Pumpkin carving

I was hanging out with my friend, Sarah Margaret, in Birmingham on Sunday and she, being in possession of an uncarved pumpkin, suggested that we do something about it. With Halloween past us, we looked for a turkey pattern online and upon finding one, Sarah Margaret used her amazing artistic skills to basically free-hand this turkey. I provided the manly knifework. It turned out to be pretty much the best pumpkin turkey ever. Feel free to set this as your desktop image.

How to wear a scarf

Fortunately scarf weather seems to have finally arrived in Georgia. In spite of owning six scarves, I always feel a bit self-conscious wearing them, and feel like I never do a good job of tying them. For a bit of inspiration, I looked to the men featured on The Sartorialist over the years, as there have certainly been a number of them wearing scarves. Here are some of my favorites:











All images from The Sartorialist

A Trip to D.C. (or: How Many Times Can I Use the Title of My Blog as the Basis for a Pithy Post Title?)

This is not my photo. It is a sweet HDR photo of the Capitol by a flickr user named NearDC

Having finished up my second to last semester of grad school yesterday, I set out early tomorrow morning for D.C. I am going to visit one of my best friends from college, as well as to try to see if I can't round up a job for when I graduate in May (or at least make some good contacts). I have a pretty decent itinerary shaping up, and I've got three meetings and a phone meeting scheduled with some D.C.-area real estate folks, so hopefully things should go well. I love D.C. around this time of year, so even if the job stuff doesn't pan out, it will be nice to be up there.

For the drive up I have a the past two episodes of This American Life which I haven't listened to yet. I also got audiobooks of When You Are Engulfed in Flames and Naked by David Sedaris from the Clemson Library (at least I am getting some of my tuition money's worth in terms of checking out books for pleasure reading, or listening, in this case).

While up in D.C. I also hope to maybe stop by Denim Bar. It's not like I have any money to spend on jeans (I am, in fact, now into my "cushion fund," which is slightly disconcerting), but I would be nice to finally pay a visit to that place.

Anyways, I'm not sure how many posts I'll make while up there (not that you, dear reader, have exactly come to expect new posts on a regular basis, for which I hope you will forgive me), but I will at least return with lots of good pictures.

3rd Annual Day-After-Thanksgiving Sporting Clay Shoot

For the past three years now, I have gone with my dad, brother, cousin, and uncles up to Brush Creek Sporting Club to shoot sporting clays. It is located outside of Athens and has always been a lot of fun. In addition to the 12 station sporting clays course that we have done each year, they also have 5-Stand Clays (which I have never done), as well as offering a couple of different hunting options. The people are really nice and things seem to be well-run. Here are a couple of pictures.


The Yildiz in action


The brother and I after shooting

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

I used to love this movie; it seems like we watched it every in elementary school around Halloween. I watched it again last night (there are four parts to it which can all be viewed on Youtube). It's really hard to go wrong with something narrated and sung by Bing Crosby. If you've got 30 minutes to spare, take the time to watch it.

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech

This past weekend, after the Ryan Adams show, my brother came up visit me in Clemson for the weekend. They were playing Georgia Tech and I got him a ticket. While Clemson didn't pull this one out, they did at least play a pretty decent game. Anyways, the bro and I had a good time tailgating and hanging out. Here is a pic of us from the game:



And yes, I do believe that I was the only person out of about 80,000+ who was wearing a tweed jacket. It was cold outside, though, and I do not regret the decision. Someone's gotta bring a touch of class to this dump.

A Trip Down South...to Birmingham

The weekend before last I paid a much-needed visit to the Magic City for a long weekend. It was an excellent trip, so for those who might be interested, I thought I would include my itinerary.

Thursday:
-Lunch at Mellow Mushroom with friends who I used to work with at the County (and who are all beating me in Fantasy Football)
-A visit to see a friend who works at the Starbucks in Crestline Village
-Dinner at Al's with above Starbucks friend, along with some other friends who used to work there (Starbucks friends are great ones to have, I should note)
-Had a beer at the J. Clyde with Starbucks friends and some acquaintances from Red Mountain Church (was not as impressed with J. Clyde as I would have hoped)

Friday:
-Visit with former co-workers at KPS Group (also trying to drum up job leads)
-Visited my Magic City lacrosse teammate at he and his wife's new art gallery, the Dobbs Gallery (if you like art and have not been there, I would highly recommend stopping by)
-Lunch at Cobb Lane Restaurant with former co-workers at Ogletree Deakins (and had the "pleasure" of being waited on by most awkward/nosy waiter who has ever worked in the city)
-Made a trip to my favorite thrift store in the city and picked up two new with tag suits (one was a Corbin, one was a Southwick) which I plan on reselling (though I did sell one to my former roommate who I was staying with; the other is a 43L glen plaid if you're interested)
-Bought my brother three bottles of booze (quality stuff, I assure you) for his 21st birthday and took them to his dorm at Samford
-Had dinner at Jackson's at SOHO with some other lacrosse guys

Saturday:
-Went to lacrosse practice and had a blast
-Went to the St. George Middle Eastern Food Festival with Starbucks friends and enjoyed some authentic Middle Eastern food and belly dancing (spectating, not participating)
-Hung out with a friend at her apartment and watched Florida destroy LSU

Anyways, if you can't tell, it was a great weekend and made me really miss the city. So if you have any leads for real estate jobs there, I'd love to hear about them...

