The Clothes Make The Man

I’ve always loved sports. Playing. Spectating. Reading of. Writing about. I’ve also always been fascinated by uniforms. The identity of a team. The pride that comes from wearing a shirt that says ‘Portland’ or ‘Boston’ or Catlin Gabel’ or ‘Jefferson’.

I currently live in the Jefferson district in Portland. Several blocks straight down the street. I also belong to an organization called the 107 Independent Supporter’s Trust (107ist). This organization is the machine behind the Timbers Army here in Portland. They represent the interests of the fans at large, plan events, build community trust and make the match-day experience that much better.

They also do a whole lot of good in the community.

Jefferson High needed some help and the 107ist got word of it. Over the past month the 107ist has worked to generate funds for equipment, uniforms, practice gear, etc for Jefferson’s neglected soccer program.

Uniforms.

My fascination with uniforms has led to a sort of hobby/business for me. I have equipment to stitch or heat press logos, letters, numbers, etc. onto shirts. Professional quality. I’ve produced uniforms for a growing number of adult soccer teams, but this was my first opportunity to help my local school. I couldn’t say no.

As of now the uniforms are half complete. Numbers adorn the bright blue backs of the clean Nike uniforms we are providing. I am still waiting on the graphic ‘JEFFERSON’ to put on the front. I remember what it was like in high school to get that brand new uniform to represent the team. I always loved wearing them. I still do. Funny thing this uniform obsession.

I am looking forward to seeing the Jefferson kids take pride in their school and community when they don these shirts for the first time. Those are special moments. I am thankful to be a part of it.

Day Off

(Disclaimer: a bit about sex in here. May make you blush. May or may not be safe for work.)

I'm not at work today. I took a day off.

There's something very good about being able to grab a day for yourself every now and then. Spend it taking care of the things that you may be neglecting, like laundry, cleaning, projects or even yourself.

When I was growing up my dad never took a day off. Sure, he had summer off but that was different. I remember not really knowing what the term even meant. In old episodes of "Courtship of Eddie's Father" Uncle Norm would often say he was going to do such and such on his "day off". I recall him saying this term a lot, but it's possible it was only in one episode. But the phrase has stayed with me and whenever I think of a day off I think of Uncle Norm from that show.

Of course he wasn't really Eddie's uncle. He was a good friend of Eddie's father. As I was strolling the Overlook neighborhood on a vigorous walk this morning these strings of thought were going through my head; Day Off. Uncle Norm. Men who we refer to as 'Uncle' who, in fact, are not an uncle at all.

I couldn't be the only one who had a few of my father's friends who were referred to as 'Uncle', could I? The most memorable of mine was Uncle Eddie. Ed Hartzell was something of a mentor to my father. He was a teacher at the Cate school in Ojai, California when my father started there back in the 1950's. They both migrated to the Northwest in the 60's. Ed to Portland and Catlin Gabel and my dad to Tacoma and Charles Wright Academy. In 1971 we moved to Portland and my father started his final career move at Catlin, right alongside Uncle Eddie.

Uncle Eddie was a fantastic, gentle bear of a man. An avid fly-fisherman and old soul. He and his bride, Kim, had a fantastic home up off of Skyline. Kim taught art in the middle school at Catlin and she was one of my favorite teachers of all time. She believed in what she did completely. The idea that art and creativity were a crucial part of a child's development and that each of us were capable of creating beauty with pen, pencil, paint, clay or what not.

But it wasn't just art that she taught us. In 7th grade Catlin used to devote a portion of the curriculum to sex ed. They still might. Not sure. While there were memorable moments like the bowl of colored condoms being passed around the room or Derrick Butler getting the terms menstruation and masturbation confused, the one that I recall was Kim sitting at a table and talking very plainly about sex. She talked about her fears (especially the idea that HE might pee inside her) and about her experiences with sex. It was one of the most frank, open discussions I recall having about the subject. She was willing to put herself out there, vulnerable, in an attempt to allow a bunch of 13 year olds to ask the questions that otherwise would've been too embarrassing to reveal. It was a brilliant teaching moment. Memorable.

Kim died a few years ago and Uncle Eddie died a few months later. I last saw him shortly after Kim died and he had a sadness to him that I still remember to this day. But I take some solace in the knowledge that the two of them lived grand lives. They touched countless souls and were a true force of humanity. Their daughter was at my father's birthday party a month ago and we shared some smiles and some tears as I told her stories of her mother and father.

