What The Tide Rolled In

In an early conversation this year, my good friend Pele1410, expressed a need for a Goalkeeper for his Coed Soccer Team SPQR. I was glad to accept the request and set out to find the appropriate kit, fortunately, the Tim Howard Everton Kit was more than happy to find life in my closet.

The season came and game 3 saw us playing at night. It was a moderately wet night. The team we played was solid and tested us on all levels. The ending result of my kit was the picture below. I wasn't at all excited as I immediately assessed the worst possible scenario as my kit was indeed ruined.

I stared at the unpicturesque habiliments in front of me for quite some time, thinking of all the different remedies I had known some years past in clothing industries. Nothing came to me. I entered the laundry room and saw a bottle of Tide Boost Stain Remover. I had nothing to lose, all was lost. I soaked, literally, soaked the kits with Tide Boost Stain Remover, the result was astonishing.

My excite knew no bounds! The world was in balance and good people still existed. I am a big advocate of giving credit where credit is due, and quite frankly, Tide hit a homerun with this one. The next day I called them to thank for a great product. I gave the young woman on the phone a quick synopsis of the events and could not be thankful enough. She said she would send me some coupons for future purchases. I instructed that was not necessary, I was merely calling to say thank you, no freebies needed. We said our farewells. 

This is what they sent me!!!!

Thanks Tide! Big Corporation, small company appeal!

Weighing In

Keep an open mind about this argument. I am neither arguing for or against the concept of Gay Marriage, merely posting an argument that many may not have taken in to consideration.

Consider the current position of State Governing bodies. The idea is separation of church and state. Originally this was meant that no State could declare to be any 1 dominant or main religion! Fair enough, Missouri was requested to change their state motto as it was from the Bible and violated the addendum of this requested separation.

We advance this argument with the removal of prayer in schools as it too violates said law. Alright, so the States are claiming exoneration from any religious affiliation. Given that notion, the idea of a Man and Woman being the idea and forefront of "traditional" marriage is taken from biblical text. The phrase, "go forth and multiply", as instructed by God in Genesis, is obviously biblical text. But no where in the constitution of the United States of America does it talk about marriage. Marriage was an understood truth to exist as a union between man and woman. The premise being our founding fathers were Christians and adhered to a Christian belief system.

The State, however, has separated themselves from that and within that should it not also be separated the biblically attributed union of man and woman marriage? If there is a true separation of Church and State, then the State thereby releases any claims on Christian ideology.

Consider this scenario, You are married to your husband or wife for 50+ years and your life long partner, the one person whom you have loved and adored for all these years falls very sick, you, as a legal partner are allowed by the bedside of that person in what could be there final hours! A gay couple, not legally recognized by the State, does not have this option, they are left in a waiting room to wonder, to be lead to believe no other information and only to be told, I am sorry, you are not family and are not permitted to the details of that persons current state or livelihood.

I am not arguing "for" Gay Marriage, but I am in full support of a Legal Unions and State recognition of Gay Couples. I argue this because the term "marriage" doesn't really mean to heterosexual couples what it use to mean anyway. The divorce rate of married couples has been on the rise since the early 2000. I find it funny, people will post Facebook meme's that will say something along the lines of, "If this person makes you laugh and you can accept their mistakes they are your soul mate." How absurd a suggestion. I accept the mistakes of Joe Biden and he makes me laugh hysterically, I'm sorry, is Joe Biden my soul mate? I understand what the post is attempting to portray. My relationship with my wife is not perfect, it isn't always as fairy tale of happiness and some morning when we wake up we are in the mood to be head over heals in love with each other. We do however, wake up every morning with a kiss, every night we go to sleep with our bodies close together (we have 2 kids so...) and we love each other unconditionally, even when we don't want to. My faults are her strengths and her faults mine.

Since no one reads my blog, I have no issues posting this! If you do read my blog then... This is not the blog you're looking for! (waiving Jedi hand)

Witness Love

I witnessed what I consider to be a bit of love last night! I approached the downstairs corridor expecting a dark room, the attendants fast asleep. What I found, was a remarkably different. At the eleven o'clock p.m. hour I found both my parents attentively watching a movie, not sure what the name was, it doesn't matter, what I witnessed was far more important.

