366 Bow Ties: Day 145

Have I mentioned before that I love our little town? Have I mentioned before that I love our little town’s market? Well, it’s true. I do. This year the Old Town Market is picking up steam. Several new artisans and farmers are with us, including 4 delightful young, first-time farmers from Braeside Farm, which until now was a horse-riding sort of place exclusively. These days they’re growing organic vegetables which taste utterly delicious. And they’re fans of The Perfect Melancholies. The problem with all this Old Town Market awesomeness is that pretty soon they’re going to be able to have ‘real’ bands play and we’ll be too wimpy an act for their profile. May it be so.

Our three children all have different approaches to Market Night. Owen commandeered Cliffe’s stroller and konked out. Cliffe hula hooped. Deacon went around informing people about various scientific observations he had been making. All are appropriate Market Night behaviors, I reckon. This particular night, I just plopped down and listened to the DJ spin his tunes.

Ellie bought a cantaloupe plant. It’ll be dead very soon, I’m sure. Cute though.

The Belles made me this handsome cotton madras bow in classic cut from a repurposed shirt. It’s one of my favorites of the season. And if you ask me, I think it looks like paired with this old Brooks Brothers university striped button down oxford and a TCC blue chambray pocket square with red stitching.

And I got these new glasses recently too. US ARMY brand. Made in China, naturally. But, you know. American.

Such a lovely evening it was that I sat out on the patio and changed my guitar strings. Been playing lots recently between Hill City Church and The Perfect Melancholies. I even began writing a hymn.

I hope you’ll run over to the shop and grab this one-of-a-kind bow. If you don’t—fine—I’ll just wear it for the rest of my life.  Probably every week for the rest of my life.

I leave you with a photograph that makes me smile, taken during a chicken dance at Deacon’s preschool end-of-the-year open house. He’s going to miss his best friend and favorite dance partner over the summer. But we’re looking forward to reading lots with him. Kid has a stunning mind.

Cordially,

Andy

I almost forgot: Diane! She makes our Market beautiful. Every week.

366 Bow Ties: Day 144

We have this little ensemble. We call ourselves The Perfect Melancholies when we play at the Old Town Market and other things. We also happen to be the music ensemble for Hill City Church, which is the new church we’re starting in Rock Hill.

Wednesday night was what my old prof used to call a ‘tweener. We played lots of our market tunes (folktified versions of U2 and the Cranberries; a few Over the Rhine, Patty Griffin, and Randy Newman tunes, etc.), but since it was a church BBQ, and the reason we got the gig was because they liked our take on the old hymns one Wednesday night in the church fellowship hall, we played some of those, too.

The home was from the first half of the 19th Century, and was haunted by antebellumness of various sorts. We played on the front porch to a happily BBQ’d audience.

(Above 3 Photos by Bill Marion)

And I wore a snappy combo, perfect for the event—if I must say so myself. Brown chambray on one side; green candy-stripe cotton on the other side, cut in classic shape. Throw in the blue jeans, the suspenders, the new US ARMY eyeglasses, and the bucks, and I think that about did the trick.

Grab this bow tie and get yourself to an antebellum BBQ pronto. Or throw one yourself. Be sure to invite The Perfect Melancholies to play on the front porch.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 143

For some reason I allowed Ellie to persuade me to do a 2-day juice fast again with her, and this represents break-fast day. More on that later.

It was also a curiously sunny, rainy day. What do you wear on days like that? Who knows. But I wore standard Bill’s Khakis M3s and a thrifted pink oxford button-down, sleeves hiked. And a reversible patch madras // brown chambray diamond-point bow tie.

We broke fast with our community group, who served up Top Shelf PB & J. Gooooood stuff. No tummy ache, either, like last juice fast. Probably because it was a shorter fast and it was not quite so bad a way to break fast as a martini and a BBQ sandwich.

Deacon contributed 2 recipes. I think it would be awesome to publish a for-kids-by-kids Top Shelf PB & J Recipe Book. What do you think? Include their hand-written recipes with all the [SIC] one could desire. We’d make a killing!

The patchwork madras is an old favorite from the TCC archives, perhaps from Summer 2010? The brown chambray is new. It’s basically … brown … and chambray. The Church Belles have been going to town on the reversible stuff, as you can tell. I think it’s a good thing. I think you’ll agree. I think you’ll agree enough to slap down $29 for this one-of-a-kind bow tie, all $29 of which will go to our project to help bring hope to children in Haiti.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 142

Monday at the Farmer’s Market. A chance to start the new week with real foods, and in most cases, local foods. I was impressed by the colors, and so far, things taste pretty darn good, and quite fresh. I’m thankful for farmers.

This little guy seems pretty delighted with the market, too.

Against the backdrop of reds and purples and greens and yellows, I’m pretty subdued in my Bill’s Khakis M3s, my topsiders, my seersucker button-down, and this double-gray reversible chambray in classic cut. But I like it. You get the visual effect of two tones without sacrificing the simplicity and versatility (the goes-with-anything quality) of the solid grays. This is a winner, I reckon. Go grab it here, and support our efforts to brighten the days and expand the horizons of children in Haiti through MTW.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 128

“What about short sleeve shirts and bow ties?” Good question.

Benefits:

1. Display tattoo(s).

2. Stay cool in especially hot weather.

3. Be more casual but still wear a bow tie.

Drawbacks:

1. Look pretty dorky.

You decide. In any event, I double-dipped, inadvertently. Another classic blue seersucker. Coming at you at a special price. Enjoy.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties: Day 119

Sometimes my booklust gets the best of me, and I have to head to my Alma Mater bookstore and buy up their discounts. And if I haven’t burnt the day away doing that, I head into the library to do sermon research. Got a little bit of a chance to do that a couple weeks ago. And a chance to wear this throwback Cordial Churchman number. I think this yellow/blue seersucker check (rendered here in classic cut) was in our first batch of bow tie offerings back in the summer of 2009.

Of course I didn’t have an umbrella with me, or my Wellies on. And of course it rained. Oh well.

I stopped by Caribou–the very Caribou where I spent hours and hours and hours writing papers, studying Greek flash cards, and cramming for New Testament exams. And if my memory serves me, I went from here to pick up a juicer from someone off Craigslist.

Note: if you’re going to do a juice fast, remember to ease back into solid foods. Ouch, my tummy.

In any event, run over to the store and grab this vintage TCC bow tie.

Cordially,

Andy

366 Bow Ties, Day 129: Of bow ties and juice fasting

So I did this crazy thing. I have taken into my body nothing but air, a couple cups of coffee, and fresh pressed vegetable and fruit juice. For the last 6 days. Whoa.

The second day is the worst, so I brightened things up a bit with this snappy madras, made out of scraps from a men’s shirt. And with watermelon juice. Yum.

The usual rule is that you mix complementary colors and varied scales. Technically, this university stripe oxford shirt has its scale represented in this bow tie, but I don’t believe it ends up being too busy, since the small stripe pattern on the bow tie is actually a sub-pattern of the much larger-scaled plaid. Makes perfect sense, right? Just sound like you know what you’re talking about, and wear it with confidence, and everyone thinks you’re a genius. A fly genius.

Until they see that you’re juice fasting. Then they think you’re crazy and stupid. I kind of think they’re right. Either way, it’s over tomorrow evening. Can’t wait to chew again.

In the mean time, chew on this: I’ll give you this great, one-of-a-kind bow tie for a whole dollar off the usual price. Buy it here.

Cordially,

Andy