Shirts Make The Guy!

The fact that I've been procrastinating on this post for over two months should be more than sufficient proof of this shirt's honesty.

Size: XL | Fabric: 100% Cotton | Made by / in: shirt.woot / Nicaragua Had Since: 8/2/2013 | Price: FREE! | Times Worn: 3

In the past six months I've only made two proper posts about new shirts in my collection, and for that I do apologize. I can explain, though. For well over a year my T-shirt collection - and sharing it with the Internet through my pictures and words - had been my primary focus. But all that changed on the evening of April 5th. That night I semi-nervously met up with a girl whom I had never spoken to in person for a dinner date. Suddenly shirts were far less important.

As faithful readers may recall, for a long time I'd been playing with the Praise Band at Willow Hill United Methodist Church, where I was having a wonderful time making music and growing equally wonderful relationships with the other band members and church-goers. One of those band members had, unbeknownst to me, been talking little ol' me up to her daughter - her intelligent, gorgeous, hilarious daughter - for years. ...Years. The problem, though, was that she and I lived so far away from each other (almost 100 miles) that the daughter never really considered this cool kid her mom was pitching as a realistic possibility for a relationship. But then she got the chance to come to church with her family on Easter, where she heard a certain someone singing along with the band, and started thinking it might be worth giving her mom's suggestion a try despite the distance between us. A flurry of text messages went back-and-forth between her mom and my sister, then me and her mom, and finally between the daughter and me, and a legally-blind date was set up for halfway between our distant cities.

Something embarrassing you should know about me - I'd never been on a "date" before April 5th, 2013. I'd attempted to set one up about thrice before - one fell through before it happened, my motives were misunderstood on one, and once the girl showed up with her sister. Despite this history, and my nature, I was not as nervous as I expected I would be prior to our first date. I approached the encounter with a bit of anxiety, yes, but to be completely honest, my prevailing feeling was something akin to dread. I knew she wasn't going to like me, I wasn't going to like her, and the good thing I had going at church was going to shrivel up, forcing me out of the community there and the band. Feelings were going to be hurt and I'd be out my Sunday gig, and I kept wondering why I agreed to such a life-changing event.

And then Julia smiled at me when I walked into the restaurant. I was surprised by her enthusiasm, and it pumped me up. When she spoke her words were thoughtful and erudite, and funny to boot. I was impressed, to say the least. We ordered all the same things for dinner and dessert. I was intrigued. We spoke openly and honestly, neither concerned about painting ourselves in an unrealistic, perfect light. We both told stories of our shortcomings, our weaknesses, our embarrassments, but also of our triumphs and our accomplishments, our preferences and personalities. We shared about ourselves, our families, our experiences, and at the end of the night we set a second date for a week out. I should have asked for the next day.

She claims she knew then, and she probably did. I was a week behind - I spent much of the drive home from our second date realizing that I would soon have to ask her dad for permission to propose. That first date certainly turned out to be a a life-changing experience, but it was far and away better than the best I could have imagined, and I thank God I agreed to it.

Most folks who know me are probably aware of my passion for the Rubik's Cube. It's an outstanding aesthetic experience blended with a fascinating puzzle, and that combination makes it transcend "toy" straight on to "art" in my opinion. Some will even remember this post, where you can see my collection of Cubes and Cube-inspired accessories (read that in a Hank Hill voice, naturally). So it's not hard to imagine why Julia decided this would be a perfect garment for me, and gave me this to celebrate our 4 month anniversary. I had asked her to wear my engagement ring three days earlier, not that I'm comparing those two gifts... =P I was at her house when I received this gift, picking her up for "Secret Weekend," an event she planned which involved a trip to Indianapolis for dancing, museums, disc golf, and great memories. For this shirt (and for loving me) Jules gets a Huge THANK YOU!!!