So, it turns out I'm having a pretty good day off.

B!

Fat Fashion

Monday I bought a new pair of Levi’s. Pre-shrunk classic 501s. A slightly roomy 38 waist.

Now this is rather monumental. Fat people have a hard time fitting into jeans. The slimmer the fit the less likely we are to go near them. It’s just one of the tradeoffs of being fat, if not one of the tricks.

501s are the holy grail of jeans for me. Button fly. Straight leg. They scream rock n’ roll. I remember back in college when I split a pair of too tight 501s (waist size 33, I believe) from the crotch all the way to the ankle. At a party. Dancing with the prettiest girl there. At least I was wearing boxers. The walk back to change was a different kind of walk of shame. That’s for sure.

I’ve been looking forward to buying a pair of 501s since I started the weight loss venture. So I’m pretty happy about this, even if my thighs are still huge.

Over the last ten years, as I’ve been on my growth spurt, I migrated from 501s to 550s and 555s. From the slim, classic fit of 501s to the Relaxed Fit or Baggy Fit of 550s or 555s. None of those jeans are complimentary to any shape, fat or otherwise. But they are comfortable and, when you get big, comfort is a major factor.

That’s one of the reasons why fat people wear larger, baggier clothes. In my experience, I was pretty ashamed of the shape of my body (especially my chest and belly) and believed that roomier clothes would hide the flaws. Well they do, but they also accentuate your overall size. So they are a tradeoff of flaws which, in the end, serves nobody’s interest. But bigger clothes also provided more room to move which was a kind of freedom that was otherwise lacking.

Fat people (meaning me) also have a few other tricks that they use to attempt to conceal flaws and provide comfort.

I used to never tuck my shirt in. It would accentuate the belly. Plus it was less than comfortable as I’d always cinch the belt a bit more in an attempt to keep things together. So, instead, what you’d end up with was a loose bottomed shirt and a pair of super baggy pants. I would look like a life size version of one of the seven dwarves, with no Snow White in sight.. I LOVE being able to tuck in a shirt now even if Snow White is still MIA.

Another trick of fat fashion is shorts. The fat wear shorts (or kilts – oh the comfort!). Whenever we can. One of the issues with being heavy is the extra stress on joints and discomfort that comes from that. When I would wear jeans or khakis I would not be able to sit still for more than 30 minutes at a time as I could never get my knees to find a comfort zone. Wearing shorts alleviated some of this. Flying on an airplane was especially brutal. None of my shorts fit me anymore. If I don’t cinch a belt super tight they fall right off of my ass. It’s funny and it makes me happy to see it. Even as the butt of the joke.

As I’ve been going through the major changes to reduce my body I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve been able to do as far as clothes. Smaller sizes. Slimmer fit. I’ve still got some physical imperfections but they are greatly diminished. At the gym they have mirrors everywhere and I’m still surprised at the face that looks back at me. I’d like to fadeup the fadeaway chin but I still look dramatically different. I’ve still got 2-4 inches that I can reasonably lose from my waist. A 34 waist would give me a kind of satisfaction that I have not known in a long time.

I still have a long way to go but I will get there.

But, I will still wear shorts whenever I can. Because that is part of who I am.

B!

PS – Those are the fat fashion tricks from my experience. Do you have any to share?

Rule Of Threes Revisited

I almost forgot....

I ran into the third ex. She wasn't one of the ones I posted. She went even further back. An old high school girlfriend we'll call 'Carol' was at my friend's birthday party last weekend. I didn't even get to talk to her as she didn't recognize me but it definitely counts as the third. The major positive to come out of this relationship was the understanding that a 1983 Volvo is one of the worst make-out cars available to mankind (possibly surpassed only by the 1967 species of Volvo). True.

So. Now what will be the next sequence of threes? Old friends? Medical emergencies? Billing disputes? Snake bites?

B!

Put The PA in Party! Sid's 75th!

This past Sunday was my dad's 75th birthday bash.

With a group of family and friends acting as stellar cooks, caterers, busboys and electricians we pulled off a fantastic celebration of my dad's life so far.

There were just short of 200 guests from all aspects of my dad's life. Colleagues from both Catlin Gabel and Charles Wright (my dad was a teacher for those not in the know), professional acquantances, Portland friends, a college friend or two and lots of family were there.