For Christmas my dad received an iPad. He loves it. My mom missed her calling as a movie critic or casting director, but her and my dad together would make a team stronger than Siskel & Ebert.

At first I didn't notice what was happening, my observations grew as the movie progressed. It would start with a statement, not a question but a statement, more often than not, from my mom, with a qualified response from dad.

My mom would make general comments about the movie, characters or scenario's. My dad would silently Google the statement on his iPad and respond with a "wiki" quote. It was rather impressive. It became more apparent of the importance of these statements when my dad decided to go to bed. My mom made a comment about a supporting actor in the movie, I accepted the statement and went about my viewing. Moments later Mom asks what I found, I asked about what, her response astounded me! She needed me to search the comment she made earlier, she went on to accuse me of not be as supportive as my dad! I laughed, she scowled, we both went to sleep.

Wearing Labour Day After White

So we've all heard our parents say it, or at least we should have, if our parents had any inclination of the duties of fashion, "don't wear white after labour day!" We may have questioned it silently, but has anyone actually delved in to the reason why? If you grew up in the New England States then the reason is no surprise to you, there were more than 7 months within the year where white isn't acceptable.

The adage dates back some years, I don't know how many exactly, but let's say long long ago, sometime in the distant future. Labour Day marked more than a day off of work, if you lived not in the South, it meant the first day of Fall or Autumn, or true North, Winter. With those months came muggy, rainy days, dredging mud and salty, dirt filled walking paths. Based on that information alone, white was most absurd a color selection if not being adorned as a dress shirt. But none of that happens here so why do we adhere to such a non-regional concept?

So I have given it some thought and my final date of appropriate removal of white is after Halloween! Here is why. The month of September for us relatively warm and with the passing Hurricanes behind us in late August we have no pending threats of rain for at least 1 month. The highs in September average 93 and the low's 79 with approximately 10% of the month experiencing precipitation. The reason white is so popular a summer color is primarily due to its light weight feel and fall, and the brilliance of cleanliness it exudes. If we can maintain that desire to stay cool in hot temperatures, then why not acquiesce?! 

October marks the start of High School Soccer Season here in Louisiana, and if I know anything about High School Soccer, the games are cold and wet! So with November bringing us Thanksgiving, which is hit or miss for warm or cold weather, I think October makes an ideal month for habiliment transition. The temperatures begin to lull to a cool 70/60 and hopefully lower. 

I hereby extend a formal request to prolong the date of white clothing departure from the Southern region until November One! All in favor say "I", all oppossed, go away!

Quest for the Black Pearl

Gravati Wagner Monk

There is always a search for the perfect black dress shoe! So lacking in creativity and style, black is the last color selection of the unimaginative searching refuge and salvation from an inability to select proper colors. Be that as it may, black dress is a necessity to a man's wardrobe so long as that wardrobe is not completely compromised of the said black beauty. 

I have never been satisfied with the black dress shoes I have owned, ergo, I don't wear black much. I own 1 black suit, nothing fancy, and recently I found a pair of Mezlan Tyson dress shoes in black in the back of my closet...

I found these shoes at www.Berenshoes.com and immediately became entranced. The attention to detail and supple leather selection, it didn't take long to deduce these shoes were made by 1 of 3 companies; Canali, Romano Martegani or Gravati! Of course with those names comes a small price, in this case about $575 worth.

Fall, Fall, Fall...

This may be premature, but since I am orchestrating my wardrobe already for the fall, I figured I would impose my ideals on all 5 of my readers! Fall has many more options than what are normally accustomed to.

Trussardi Fall 2012 Show

Fall colors are not just about brown's, oranges & grays! Fall is regarded as the most colorful time of the year, and the colors that accompany do not disappoint! Spring overs certainly more vibrant colors, but the selection is stymied by pastels and Easter!

Start your wardrobe right! Just don't wear white! I will judge you.

