The middle aged dating world continues to be an interesting one. Wait…that’s an understatement…it’s crazy. Having been recently kicked to the curb, I dusted myself off and made public my once-again availability. After the usual Old Town guffaws and heckles, my amour constituency made themselves known.
But what to wear on date number two with said lucky constituent? Le Refuge warrants a sport coat even though it’s a bit down-market but still fun...in a tacky bistro kind of way. As I think of it, most every situation warrants, at least for me, a sport coat.
So here’s the Friday night rig. Flusser navy blazer…the old three/two open patch single breasted peak. Sounds kinda like an extinct falcon.
Brooks Brothers Peale spectators. These are getting better with each season but they've been a _itch to break-in.
If the house was on fire what belt would I take LFG Father’s Day 2010 Tiffany buckled strap kept everything reined in. Till later.
Flusser pink diagonal tone-on-tone button down with monogrammed irrelevance…
Two button barrel “cowboy cuffs” as I call them. I think I've mentioned before that there was a time when I’d simply see something that Alan was wearing and I’d say…”make that for me please”. My navy linen blazer with the striped sleeve lining is an example of me aping Flusser’s personal idiosyncrasies. So why didn't I wear said blazer on Friday night? I wore it on the first date with this lucky, lucky gal.
We were at dinner one night in DC and Alan had on said navy linen blazer with the sleeves turned back, a striped sleeve lining exposed and showcasing this odd looking barrel cuff. And lookie here. I found (…and for the life of me can’t relocate where I found this picture or I’d give attribution…and I’ll do so when I track down the source) this picture of Alan kitted out in exactly what I’m trying to articulate here. Butcept the linen coat he’s wearing is a lighter color. Might have to be my next Fluss-procurement.
Difficult to see the uniqueness of the cuff unless it’s on the wrist and this Flusser shot captures the cuff oddity perfecto. 2011—A Cuff Oddity. Shut the ….
The man has no equal…style wise. Do not argue this with me.
Berle…formerly a Charleston, South Carolina pant maker…slightly narrower seersucker…hemmed a little too short…on purpose…no cuffs. Washed-Stoned and Beaten…the Berle trouser prep process sounds a bit like some Masonic Ritual or a level of kink that flat-out wouldn't interest me. Whatever.
So my kit was tight. The night was fun. What I can’t remember is how all of my clothes ended up outside…on the Minimus Veranda.
Which leads me to last night. Dinner at home. I’m a decent cook but I don’t seek style points. So unlike Elegantologist and occasionally G-Man over at An Affordable Wardrobe, I don’t photograph my culinary efforts. And before you ask…yes, it was another date. But last night’s visitor is an old friend who likes my cooking and is never too critical about my lack of culinary aesthetics.
And I was still hurting from Friday night’s amnestic twilight veranda tussle so it was a miracle that I concocted anything. But my brand new, Summer 2011 Go-To-Hell trousers seemed to compensate for my being slightly off the proverbial game.
Swordfish…damned expensive these days and certainly not the bargain that LFG and I manifest when we eat mid-week pedestrian tilapia.
Garlic, basil, coriander, red pepper, black and green olives, capers, tomatoes, scallions…let it sweat amidst olive oil and just a smidge of caper brine. Sear the swordfish…no salt-no pepper-no nothing on the fish steaks. The acidic mélange offers enough flavor. Smother the fish with the Maxminimus Mélange and bake for twenty minutes at about 350 degrees.
Kim Crawford New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc…fifteen bucks a go. And we went. Times two-bottles…after pre-dinner cocktails.
Onward. Staying home tonight. Anyone wanna come over and see my etchings?
ADG, II
37 comments:
I'm just shaking my head. Shaking my head and smiling. Shaking my head and smiling and linking to this on Twitter. Glory be.
Hehe - Oh my. As my Mother would say: You are a "mess". ;-) I will add "Have the Most Fun". xoxo
so that's what's been going on! you're back in the dating pool.
A pile of well made sartorial appointments amnesically stacked on the minimus veranda... Too funny!
Happy 4th Sir, from Oreeeegun, overcast and in the 60s.
Summer disappeared again....
Being a nice married woman and all, I can't accept the invitation to see your etchings. I did, however, pin the photo to my Pinterest account. I must say I love how they're, er, hung below the chair rail.
Well, I , for one, think you might be quite a catch. Especially rocking those new go to hell pants. Oh, and nice etchings.
~Muffy
Tilapia, the Meryl Streep of the fish menu- there's no role it can't play.
Your date told me she would be upset if she became a Web Personality. I swore you were the sole of discretion.
Your pal in the country,
H Limpet
Tough.
Despite your extraordinary good humor, this cold call dating s**t is tough.
If "made public my availability" means online venues, then your task is doubly as tough because they ain't no fill-in-the-blank Q/A formats smart enough to measure your intellectual refinement OR your wicked insanity, my good man.