Dove Hunting

So a few weeks ago, my classmate and neighbor invited me to go dove hunting on his family's farm south of Columbia. We actually had a pretty decent number of folks go, and a good time was had by all. Here is a picture of all of the guys after the hunt with our quarry:



In this picture I have placed a circle around all of the dove that I killed, just to reassure you, the reader, of my superior shotgunning skills:



No, your eyes are not deceiving you. In spite of going through nearly three boxes of shells, I managed to come away with one dove. I will chalk it up to being an off day, though I don't think a day of shooting clays would hurt anything. Fortunately dinner that night was not dependent on what we brought back from the field and I had a great time in spite of my bad aim.

Old Polo catalog scans

These images were scanned and posted by a user named jamgood on the Ask Andy forums a little over two years ago. They are from a couple of Polo catalogs from 1977, 1980 and 1981. I've had these images saved on my hard drive for a while, but I figured I would share them since there are some great Fall looks.


















(OK, to be honest, the fur coat is a bit much, even for me, but it is still a great picture)

The "perfect" Fair Isle sweater

For about two years, I have been on the lookout for the "perfect" Fair Isle sweater. I'm not sure where I got the mental image for this sweater, but I could picture it in my mind's eye and it was the yard stick by which all potential Fair Isles were measured against. I would scour Ebay, would check the seasonal selections from standards like LL Bean, Lands End, Brooks Brothers, and J. Crew, but I could never find one that met my standards. However, last week I poking around Ebay and stumbled across this beauty. It is an old LL Bean sweater, wool, knit in Scotland, and in my size. The colors are nicely muted and the patterns are neither too small nor too large. I went ahead and jumped on it and managed to scoop it up for the kingly sum of $10. I received it in the mail just three days after winning the auction (I was very impressed by that), and it is fantastic. It fits a touch larger than I would want it to, but I'm hoping that can be solved by a trip through the washer and dryer. Anyways, my quest is over, and now I am just waiting for the temperatures to drop low enough to wear it.

The "third item"

Frankly, I would say that I am a pretty boring dresser. Most days, I usually wear khakis or jeans (khaki shorts in the warmer months) and an oxford cloth buttondown (OCBD) shirt. I have OCBDs in several different colors, and also have sport shirts in madras for the warmer months and some shirts different checks and plaids for the cooler months. However, the general equation is usually just pants+shirt=dressed.

Once the weather cools down, though, I am able to bring some more variety to my daily dress by incorportating, what I refer to as, the "third item." This is usually a sweater, a sport coat, a jacket (like a Barbour), or even a tie, but I feel like it is the essential item to completing an outfit (I do hesitate to use the word "outfit" since that is usually a word that women use, thouh I feel like I am using it in a slightly different context). This "third item" can completely change the outfit by becoming the focal point, making the pants and shirts to perform their roles as supporting players. When I am able to wear this third item, that is when I really feel like I am "dressed."

The fact is, though, that it is simply too hot to incorporate this "third item" pretty much from June through most of Septemeber. Of course one can wear a tie or blazer during these warmer months, but for the most part, it is simply not the preferable choice. Now that the temperatures are dropping, I am looking forward to making the most of my wardrobe.

An autumnal wishlist

Fall is approaching, ever so slowly, and my thoughts are now turning towards autumn clothing. As I believe I have mentioned before, it is my favorite season, clothing-wise, and I always look to it with great anticipation. I would say, however, that I feel like I really am approaching a point where I have assembled a near-complete wardrobe. Aside from replacing my entire set of khakis and picking up some more tweed jackets (which, income-wise, are at least a year away), there isn't too much that I am looking to acquire. These are a few of the items that I have been thinking about, though:

Drifter Cardigan from Lands End

Although I do not own a cardigan at this point, I like this one because it seems to have a less old-manish cut, and also doesn't have those dumb little pockets on it.

Shawl-collar fleece pullover from J. Crew

Although more closely resembling a sweatshirt than a sweater, I think this is a really good looking piece.

Red Wing classic Irish Setter boots

These are a reproduction of the Red Wing 877 for J. Crew. They apparently even have the old Irish Setter tags on the inside. Frankly, these boots are amazing. Unfortunately, for $325, they will likely not be mine and I will have to settle for the regular issue Red Wing 877s.

Barbour Cowen Commando jacket

I have really been trying not to think about Fall too much. I know that I still have at least two months worth of heat and humidity to put up with before relief arrives, and I only make it worse on myself to start thinking about cooler days now.

Fall is my favorite season for multiple reasons, but fall clothing is certainly not the least of these reasons. Chief amongst this clothing are my Barbour jackets. If you don't know about Barbour jackets, for shame. And if you know about them and do not own one, I will simply say, without hyperbole, your wardrobe is not complete. These are some of the most versatile, durable, hard-wearing, good-looking garments that have been made. And because they can last 20+ years, they are simply a great a clothing investment.

I already own a Beaufort and Bedale (which is sorely in need of patching and rewaxing), however, this evening I found myself perusing the Barbour website, looking for nothing in particular. Then, I came across the Cowen Commando. I have not seen this jacket before, but I really like it. According to the Barbour website it is from a "historic British Army pattern" and I really like the cinched waist. I don't know if I'll try to get my hands on one this year, but I may put it on the long term wish list. Below are some pictures, but the best picture, in my opinion, is on the Barbour website.


Picture courtesy of this website

Fortunately, it is also available in classic "sage"


A quick note. Although I have indicated before how attractive I find women in Land Rovers, women in Barbour jackets are simply on a whole 'nother level. Maybe I just have a thing for women in British-made goods...