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.)

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

T-shirt #334 - And the last TPTA Corporate Olympics Shirt


 T-shirt #334 - And the last TPTA Corporate Olympics Shirt

This the last of the TPTA corporate shirts. This is a duplicate of T-shirt #326. This is another TPTA Corporate Olympics shirt to go with the entries for T-shirt #307,T-shirt #309, and T-shirt #318There is very little to share on the subject of the actual shirt that has not been shared before.

HIATUS TEXT: REVISED 1402.18:  I have been trying to maintain a hiatus from large or over involved blog posts beginning with the start date of my hiatus on January 20th (almost a month ago) during which time I logged 21 posts, which I consider "Hiatus Shirts." By this term, Hiatus Shirt, I mean the shirt is not one that would cause me to write a great deal on the subject it features. These are shirts about which I can write anything, either a lot or a very little. The hiatus will continue, though as it has for the last few weeks, not consecutively as I will continue to mix Hiatus and Non-Hiatus shirts. The blog's year (365 shirts) draws close to a close. (I like the double word use in that previous sentence.) I hope to finish strong with some good entries with high quality content and imagery on some beloved subjects. To earn this time, I will need to intersperse shirts of little consequence, what I have come to call Hiatus Shirts.
My original goal of working ahead remains. I need time to write the enormously lengthy text to complete the extensive love letter to certain beloved popular culture icons featured on my many special shirts. Even with "Hiatus Shirts," I will try to share some worthy content as I have either an idea, a new suggestion of something to read/look at/listen to, or another installment of my various features, such as the WHY T-SHIRTS item, the WEEKLY COMIC BOOK LISTS, and the SHIRT I AM ACTUALLY WEARING TODAY among others. BTW, this is the standard HIATUS TEXT that I will include in every "hiatus shirt" entry.


Thanks for reading. I am always honored that people have taken some of their valuable time to look at my ongoing web writing project. Keep checking this address. I promise to make it worthwhile.


Above, you will see a picture of my sleeping puppy, tired from her day of demanding and arduous play at Camp Fido yesterday. We have a snow day today, which only affects the teenager, but it does mean that shuttle service to and from school is suspended.

To the left, you will see the shirt I am actually wearing today, which was featured all the way back in T-shirt #4. Everyone should recognize it, even people with the most cursory knowledge of geek world. But for those who do not recognize it, it's the COMMAND shirt from Star Trek the Original Series.

If you click the link for T-shirt #4, you will see that back then, when I first started the blog, I was not writing very much. I was also taking boring pictures, which is one reason why I wanted to re-visit some of those early shirts. Also, though I am not extremely self-conscious about my weight, I think I look very fat in the picture featured on the page for T-shirt #4.

Did you click the link? I don't blame you. I know many people do not follow my many links. Often I am inserting links simply for my own reference.

Here, I will save you the trouble of looking it up.

Monday, March 25, 2013


T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold



Star Trek! One of those Facebook ads that show up because the social web 2.0 knows I love Star Trek snared me. Now that I am married, I am a lot more comfortable showing my true geek self. Not that I was all that shy about it before I got married. But there was quite a bit of hiding my in the closet, so to speak. I think the "closet" comparison is somewhat apt, not to minimize the way the term is usually applied, which is far more serious. Now, I am more comfortable with who I am. Also , geek (or nerd, if you prefer) has become cool. I always loved these uniforms. Once the ad caught me in its trap, I sprung for the blue and red ones, too. Damn. "Now, would be a good time to beam me up, Scotty..." - 1303.25 9:25

Wow... see how little text is there? Along the way of this Blog Journey, I have discovered my voice and the way in which I like to build entries. If I were to tackle this Star Trek shirt now, for one thing, I may put it off until I had sufficient time to deliver some quality content, but I would surely write about ten times as much text as I did originally.

Maybe the real lesson is to find the way to deliver quality content in the size of this entry. Food for thought as I close out my Blog Journey, the year of T-shirts.


Observe Yvonne Craig as the Orion slave girl, Marta, from the "Whom Gods Destroy" episode. Kirk's gold Command uniform, replicated with the t-shirt in the picture of me can be seen in this video. I have had these things lingering on my computer for months waiting for a chance to share.

For those who need a jog to the memory, Yvonne Craig also played BATGIRL, whom I lovingly described in T-shirt #28: BATGIRL and T-shirt #94: Batman, the 1960s TV show.

ORION SLAVE GIRL Marta (Whom Gods Destroy)




LAST THING, I PROMISE

To close today, I also want to share something I have been saving for a while. A comic book!!

Brave and the Bold 29 (volume 1) was originally published in May of 1960 as one of the earliest appearances of the Justice League, before the DC Comics team was featured in its own comic book, according to the DC Comics Wiki.

This is a classic, published before I was born. Gardner Fox is a famous writer in comic book circles for many of the classic Silver Age DC Comics work. The art is by Mike Sekowsky, who drew many of the early Justice League adventures. The entire production was overseen by Julius Schwartz.

One thing I love about this comic is "challenge" aspect. This was a common thing at DC. Unsure of how to do a team book, the team would often split, and so would the story. Told in chapters with individuals overcoming single challenges or small groups (duos in this case) overcoming a challenge, the team aspect seemed more manageable and the story more like the Olympics, almost as if the heroes are competing in individual events or in small team (two-person) events.

Synopsis for "Challenge of the Weapons Master!"
In the year 11,960 A.D. the super-criminal known as Xotar is fleeing the interstellar police. Having found the tattered remains of Wonder Woman's diary which documented the adventures of the Justice League, Xotar knows that he is destined to travel into the past and battle them where he believes that at least one of his super-weapons from the future will defeat the Justice League.

Traveling to the past, Xotar targets the League's honorary member, Snapper Carr. Using him as a pawn at the next Justice League meeting, Xotar immobilizes the group and has them challenge him to see if they are able to defeat him. The arriving members are Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash, Batman, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman. He first challenges the Flash, who is able to destroy Xotar's shrink ray. Next he challenges Aquaman and Martain Manhunter to destroy his de-evolution ray, which the duo manage to destroy. Next Xotar challenges Batman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern to try and stop his magneto-bubble device, which they succeed in destroying. Believing that his final weapon, an illusion caster will destroy the Justice League, he allows them all to attack at once.


Having the upper hand at first, the timely arrival of Superman turns the tide, the Man of Steel destroys Xotar's weapons and the heroes return Xotar to his own time and turn him over to the authorities. As history would have it, the words in Wonder Woman's diary which were rubbed out over the centuries indicated that none of Xotar's weapons would defeat the League.











COUNTDOWN TO END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 31 shirts remaining

- chris tower - 1402.18 - 15:54