T-shirt #280: Israel

T-shirt #280: Israel

Grading robot powered down for two days for the holidays despite the looming final grade deadline Friday morning (12/27). I am happy to report that Grading Robot is once again powering down. This is the only time in the year that all work for which Grading Robot is needed ceases until January 13th. One school commences on Janury sixth with the other following on the 13th, but Grading Robot will not be needed for the first school until the 13th. Thus, the greatest vacation of the year for Grading Robot begins with a full ELEVEN days of no work and an eighteen day period of partial work. Grading Robot will not be at full power again until the week of January 20th, which happens to be the day after my birthday. So my birthday sort of signals the end of my full work vacation.

To celebrate the time off, I plan to spend time with the wife and kids, see movies, finish some household projects, help the parents, and most importantly host my best friend who will be here for five days of GAMING EXCELLENCE in January. Thus, it is fitting that this Israel shirt was gift from said best friend, Tom Meyers, better known as the Lord of Chaos.

It's rather interesting that this shirt is a 3XL, but it fits like a regular XL.

I am not interested in defending any political affinity with Israel or justifying any actions of this country or lack of actions. I like the shirt because I have always felt an affinity with the Jewish people, which is more interesting when recently my wife expressed interest in attending Temple. I like the shirt because Israel is the home of the holy lands of many people. And despite the country's actions toward Palestine and other actions or lack of actions in the area, I have always been rather pro-Israel because I have always felt very pro-Jewish. However, I am aware that there are many issues about which people would argue against showing pictures of myself in this shirt let alone with the Israeli flag (also a gift from the LOC) or of me in the shirt wearing my Hebrew Detroit Tigers cap (says DETROIT in Hebrew).

I have already featured Hebrew shirts on this blog:

T-shirt #3: Michigan in Hebrew

T-shirt #40: Indiana University in Hebrew

Mainly, I thought this would be a good shirt for me to share many pictures of my Christmas celebration with my birth family: my parents, my sister, Lori, and her husband Noel. Liesel always works on Christmas, and the kids are with their Dad, which is why pictures of our Christmas were posted with Christmas Eve, the day we celebrate.

Today is just pictures and text, some in captions and some not. You will see (as you did with T-shirt #278 - Three Wise Men? Be Serious) some previews of shirts to come as they were given to me as gifts. With birthday coming (January 19th in case you were thinking of gifting me a T-shirt), I think I am going to finish the blog year with enough shirts. But we shall see. I am trying to assemble another "break" from the blog in which I post shirts about which I have little to say while my friend is visiting (five days). So be prepared for light content that week. I still have much Pathfinder to prepare even though I am using modules.

Back to comic books tomorrow. Huzzah!

By the way, yesterday's post (which had its final publication today on the 26th) has become immensely popular very quickly, and I think more because it's about my wife and my wedding and not so much because it's about thirtysomething, too.

Onto my Christmas picture gallery. As always, thanks for reading.

CHRISTMAS PICTURE GALLERY - 2013 - TOWER HOUSE - PATTIWOOD

One of the purposes of this blog is a review of my geeky past. One of my fondest memories of Christmases past is my ever-burning, constantly yearning, and all-consuming desire for the toys for Big Jim's P.A.C.K. in 1976. I have found some BIG JIM shirts, so I am planning more BIG JIM content in the new year. I just wanted to share one of the best example of Christmas dreams. For at least a month in 1976, I dreamed of the stories I could make, the fun I could have, with these toys. These are definitely some of the coolest toys from my childhood.

It's important to toast with fine spirits during any holiday celebration. Liesel gave me a special bottle of Kentucky bourbon, 1792, for Christmas, and so here we are toasting and sampling this fine beverage.
I had seconds as seen below.

