Classic Style

 Loading up the trusty Outback for some afternoon fun after a morning of meetings and student paper grading in the run up to Spring Break next week.   I had the wooded trails all to myself during the early afternoon today.   Not a sound except for the quiet schuss-schuss-schuss of my skis and the occasional creaking tree limb. The second time around was a bit faster as I retraced my tracks  but in reverse.     My 90-minute jaunt went by all too quickly, but not before I snapped an obligatory shot of the 19-year old Norwegian skis that I purchased in December 1999 at the G-Sport in downtown Trondheim, Norway.  I learned to cross-country ski the winter I was 33 while studying and conducting research on 19th century women dialect authors in Trondheim, Norway at The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the one time University of Trondheim.  It was a snowy winter that year, and the network of groomed and lighted municipal trails s

Part of yesterday's attire.  Not shown are the ubiquitous, of late, L.L. Bean duck shoes, ski socks, along with a sill maroon knit necktie.  Please ignore the rather spindly corduroy clad leg in the photograph! N o new snow, ice, or related winter weather the last couple of days here in Mid-Michigan, so I am transitioning back to more usual "dressed up" (adult) attire.   Student learning team-led discussion began in all of my courses this week, so I was able to sit in the rear of each room, mentally put up my feet, and listen to others run the show for a while as I took notes.  To their great credit, the first few teams have set the bar high and done a bang up job.   One team of four young women, in particular, led a rich and also very funny 45-minute session yesterday that engaged their classmates, facilitated deeper thought, discussion, and related learning as though the students in question had been doing this sort of thing for years.  It was impressive. Th

The Young Master just post-introductory lesson.  A genuine smile instead of fooling around for the camera.  T he Young Master, who has recently expressed an interest in the martial arts (Thank you, Old School!), tried out an introductory lesson of Tae Kwon Do this morning to see if it is a good fit for him.  He deals with a number of sensory and cognitive challenges, so we were not sure how things might go, but it seems he took right to it.  Besides giving him something to do that he enjoys, it will provide goals, focus, self-discipline, and help with self-control things he has already grasped after working with an instructor.  A good good fit it seems, and I am so pleased for our son that I can hardly speak.  Wow! -- Heinz-Ulrich

  The upper half for today.  Even with a biting wind, I have been able to cross campus without actually buttoning my coat.  Counting my t-shirt, I'm wearing four layers on my top half here. And the lower half.  Not shown are a pink OCBD shirt beneath the sweater, an olive green surcingle belt, and a pair of wool skiing socks. It's hard to argue that campus is not beautiful in the snow.  I could easily endure this for four or five months each year if the jet stream would cooperate.  Here is one vista I captured on my phone this morning while on the way to class.  You'll quickly grasp why dress shoes even when covered by galoshes or overshoes might not be the best choice.  The Red Cedar River, which runs through campus, is in the midst of trees in the mid-distance with the old central part of MSU beyond that. D ressing less formally -- I detest the term 'dressing down' -- need not mean that one resemble those poor souls who clothe themselves in s

Not sure of the provenance of this particular classic menswear illustration, but it provides a pleasing ideal and a useful goalpost. W hen it comes to attire, conduct, and our aims in life, let's strive to exceed the norm, the average, the new ideal that is somehow now considered acceptable by the vast majority.  Let's aim high (-er) and put out our best foot forward. -- Heinz-Ulrich

While not ideal for a one-time night owl like me, I  enjoy arriving to campus before 8am, which allows plenty of time for a coffee, the occasional glazed doughnut in our library's cafe, and that blissful early morning quiet before the rest of the world starts knocking at my figurative door.  Cue the Lionel Richie.  Er, um, on second thought. . . S howing my stripes on a cold, gray Tuesday morning as I enjoy the rest of my coffee and gear up for class at 10:20am.  The double dose of stripes is toned down by the addition of a heavy flannel navy blazer (single-breasted today) with mid-gray flannel pants, mid-brown shoes and belt, and maroon socks with thin navy stripes ringing my lower legs.  Combating the cold with the double-breasted camelhair polo coat (shown here a few weeks back) and my favorite navy, yellow, and red wool scarf when I cross campus to the building where I teach later this morning.  Who says a man must dress in pilled, coffee-stained, terminally wrinkled eart