Relaxing around the house today?

This is how to do casual. Simple and relaxed, yet still pulled together, so you won't embarrass yourself if the doorbell rings and you happen to answer it. The young Bill Cosby.

It's a chilly November 2nd, and it might be tempting to sit around the house all day in bagged out sweatpants and your old college t-shirt with ancient salsa and beer stains down the front. How about trying a different tack and putting on some real pants and a decent looking casual top by lunchtime? You can't go wrong with some classic jeans (no rips, artificial fading, or "relaxed fit" dad jeans, please), corduroys, or flannel lined khakis, a pair of Converse Chuck Taylors (mine are bright red), and a crew neck pull-over of some kind like the young Bill Cosby sports above.

It's a very simple, timeless, and laid back look that's perfect for an afternoon of watching whatever sport you might prefer on television, visiting your local cafe or watering hole this afternoon, or raking up some red and orange leaves in the yard before suppertime. Regardless of the precise activity, however, you won't look like an overgrown adolescent slob who doesn't know any better.

Oh, I know. Life is so hard and unfair. Woe is me. Come on, men. . . Chin up! Let's at least act like we give a damn and give some slight consideration to those around us. Self-centered, piggy attitudes and behavior ain't attractive at all. And it's not like you've got to put on a suit and tie today for Heaven's sake. But let's at least try not to look like someone who has fallen through the cracks of society and been spit out at the bottom of the porn industry. It's just a thought, but the person with whom you share a living space might appreciate that tiny extra bit of effort that you put into your appearance. . . even though it's the weekend.

As for me, I'll dig out a pair of dark green cords and a comfy old charcoal gray Shetland wool sweater to wear over an old button-down collar shirt with wool socks and the red high-top retro sneakers on the bottom for our Saturday here. It's that lovely, quiet post-Halloween lull before the the race toward the American Thanksgiving holiday revs up, followed by the enforced insanity that, sadly, has become the Advent and Christmas season.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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Up North Style. . .

Bad Dad makes a friend. YMP and Bad Dad on the shores of Lake Michigan. Or was that Crystal Lake? The Grand Duchess takes a selfie in her kayak. How NOT to impress the girls sunning themselves along the river. YMP and Bad Dad kayaking on the Platte River headed toward Loon Lake. J ust back from a week in Northern Michigan in a charming and spacious house on the banks of the Betsie River outside of Thompsonville. A largely pleasant seven days despite some challenging episodes with the Young Master, who has picked up some very questionable habits and language from his friends in the 8th Grade during the school year just ended. But otherwise, we enjoyed ourselves and contemplated remaining for a few days longer since the house was available. In the end, we decided to return home as planned originally since neither my wife, nor I wanted to spend the remaining days chained to our computers in Zoom meetings from our vacation destination. I actually managed to leave the laptop and ip

Mid-June Thursday Style. . .

A nother pretty typical variation on the theme for late spring, summer, and very early fall. I'm a huge fan of Madras and have several such shirts in the seasonal rotation. Lightweight, exceedingly comfortable, and even dressy when pressed and tucked in, which is the usual way of things here at Totleigh in the Wold. Now, if I had my druthers, I'd still rather be skiing the trails in the upper half of "The Mitten" (of Michigan), in the Upper Peninsula, or Ontario. But summers ain't so bad either, and I'd look pretty funny walking around in cross-country ski attire during June. -- Heinz-Ulrich

A Lazy Saturday at the End of June. . .

A sleepy first half of the weekend here at Totleigh. Warmer and quite humid ahead of an approaching cool front here in Mid-Michigan. Perfect for yet another pair of chino shorts an a seersucker shirt -- tucked in of course -- with the usual leather deck shoes and ribbon belt. Otherwise, not much accomplished beyond a page or so of writing and monkeying around with audio settings for an upcoming podcast episode. However, I was not completely useless yesterday! I made a huge fruit salad for dinner, which the Grand Duchess and I enjoyed a short while later at the table on the back porch. The Young Master, as is his wont on Saturday evenings, took his dinner on a tray in the TV room upstairs where he whiled away a couple of hours on Flight Simulator, flying some sort of commercial airliner to some destination across the Atlantic or Pacific. I would have loved that sort of technology at about nine or 10 way back during the late 1970s, aka The Stone Age. As it is, my sister and

Classic Style

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