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.)

Thursday, August 29, 2013

T-shirt #161 - Blue In Sport

T-shirt #161 - "Blue, Blue, Electric Blue, that's the Color of my room, where I will live..."

"Blue Blue."

Immortal words by David Bowie from "Sound and Vision" a track off his 1977 album Low part of the Berlin trilogy. Arguably, his best album. Definitely, the one I find that I keep coming back to and listening to again the most over the years; it was produced by Brian Eno.

When Bowie released his boxed set career retrospective, he called it Sound and Vision. He also named his 1990 tour "Sound and Vision," a greatest hits tour in which he intended to play his hits for the last time and then retire them. This has not happened, strictly speaking.

All of which I have shared because this shirt is blue.

Just a blue shirt made by InSport. Wicks moisture.

No logo or design. (Well, there is one on the sleeve but I decided to leave it off the picture.)

"Don't you wonder sometime about sound and vision?"

I spend a lot of time thinking.

This may surprise some people, but I am more introvert than extrovert.

It's true.

I can play the part of an "extravert" (to use Carl Jung's spelling), but it's playing a part, and it can cause me enormous anxiety. My base line state of existence, my preference, my natural state is solitude and quiet.

For example, for many years, I took solo vacations up north at the Neahtawanta Inn (as described best in T-shirt #85: Up North). Though sometimes I had a guest with me for a short time, the majority of the time I was alone. I would read, write, run, bike, swim, eat great food, and go see movies at night (sometimes two in one night). These vacations were just what I needed to recharge and prepare for the assault of another Fall-Winter college school semester of teaching classes.

Another example, I like to go to bed early and read. This is something that my wife likes to do as well. Though last night, I had the Tigers game plugged into one ear, for the most part, we had quiet, reading time in bed with each other and the puppy. I could have gone to the KUDL draft, but I was not feeling well, still not fully recovered, and I needed time at home, time alone with my wife and dog. This is what introverts need.

For me, time alone is crucial. My blogging all began during what I used to call "Bloggy Friday" when my parents would leave for my mother's beauty shop appointment (back when I lived them and later when I was there helping out while Liesel was at work) and I would have the house to myself. Peace and quiet and solitude so that I could do whatever I fancied. I liked this time best around the holidays when I could turn on all the lights on the Christmas decorations as the sunlight outside faded away.

I can be a social creature. I am actually a bit more of a social creature than my wife. But I crave alone time, and if I do not get enough of it every week, I start to go a bit bonkers.

Why am I writing about alone time and introversion?

Well, last night after dinner, my wife asked me to watch some videos with her. They are TED talk videos. If you have not heard of the TED conference and the TED Talks video podcasts, this is something very much worth your time. Do some exploring on YouTube. Or better yet, start with these three videos included farther below.

First, we watched neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor's talk on what she learned about the brain after the stroke she suffered, and the message she has for all of us about our brains. Later, we watched a second video by Jill Bolte Taylor on brain development and the teenage brain, but first, we watched a wonderful talk by Susan Cain on the power of introverts.

I am including all three videos here on today's blog, plus a video for "Sound and Vision" by David Bowie, as my blog always needs more music. I give my wife credit for finding the videos and sharing them with me. My wife is remarkable. This is also further proof that she is perfect for me.

All three videos are extraordinary and very enlightening. However, I was deeply touched by the Susan Cain video about introversion.

Blue seems the right color for quiet time and introverts. Susan Cain's video touched me deeply because I always feel that I am a misunderstood introvert. At one time, my wife teasingly called me "Mr. Aloha" because of my propensity to chat with cashiers or food vendors. But I am an introvert as my previous examples should illustrate. I prefer quiet time, and, out of my element, I tend to keep to myself. But I do like to spread the sunshine. I think that "farting around" and making connections with the people in our community is an important part of each day, or at least that's what I learned from Kurt Vonnegut.

The Jill Bolte Taylor stuff is fantastic for understanding the brain, especially the "Stroke of Insight" video with her description of the gap between right and left brain functions and the world of peace and tranquility she discovered when her left brain shut down.

Grading Robot is in full swing today and thinking a lot about brains and introversion.

I hope you have time watch these videos and think about these things, too.

If so, PLEASE share comments. I would love to have discussions about these ideas.

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight


Susan Cain: The power of introverts




JBT TEDxYouthIndy



DAVID BOWIE - SOUND AND VISION - LIVE TOKYO 1990



- chris tower - 1308.29 - 8:18