My mother loves Christmas. The Christmases of my childhood were magical and extra special. My mother devoted herself to so much shopping in the months prior to Christmas, carefully budgeting and yet buying many little things that showed how well she knew her children, that Christmas was all the more extra special because it was a living example of her love. Our stockings were "works of art," as my sister called them. She would carefully select very large and choice apples and oranges (one each) along with small toys and special doo-dads that she knew we would love. Some of these things we had asked for. Other things she found in her endless and months long shopping excursions.

One of my fondest memories of Christmas is that every year my mother would assemble a box of school supplies for us: pens, notepads, stamps, bookmarks, paper clips, folders, and so much more. All these items were lovingly selected to fit our personalities and interests. Often, this meant she had to go many places. Continuing the tradition while we were in college and after college, she would have to plan ahead. For my sister's box, she would have to make sure to buy University of Michigan stuff during a trip to Ann Arbor sometime that year. The thoughtfulness and love expressed by these boxes was a huge influence on the person I am today as I try to live up to my mother's example.

My Dad is the one mainly responsible for my love of comic books. Every year I would receive a large box of comic books on Christmas Eve. The tradition continued with my sister once she was born and old enough for comics. Knowing we would wake up in the middle of the night, my parents wisely let us open the comic book box the night before so we would have comics to read in the middle of the night when we were too excited to sleep anymore. We were not allowed to wake our parents until 7 a.m.

My Dad has been loving Christmas more and more lately, especially since my sister and I are both married and on our own. Also, BTW, the shirt he is wearing was originally mine and I give it to him because he likes red shirts so much. I have been keeping it in reserve, intending to use his shirts, the ones I gave him, in case I needed to round out my year of T-shirts with ones in his closet.

Tried to get a good picture of Princess, my Mom and Dad's cat, who doesn't remember me anymore, even though I used to feed her and clean her litter.

This is shirt with a special embroidered design. That's my father's logo for his architecture business.

My father asked us to get him scotch whisky but not to spend more than $30. Silly rabbit.

Great T-shirt gift!! Soon to be featured on the blog. And by soon, I mean before March 22.

My sister and Noel laughing that I now give them cards with dogs on the front because I am now a dog person as well as a cat person.

Another AWESOME T-shirt gift. The image comes from Kate Bush's The Dreaming. Don't worry. I will write about it.

My sister is thrilled to receive this special Vera Bradley purse.

My sister is also very happy here with this set of nested measuring cups shaped like a kitty cat.

Here's the Christmas tree (above) and the Christmas Village (below) all lovingly and carefully decorated and assembled by my sister who helps to keep the Christmas traditions our mother set and perpetuated alive and well. She also made cookies (not pictured) and a pecan pie.

Updates on 1312.29 from my Dad's camera. To start, a great picture of my mother laughing with chocolate on her lips.

I love page-a-day calendars. I have been disappointed this year with the Intellectual one I have. I currently run two, a word of the day one and the intellectual's checklist. At one time, I had five, so I have cut back to two.

More previews of shirts to come. When I started the blog, I soon realized that there were dear popular culture products that I wanted to write about. Can you guess which one this is in the photo below?

I mentioned Pogo in my Calvin and Hobbes post (T-shirt #122) since Walt Kelly was such a huge influence and Watterson and so many others. My brother-in-law pointed out that Pogo has been accused of containing racist content. However, in the Wikipedia entry for POGO (linked here), the word racism does not appear. A Google search did discover one lone book by some academic nerd who sees racism and sexism in every strip and obviously misses the point. I love POGO, and I have since I was a kid.

In addition to using page-a-day calendars and an engagement calendar, I have two wall calendars, though I may reduce this number to one. Here's the one for 2014.

Good times were had by all.

If it's not obvious, I love my family very much. Happy holidays to all, and thank you for reading.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 85 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published 1312.26 - 20:06
final publication - 1312.27 - 9:59
update - 1312.29 - 8:47

T-shirt #279: thirtysomething - Merry Christmas

T-shirt #279: thirtysomething - Merry Christmas - the greatest gift ever

Merry Christmas, if Christmas is your thing. Merry some other Winter Solstice time holiday if that's your thing instead.