Tough, press on. Pulling for you.
It is a crime that you can't show off the lining on those seersucker pants more often. And you already know my opinion on your newest GTH acquisition.
Washed, Stoned, and Beaten - that describes me Monday thru Friday at the firm - Yours is more tolerable.
Ahh, the night's wardrobe carefully stored in the odd location, one of those "made great sense at the time" occasions, pity we can never quite recall the terrific logic behind it.
As an old Eagle Scout with a gen-u-ine Basketweaving merit badge, let me advise you on the chair weave: HIRE A PRO
Damn.. Had I known you were home I would have invited you to BHCC for the fireworks.
And I wish you would stop teasing with those Peal spectators. You know they are not available anymore and I want them soooo bad.
On Flusser, tell Alan that Tom is waiting on the 4 shirts and suit that he said would be ready in 5 weeks...in April.
Hope you and LFG have a great summer and have some fun in South Carolina. Heading to Pawleys next week.
AnonTom...thanks. I have a photo somewhere...of the 12 month old LFG, hugging one of my legs while standing in a sand trap on #18 at BHCC July fireworks. I lived in BH during my marriage and thank God every day that I hadn't yet been required to plunk down money for BHCC as my marriage poofed! Have fun at Pawleys...I hope the breeze blows forgivingly. LFG and I will, next week, be in the more pedestrian environs of Florence. 8 weeks is what you should expect from the FlussFactory.
NCJack...I can't hire this one out my man. It'll cost me too much money. I'm gonna try it.
SilkReggie...I used to feel the same way about my work. So much so that I tried to find ways to "stick it to the man" ... and then someone reminded me that I am "the man".
LimeGreen...I'm gonna wear them inside out tonight. On the veranda.
Flo...thanks. It's no big deal really. I hate to say it but a few things are in my favor. Demographics in this neck of the woods seem to favor me. More gals than guys. And this next admission is a sad one. Just not having a beer gut and only a small bald spot puts me in better stead than 50% of my competition. Add my chicken fried steak cooking skills and BAM...I'm golden.
Limpet H. ..."the Meryl Streep of the fish menu" Brilliant as always. And no, THAT particular date would not want to become a "Web Personality"...she has a rather "sensitive" job here in DC.
Muffy...thanks. The truth though...is that somewhere in the deep recesses of my whatever...I don't think I want to get caught...too much. That's why I seem to get released with regularity.
Mom of the Town and Country...thanks. I literally ran out of space for pictures. Considering now...attaching some to the doors. Seriously.
Scale...back at you. I miss Oregon. I did a project with Peace Health about three years ago and was out there several times.
MegTown..."been going on?" What dat?
101...how's that baby? I bet they are having to fight you to get it out of your arms. My mother used to say "mess" as well. She'd also jokingly say..."he are bad but he are mine"...
LPC...Prunella...If you didn't tisk-tisk me, I'd be worried.
Hmm? I'm wondering how the shoes are on top of the clothes pile.
Maybe it's because I've been married forever too, that this stuff seems more difficult for you than it ought to be.
However, just judging by the sanguine, cordial, and wryly flirtatious camaraderie that is the comfortable middle-age dynamic between the sexes, I don't understand all the effort.
If there's ever a time when you can just sit back and enjoy the hell out of someone, without having to worry if your shoes are right or if the skirt makes your hips look wide, it's now.
CeMac...it's really not difficult. And I never worry about how my skirt conveys hip morphology.
David...left 'em on. Needed the traction. BAM!
thanks for the perspective.
Why all the effort this time? Just give it up and get lucky. OT, CCC, BHCC, LeRufge, Peale shoes... just unfortunate stations of life. Been there, done that, to my surprise don't miss any of it! Move Onward, Life Is Grand without distractions.
Happy 4th! & 5th & 6th...............!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Why all the effort this time?"
You are asking this of a man who tucks a pocket square just so in his robe when he's home deathly ill with the flu, the man can't help himself! Best the ladies get a full frontal view of this character trait right off rather than have it spring unawares down the line as they compete ferociously for mirror time.
Max, may I say how much I love and adore you, but also may I confess that your man Flusser looks like taxidermy sitting there all prepped and arranged. If I saw that mobile mirror coming to my door to fetch me on a blind date, I think I'd duck real low below the windows just to hide from his prissy a**.
hahahahaha!
Sorry! I'm damn old!
"I think I'd duck real low below the windows just to hide from his prissy a**."
Right.
I have the feeling that you definitely would NOT duck.
You'd have Mr. Flusser's gorgeously attired ass hanging old photographs or snipping chervil.
"I have the feeling that you definitely would NOT duck. You'd have Mr. Flusser's gorgeously attired ass hanging old photographs or snipping chervil."
