Three Axioms for More Civilized Living. . .

As I've gone through life the past few days or so, a few things have occurred to me while observing people and overhearing their interactions. These admittedly rough ideas might be useful for average guys working to kick up their everyday style several notches. Here goes:

1) Just because you are paying for something (or, if you are under 22 or 23, your parents or the government via student loans) -- on campus, in a restaurant, at the supermarket, while traveling, or in a place as tacky and awful as Las Vegas has become -- you do not have the right to abandon polite social convention and behave like an obnoxious and entitled moron. Lose the unsavory the-customer-is-always-right attitude, and do it now! It's definitely NOT the way to win friends or influence people.

2) Learn to enjoy the company of women. Ignore this rule to your detriment. By and large, women are more interesting personalities than most of us men, and they are better able to discuss a wide array of interesting subjects. Guys, endless nattering on about sports statistics, or those ponderous war stories about your alcohol-induced sexcapades during your undergraduate years are duller than dishwater. There. I've said it.

3) Sometimes, give something to someone else just to be nice. . . without any possibility for gain on your part. . . monetary, material, or otherwise.

-- Heinz-Ulrich

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The Pleasaures of a Well-trained Dog. . .

A few final photographs from my visit to my sister in Washington, D.C. last week. These include one of 'Mr. Beau,' my sister's meticulously trained and truly wonderful Doberman, another of my sister, second cousin, step-father, and yours truly on the steps of the church outside Lexington, North Carolina just after our late mother's interment service, two of me solo at the National Cathedral, and a final one of my sister and me hamming it up during a long evening walk the day before I returned to Michigan. My sister routinely walks to the cathedral, about three blocks from her place, to enjoy the grounds and gardens. The Bishop's Garden, in particular, is a place she likes to sit for quiet contemplation and internal dialogues with our late maternal grandparents and mother, very much in keeping with the Episcopal side of things. Our grandfather, who was raised Methodist, became an Episcopalian when he married our grandmother. Before you ask, I am not sure tha

It's All about That Bass: Goodnight Tonight - Paul McCartney & Wings - 1979

Almost Mid-June Sunday Style. . .

A fter two months, Blogger has decided to allow me in the door once again, so I can add a long overdue post documenting my take on classic male style. Since we are almost in the throes of summer, let's go with a warm weather theme this morning. Now, the items above will not be to everyone's taste: Deck shoes without socks, shorts, pleats, skinny pale legs, etc. All invite tisk-tisking and debate in certain online fora, but that's ok. I wouldn't wear attire this to campus Monday through Friday, or to church. But for relaxed, comfortable warm weather-wear around the house during the weekends, with maybe a quick trip down the road for a gallon of milk at the super market, this will do nicely, thank you very much. It's certainly preferable to the wrinkled, torn, stained sloppy alternative we see everywhere in 2022. Neither is it at all far removed from how the various men and boys across three generations of my extended family presented themselves during even

Classic Style

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