Learn Something Useful

Home Depot offers FREE seminars on weekends. Swing by and learn something that will provide you with skills to improve you and your family's lives.

Classes include:

Bathroom Renovations
Interior Painting
Tile Design and Tools
Storage Solutions
Cabinet Refinishing & Replacing
Tiling Techniques

Just a few...

Old sayings exist because there is sometimes value in them.

I've always liked "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and feed him for a lifetime."

10. Essentials

10. "Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying"



I have a tattoo. This phrase from The Shawshank Redemption serves as a remembrance of things past, a desire to stay in the moment, and Carpe Diem.

10 Essentials

9. Watch / Bracelet.




Both gifts from my lady. I love the classic styling of this $30 watch. Patterned off of Vietnam era Hamiltons and more original than the J. Crew incarnation, it's reliable, good lookin', it takes a lickin' and you know the rest. The Bracelet is from Giles and Brother. They do amazing work. I wear them every day.

10 Essentials

8. Journal



I carry a journal with me. I keep lists, right poems, sketch designs, store memories...Mine was a gift. It's leather bound and has a spiral notebook inside. The older it gets, the better it looks and feels.

10. Essentials

7. Banker's Envelope



I carry a Banker's Envelope from Jack Spade. I store books, bills, documents, and my journal in it. It is emblematic of diligence and hard work. It has character.

10 Essentials

6. Barbour Jacket



I love things with utility. I love the authenticity of waxed canvas. Barbour makes an amazing coat, the Classic Beaufort. It's warm and waterproof. It can be re-waxed and repaired. It will last forever and gets better looking and more comfortable with age. It is my go to coat.

10 Essentials

5. Tiffany's Key Chain.



I was given a plain Tiffany's keychain by a close friend some years ago. My initials are monogrammed on it. Though some find these trifles banal, it is important to carry things that help remind me of those whom I love and represent.

10 Essentials

4. Clark's Desert Boots.



I love desert boots. They're pieces that get more and more comfortable and better looking with wear. I got my first pair in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, in 1999. They go with everything, wear forever, and are reasonably priced. I'll wear them for the rest of my life.

10 Essentials

3. Raw Denim.



James Dean, Marlon Brando. These guys wore raw denim. APC and Jack Spade both make a nice raw, selvedge denim jean. Jack's are made in North Carolina and California. Never wash them. I mark the date of purchase in marker on the inside of the front pocket. I get to see them change and gain character. I wear them everyday. They can be used with a blazer as well as an old t-shirt.

10 Essentials

2. A Pocket Knife.



My Grandfather used to say, "A Gentleman carries a handkerchief and a pocket knife." I carry a small spyderco on my keychain. It's there for boxes, mail, fruit, meat, bread, thread...anything. And as the saying goes, it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

10 Essentials

I like GQs 10 Essentials. What are yours?

http://www.gq.com/about/ten-essentials

I will do mine one at a time:

1. A handkerchief.

I get mine in sets of five or ten at various department stores. Brooks Brothers and other places make them WAY TOO BIG. They seem to think they're making bandannas (I would know, I'm from Texas). Go with the less expensive type at Marshalls or some place like it, 100% Cotton.

Plain white- Get them monogrammed with initials or a funny saying, individualizing them...get playful with the thread color too...Make them YOURS.

The Brown Buffalo

check out this site:

www.thebrownbuffalo.com

Douglas Davidson runs it- guy's been collecting luggage and bags for 15 years.

Dynamic, dedicated stuff.

We need all of these kind of things that we can get.

Join his blog too, I did:

http://hypebeast.com/blog/douglasdavidson/

Firewood Carrier

Get your father or father-in-law a log carrier. It's masculine, he doesn't have one, and it'll look great next to the fire...Jack Spade makes a good waxwear piece.

Winter Poets

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

By Robert Frost

Robert Frost is a wonderful poet for the Winter. Pull up a seat by the fire with his Collected Works and take in the season.

Holiday Designs

A quick and elegant manner of adding some holiday spirit to your place...Save your pickle jars from the grocery, soak them- removing the labels and glue. Fill them to various capacities with silver bells from the hardware store. It's only a few dollars, and will add some masculine holiday cheer.

Glass

I'm getting more and more interested in working with glass. I like wired safety glass- 70's science lab style, but it all works.