 

The Dark Knight & Ermenegildo Zegna

So I recently had the pleasure of viewing The Dark Knight Rises and I have to admit, Bane was my favorite characters. Not just my favorite character of the movie, but one of my favorite Batman Movie characters of all time. I enjoyed his intellect, whit, attention to detail and overly ruthless mentality albeit a thinly veiled aura of passion was always present. Be that as it may, there was something a bit more that attracted me to this brash warrior - his style. 

Despite his upbringing, being born in darkness, his eyes were certainly open to the best in style the wardrobe director had to offer. There were a few jackets in both the adverts and the movie that left me wondering what they were. The one pictured beneath, I was certain was a Robert Comstock (a favorite designer of mine in the jacket world). I was later proved wrong, the jacket was designed by my favorite suit designer Ermenegildo Zegna. Recently GQ magazine released a post on the most amazing jackets you'll ever see and this Bomber Military jacket appeared at number 3. 

Retired & Hired

Donald Pliner Embossed Jimmy

So here we are, in that inevitable time of the year. Summer is upon us in the most horrid of fashions, although today it was quite nice out. In a series of unfortunate circumstances, or so they seemed at the time, I was forced to retire some of my more coveted articles of my wardrobe. Most notable are my Moreschi Deer Skin Monk Straps! You may remember them from a shoe shine video a month or so ago. (I am assuming I have blog readers). In that retirement also came 2 dress slacks navy and brown, 2 Chelsea Boots Brown & Stone/Navy and one of the more indelible pieces, Donald Pliner Jimmy's.


So the quest began to find suitable replacements for the continuation of a stylistic wardrobe that offered style & fashion in both form and functionality. The slacks were easy, I am huge fan of Jos A Bank dress slacks, so as soon as a sale hit I was on it. Recent purchase, Navy Executive Dress Slacks MSRP $225, sale price $44.99. The shoes have been a bit more difficult. Thus far I have not successfully found a Bordeaux Oxford or Monk Strap that fits Style and Budget, even if I remove budget, style is still elusive.

Other nominees however, to push forward with the journey are quite brilliant in their representation. In the Oxford Category we have the following:

Mezlan Endicott

Gravati Full Brogue Wing Tips

Allen Edmonds Strands Full Brogue Cap Toe

There is never a time when expanding your shoe collection is a bad idea. In fact, multiple pair of the same shoes can be highly recommended. If the company represents more style than fashion it's not so much imperative to double up, but in a fashion forward company of less stylistic quality but maintaining desirable proportions of aesthetics it may be in your best interest to purchase more than one. I am, to this day, regretting not purchasing more than 1 pair of Donald Pliner Radley-61's. I have owned these shoes for 10 years and although they still look great, there will come a day...

As It Stands

As it stands I will never run again. I am forgoing the use of my running blog at www.ClaimYourJourney.com, that site is for runners, and as it stands, I am not... presently. Moving on, I WILL NEVER RUN AGAIN, I SAY. This injury has loomed far too long.

Side note 1: In Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Ernest" there exists one of my favorite quotes. "If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life." To that I say bollocks. 


I am absolutely at my wits end. If you want to fully understand how deeply rooted this narcissism goes, read on. I was scrolling through some photos of me and other people that I have run with. I ran across a few pictures that depicted a scenery from around Louisiana with the appropriate clothing for weather conditions. The enigmatic portion of human psychological control as calibrated by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov would have been given to the association of 1st year children when I tell you I became upset to realize I would never be able to wear my CW-X Compression tights again!

This is the juncture of my current juxtaposition, sanity & reality. Where is reason? Where is rationale? Where is inner dialogue for the sake of perennial stability? Although I don't think this will last 2 years.

I guess what I am saying is, I am ready to run again. I was hoping to be back by the end of July. Here we are; in my most recent reenactment of a dance seen from House Party 1 where Kid and Play do that foot thing and dance in a semi-circle, I have yet more strenuous pain in my Achilles.

Fin

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my amazing wife, wonderful mother & best friend!

Pic of the Week

iCuff, the smart cuff! 

I am thinking of having all my shirts hemmed so that my watch is always accessible, I started with this shirt and I think I like it.

