Classic Style

Not bad, but it's just about time to visit the barber for a trim.  The ol' hair is getting a bit puffy on the sides and top. W ell, the summer break is in full swing for yours truly here at Totleigh-on-the-Wold even though the Memorial Day Weekend is not yet upon us.  Besides working on an article and a few other professional commitments, all of which can be done from home, it has settled down pretty nicely here since turning in final grades a couple of weeks ago. However, there was reason to don presentable attire this morning once the Young Master was loaded aboard his school bus.  The Grand Duchess and I had an appointment with our attorney in Downtown Lansing to finalize and sign our will, so what better reason?  I decided that a suit might be a bit much for me, although I was happy later to see that our lawyer was thus attired, so I opted instead for a sports jacket (Hickey Freeman) and odd pants combo.  Not visible is a braided brown leather belt an...

  Here's one of the Young Master mid-parade.  He concentrated hard to remain focused and with his class as they visited just about every other classroom around the school, ignoring Mom and Dad in the process. T oday was Letter Day at our son's school, and the kindergarten classes that will conclude in about four weeks held a parade in which each child had the chance to share his, or her special letter project with the rest of the school.  The Young Master and I worked together to create his sandwich board on Sunday afternoon and early that same evening.  Not too shabby if you ask me. -- Heinz-Ulrich   Here is the front of his sandwich board that YMP and I made, painted, and labelled on Sunday earlier this week. Here is the rear.  According to his teacher, YMP was able to tell her all of the words on his board, which was a nice surprise since I wasn't always sure that he was listening when we went over all of this a few times late yesterda...

A WWII-era illustration that I believe was by Laurence Fellows although I could be mistaken.  Still, I dig the juxtaposition of the 6x2 double-breasted suit with the officer's dress at right .  You'll recall, of course, that the former had its basis in the military uniform . U nseasonably cold here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold this morning, 36 degrees Fahrenheit and spitting snow (in mid-May) just before 9am according to my wife the Grand Duchess.  Hmmm.  Don't know if that is what I needed to hear since the lawn needs mowing desperately. ********** I have managed to pick up a couple of new suits for a song on Ebay during the last couple of weeks.  The first is a 6x2 double-breasted charcoal pinstripe in worsted wool by Samuelsohn of Canada that even features true surgeon cuffs.  Luckily, the sleeves are already the right length and allow about 1/4" of linen to show with my arms at my sides.  After dry-cleaning, I tried on the 40R suit (with a dr...

Not my conference, but a generic photograph found online of some conference session somewhere, to set the mood and tone for today's post. T he spring term has concluded, final grades have been submitted, and with only one student complaint, so life is reasonably good.  It has been a busy several weeks here, but now it's time to catch my breat h and concentrate on my own professional activities for a few months w ithou t too much distraction . Apropos that, I spent the day yesterday attending several sessions that are part of a two-day conference here on second language acquisition , and the various ways technology can be used to enhance it.  The sessions I heard were thought-provoking , I met a few interesting people, and I left with a number of interesting ideas although I am not currently teaching any L2 courses.  Good.  The time was well-spent then. But , y ou can't attend one of these things with your eyes open and come away without the distinct impre...

Two new cotton pocket squares that arrived here at Totleigh-in-the-Wold just a little while ago. A relaxed, quiet Saturday here, and I've got some reading of quite a few student papers along with final grading during the next week or so.  Classes for the spring semester came to a close yesterday.  To celebrate the end of the first year here at MSU, I ordered myself a couple of new pocket squares from the folks behind Put This On early this week, and these arrived in the mail just after midday today.  These are cotton, 16 inches square, and feature nice, big hand-rolled edges.  In addition, I purchased them on sale, which is always a nice plus.   Suffice to say, these are not the kind of handkerchiefs you blow your nose into if that is a particular habit.  In any case, I thought it would be nice to have a couple of squares that were n either shiny silk, nor heavier wool.  The one on top should work well with fall colors -- think muted twee...

Here's the upper half of the recently acquired, dry-cleaned, and slightly altered tan three-piece by the venerable Hart Schaffner Marx of Clicago. W ell, the final week of classes for the spring semester, it's an incredible bright, sunny, pleasantly cool day, and an idea for a new academic/pedagogic article hit me like a bolt out of the blue as I read the first batch of ten final student papers this morning after collecting them.  W hat better way to celebrate than by wearing a recently acquired tan gabardine three-piece suit?   Ok, ok. .  .  Cla-ass?  Cla-ass?  CLASS!  You'll pardon my channeling of Cheech and Chong's Sister Mary Ann Elephant, I hope.  But l et's get the Barack Obama Tan Suit br o uhaha in August 2014 jokes out of our systems.  I'll remind everyone that you can easily find plenty of photographs online of Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, and other leaders of the U.S. in tan suits, and they actually look pretty good....