I was going to say that this picture is circa 2005 because of the date of the file, but given that I am posing in front of Mom's hospital bed, this is either Christmas 2000 or my birthday 2001. Ah... and because of my careful recording keeping, I have discovered that this was a gift for my Birthday in 2001. I gave up computer games in 2001 because they were eating my life, I wanted to get back to writing, and I had to help take care of the Marjorie, my mother, as evidenced by the hospital bed in my family's West Gull Lake Drive living room where my mother slept (with my Dad next to her on a roll away bed) from October 2000 when she came home from two long stays in two hospitals, which had started with a coma in March of 2000 to near Christmas of 2001 when she finally graduated back to her bedroom upstairs, almost two years since she last slept there.

I saved this shirt for today, Christmas, because I thought the picture came from a Christmas celebration with my family, but alas, it's a birthday celebration.

Nevertheless, the shirt will work for what I want to write about today. First some comments about the greatest TV show of all time and then my story of the greatest gift of all.

First, some explanations: Above you can see a picture of me with all the thirtysomething DVD sets. These sets were a gift from my best friend and fellow thirtysomething mega-fan, the Lord of Chaos, also known as Tom Meyers. I am dedicated to re-watching them but given the challenges I face in watching stuff, it may be a while until I make it through the seasons. This is the fifth set of episodes I have owned. The first set were recording from the original TV broadcasts from the show's debut in 1987 through 1991. The second set came from the re-broadcasts on Lifetime Network. The third set were a complete set made by someone selling recordings on the Internet. The fourth set also came in this way, be a third-person party via the Internet but on DVD, and now these, the fifth and official, commercially licensed complete set of programs.

The shirt is also a gift, from my parents surely, though I am not sure from which holiday. It's one of my two thirtysomething T-shirts and so I intend to write more about the show in a future post and less in this one.

I knew from the start that thirtysomething (see Wiki link) was going to be great. I watched the first episode and was immediately hooked. I do not recall the circumstances of what drew me to the show. I remember watching the pilot and feeling a strong affinity with the characters and the storylines. My best friend Tom Meyers discovered the how independently, and we bonded about our love for this excellent, ensemble TV drama.

Partly, I think I was drawn to thirtysomething because I was twenty-five years old in 1987. I had graduated from Kalamazoo College two years before, and I did not know what to do with my life. I had gone to WMU to finish some classes I needed and because my parents were pushing me toward something more practical than novel writing or filmmaking. I started courses in secondary education until I discovered graduate school in WMU's English department. In September of 1987 (when the show debuted), I had just started in the MA and MFA program at WMU. I had landed a graduate assistantship, and I still was not sure what to do with my life, but I felt I had chosen a direction (writing) and eventually teaching.

thirtysomething seemed like a glimpse into the near future. As a twenty-five year old single male entering graduate school, the world of the thirtysomething program seemed like a glimpse into my future about seven years ahead. I identified most with the single and commitment-phobic Gary, the English professor as I did not as easily identify with the other two men, though my friend Tom strongly identified with the character of Michael.

The way the show of thirtysomething realistically addressed the real issues of relationships and created strong, round characters with flaws makes it one of the best (in my opinion the very best) television shows of all time. It also burned brightly for four years and then ended before it lost its freshness and was run into the ground with poor writing to stretch a concept that found a natural progression.

thirtysomething list of episodes.

thirtysomething FUN CHRISTMAS FACT: I wrote a story for the TitanTalk APA (Teen Titans comic book fanzine) loosely based on the season two thirtysomething episode "The Mike Van Dyke Show," which was in turn a take off on The Dick Van Dyke Show. A Christmas-themed program about the main character Michael Steadman caught in a snow storm as he tries to get home to his wife and child, I replaced the characters of Michael and Hope Steadman with Dick Grayson (Robin/Nightwing) and Donna Troy (Wonder Girl/ Troia). Though I have a hard copy in my files, I am afraid that I may have lost the only digital copy. Recovering these manuscripts is one of my principal projects for 2014.