I first wore the shirt a week after I opened it, on the second day of our trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my family. The picture at the top was taken at Timber Falls miniature golf course, next to a majestic carving of Paul Bunyan. This shirt came from the wonderful shirt.woot, a site that sells a different shirt at a sweet price every day. Despite their greatness, I only have two garments from them - both gifts - because I do not allow myself to visit their site. I've self-imposed that policy, even though it breaks my heart to do it, as it's far too dangerous a place for a person with my condition (...collecting T-shirts as an affliction). The size of my collection is one of the very few things Julia and I ever butt heads over, and while I'm not defending owning 400 shirts as Normal behavior by any standard, I hope she comes to understand to what extent I actually Do control my buying and collecting instincts and that I can someday convince her of the depth of my commitment to Not becoming a clinically-diagnosed hoarder. That's a mess I refuse, refuse, refuse to be.

This one was taken on that same day, at Mexicali Rose, right after my sister, Leah, agreed to be the Best Woman in our wedding party. The shirt itself is a soft and comfortable garment in a vibrant blue (one of Julia's favorite colors) with a brilliant print designed by Mexican native Wenceslao Almazan, who goes by Walmazan online. Looks like he's got a lot of great shirt designs all over these fair Internets for you to check out, and I encourage you to do so. The nature of the printed text means the shirt will eventually start to crinkle or warp or whatever around certain areas, but that's not a big deal. I dig the minor distressing that the shirt was printed with and expect it to hold up well for many years to come. If I were a huge, tactless nerd I might say something along the lines of, "There are at least four points in this design that render this configuration a physical impossibility on a standard Rubik's Cube," but we all know I'm better than that. Those points just add to his state of messiness - Somebody moved his stickers! Julia flashes a huge smile every time she sees this shirt, and says, "I'm a mess!" in very cute, hi-pitched voice. If posting audio/video was my thing, I'd totally post a soundbite of that...sadly for you, though, you're just going to have to trust me when I describe it as adorable. Below is another shot from that trip, while we were enjoying breakfast at Mr. Pancake.

New records and T-shirts - Doesn't get much better than that!

Size: XL | Fabric: 50% Cotton, 50% Polyester | Made by / in: Hanes / Haiti

Had Since: 4/20/2013 | Price: FREE! | Times Worn: 0

It's been almost three (3) weeks since I've written a proper shirt post...I remember how to do this, right?

When last we spoke I was wearing the final new shirt in my collection, and it was the day before one of planet Earth's most special holidays: Record Store Day.  For vinyl record fans (like me!) and supporters of local businesses (like I want to be...but I can't deny my love for Internet shopping), few days are more exciting.  Sometimes bands will put out special releases in honor of Record Store Day - to encourage people to visit and support their local brick-and-mortar shops - with most pressed in limited quantities for "exclusive" sale at local shops lucky enough to get them.  It's an awesome idea, and I support it as much as I possibly can in a town that can only keep a few small specialty music stores in business.  I visited three area record shops on the morning of April 20th, two of which were actively celebrating Record Store Day and one that was a complete dud (as they are every year).  I had a pretty hefty list of RSD exclusives I was hoping to score, but didn't have much faith I would find many here in Peoria.

My lack of faith was not unfounded, as the first shop I visited had none of the RSD exclusives on my shopping list.  They had a healthy stock of exclusives from bands I wasn't too interested in, but they had a bunch of new, non-RSD related records in that I picked up while I was there, along with a bag of swag, and they had an Awesome T-shirt for sale.  Spoiler alert: This is not that T-shirt (patience, fair readers...you'll see it soon).  They performed as expected on the exclusives side of things, but thrilled me with that T-shirt they had available, so it was a very worthwhile stop.  After that I went to Coop Records in Campus Town and milled around for a few minutes.  They apparently don't celebrate Record Store Day, and to that I say "Boooooo."

Then I made my way over to the Coop Records in East Peoria, where I was glad to see they were excitedly participating in RSD!  I looked through their substantial selection of exclusives and was delighted to find a copy of Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (which I'm posing with up there), one of the ten-or-so titles I had hoped to score.  Like I said, I didn't have high hopes for my local stores to have any of the things on my shopping list, so finding one was really a surprise, and I'm so glad I got to buy it at my local store!  For the other things on my list, I did what vinyl record shoppers have been doing in the aftermath of Record Store Day for centuries - I ordered them on the Internet.  That doesn't completely negate the spirit of the holiday, as they were purchased second-hand from people who live by luckier/cooler record stores.  The premium, marked-up prices said people charge devalues the holiday, yes...but hey, I tried.

