365 T-shirts - the reasoning

This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.

I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.

I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.

When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.

The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.

I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.

Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.
(Second Update - 1310.24. First Update - 1306.05 Originally Posted - 1304.25.)

Saturday, July 6, 2013

T-shirt #107: The Daily Planet, Random News, and the Missing Ring

T-shirt #107: The Daily Planet, Random News, and the Missing Ring

I promise for once this will be short. Or at least shorter. I have gone a little nuts lately, but, hey, time off, vacation, freedom, and thus more writing and time in research. I had some fun.

Yesterday (Friday July 5th), I had a haircut.

Here is a picture of me in the salon (left).

I was just out the door of my home and at the stop light at our nearest major intersection when I discovered that I had left the house without my wedding ring.

Had I not been late to my appointment at the salon, I would have turned around and retrieved my ring. But I did not, so I thought that this would be a cute picture. A thank you to Tim at Ultima Salon for the photo.


I hate being without my wedding ring. I only take it off to shower or wash my hands. But sometimes, I forget to put it back on, such as when I am doing dishes and get called away or when I am in a hurry and leave the house in a rush.

When I am without my wedding ring and I am not absolutely certain where it is, I feel PANIC. I am terrified of losing it. Though it's just a ring, it is a very important ring, and I am sentimental about it. Made of Tungsten, if I am ever seriously injured, I may lose a finger as the ring cannot be cut off. It would be great if I was able to slip it off in the middle of a serious accident. I will work on developing that super power.

Of course, this time, my ring was where I left it on the bathroom counter, and I was much relieved when I returned home and put it back on my finger. Whew!

I was so proud when I got married and had a wedding ring that I swore to never take it off except for bathing or dish washing and such things. I debated as to whether I should wear it playing Ultimate as it is a bit loose when my finger shrinks in the cold, but so far, in almost four years, it has not slipped off. This is the main source of the panic. I have no visible evidence of being married without the ring, which is troublesome in and of itself, and which I never do on purpose, and if I am away from home, I am afraid that it is lost. I have to check to make sure I know where it is, which I cannot do when I have left the house. I also panic a bit when I leave the house without a watch, and at least once a week, I double back to make sure I have shut the garage door.

I already featured my other Daily Planet shirt in T-shirt #42. So, not much today about the actual Daily Planet.

Since the Daily Planet is a "fictional" newspaper (though as Charles Skaggs will tell me it is real and he writes for it), I thought I would close today's entry with some "news" of my own in the form of lists as I know how you all love the lists.

Here are a few random lists of the things kicking around my brain lately: things to recommend and share.

TOP FIVE FAVORITE BLOG ENTRIES
Yes, this is completely self-serving and self-indulgent, but here are my top five favorite entries so far on this blog. If you have not read all of these, and if you have tuned in today, this may be a good sample for you. Thanks again for your kindness and your time. Granted, these are my favorites today. This is my own first impression choices of the moment. The list could change tomorrow as it is arbitrary in some respects. I probably could find better choices for numbers three and four, and I am only picking number two because of the video. (Though I am awfully fond of yesterday's T-shirt #106: Captain America.)

TOP FIVE FAVORITE BLOG ENTRIES

  1. T-shirt #77: Narcissism
  2. T-shirt #105: Ultimate Spider-Man (WITH  A VIDEO!!)
  3. T-shirt #13: The Unlucky Red Shirt
  4. T-shirt #98: Optic Nerve
  5. T-shirt #64: Embrace Uncertainty; Question Everything
READ THESE BOOKS
If you asked me to name five books I have loved lately and read recently (as in during the last twelve months), here we go:


  1. The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
  2. Ready, Player One - Ernest Cline
  3. Red Shirts - John Scalzi
  4. Gun Machine - Warren Ellis
  5. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - by Michael Chabon
But really, out of this list, Ready, Player One by Ernest Cline is the most amazing. Everyone to whom I have recommended it has loved it, and the audio edition with narration by Wil Wheaton is fantastic! Beware. You will not be able to put it down.

I originally mentioned Ready, Player One in the entry for T-shirt #61, another post that could have made the top five and of which I am enormously proud. (See how I am sneaking in more than a top five in posts?)

MUSIC I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO LATELY
Again, a quick five items. Just the music that I have been listening to in the last two weeks, and in the case of number one, what I am listening to right now.

  1. Spektrmodule podcasts
  2. At Water's Edge podcasts
  3. Love This Giant - David Byrne and St. Vincent
  4. Out of the Woods Tracey Thorn
  5. Destroyed - Moby
I wrote about Warren Ellis' Spektrmodule in T-shirt #75, another entry in which I take great pride. 

The Tracey Thorne album came up in T-shirt #97 and lists of most listened to albums. Of course, Moby being in the above list is proof that often when I choose to write about something, as I did with Moby in T-shirt #99, then I am inspired to listen. I am going to see David Byrne and St. Vincent in two days (on Monday July 8th), so expect more on this subject following that show.

AT WATER'S EDGE, which is a great ambient podcast/ radio show can be found via the following:



and Rebecca Hilgraves (the host).

Lastly, FOOD ( a new category). Here are five foods that I love that sound good to me right now.
  1. Oyako Don, Donburi
  2. Sushi and Sashimi
  3. Fried Rice
  4. Kimchee
  5. Spam Musubi
Do you sense a theme here?




Thank you for reading today's blog. I hope you found something of interest.

Leave me a comment!!

- chris tower - 1307.06 - 12:05

(And yes, for me, this is short!)