tommy Stinson in the candy-man coat and bow tie. Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out indeed.

My Tie du Jour is a Jenny Special…that is to say Jenny found it at a resale shop for me, which make it special. It has a bit of special significance to Evanston history, as it hails from Wieboldt’s, a defunct department store, one of which was in Evanston. And, I must give credit where credit is due: my crapiPhone actually captured this tie perfectly. It’s such a dark navy that I thought it would look black. Well done, ciP. Should have done an ensemble pic with this one, especially with the white/brown saddles that topped it off (or bottomed it out I should say).

While picking up dinner over on Dempster Street, I met a waiter at Blind Faith Cafe who had a very timely tie on. Stan was wearing this cool NBA strip, which was in honor of the Bulls playing that night. Too bad they lost, and are now facing 3 straight (hopefully) elimination games.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

I wish I could come up with a nice little self-deprecating story that gets to the heart of the ‘fool me once’ expression. Of course, as I wrote that, I thought of one.

When I was a senior in college – my first senior year, at least, as I had two of them – I studied abroad for a school year in Montpellier, France. A couple weeks before my parents told me they were taking me and my brother Grant out to dinner. About ten minutes before we were supposed to leave, a bunch of my friends came over. After about 15 minutes of chit chat, and beers opened (I was 21), and snacks put out, I started telling people that they had to leave, as my parents were taking us to dinner. They all gave me some version of that loving, caring smile reserved only for friends who have lost their damn mind. “Um, Brooke…this is a surprise party.”

So, I wasn’t really fooled twice, but actually fooled 14 or 15 times on a constant basis over the course of 15 minutes. A couple of them had said “Surprise!” but there was never that collective roar emanating from a really large, hidden, drink-holding group of people, as would have happened at the surprise parties that you see on the TV. I guess I was just hungry for whatever dinner we were supposed to go to…

I wasn’t fooling or surprising anyone with my Monday TdJ choice (Tie No. 294, by the way), although some may call me fool for wearing paisley with this plaid shirt. Nah, I’m no fool, just willing to have a tie pop, I guess. This brown, blue and white strip from Carter Holmes is a Giddings Special, gleaned from the bag o’ ties given to me by Paul & Cease Giddings. CrapiPhone camera makes it look yellowish, too…hmm.

Monday was my last board meeting at the Chamber, and I managed to find a new Guy With Tie. David Kane is VP of Senior Living at Mather LifeWays, a retirement community corporation HQed in Evanston. Really like this blue, as you know. He spotted my tie clip, and showed me his cool cuff links as we had an accessories conversation.

Speaking of Davids, my roving photog (aka “Mom”) was at a funeral down in Louisiana (my great Aunt, “Tante Chick”, passed away last week) and used the opportunity to shoot some ties. My first cousins David and Mark Huval are here (Mark’s on the left). So funny…to this day, I still associate certain musicians to them, as they were (with some other cousins) my first influences on music. Mark had a bunch of Bruce Springsteen LPs, while David was a Rod Stewart fan. While I’m sure they listened to many other artists (oh yeah…Eddie Money and Boz Scaggs), these are just imprinted on my mind.

She also got another couple of cousins, with a different family connection: this pair are separated by a couple of generations. Roland Dugas and his grandson Jacques. Mom says that Jacques is already a nationally-ranked pole vaulter. Man, I can’t imagine what kind of strength that takes.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

That may be a pretty good subject, seeing as this could be my final blog post. Well, because of the rapture and all…

So, if you’re reading this on May 22, be happy that there has been no judgment, and rest assured that there will be posts next week.

After that, however, it’s going to get tricky. I’ve gotten the word that my last day at the Chamber will be May 31. After that, my tie-wearing days will likely wane. I’ll still don them when I take up my duties as Brand Ambassador for Few Spirits, and I’ll still wear a different tie every day. But, I will probably get down to 2 or 3 posts per week…and who knows, it may be 4 or 5.

My Tie du Jour was not chosen with the looming End O’World in mind; it just kinda popped out and said “Wear me!” It’s a vintage thin from Excellon Abbey, which sounds like a monastery where they create polyester and other faux fabrics under a vow of silence: “O Lord, Bless this synthetic cloth! Work of human hands, let it chafe and age poorly, and if Thou need, it can spontaneously combust and become the de facto burning bush of the 20th century!” Yeah, I’m sure that’s what they would have said at Excellon.

The TdJ is black with dark green circular markings that may be tough to see here in the photo.

I forgot to add a picture of a GWT alum that I ran into yesterday. Jim Nash, a commercial realtor with Farnsworth-Hill, was roaming about town in this cool tie. Of course, my crapiPhone isn’t zoomy enough to capture the detail of the sinewy creatures depicted on said cool tie. Just trust me.

Thanks for reading…Brooke

Friday was a banner day [sarcasm dripping]. Two funerals. Ugh. Let me tell you about these gentlemen and their legacies.

George Hackbarth is the father of a dear family friend, whom I met about 15 years ago. Diana & Dave Price became friends of Diane as she watched them for 8 years (their boys, Andrew & Adam, are the same ages as Steven & Josiah, my stepsons).

George survived his wife, Irene, for 3 years, and they were always fixtures at their family gatherings. George, a professional tool & die maker, had great stories, and he made fantastic – FANTASTIC – Manhattans. He made them slowly and methodically, as a proper cocktail should be crafted, just as he probably crafted something else with ‘Manhattan’ in the phrase. Yes, the Manhattan Project. George machined the uranium bits and pieces of the atomic bombs that were tested in New Mexico and then final examed in Japan. You can read more of his tales here.

That was Friday morning. I wore a properly dark tie for the proceedings, but rather improperly spilled a drop or three of coffee on my Colker Special, an Armani Collezioni. Luckily my crapiPhone camera won’t pick up the subleties of the spillage. But, when I went to the visitation at funeral #2, my friend John Bernin picked up on those subleties, and gave me proper shit for it. What to do? Well, give him shit back, and go change my tie when I had the chance.

So, for the second time this week, I doubled up on my tie output for the day. I went with another Colker Special, a JZ Richards design for Nordstrom. While it still struck the proper tone, its purple had a bit more color than the day’s Tie No. 1 (these are Tie Nos. 287 & 288, by the way).

And so, with an uncaffeinated Deuxième Tie du Jour, my second funeral of the day arrived.

And thus, I come to Leo Passage, who also passed away this week. He is the father of my dear friend, Corrine Passage, who’s a neighbor that I admire in her own right. Leo is the founder of Pivot Point, a world leader in beauty education. He is an absolute icon in the salon industry, and you would not believe the outpouring of love that was present on Friday evening (and Saturday afternoon). People traveled from every continent (except Antarctica) to be here, and those who couldn’t come sent the most amazing flowers. Corrine and her brother Rob shared the eulogy, which turned into a celebration of the passion that someone can have for his true loves in life – wife, family and profession. Leo had all of that, and the inspiration that he emitted through his very talented pores rested on so many of the 600+ in attendance, as well as those who kept him in their thoughts throughout the week. I found a picture of him in a tie, but as this photo captures the twinkle in his eye and the smile on his face, I wanted to use it instead.

I can, however, add his grandson, Jack, to the GWT roster. A spitting image of the young Leo (there was a running video tribute at the visitation), Jack has the world ahead of him, and it’s obviously in his genes to grab what he wants.

Thanks for reading…Brooke