Anyway, they had my LTE2 vinyl and I was happy happy, and I picked up a few other pieces of vinyl while there, and then proceeded to the checkout.  That's when I realized that there had been signs all over the store saying that every purchase that day came with a FREE! Coop T-shirt!  Score!  I had found one of my RSD exclusives, I had picked up a bunch of other records, I had bought an awesome shirt, and now I was getting a second shirt for free!  I had no idea the day before, when I was wearing my last new shirt, that the following morning would result in not one, but Two (2) new garments!  It was a Record Store Day miracle!

A hard, sad time for me, yes, but let's rejoice for their next partnerships!

A lot of the shirts I donated today were originally purchased from Goodwill, though not from the specific store where they are now waiting for new owners.  Some were old and didn't have much hope of being worn again, and others were kind donations from friends and family to help me reach last year's goal (...and didn't have much hope of being worn again).

Some were itchy and uncomfortable, and will not be missed.  Some were good threads with lots of love left to give, and they will be remembered fondly.  But none of them were among my very favorites, and I am glad that someone else will now have the opportunity to cherish them (perhaps) more than I could have!

I don't always ask for advice...but when I do, I prefer to ask owls.

Size: XL | Fabric: 100% Combed Cotton | Made by / in: American Apparel / USA

Had Since: 3/30/2013 | Price: $3 | Times Worn: 0

Video games have taught me a lot of things over the years: the rewards of persistence  attention to detail is often paramount, the importance of rest and restoration, the value of second chances, how to read, the significance of proper preparation  that there's always a "right tool for the job," and that out of all living beings - man, animal, or otherwise - the only ones who are Always trustworthy are owls.  All of this wisdom was actually gained by a small subset of my gaming experience, from the Legend of Zelda series, and I've found that most of it is as applicable to real life as Link finds it to be in Hyrule.  So I don't hesitate to tell you I would trust any owl implicitly.  So far I've not encountered any talking owls in the wild, or at the zoo, but if ever I do I'll be ready to heed whatever knowledge or suggestions he might proffer, however potentially dangerous or daunting they may be.

And if anybody objects, I'd just say, "Don't worry - An owl told me to do it."  I can only assume that would set their mind at ease, as it most certainly would for Me.

This is the 423rd shirt I've written about for you, and the last shirt I currently have on hand left to talk about.  Some of you have probably already guessed that this is another brilliant garment from the good kids at Fangamer, as most of my video game apparel has come from them, and with good reason; they're the best.  Period.  Today's awesome threads are my 33rd Fangamer shirt, with an incredible depiction of Kaepora Gaebora (the Hero of Time's frequent avian advisor) by designer Ross Bruggink.  Kaepora swoops down and offers you help in a bunch of the Zelda games, always pointing Link in the right direction or offering some cryptic hint at the real nature of strange happenings, all while twisting his head around and hooting like mad...so, yeah, good times.  The subtlety of Fangamer's designs is one of the things that makes them spectacular, and save for the Triforce hidden in the tail feathers this could just be a cool picture of an owl.  But we know better!  The print is done in my absolute favorite way - discharged with metallic ink - giving the whole design a fantastic sparkle and luster, all on a beautiful gray American Apparel garment.  I thank Ross and the Fangamer crew for this excellent shirt, yet another legendary shirt that is a tri-force-to-be-wreckoned-with: The courage to use the best designs, the wisdom to print them in the best way, and the power to print them on the best garments.

As is the case with most Fangamer apparel, this one includes a custom-printed tag in the neck.  I wore a shirt with an especially-itchy tag the other day, and cursed it every ten minutes for the duration it rode my torso.  Not so with this, though, as the discharge process blends the ink right into the shirt, leaving no tactile trace that won't chip or peel off like other printed tags (another big plus!).  This one came with a cool button, like all shirts from Fangamer, a feature I've almost always forgotten to mention and photograph (and today will be no exception on the latter front).  I picked this one up for a skimpy $3 plus shipping thanks to a gift certificate I earned through a promotion they had a while back - spend $X, get $20 gift card - and it's quickly flying its way to the top of my pile of favorites!  It's been my pleasure to share this one with you today, and as always I urge you to go get outfitted by the friendly nerds over at Fangamer!  Now that I'm completely out of new shirts to show you (again!) I'm eagerly awaiting more new designs from these kids, and will obviously tell you all about them whenever I'm fortunate enough to acquire more!