I already said exactly what I meant, I don't know how you "have the feeling" I meant something different.
You say he's "gorgeously attired" and I say he looks like "taxidermy." I don't interpret you to mean anything other than what you said: you like his look.
I don't.
Ok girls settle down.
A man of your taste and breeding should know by now, you shouldn't take online dating advice from a bunch of suburban soccer moms and married guys from Virginia to Oregon.
Times have changed.
I think the key to interacting with the oppositional sex is understatement, and that is something Flusser, as brilliant as he may be, lacks, IMO, at least where sartorial aspects are concerned.
Shoot me an e-note if you would like to discuss further. On your recent visit to OC, if you had let me know in advance, I could have introduced you to several young women on whom you could have tested our theories. Next time, eh?
And don't think, ol' chum, that I haven't noticed you've removed my website from your list of links.
It's not Mr. Flusser's look that I especially admire, Flo.
It's yours.
Good Lord and Taylor....
ADG - Did you anticipate explosive banter here on the Fourth of July courtesy of your attire?
Now get a pair of pants made out of that killer pink striped lining fabric!
I admit it. I stole the Tilapia line from the NY Times. Please don't make me go back to John G... They make you wear elastic waist pants there.
Still F. N. Anonymous
Obscurity, USA
Still F.N. ....LFG will be in South Carolina next week....with me. Let's try to have a burger. I'm thinking elastic waist pants might be of comfort to you.
LimeGreener....I'd wear that pant in a heartbeat.
LagunaBeachMon…I’m not certain how my stories of the July 4th holiday weekend antics got construed to be a call for assistance in the dating realm. I need none and if anything, could probably assist others in my peer group on the matter.
And more importantly…Your comments are always welcome here as long as they aren’t inflammatory or personally offense to others. I don’t hesitate at all to post comments that attack me personally. As a matter of fact, I’ve been known to actually create a blog post out of the personal attacks bestowed upon me. But you’ve personally attacked and unfairly characterized with no basis, decent people who are personal friends of mine. Friends that I could call at 3am if need be…real friends…not the Facebook bullshit definition. So yes, I had no choice but to remove you from my blog roll. I felt like having it there was an endorsement of your position on my friends as well as your views on what I’ve concluded, unfairly or not, to be your position on anyone non-white.
And finally, I am a white, straight man who lives by a code of high personal accountability. I also judge people. Anyone who says they don’t judge others is lying. But I try to judge people using the same code of personal accountability that I hold myself to…no more-no less. And I’m proud to say that I have friends of every size, color, socio-economic status as well as ethnic and sexual orientation. And I love Jews…seriously.
"It's not Mr. Flusser's look that I especially admire, Flo.
It's yours."
Well, I thought about it, maybe you're right, maybe I should let him in and put him to work around the house. But I looked at his photo again and decided he'd just be in the way. Does that guy look like he'd be able to figure out how to hang those pictures you're talking about, does he look like he'd be useful picking and snipping in the garden? Got his hair blown dry just so, all those cuffs going on, little precious shoes. Nahhhh. You had a good idea though.
What I wanna know is, how'd you edit out the Butt Police yellow caution tape surrounding the cane chair AND, where's your requisite Flusser groupie pinkie ring??? Hopefully, NOT in the BP evidence pile ;)
AllieVonPoliceAtBay...it was my butt that crashed through the chaise so there was never any But Police Crime Tape. I was pounced on amidst someone's cravin' and the result is...well...cane-breaking. And finally, I don't do pinky rings. They tend to compete with the already incongruent visual interest of my piercings.
"you shouldn't take online dating advice from a bunch of suburban soccer moms and married guys from Virginia to Oregon."
Yeah, it's not like the people who are living it day-by-day would know anything.
Sad part about people just liking their own color is the thumping boredom of it. The best example I can think of white and black gettin' together is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHq4laFwAEM
A black Hammond having its way with a white Stratocaster and vice versa.
I got a complicated blood line like most 'mericans. Last thing we need are purebreds. They always got web feet and even stranger minds.
Oh, I knew whose butt 'twas. Would never insinuate otherwise as I am a champion for my team. My concern lies with the obvious corruption running rampant within the Butt Police ranks. That crime scene has cover-up written all over it. tisk tisk...XXOO
Under no circumstances should you attempt to re-cane that chair. It will result in lots of bad words and throwing of tools, or at least that's what I've heard.......
Get some fabulous wide canvas webbing and make a hybrid.
I have repaired about 3 chairs like that, and will have to do 2 canoe seats this month... DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF. Your fingers will be sliced to ribbons, your thumbs will be mashed blue from the pegs and mallet, and when you get vertigo from staring at that pattern for long enough, you will miss a tuck here and there, which will ruin the whole thing. Get a pro to do it.
Fred Astaire liked pinky rings.
Then again, so does Prince Charles.
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