The game is Solitaire, but Bow Ties o’ the Day are apparently clueless as to what the word “solitary” means. They’ve turned the card game into a team sport. Bless their little pea-pickin,’ fabric hearts! 😏
Bow Ties At Play
There’s One Bigly Sound My Ears Aren’t Hearing
I’m spittin’ out my hearing aids about it. I can hear the ocean. I’m wearing my nautical wood Bow Tie o’ the Day, but I’m not at the ocean. You might think it’s nice to hear the ocean from Centerville, UT on a hot August day, but it’s not. It’s my stoopid tinnitus. I am yearning for a silence I will probably never again have. It is driving me batty. Some days it just irks me beyond all reason. No matter how sweet a sound you can think of, be assured that you don’t want to hear it unceasingly in your head 24/7 until the day you go completely deaf or die—whichever comes first. I love hearing the ocean when I’m at the ocean. But my old ears haven’t let me have a silent night’s sleep in over a year now. I don’t think I hear it in my dreams, but I’m not sure because I’m asleep when I dream.
My tinnitus doesn’t just manifest itself as the sound of the ocean. I’ve started keeping a list of the various ways its sounds. So far I can attest that my tinnitus can sound like outside water running; inside water running; wind gusting; ringing; air being let out of a tire or ball; steam being released from an iron; radio static; the microwave running; the fridge running; plastic being removed from a new product; tinfoil being crumpled; being underwater; somebody breaking in downstairs; any kind of hydraulics; an Alka Seltzer fizzing; the AC starting up; and a roulette wheel coasting. I’m sure the list will only get longer and longer.
The one thing my tinnitus doesn’t sound like is silence. Day, night, day, night. The one sound my tinnitus can’t mimic is silence. I’m done finding it interesting. I’ve been ranting about how fed up I am about it to Skitter all day, and it’s almost time for Suzanne to get home from work. I declare my rant about my failing ears to be officially over for today. Thank you for always listening to my rants.
Now, I shall pretend my ears are 17 again, so when Suzanne gets home she will be none the wiser that earlier today I debated poking a hole in both my eardrums with one of her crochet hooks, just to “hear” some peace and quiet.
[I am aware that for some of you the post photos are not oriented correctly. I’m working on it. There’s no problem on most platforms, but on the website itself, some of the recent pix are not oriented as they should be. Thanks for your patience while I try to troubleshoot.]
Skitter Loves Her Old Rowan
Our incredible Rowan turned the bigly age o’ 23 over the weekend. He managed to squeeze in some time to celebrate with his moms last evening, and we were so glad he did. I fed him vegan frozen dinners, and Suzanne made him a vegan birthday cake. Skitter wore her mustache Tie o’ the Day for the occasion. I managed to dig up Rowan’s 2nd Grade school photo, in which his gorgeous brown eyes bulged with glee. Last night, he was more than willing to pull his now-adult version of his 2nd Grade facial pose. He hasn’t changed a bit. His brown eyes are still gorgeous even when he makes them bulge. Merry Birthday, Flick Muckle Spinner!
Plan To Improvise Your Life
This afternoon I was wearing one of my fattest, widest ties as Tie o’ the Day when I pulled up to the Post Office to go inside to mail a package. I suddenly realized I didn’t have a face mask in my car. I have a billion of them. But all the dirty ones were in the washer, and I had just plain forgotten to re-supply each of the vehicles with clean ones. I had to get in that Post Office to complete my errand, and I didn’t want to take the time to run home and retrieve a mask first. What’s a girl to do? No worries! Fat, wide Tie o’ the Day to the rescue! Luckily, I was also wearing my bow tie sock garters. I slipped one of the sock garters around my head, then clipped it to the wide end of Tie—such that Tie snugly covered my nose and mouth for the duration of my postal errand. Mission accomplished. Well done, makeshift Face Mask o’ the Day.
Another Dang Pandemic Hairs Thursday
Magnetic Wood Bow Tie o’ the Day is from a new batch of t-shirt bow ties which recently showed up in my mailbox. It’s very foliage-y. My pandemic hairs weren’t up for posing too wildly today—just wildly enough, so I went with the rubber band head-top ponytail.
I had to go to the pharmacy at Dick’s Market this afternoon, and yet again I forgot I had a Pandemic Hairs Thursday hairdo going on when I hatless-ly left the house. And yet again, my pharmacist seemed extra amused during our visit. I had no idea why she was so extra amused by my presence today, until I noticed my pandemic hairs shadow when I was getting into Vonnegut Grace Vibe to go back home.
My shadow looked like I was flipping a fluffy bird to the world with my head hairs. I really wasn’t trying for that look. However, I guess we all sort of feel like sending that message on occasion. If that’s the message you want to send, this just might be the right pandemic hairdo for you.
