T-shirt Tag

Johnny Yen tagged me with a meme.

Here it is:

1. Link back to the original post.
2. Describe two t-shirts that you own.
3. If you design your own vanity t-shirt what would it say?
4. Where would you wear your vanity t-shirt?
5. Tag three of your best blogging buds.

Oh come on now, only 2 t-shirts!? We are talking about the main staple of my wardrobe here, so I have to talk about a lot more than that!

Here are some of my favorite shirts:


National Sports Center for the Disabled, where Skyler gets to go ski is such an awesome organization. I wrote about them here.



One of my favorite prints, called Reflections, Lee Teter's brilliant painting of a man grieving by the Vietnam Memorial, and the spirits of deceased soldiers reaching out in consolation.



My sister got me this Dilbert shirt knowing how much I love that comic. Truer words have never been spoken...



This baby I earned! The MS150 that year climbed from Louisville up to Estes Park over the peak to peak highway and back down. Over 4000 feet total elevation climb, and a trip down St Vrain canyon that I still think about! I latched on with a pack of good riders that were flying down the hill, you could hear the whining of our wheels as 20 of us were passing cars going down. Dumb, but fun...



My wife Kathy got me this one, it never fails to get a comment when I am standing in a line someplace. Guys all say something like "I hear ya dude", and girls always say "Well yes, of course!"

If I could design my own vanity t-shirt, it wouldn't be a vanity t-shirt at all. Rather I would design t-shirts that are like my friend Dan Wilkins designs over at http://www.thenthdegree.com/ (shameless plug)

Dan's stuff is wonderful, usually funny, but with a point, and all with special needs and the human condition in mind. Here is one I got from him that I love:



I would proudly wear a t-shirt like this everywhere, just to spread the word.

One more note on t-shirts. I have been in so many runs that I have way too many. I surprised Kathy one year with a quilt I had made with 30 shirts from runs we have been in:



Lets see now, that only leaves me with about 70 or so left...



I tag Beth cause she hit me with Crazy 8's, Suze, and my old cube-mate, GKL!

Comments

  1. YAY!!! I was hoping someone would tap me for this one.

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  2. Wow, you could've kept this going for quite a while with that tee shirt collection. I've seen that "if a man speaks in the forest" before.

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  3. You have a large colletion. I love the quilt, what a nice gift for your wife.

    G man collects sneakers. I collect hand bags. Double G collects what ever his interest is at the moment and Jenny G collects makeup, handbags, and key chains.

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  4. Anonymous12:00 PM

    That ski shirt could easily double as an ad for a gay bar. Just saying.

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  5. I'm pinching your "if a man speaks in a forest..." for th' sidebar of my other blog, just to let U know.

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  6. Anonymous3:30 PM

    Love your t-shirts especially the "man speaking in the forest". I'll put mine up this week.

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  7. Beth: Looking forward to it!

    Bubs: I think that I have been in well over 100 races, I have lost/worn out/thrown away quite a few shirts.

    Cheer: You should do a post on your hand bags.

    Kirby: I wonder what the shocker means in sign language?

    Captain: Steal away!

    Suze: Can't wait!

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  8. The tee shirt is the staple of my wardrobe. Most of mine are from rowing events these days. About a year or so ago [Wife #1] was commenting on the number of t-shirts that I owned. I tried to downplay the total, so she bet me that I had over one hundred active t-shirts (not counting the retirees (or is that retired tees)). I lost. I have even designed a few rowing themed shirts of my own:
    www.cafepress.com/rowlife

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  9. Regarding the Teter shirt -- here's a post I wrote in my blog a few months ago that's vaguely related:

    Yesterday after work my beloved Viennese Snowflower Dagmar and I trekked from Sioux City to neighboring berg Le Mars to help with the American Legion Riders' Children's Christmas Party. The American Legion post there usually hosts the Children's Christmas Party, but this year they asked the ALR to help out. Dagmar was in a sour mood from some problems at work, so the 45-minute ride to Le Mars was spent in one big rant. (Dagmar rarely rants, and when she does, she does it well, and the rant is well-deserved.) "I can't believe dis happened," she said. "My emotions are bruised, und I'm tired. I vant to go home."

    Once in Le Mars, we stopped by my brother's house to pick up the nephew and niece to take them to the party. As I put the car in park, Dagmar said, for about the fiftieth time, "I don't know vy I'm going to dis party. All I vant to do is go home und pull my blanket over mein head. Dis day has really sucked."

    That's when my brother's door opened and two small becoated children ran out to our car. "Hello Aunt Dagmar! Uncle Chris!" Dagmar and I busied ourselves getting the children safely in the back seat, then drove the six blocks to the Legion Hall where the party was to be held. Zip, zoom, there we were.

    I set my coat down and said hello to a friend of mine, then turned around to see Dagmar, smiling from ear to ear, surrounded by about fifteen children, holding someone's baby, explaining to the assorted tots why she talks funny ("I'm not from around dese parts"). She played "Duck, Duck, Goose" with the children, and "Simon Says," and they sang songs...

    We all ate hamburgers and fries, Mrs. Santa read some stories to the children, Santa came and gave out gifts, Dagmar and the children played some more. "I'm so happy ve came here!" she said. "I'm havink a good time!"

    But... Oh geeze, where's the nephew? I've lost him! Gaaahhh... A quick but frantic search found the eight-year-old had wandered off to the bar and was staring intently at a picture on the wall. His gaze never wavered as I asked him what he was doing. "I'm looking at the picture," he said. "What does it mean?"

    Oh gosh. How to explain this to an eight-year-old? He was looking at "Reflections" by Lee Teter.

    "Well, you remember when we first got here you asked me why this building was built?" I asked. He nodded and answered, "You said it was built for soldiers, that this is a place old soldiers can come and talk."

    "Yes. Well, about forty years ago there was a war in a place a long ways away. When the war was over, people decided that they wanted to remember all the soldiers that died in the war, so they built a big wall in Washington DC, and they carved all the soldiers' names on the wall."

    "That's the wall?" my nephew asked, pointing to the picture. "Those are the names of the soldiers that died?"

    "Yes," I said. "There are a lot of names, aren't there?"

    "That man looks sad," he said. "Is he crying?"

    "Well, he was probably in that war," I said. "He's probably looking at his friend's name, remembering his friends who died..."

    "Oh." There was a pause. "Those men are his friends, aren't they. He can't see them because they died, but they want him to not be so sad."

    By this time I was getting kinda teary-eyed and didn't really trust my voice, so I didn't answer. I just wandered off to the nearest table and sat down. My nephew took his eyes off the print, found an empty bar stool, dragged it from the bar over to the picture, and sat on the bar stool for another five or ten minutes, studying the print. He sat there, silent, staring at the print, surrounded by a roomful of veterans, until his mother came in to pick him up. I'm not sure what he learned, but I'm sure he learned something...

    It was an interesting day.

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  10. Pezda: Great shirts! The puddles one looks very cool, and of course Fear the Cox just rocks!

    Chris: Thanks so much for sharing that story. That print is very powerful, somehow it captures everything about Nam...

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  11. Ah... here's one tag I can handle, but don't call me old! You always have great T-shirts cubie!

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  12. GKL: So long as you don't call me Shirley! Looking forward to your post.

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  13. That quilt is pretty amazing. Nice selection there.

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