Help me choose

Which Lego tie should I get?

I'm not asking which style or which maker? That's decided. I'm ordering myself a Brick Your Neck! tie in the original long style.

What I need to know is which color I should order: red, white, blue, or black?

They all come in plain and can be adorned in all sorts of brilliant ways, none of which I would frequently have time for, sadly.

I need a few new ties...

I've been wearing more neckties again this year, something about trying to be good and work with the culture plan in the hopes that the situation at work can get better. So, I'm on the lookout for a few new ties...

I want but am to cheap to pay for some new chemistry ties like...

This one...

This one...(really want this one)...

This one...

This one...

This one...

This one...

This one (and in red, too)...

I already have a few novelty science-themed ties...

• DNA double helix (actually, I have it in blue)
• museum artifacts in yellow (and in maroon and in navy)
• atoms in blue
• chemistry novelty tie (had it, got cream pie all over it, ruined it)

And there are a number of science-themed ties that don't do much for me, just kind of meh...

• burgundy experiments
• navy blue elements
• most everything from zazzle
• Trust me, I'm a chemistry teacher
• white periodic table 
• navy blue periodic table
• black lab
• blue periodic table
• structure of the atom
• black periodic table
• elements & symbols
• test tubes

New favorite

Jennifer Lawrence is attractive and a great actress (see especially Winters Bone) and crass.

She's swiftly becoming a new favorite.

There are a bunch of nice animated gifs over on Uproxx...and Uproxx...

I warn you, there's a pic after the jump that's ...

I wish me a merry Christmas

Each year - well, most years, anyway - we hold an Ugly Christmas Sweater Day at Princeton, and I'm getting tired of not having an awesome Christmas sweater for myself. All I have is a sad cardigan in Christmas colors but that has absolutely no Christmas design in the least. At some point I'm going to just break down and buy one of these awesome Christmas sweaters...

My eventual purchase probably won't come from Tipsy Elves because their selection seems to lean more toward the dirty jokes - Santa writing his name in the snow, reindeer mounting reindeer, Santa in black face - most of which I probably couldn't wear to school and still claim it to be professional.

Ultimate Ugly Christmas has some more passable options, particularly (as of the weekend writing) this snowman council sweater. I wish some of their 'sweaters' weren't really sweatshirts - like Be The Tree.

The Sweater Store also offers a decent selection of pullovers that fit the bill, but all of their sizing information seems to be for women, something that doesn't help me all that much.

Ebay, of course, has thousands of ugly Christmas sweaters, but they're thoroughly hit or miss with the titles being misleading, the sizes being wrong, the prices up for grabs. Four of the sweaters, though, did catch my eye.

Vintage Ugly Christmas Sweaters has a few drawbacks - it's Canadian, and their sweaters all lack sizing information - but does have a decent selection, especially in the vest category.

The Ugly Sweater Store does break things down by sizes, and I appreciate that. My three favorite sweaters there, though, have already been sold.

Weirdly, a label called LA Police Gear has a number of sweaters that they're marketing as being ugly Christmas sweaters, but theirs come with a weird little attitude - like this Milk Boarding sweater.

My current favorite sweater, though, comes from My Ugly Christmas Sweater where they have a section they call Vintage Reindeer sweaters where this outstanding option with an Eddie Bauer reindeer on front and back. It's even in my size. If only it weren't $125. That's a bit much for a once-a-year gag. Be careful, though, because this site has a number of sweaters that they have adapted by sewing on fringe, Santa faces, lights, and other non-traditional sweater accessories.

Blogging and narcissism

Blogging (or twittering or tumblring or whatever) is the ultimate in narcissistic thinking. You may as well carry around a sign saying "other people should give a crap about what I think" because that's the only thing that will keep you doing this.

And a local Cincy blog called What I Wore 2Day is the height in that thinking. It's not ever "other people should give a crap about what I think," it's "other people should give a crap about what I wear every frickin' day."

I know I'm not a fashionista by any extent of the word, so I'll say that the photos are very well taken, the model kinda cute, the fashion style eclectic and interesting, but seriously?

I need some Chucks

Clearly...

Update: Pardon our ranting: Fashions I hate

Two more...

scarves when it's over 50 degrees...

Burberry plaid...

Pardon our ranting: Fashions I hate

High black socks with athletic shoes

Oversized sunglasses

Black,thick-frame glasses - especially if they have no lenses

Ugg boots

Sweatpants with words on the butt

Sagging pants

Ridiculously ripped jeans

Monochromatic shirt/tie combos...

Asymmetrical dresses

Lady Gaga

Skinny jeans

I'm sure there are more that aren't coming to mind right now. Expect an update at some point.

Happy DNA week!

Today - orange (I didn't know...)
Tuesday - purple
Wednesday - blue & red (partners)
Thursday - green & yellow (partners)
Friday - DNA food (I vote for rainbow colors)

This is far dorkier than rainbow spirit week a few years back.

As a bonus, feel free to print out your very own customized DNA strand thanks to one of Calen's former students.  And let me add that this would make an awesome gift for me for DNA week.  This would not, however.

Get the vaccine...while there's still time

Need vs want

There is nothing here that I need, nothing at all.

But there are quite a few things that I want.  No clue what I would do with military-ribbon-style pins commemorating me as a veteran of the console wars (I've earned #s 1 & 4) or with the arcade buttons or the gold ballad pin, but they're just so darn cool that I'd be tempted to buy 'em if they weren't ridiculously priced - and in British pounds even.

C'mon, folks, get with the program and adopt the world currency already.

The goggles do nothing...nothing...

Good to see John Daly back in contention at the British Open.  He's had a rough go for a...

Oh My God!

My eyes...my eyes...

For some reason, I'm hungry for skittles now.

Oh, and if anybody's curious, John Daly's fashions are courtesy of Loudmouth Golf, and I'm particularly fond of this print which also comes in a sports coat.

Really? Ya think so?

From an NPR story this past week...

NPR Reporter Guy: There are undoubtedly listeners tuning in to this conversation thinking to themselves, "why do I care about fashion when the economy is in a tailspin?" You've made the emotional, aesthetic argument. What's the economic argument?

Sally Singer, editor Vogue: Fashion is an enormously important industry, not just in New York City, but across the country. There are a lot of people in America who make clothes, who sell clothes, and we want to keep those people working.

Not shopping is not a moral act at this time.

So many people think that their frugality is somehow a new moral front. Now that might be true if they were kind of excessive and bizarre in the years before, but when people don't shop, other people lose their jobs. That's a fact.

Seriously? Not shopping is not a moral act?

We've been told for decades that we need to save more money than we're saving, and now that people have been scared into doing just that, and you're telling us that is an immoral act?

I'm throwing the flag, folks.

Uggly boots

I'll admit that I have absolutely no fashion sense. If I'm lucky, my shoes match my belt when I'm dressed for school.

So I obviously have no business ranting and slagging someone else's fashion choices.

No business at all.

So here goes...


I hate Ugg boots.