My Good Friend Cole Haan

My thirst for yet another pair of nautically inspired footwear has been quenched. Thank you, Cole Haan.

An Escape From "Chompin' at the Bit"

Ghost from Tobias Gundorff Boesen on Vimeo.

Blast From the Past -ReVamp

Ahh, don't the classics make your ears ring.

Shit... that isn't too shabby, either.

Dress Down the Get-Up

I love wearing ties. It's a clear and simple part of me. A tie may not for every occasion, however, there are a few great ways to make a tie suitable for simply going out for a typical meal, hanging out with friends, or date night. This post is based off of a few posts I've read from either blogs or full websites, and I decided to take these concepts and spin them my own way.

My Personal Preferences:

Oxford Shirts (Worn in Every Photo)

Slim Ties (Knit Included and a Huge Plus)

From Left to Right: Club Room, Countess Mara, J. Crew

Rolled Cuffs (Season and Weather Permitting)

 Unbuttoned Top Button








The Looks:

Traditional: whoopie, though can never be screwed up too bad if proportions are correct.

Monsieur Slop: This one is easy to screw up and end up looking straight-up disorganized. Don't play with fire if you're gonna get burnt.

Tricky Tuck: I like this one, however, most people seem to dispute my opinion, proceed with caution.

Tie-talion Twist: My personal favorite, just twist that knot a little bit and you have yourself a game-breaker.

Service Special: Whether you're a server or a bank teller, this has your name written all over it. Good method to prevent your tip from getting wet. 

The American List by A Continuous Lean

If you don't know of A Continuous Lean, start learning. It is my favorite blog by far, and is on such a wide range of topics.

Outsourcing is becoming very popular, not to other states, obviously, but to other countries. This is wise for a manufacturer, but generally bad for the consumer. I, personally, love to see "Made in USA" printed on my goods. It gives me a sense of pride, as well as confidence that I bought something well-made. To ensure you experience the same satisfaction, the gods (ACL) have wrote upon a manuscript such a list that will blow your mind. Lo and behold:

The American List

A World Unlike Your Own

I spent my spring break on the island of Eleuthera, located in the Bahamas. The image above is taken from a rock ledge located above the Glass Window Bridge. Eleuthera is relatively unpopulated, and in many senses mystifying. How can such a beautiful place be so unknown that you may be the only soul on a ten mile stretch of beach? I don't want to spoil the secret, but sometimes a secret is too good not to share.

I use an iPhone for all my photos, the majority of pictures taken use the HDR feature, which combines three photos into one, "better" one. This feature can be both compelling and a fault. The first picture exemplifies the latter; everything is blurry because I couldn't keep my damned hand still in the 30 knot winds. On the other hand, this picture, featuring a Cohiba Cuban and beverage truly show the beauty of this HDR feature. Hopefully I'll become better at determining situations to use this feature in the future.

You just can't beat an early morning beach walk, before the water turns the mesmerizing turquoise color so commonly associated with the Bahamas.

Another early morning walk picture, simply changing emphasis of the sun's reflection on an island in the distance.

It's hard to screw up solids. When traveling to a relatively deserted island, don't be afraid to utilize simplicity. I love to wear button-downs, but they're too bulky to pack. Instead, I opted for five different colors of J. Crew, plain crew neck t-shirts. Not only did I have spare room in my suitcase, and plenty of it, but I was able to decrease the odds of committing a fashion crime, ten-fold. Here I'm featured wearing my faded green J. Crew broken-in t-shirt, sporting my father's vintage Ray-Ban Wayfarers, J. Crew seersucker board-shorts, and a green Polo cap.

An additional packing strategy is to pack around one, completely versatile color. I decided to bring one, brown belt, and packed everything to match with brown. I didn't bring anything that wouldn't mix with brown, because it would simply look forced. Nobody likes a try-hard, but at least it doesn't involve oversized t-shirts, oversized basketball shorts, "tool" socks, and an oversized ego.

There's more to come on the magical island of Eleuthera, but let's face it, an entire blog dedicated to the island wouldn't do it justice. You simply must travel there before you wake up. Next post I will put up photos of the abandoned Club Med, Eleuthera. In many senses, it's a creepy place, in many others, simply beautiful. My pictures don't do it justice, but it almost reminds me of the Dharma fortresses from LOST, which is an interesting thought to me.

To Whom It May Concern

I'm not nearly the photographer you are, but I suppose a photograph is truly the best way to show expression. I really wish I could be as artistic as you, though it seems rather impossible. Today, I visited the book store, and decided it was finally my turn for a little black book. I don't even know what to write about, but I hope to hell that someday you'll find it valuable. I hope to hell someday I'll type every word I write into a word processing document for you to read, and if I'm lucky, save. It's hard to beat creating an entire blog on my behalf, and virtually renders this post worthless.

Regardless, I spent my lunch money for the week on this black, leather pocketbook. I bought it for the sole purpose that you may still know me, though isolated by thousands of seemingly unreachable miles. Honestly, I hope that someday I may hand this book to you, personally. So that you may read all my thoughts, meaningful and meaningless alike, and possibly come to understand me better than I understand myself.

I couldn't possibly have imagined typing a post so personal in such a public place.

Don't forget the nights you can't remember. I know I won't be able to.