Pic's O' The Day

Jeremy Zenon in a dashing pair of Donald Pliner's

Me in a startling summer Saddle Shoe by Ralph Lauren

Two great summer looks, two completely different styles.

Es OC K Es

Maven Men's Wear

On a recent Twitter @mention by my good friend @Pele1410 I was pleasantly introduced to the company mention on the left of this page. Maven Men's Wear is one of the newest haberdashery's to grace the Greater Lafayette area. I had the fortunate pleasure to meet the owner Christina Barbier and we were inclined to share fanciful stories for our shared love of the industry. To whit the weather became almost insufferable and held me in her store for far longer than anticipated; be that as it may, it proved most worthy of the time spent.

Office Photo

On a more frequent account of stores I attend, I dropped in to my beloved F Camalo Men's Clothier for a gander at a pair of Gravati Shoes I have been eyeing, and with my 29th birthday approaching I thought it'd be a novel idea to pick my pleasure in birthday shoes. On my way out I spied these little diddies of brilliance. A deep grey Marcoliani dress sock with hot pink polka dots. I was smitten by the design and furthermore, intrigued by the option to take them home. It wasn't long before they adorned an outfit accordingly.

Remember, never be afraid to wear brilliance. Anyone can wear a great suit, but never shy away from the accouterments's that separate you from the masses. Often times, it's found in a sock.

XKCD

Lease

What's Poplin Seersucker?

The Poplin

Seersucker

 There's no doubt about it, summer is here. We have crested what is to be the final days of cool fronts & cool mornings for quite some time, that is however if you excuse the hail storm that came through last Monday!

Though the weather may be as it chooses, we are still called by either social obligation or painstaking desire to attend the same solemnities as they come about. And despite the heat people still think it a grand idea to get married in the beauty of the season's sun. So shall it be, some good people came up with a great solution to stay cool in the summer, and for the more formal occasions, still look great.

The Poplin Suit is nothing new to our culture. Poplin was first recorded in Avignon, France around the late 1400's. It derived its name from the word "papeline" given by the papal residence of Avignon itself. Poplin found its original use in men's daily garments, shorts and sports shirts mainly. But in the realm of fashionable innovation it was utilized later for more formal needs. If I am not mistaken, one of the original Poplin Suit manufacturer's in America was Brook's Brothers.

An interesting history forgoes the existence of Seersucker in the mainstay of the traditional gentlemen's summer wardrobe! Until the 1920's Seersucker was worn by poor southerners to beat the heat. In an attempt at reverse snobbery, a group of college graduates wore it to a graduation. Now it is the staple to a true summer wardrobe. The weave of the suit is what makes it seersucker, there is some speculation to the name, that it derives from a Hindi & Urdu translation of a Persian word meaning "milk and sugar". It goes on to discuss the relationship between smoothness and textured feel much like that of milk and sugar. Be that as it may, if a wedding calls, or any other carousal beckons in the heat of the southern Spring & Summer, go light but stay classy.

Cultural Changes

On June 3, 2011 Actor and Comedian Tracy Morgan was called down by the LGBT for making a comment about his kids being gay. He apologized for his comments and all was forgiven, or so. However, in 1989 Eddie Murphy stood on stage and said, "Faggot's aren't allowed to look at my ass while I'm on stage !That's why I keep moving while I'm up here.You don't know where the faggot section is, you gotta keep movin'. So if they do see it, quick, you switch, they don't get no long stares at your shit... ...so that their imagination is flowing about my... I know when you're looking, 'cos my ass starts to get hot. I'm afraid of gay people. Petrified.I have nightmares about gay people..."


He goes on for about 5 more minutes about gays, and not a single person breathed a word about it, there was no apology, no broadcasting company issued an apology to the general public. So my question is this, are we being more prejudice by not acknowledging people's ignorance (even if it's comedy) or are we being prejudice by pointing out everyone's "prejudice"? The question also bears, is it ignorant to point out someone's color in reference to them, or to be so ignorant as to say you don't see color? Where is our generation going with all this right to be offended and take action against the offender? Freedom of speech? For whom? Rights for all? Really? 