More thirtysomething content to come when I feature the other shirt in my collection.

THE GREATEST GIFT OF MY LIFE: MY WIFE and FAMILY

The greatest day of my life was the day I married my wife. Liesel and her two kids (I guess I can say our two kids, though I am the step-dad) are the greatest gift I have ever received.

Yes, I know, it took me 279 to get to this subject, but what better day to share about the greatest gift I have ever received than on Christmas Day.

I will save the story for how Liesel and I fell in love and started dating for another time.

She is the love of my life.
She saved my life.
She is the greatest gift of my life. I am blessed and thankful to share my life with her.

In the following, you will find my favorite pictures from the wedding photos, though I was very selective to spare you too many photos (none from the actual ceremony). I have also reprinted the invitation and the ceremony itself.

My two favorite memories/parts.

We left the chapel after the ceremony to one of my all-time favorite songs: "Linus and Lucy" better known as the theme from Peanuts.

As we left the chapel, my friend Matt Frayer tossed my a disc (Frisbee to some of you), and so see a picture of me catching it in the photos below. Perfect thing.

Liesel Marie Kanohokula Creager

and

Christopher Burns Tower

request the honour of your presence at their wedding on the Third of October the ninth year of the second millenium at four o’clock in the afternoon :

October 3^rd 2009- 4 p.m.

Ceremony will be held at the June M. Sherman Chapel at the Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital, 1312 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo, MI 49008.

A reception will immediately follow the ceremony at the Park Club -

219 W South Street, Kalamazoo, MI, 49007-4797.

 

Many more details (and directions) can be found at our wedding website -

http://kulatower.com

 

“We will wade in the shine of the ever...”

THE WEDDING CEREMONY OF LIESEL AND CHRIS

Pre-music: pianist: Martez Rucker
Processional: “Well Below The Valley” - Tasha & John
Aunt Rochelle & Mike
Mike & Sue
Rob & Elizabeth
Maureen
Elaine
Aubrey
Piper
Me with Mom and Dad - Lori pushing Mom
-pause-
Bride Processional: Ivan and Liesel
- Bagpiper - Some Scottish tree song

Welcome friends and family of Liesel and Chris.

Liesel and Chris wanted to get married on Halloween, which is on Saturday this year. Though they changed the date, please remember the feel of All Hallow’s Eve throughout today’s ceremony and reception themed for the harvest moon and the season of autumn.

Liesel and Chris are honored to have you attend their wedding and celebrate their union.

Marriage is not a union merely between two people; it is a union between two spirits, and the intention of that bond to perfect the nature of both. We are asked today to witness the joining of two such kindred spirits, whose love for one another has inspired them to formally declare the bond they share before witnesses. So to this assembled and dear community of Liesel and Chris’ friends and family: we welcome you with open arms. Let us be supportive and unconditional in our love, so that we may help to strengthen the foundation of the couple that we are uniting here today.

But there are also those who are here with us in spirit, those who could not attend in person. We would like to acknowledge those who could not be with us today. On Chris’ side, though his maternal grandmother died before he was born, his grandfather lived to be almost 100 and died just a few years ago around the same time his paternal grandfather died. We acknowledge Foster Delbridge and Walter Tower. Chris’ paternal grandmother Helen Tower would have liked to attend but age and health prevented her from making the trip; the same circumstances prevented Chris’ Uncle Ward Delbridge and Aunt Brenda Delbridge from attending as well.

On Liesel’s side, a large extended family back in Hawaii were unable to make the trip to Michigan with the exception of her Aunt Rochelle. Liesel would like to acknowledge her mother Estelle Allen, who is here in spirit. But most of all, Liesel is thinking of her friend Regan, an eight year old girl, who has been hospitalized at Bronson for almost two weeks. Regan is very ill and could not attend today, but she is here with us in spirit and this day of celebration is dedicated to her.