Mitt’s and Barry’s Excellent Pandemic Hairs Thursday
After a couple of weeks’ growth, Chia Mitt clearly leads his opponent on this Pandemic Hairs Thursday. Chia Barry is making a real effort, but his Chia hairs lag far behind those of Mitt’s luxurious Chia locks. The race is not over. Stay tuned.
Tie Ladies And Tie Gentlemen, Here’s The Iconic Marlene Dietrich!
And she knows how to brandish Neckwear o’ the Day. I wanna put up some pix in The Tie Room, and I’m thinking I might go strictly Dietrich. I say that, but I’m sure the room won’t feel right if I don’t have at least one Katharine Hepburn print, too. And maybe a print of a colorful clown with an outlandish bow tie. Everything can’t be black and white.
Sisters And Blankets And Stardom
The new-to-this-earth Susanna Rue Crane—with help from her dad and her older sister, Felicity—graces us with her head Bow Tie o’ the Day, in the midst of her bigly stretch. And just who are these people? That’ll take some ‘splainin.’
I’ve mentioned before that by the time I came along, my siblings were well on their way to being out the door. I was solo most of the time. When I wanted some sound and fury and sibling-like entertainment, I made my way to Lucille and Dan Hansen’s house, where their kids were always engaged in some road show or another. We were in the same ward for most of my kidhood. Becky was my softball coach, and we talked about plays and poetry. David and I were forever trying to out-circus each other. Kathleen was more stoic, but had just the right amount of troublemaker in her. She was a real pal. Peggy was the last of that particular Hansen clan. She’s younger than yours truly, and I mostly remember her as an audience to whatever David and I, or Kathleen and I, schemed to do. (Hmmmmm. Note to self: I must write about some of my Hansen stories. Soon.)
Flash forward. So Peggy Hansen created her own family, and her oldest is named Becca. Are ya with me? So then Becca and her hubby created Felicity. And now—they’ve created Susanna Rue for us to coo about.
When I told Suzanne someone I’ve never actually met was having a new baby, Suzanne got craft-excited and thought, “BLANKET!” And then when I told her the new baby has an imaginative older sister they call Miss Fliss, Suzanne got craft-excited again, and thought, “ANOTHER BLANKET!” She immediately got to work with her crochet hooks.
I see Miss Fliss chose the arrow blanket for herself, leaving the elephant blanket for Susanna Rue. You follow your arrow, Miss Fliss! You and Susanna Rue are now officially stars on TIE O’ THE DAY. You are both welcome to appear on a post any time you wish.
Hemingway Or Connery?
For the past 12 1/2 years I’ve been under the impression Dad passed on to the Great Coyote Hunt In The Sky. And then today, I’m flipping through the trillions of tv channels, when I come upon movie evidence that he has simply run off to be a monk AND the captain of a submarine. Wherever he is, I hope he’s happy. But if he’s not really dead already and Mom finds out he’s traipsing around in the pandemic world without her, she will surely hunt him down and see that he does indeed go to that Great Coyote Hunt In The Sky for real this time.
When I was working on my Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Utah, my friends were all writers. When they would see a picture of my bearded dad in my apartment, they always commented that he was a good likeness for Ernest Hemingway. Of course, that’s what writers would see. Everyone else who saw him—especially in person—thought he was a near-ringer for Sean Connery. I can’t argue with either choice. He was a handsome fella, either way.
BTW Dad’s beard was all salt-and-pepper, not white as it appears in these pix. Blame my brilliant photographic skills and the disposable cameras I used back in the day.
Impossible To Un-see
So I took a few days off from creating TIE O’ THE DAY, and I always feel guilty when I skip posting. It’s not like this is a “real” job, but it has its pressures. I’m no bigly deal, but I know I have readers here and there who panic when they don’t get their TIE O’ THE DAY fix. I hear from them, and they are loud. Mostly, if they haven’t seen me post for a few days, they are concerned I might have flipped my bipolar lid and gotten into a troubled state o’ mind, or they wonder if the remaining 1/3 of my pancreas—my Hanky Panky—is still working. I feel double guilt when I’ve put someone into a worry about me, and then it feels impossible for me to return to my posting.
I can be a funny and observant gal, but there’s a constant pressure with TIE O’ THE DAY to share my love o’ neckwear, and to write clever and wise anecdotes and stories to entertain and occasionally enlighten y’all with each post. Sometimes, I can’t even explain what TIE O’ THE DAY is supposed to be. It’s a project which is always evolving. Sketched green Bow Tie o’ the Day presents this photo of the music artist, Rina Sawayama as proof of said evolution. I was simply flipping through a magazine this morning, and I saw this photo. Of course, I immediately said to myself, “Self, this has to show up in TIE O’ THE DAY.” And here it is. I want this hairdo. I must have it.