Thanks to Leah for taking today's picture, and for Dirk - the owl - on my arm (Christmas present)!

In other, kinda-non-shirt related news, it may interest you to learn that I've recently started doing something completely new to me - dating!  I was fixed up with a sensational girl from church and we've been hitting it off like crazy over the last few weeks, and I could scarcely be more excited about the whole situation.  We've been out thrice now, and on all three occasions I've worn Fangamer shirts underneath my dress-up costumes, and have used their hoodies and track jackets to stay warm and lookin' classy while out with her.  (Fun Fact: She has a T-shirt quilt on her couch.  Perfect, right?)  I can only assume they've all been helping things go so swimmingly, and am wearing this one and another Fangamer jacket (and maybe one of their polos? Maybe...kinda don't want to cover this sw33t shirt.) for what promises to be another great evening!  So an extra Thanks! goes out to everybody in Tucson for letting me get my geek on while looking good!  (Now I just gotta have her start gaming more...perhaps Earthbound on Virtual Console? ;-)

Pro Tip: Don't try to hitchhike on a residential side-street.

Size: XL | Fabric: 100% Cotton | Made by / in: Drifter / U.S.A.

Had Since: 3/7/2013 | Price: $28 | Times Worn: 0

Happy Smashing Saturday everyone!  It's been about ten days since I've been able to share a new shirt with you, and there are few that I enjoy showing you more than my ever-expanding collection of Smashing Pumpkins apparel!  I'm especially glad to be able to present this one - made by Drifter (...hence the hobo look, y'all) for the band's Zeitgeist-era residencies - as I had been pursuing it for quite some time and finally managed to snag one on eBay recently.  Let's have a better look at the awesome graphic on the front, shall we?

The print on this garment is fresh and bright, and actually a tad rough to the touch.  I'd be very surprised if this shirt had been worn and laundered more than twice before coming into my collection.  And the custom-printed tag in the neck is still in pristine condition as well:

For those of you devoid of a life and/or in the possession of an extraordinary memory, Yes, you Have seen a shirt like this already during Shirts Make the Guy!  Top marks to you!  On October 19th of last year I wore a Zeitgeist Drifter shirt to see the band perform in Chicago!  I paired it with the matching hoodie (which is also being worn in today's picture) and Mom and I had a blast hearing their excellent new Oceania album and a whole slew of other classics (including X.Y.U. - check that off the bucket list).  So why did I need another Drifter shirt?

The obvious answer is you can't have too many SP shirts, even if they do look the same.  From the front they look practically identical, though you can tell I've worn the one on the left more than today's new one.  But they're not the same - In fact, the one in better condition is actually older!  Not by a long time, mind, but still older.  So is this another Smashing Pumpkins Double Take?  How about a peak at the back to find out?

In 2007, the band set up shop for epic, multi-night residency performances at Asheville's Orange Peel and San Francisco's Fillmore theaters, and this shirt was from the latter of those awesome events.  This shirt was printed in a limited edition specific to these eleven gigs in California, and a counterpart was done for the nine nights in Asheville.  After the popularity of this design became apparent, the band must have signed off on the production of more of these shirts to be sold by retailers around the country (and online), but with a minimalized back design to distinguish them from those made for the residencies.  It's not the same shirt at all now!

Any respectable T-shirt collection must include a touch of elegance.

Size: L | Fabric: 100% Cotton | Made by / in: Gildan / Haiti

Had Since: 2/24/2013 | Price: FREE! | Times Worn: 0

Shirts Make the Guy Overtime continues with another shirt donated to me by a gentleman of class and exceptional taste, who admittedly felt rather uncomfortable bringing this particular garment into the sanctuary at church when he surrendered it to me...for some reason...

...I can't imagine why.