To honor those who cannot be with us, to form the bond of this new community of people that has been brought together by Chris and Liesel, and most especially as a moment of prayer and reflection for Regan, let us share peace with one another. Please turn to your neighbors, clasp hands (demo), and say “Peace be with you.”

And now a poem by ee cummings, read by Chris’ sister Lori Marie Beard.

POEM#1 - "somewhere I have never traveled..."

Because Chris has Scottish roots on both sides of his family, and both he and Liesel share an affinity for the Celtic, I will now share a traditional Scottish Blessing:

If there is righteousness in the heart,
there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character,
there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home,
there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation,
There will be peace in the world.
So let it be.

THE STORY OF CHRIS AND LIESEL

- Maureen improvises -

In Hawaii, the ceremony known as ho’ao was normally a ritual of the chiefly class and was meant to produce offspring for the kahuna. Later, the prayers were used at weddings. In the following, the purpose of the ritual is stated through suggestion and allusion.

Ho’ao will be read in English and Hawaiian by Rochelle Ribbentrop and Tasha Koontz.


POEM #2

One of my favorite pictures
of Liesel from the reception

Liesel and Chris believe that they belong together, that they were meant to be together. Not only do they believe that they are connected in a deep and profound way, but they believe that they are, and we all are, connected to everything, and that everything is connected to us. This is a belief that Liesel and Chris have both held dear for many years, but Chris did not have language and definitions for it until he met Liesel and learned about Huna mysticism and AKA cords. 

The Hawaiian Dictionary definition of "aka" is (1.n) "Shadow" (2 nvi) "Reflection, image, likeness, faint glimmer preceding the rising of the moon, essence of an offering rather than the flesh.

The idea of "aka cords" is central to an understanding of Huna thought, which is loosely (perhaps in some schools, too loosely) based on some Hawaiian traditions.

In Fundamentals of Hawaiian Mysticism, Charlotte Berney says of aka, "This invisible material, which has never been measured by science, is known in other metaphysical schools as 'etheric' or 'astral' substance. All things--including the Three Selves"--and all thoughts have shadowy aka bodies and can form connections via aka substance, which is sticky and elastic. These connections are in the form of cords or threads that reach between things. Aka cords can connect people or can stretch between a person and an object, or a person and a place. These aka cord connections are not limited by material obstacles or by distance, and they can connect persons on different sides of the world...”

Berney continues, "Throughout your life, you establish aka cord connections between yourself and people, places or things. These cords are created whenever you think about someone or something, speak about them, or take some action that involves them. Thus, by thoughts, words, and deeds you form many aka ties. Thoughts and feelings travel along these slender cords, and Basic Selves communicate with one another through them."

Because of these connections, we find reflections of these ideas in others, not associated with huna thought, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson who said “The only True gift is a portion of yourself.”

As we are all connected, as everything is connected, this community of person gather here today to witness Liesel and Chris exchange their vows. The declaration of vows will follow the Celtic handfasting ceremony. Liesel, Chris, Piper, and Ivan will literally “tie the knot” tied by Regan’s mother Angela Carpenter.

Handfasting

performed by Angela

includes Piper and Ivan

Formal declaration of vows and exchange of rings

Liesel repeat after me

I, Liesel, before family and friends, commit my love to you.

I promise to always respect your individuality and cherish our days together.

I vow to be faithful, supportive and loyal.

I treasure you and vow to bring you happiness.

I will support your dreams and always encourage you.

From this day forward, I will be proud to be your wife.

Chris repeat after me

I, Chris, before family and friends, commit my love to you.

I promise to always respect your individuality and cherish our days together.

I vow to be faithful, supportive and loyal.

I treasure you and vow to bring you happiness.

I will support your dreams and always encourage you.

From this day forward, I will be proud to be your husband.

