Post-Birthday Monday. . .

 

 

Taking a page from my late mother's handbook, I celebrated yet another 29th birthday yesterday and enjoyed a lovely, quiet Sunday at home with The Grand Duchess and Young Master.  A late waffle breakfast and Thai take-out later that evening, courtesy of my wife, plus chocolate cake and a few gifts after dinner.  The Grand Duchess, bless her, gave me a bottle of St. John's Bay Rum aftershave, which is divine.  Easily the most fragrant Bay Rum I have found.  Even more so than Royall Bay Rum.

Attire for today (Monday) includes a vintage Harris Tweed jacket that I found in my old Central Illinois thrift/charity shop for about US$7 about eight or 10 years ago.  Almost everything today, now that I think about it, came from Land's End except the Allen Edmonds shoes and belt.   The vintage Land's End necktie, a favorite this time of year, is 100% wool, hand sewn in the U.S.A. of fabric woven in Italy.

Yes, Virginia.  At one time, you could actually purchase quality items at reasonable prices from LE that did not resemble stretchy sweats, Snuggies, or lycra-infused, so called "comfort" items that might be more at home in a Kindergarten classroom than an adult workplace.

So the lesson for today?  Smaller and fewer portions at mealtimes, limit snacking, and know your precise clothing sizes.  The comfort issue will solve itself.  

On a related note, just say "No more!" to the ongoing infantilization of life and society at all levels.  You can start by taking a conscious step back from the perpetually rumpled, torn, and food-stained soiled laundry hamper aesthetic that dominates the cultural landscape in 2022, and instead dress like an adult who gives a damn.  It's not at all difficult, and far from the erroneous hardship that so many imagine dressing better than the average must invariably be. 

I know, I know.  The genie is already well out of the bottle.  But a guy can still hope, eh?

-- Heinz-Ulrich