We held it at Catlin Gabel in the school's lunchroom, a converted barn from the old farm days of the property. For those familiar with The Barn you know how fitting a place it is for a CG alum or retiree to have a gathering.

Cousins Katherine and Stu, my mother and I planned the entire event. There was beer and wine, Stu smoked fifty pounds of beef onsite and acted as chef, aunts Alice and Debby made fantastic salads. Stu's girlfriend Hilary handled signage and nametags and balloons and making it pretty. Kat and Stu had custom shirts and hats for the organizers to wear. There was music and a microphone and words from Sid himself.

For me this was an opportunity to recognize the importance of my dad in my life. He's been there for me countless times and it was nice to be there for him this time. As was evident by the turnout and the overwhelming sense of fun, many others feel similarly.

There are more pics coming soon. But a few here show cousin Stu carving beast; my dad talking with Greg Wentworth; nephew Nathaniel enjoying cake.

For those of you that were there please post a comment about your favorite parts of the evening or whatever strikes your fancy.

B!

The Concert Series: Talking Heads

I was trying to make a comprehensive list of my musical tastes today and my mind took a tangent. I started thinking about great concerts/shows that I had seen in the past.

So this is the first in a possible series of reminisces of past shows that I feel fortunate to have seen.

My friends Rick, Adam, Andrew and I were inseparable during most of our middle and high school years. We would listen to music together after school at Adam's house or use the theater's sound system if we were working after school on a play. Rick had exceptional musical ability and progressive musical taste. He introduced me to Talking Heads, The Clash, Squeeze, The Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, R.E.M., The Alarm, Adrian Belew and many, many others. Portland radio at the time (and still to a certain degree) was horrific in its lack of musical diversity and vision. KBOO being the only real exception.

Talking Heads were the band that really defined our musical connection. In 1983 (we were all 15) Talking Heads released Speaking In Tongues. While, they had some previous success and great critical acclaim, this was the album that really put them on the map. I remember Rick going to Tower Records on the day it was released and buying the special edition Robert Rauschenberg edition with clear vinyl and spinning art pieces. We thought we were so cool. As was the way of the day you played the record once to get a feel for it, taped it, and put it away. We treasured our records.

So when Talking Heads announced their tour dates and placed a December date at Portland's Civic Auditorium (now Keller Auditorium) we were all ecstatic. Rick got the tickets and we scored great seats. Row C, front center section. We'd be within spitting distance of David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and the rest. I think I had been to one real rock concert before so the whole experience was still rather new.

I can't remember much of the pre-festivites, other than Rick's mom dropping us off and being paranoid. But I remember arriving at the Civic and feeling the buzz of the event. Rick had saved up to get some concert tees so we went to the merch stand immediately. The one cool item was a hat with a special interlocking TH logo. Think New York Yankees only not evil and more linear. I loved the logo (I think it was adapted from Hanshin Tigers of Japanese baseball) but I was a cheap boy and had to pass. But the shirts were awful. Most of them were muscle T's (it was 1983 after all) and really rather uninteresting. For a band made up of former art students it was underwhelming.

So we made our way to our seats. It turns out Row C (which we thought was third row) turned out to be the fifth row as they added chairs above the orchestra pit. Still, we were in a great spot to see our favorite band.

The show was tremendous. This was one of the final concerts before Talking Heads filmed the classic concert film Stop Making Sense. Director Jonatahn Demme was likely at our show determining camera angles, moments to capture, etc. The concert we saw is basically what you see in the film. Backlit screens, big suit, dancing with the lamp, etc. But what I remember most about it was how much genuine fun it was. It wasn't angry like the punk shows I'd attend later in life. It wasn't extended, hippiefied grooves. It was fresh, funky, lively music at its best from a band at its creative zenith.

We screamed, "Tina, We LOVE you!" (I am certain I saw her smile and wink at me), we stood and danced and Adam almost caught one of Chris Frantz' drum sticks at the end of the show.

The band never toured again. So I feel incredibly fortunate to have seen them in one of their final shows. Their next three records all declined in quality and cohesiveness as the band started to splinter musically. But the best Talking Heads music was on display that night.

A few weeks ago KNRK's Perfect Playlist was from a guy named Matt. He used to DJ at KNRK in its early days. He was also two years behind us in high school. He finished his set with "Once In A Lifetime" and mentioned the cool kids in the theater who introduced him to so much music.

Who knew, maybe we really were cool?

Care to share memories of a great or important show?