Audience Support Vow
Now that you have heard Liesel and Chris recite their vows, Do you, Their dearest friends and family promise from this day forward to encourage them and love them, to give them your guidance and to support them in being steadfast in the promises that they have made?
To now show your support, please join me in saying WE WILL.

Chris, I believe that you may have something for Liesel?

Chris, Please repeat after me.

Liesel, do you accept this ring as a symbol of my love and commitment to you?

Liesel-Say I DO

Liesel-Repeat after me.

Chris, do you accept this ring as a symbol of my love and commitment to you?

Chris-Say I DO

To conclude, a modified version of a traditional Celtic Blessing:

May you both be blessed with the strength of the universe,
The light of the sun and the radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of the wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of the rock,
The tight webbed connection of the AKA cords
between the two of you and all the things of the world.

I now pronounce Liesel and Chris to be husband and wife.
Now is the time for you two to kiss.

Recessional: “Linus & Lucy” - Martez Rucker
Congregation stays seated
We return to release each row
accompanied by Martex Rucker - various
Bagpiper (outside)
Cones with confetti distributed
Bride and Groom leave

This was our Thank You Card.
We thought it was funny to send this
picture on our thank you card.

The Wedding party. L-R: My sister Lori Marie Beard,
Elaine Klein "Number One," me, Liesel, Piper (Maid of Honor),
Ivan, and Aubrey Butts.

My wife is an angel.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 86 shirts remaining

- chris tower - first published 1312.25 - 19:06
final publication - 1312.26 - 11:33

T-shirt #278 - Three Wise Men? Be Serious

T-shirt #278 - Three Wise Men? Be Serious.

Happy Christmas Eve.

Today is the day I celebrate Christmas with my wife and kids.

If you have landed here before my update, you will see just one picture. I plan to update this after our Christmas celebration with pictures of me and of my family on our special day.

Merry Christmas! (If that's your thing, that is... I never assume that everyone celebrates Christmas, so I usually say "Happy Holidays" but even that seems off for some people because of the use of the word "holy" with days.)

The joke of this shirt should be self-evident. It was a gift from a former T.A. though I am not sure which one. It's a "feminist" joke. Get it? Huh? Do you?

Liesel, the kids, and I must celebrate on Christmas Eve because Liesel works on Christmas and the kids spend Christmas with their Dad, step-mother, little brother, and paternal grand-parents.

Our Christmas Eve was a bit unusual this year as Chris (the kids' Dad is also Chris), his wife Lisi, their son Fiver, dogs Jethro and Cofi, and three cats all spent the night because they had no power as explained in Liesel's status below. We all managed happy Christmas cheer as they packed up this morning, leaving us to our Christmas holiday gift fest. I have posted pictured below to our grand fun.

Love to all and to all a good night.

"God bless us everyone."

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVE CELEBRATING!

Liesel with stocking stuffers
especially her eau de toilette
from Chanel No. 5

Me with my stocking, starting
with a special Kentucky bourbon.

Ivan with a Magic the Gathering deck.

Liesel super excited to receive her
gift card for laser skin care!
The blurry photo emphasizes the excited flurry.

Piper with a new sweater.
She may not look excited, but
she does love it. She's wearing it
as I type.

Piper cradling with love her
new iPad!

Liesel cherishes her Chanel No. 5 lotion.

Ivan received a big desktop, so
he can play League of Legends
as often as he wants (and we allow).

Ivan continues to open the computer
and monitor.

I am posing with a CD for the Jam.
A special edition of The Gift.

Ivan is still opening
his desktop and all its parts.

Piper receives make up.
Piper loves makeup.

A smidge blurry
but I am happy to receive
the Captain Action re-issue figure!

DR. EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dr. Evil - Captain Action re-issue

DOCTOR WHISKY!!!
Before the end of the day
a prescription will be in order.

COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR - 87 shirts remaining

chris tower - original creation - 1312.22
first published - 1312.24 - 08:00
Final publication - 1312.24 - 11:40