The ABC's of Dressing Me

I was watching a movie today called The Big Year Staring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. The movie was about Birding and the lengths 3 men go to in order to become the top birder of the year. It was a delightful movie and I greatly enjoyed it.
That aside, one of the things that impressed me about this movies was how Steve Martin dressed. I am always impressed with the way Mr. Martin puts together his clothes and how they indeed make him the man and the actor he is.
Now me that is a totally different story altogether . I am the product of two parents who believed in the adage: "Clothes make the man." Throughout my life I was always told by them to dress to impress. My father used to say that you can always tell what kind of man you are dealing with by the way he dresses . If he does not iron his shirt or pants, take care pf those little details, how do you expect him to handle bigger details. Then he would give examples of impeccable dressers who have become men of success like Bryant Gumbel and Bill Cosby. He equated their success with their dress.
When I would bring up examples of men who did not dress to impress but were still successful like Steve Jobs or Woody Allen, he would say but those guys are white and do not have to work as hard to impress.
So as an adult male, I find myself making compromises between what my parents taught me and what I have to do as a matter of fashion survival and comfort. Here are the ABC's of Dressing me.
A. I usually wear buttoned-down shirts with two pockets. Being a techie I need two pockets one for my smart phone and other for my Ipod and a moleskine notebook. The shirt is always oxford blue.
B. I usually wear khakis sometimes cuffed sometimes not cuffed. This has a practical purpose as well. Khakis are comfortable on one had and can be dressed up on the other if needed. All it takes is a tie and a blazer to turn a causal uniform into business dress.
B. Shoes and outer wear. In the spring, summer and fall, I wear dark athletic shoes for two reasons: because they are comfortable, I workout and walk on a daily basis, and because they can double for dress up if needed. I usually carry two types of outerwear in my car or on a trip . One is a Scott Evest tech vest that can be used to carry a cell phone, camera, ipod and a variety of other devices needed on a daily basis. The other is a blazer weather navy or light brown silk.
Theses are the ABC's of dressing me despite all else comfort is the key.

SJobsRip@anotherworld.com

I decided to take a break from Facebook to make a serious note about the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Mr. Jobs is one of those people who even though he is in the limelight his personal life was on the front page a great deal less than his business life and his company's products.
I think that is the way it should be for all public figures. For the life of me and I am a pretty smart guy, I could not tell you the name of his wife or the names of any of his four children. I think that is the way it should be and it was part of the style of a man who gave us so much. I do not know this for a fact, but it seems that he was the kind of person who said we are or Apple is not Steve Jobs is. He kept his personal life personal in the reserved classy way he did everything.
When President Obama speaks of the American Dream, he is speaking of Steve Jobs. He was adopted and from a plain ordinary working-class family. He was not from privilege nor did he ever carry the air of it. He made it in this big game called America solely on his talent and ambition. He had no pedigree ( Ivy League, Influential Family etc.) no springboard accomplishment to propel him to greatness. Steve made it because of two things: his willingness to hone and expand his talents and his willingness to collaborate with others first Steve Wozniak then countless numbers of geniuses who he was willing to give free reign ( with some direction from Jobs himself) to create the greatest communication and technology company known to the world.
Steven Jobs was our Thomas Jefferson, a pioneer who never ceased his search for the promised land. He was a man of power who did not always use it to alter our nation, the world or the people in it. He had a love for education but never used his money, as in the case of Bill Gates to start a special education foundation to show educators how to educate and make them dance to his music. Apple does offer discounts to teachers and students to make it easier for them to purchase apple products. As a teacher, I appreciate this .
Mr. Jobs chose to let his products talk for him . Instead of telling the world what to do and how to do it, Steve Jobs and apple provides the people of the world with the tools to talk to one another to create words, pictures and bring us together.
As I write this blog on my 2007 Macbook Pro I recall what Mr. Jobs said to the Standford University Class of 2005 "Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life." That made me think. This is a transition year for me . For the last 23 years, I have been living someone else's life now I am starting to live my own. I am taking Steve Jobs words to heart and when I finally leave this earth it will be as myself, living my life, reaching my goals and I will as Steve Jobs , have no regrets.