New Arrivals

Cole Haan Colton Nubuck Suede

The wardrobe is expanding, the style is curving with a slight rise in the form of fashion. Be that as it may, there is no perennial dictum mandating any facet of shoe ware that would consider these purchases trivial. Despite them coming at great opportunities both in time and in price, I have found myself smitten by their establishment of residence in my closet.

One of the first anomalies to note is the brand of shoe. I thought for certain I had finished with the line of Cole Haan. When I first started my trek to style Cole Haan was there to greet me. I spent the lot of my money acquiring what I thought was the height of shoedom. I was later introduced to many other lines, more prestigious lines, that left me desiring a more hand-crafted shoe. I left the Cole Haan line in search of accolade of Italian fashion moguls. My quest led me to Gravati, Donald Pliner, Romano Martegani, Canali, Toschi, Martin Dingman and many others. As life comes full circle...

Cole Haan Paul Chukka Boot

                                                         It was not an intentional purchase to return to Cole Haan, it was a matter of a sleepless night searching for great shoes. I had not owned a pair of Chukka Boots and thought the new craze of jean wear would intrigue, and a what is intrigue without action to satiate.

Tan/Cream SeerSucker Pattern

As for the Colton Suede Cream beauties, that was a, last minute I need to go to sleep but these shoes are tugging at me, purchase. What's a wardrobe without cream suede shoes for the next Yachting party you are invited too?! A nice Taupe/Brown or Brown/Cream SeerSucker Suit with a donning pair of suede shoes to match, brilliant says I.



A few websites I have recently found quite useful:
www.BerenShoes.com
www.Pelleline.com

But remember, if you can, support your local retailer's like:
F Camalo
Moseley & Hollard
Steve's Clothier
Partner's
Gentry



                                                                             

Ole Glory Crossfit

They're doing it right. I will start by saying just that.

As many of you know, I embarked on a desire to start doing Crossfit a couple of months ago. It was a catastrophe. The gym was super nice but the people were less than impressive. The relationship ended as quickly as it had begun. This is the point where I could say, "the search was on" for a new gym, but it wasn't, I was ultimately done. The only other gym I knew of was on Cajundome Blvd. and I wasn't travelling that far to workout, for all that I would have gotten a membership to Red's. (On a side note, I have heard wonderful things about Ragin' Crossfit)

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday, my and family and I were going to Morvant's in Broussard to grab burgers. Driving past I saw a building with a huge tractor tire out front, I thought, "I want a tractor tire!" It was then I realized I was looking at a Crossfit gym, a gym right here in Broussard, La. I noted the phone number to memory, it was easy, clearly a cell phone, and made a point to call on the following day.

I spoke to one of the owners, a husband, Bo Armentor. Everything about the conversation was delightful from the greeting to the information provided about the gym. I was really excited to give it another go. I arrived the following morning at 0500 as noted and I was immediately introduced to everyone in the gym. All were laughing and joking, at 0500 mind you, and it seemed like a good time.

Long story short I am really happy at Ole Glory. Bo and his wife Natalie have been wonderful hosts and the patrons are equally as delightful. It has been a few days shy of 1 month since I signed up but the relationship has blossomed and so have my results. Everyone is helpful and encouraging and most of the time really sweaty.

Bo & Natalie, thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to get back in the swing and cult following of Crossfit. I look forward to our relationship growing exponentially over the coming years.

PS - I think there are more girls than guys at this gym!!! Perhaps that's why Bo was so nice to me, he needs me to knock down walls with him for expansion!!!!!

It's Just a Shoe

This picture arrived in my email from my beloved sister who seems to know the very way to my heart. As it turns out, Prada is allowing personal color customization of their latest Spring shoe line. Their forward progressive ideology is pining at my soul to become yet again a patron of the fine stylistic establishment. Hats off to you Prada, this is by way of great innovation Prada may find themselves back in the forefront Milan and Paris.

Enjoy!

Today's Big Idea

One shoe can change your life.

-Cinderella