I spent the morning listening to Izzy & the Kesstronics' album "Elegant M.F." (Oh what a wonderful title) and watching YouTube videos of them performing live, and have had an excellent time!  I'd not heard of the band before this shirt was given to me, but I've found their blend of 50's rock 'n roll with elements of swing and surf grooves to be fantastically entertaining and look forward to hearing more of them in the future.  Usually I do the bulk of my research for topics I know absolutely nothing about on Wikipedia (like a Boss), but I've found it of no use today in looking for Izzy Zaidman and his various bands.  I've deduced, though, that Kesstronics collaborator Seth Kessel apparently left the band recently, so they've changed the group's name to Izzy & the Catastrophics and have kept right on rolling.  For those who aren't afraid of a good time (and a bit of language - there, you've been warned), I'd highly suggest you go find yourself some videos of these gents performing live, as they exude more energy and enthusiasm than their album could contain.

Todd got to see the band perform at a local venue a few years back, and said the show was absolutely wild, with some of the guys standing on tables or playing while walking through the dancers.  I think it hurt him to have to part with this particular shirt, but I promise I'll look after it and treat it well, and I'm sending a Huge THANK YOU! his way for entrusting it to me.  The garment itself is in excellent condition - its flawless high-density print looks almost unworn.  This is marked as a Large, but it fits me like a dream, so apparently Gildan is trying to make me feel good about my body (always appreciated).  Hopefully someday I'll get the chance to see these kids play, preferably with Todd hootin' and hollerin' along with me, but until then I'll rock their shirt and enjoy their YouTube videos, and I suggest you do the same!

Today we start Shirts Make The Guy "Overtime." Size: XL | Fabric: 100% Cotton | Made by / in: Fruit of the Loom / Honduras Had Since: 2/24/2013 | Price: FREE! | Times Worn: 0 I did all this every day for over a year...What was I thinking?  I spent the entire morning doing listening and reading research to write this post, then spent the better part of an hour this afternoon taking the picture and struggling with technology to get the images transfered into my laptop.  And I still have to Write It.  I miss getting the chance to be part of your reading routine, yes, but I certainly don't miss the time suck of this project. Enough complaining - It's good to be back, and I'm glad to see you again.  It's been just over a month since I wore my final shirt, and since then I've acquired three more to tell you about, including this one.  I told you about folding and sorting the original collection, and am pleased to report that I've got the Rush and Smashing Pumpkins shirts hung in the closet, and big stacks of Fangamer and band shirts on my table, but the overflow stacks have once again found their way onto my couch.  That's a bummer, but until I figure out Somewhere Else for them to live it will have to do.  I've seperated out a pile of garments to donate, so I'll have a total update to mention soon...hopefully I can keep myself from buying more shirts while I'm making my delivery (no promises).  In the real world - outside of fanatical T-shirt collecting - since the end of my project, I got a haircut and played a musical at a local high school, have started calorie counting and successfully shed a few pounds, and have completed/continued a number of video games the blogging pre-empted last year. ...So, yeah, nothing much. Today's first "Overtime" shirt (and next week's) came to me the weekend directly after I concluded this business, when the sun was shining and the birds were singing and I was relieved to be done and never never wanted to type another word about shirts ever ever again.  This one and its companion were hesitantly given to me at church by Todd - at the exuberant urging of his wife, Laura - with the specific instruction that I was under no obligation to write about them.  He didn't want to force me into continuing against my will, which I appreciated...though I can't honestly say Laura felt the same ("What will I read now!?").  Part of me cried on the inside, but the pesky part of me that loves new shirts and loves writing laughed and said "Of course I'm going to write about them!"  And now here we are, though as you can see, it took me over a month to work up the nerve to start doing this again. Apparently some people - we'll call them "normal" - occasionally look in their closets and decide it's time to get rid of some of thier shirts.  Or so the legend goes.  Some of these normal people don't even own Hundreds of shirts, yet knowlingly part with some of them to "thin out" their already anorexic wardrobes.  This all sounds very strange, I know, but it happens.  And when you're very lucky, or very good (...or both, like someone I know) you can benefit from this bizarre habit of normal folk by aqcuiring their old threads.  Such is the tale of how this shirt, featuring a portrait of jazz guitar legend Django Reinhardt, found its way to me!  A Huge THANK YOU! goes out to Todd for being normal, and one more goes to Laura for pressuring him into sending it my way!