16 January 25

Happy Birthday, Ben Kleppinger! He wanted me to wear a dark green tie, for his favorite color, and we settled on this nice paisley design. I'm including a photo from 2008 when Ben had dreads and I was working in Case Hall Annex at EKU.

15 January 25

It's a very, very cold day in central Kentucky, and we are staying inside! But I still want to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968). The national holiday honoring him falls on Monday, 20 January this year. My special tie came from the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It shows photos from his life and statements about many events, including the "I have a dream" passage from his speech at the Lincoln Memorial, 28 August 1963.

14 January 25

Every day, around 7:00 in the morning and evening, we are accosted with paw taps and loud meows for feeding time. Andrew (9), Esther (9), Portia (4) and Muffin (1) are residents with us at Eleven Gables on Occasional Pond, Berea, KY. Today (14 January) was designated Cat Day (Chat, 25 Nivôse) on the French Republican Calendar. My tie celebrates cats of all colors and looks.

12 January 25

It's National Pharmacist Day! Time to celebrate the great profession that has changed dramatically from dispensing pills to providing expert advice to patients and knowing more about medications than the other doctors who prescribe them. We are proud to have Courtney Kleppinger (D. Pharm., near-Ph.D.) in our family. Courtney is a staff pharmacist at the University of Kentucky Hospital. My tie shows chemical lab equipment and organic chemistry molecules.

 ©Caliper. Maptitude^® mapping software.

8 January 25

As requested by Carter Rae Beatty, I'm wearing my moths-flies-and-beetles tie, to honor their birthday (7 January). Carter is my niece, married to Matt Lang. They live in Asheville, where Carter enjoys looking for the critters (bugs) native to western North Carolina! Carter works for Southern Highland Craft Guild.

5 January 25

Winter storm "Blair" is covering us up in central Kentucky with lots of snow, with sleet and freezing rain promised for tonight. Se we are staying in to celebrate the Twelfth Day of Christmas! And I have a NEW TIE to show -- covered with the traditional gifts! The twelve drummers and eleven pipers are actually all knotted up, so I'm getting a lot of banging and fluting near my throat. Our house bear "Drummond" is especially pleased to be with me today!

3 January 25

 It's the Tenth Day of Christmas! Significantly for our family, today is the birthday of Mark Wollenweber, my brother (-in-law)!!! Mark is a few years away from joining me (and his siblings) in retired life. He works today in the seafood industry, primarily resourcing squid and scallops. He gets to travel frequently to seaports in China, Vietnam, Croatia, Panama, Mexico and other places, getting home to Rhode Island once in a while. My Jerry Garcia tie is called Snail Garden, and I'm wearing it because snails are zoologically related to squid (and other mollusks)!

2 January 25

Fifteen years ago today we proudly witnessed the wedding of Jonathan and Courtney, in snowy Hyden, KY. This is the tie (and suit) I wore that day. Happy Anniversary, Jonathan and Courtney!

29 December 24

I'm showing bright colors for the Fifth Day of Christmas 2024.

27 December 24

For this Friday morning's "donuts" Zoom meeting with friends from EKU -- on the Third Day of Christmas -- I'm wearing my International Santa tie!

26 December 24

The Second Day of Christmas is called Boxing Day, originating (maybe) with a European tradition of giving "boxes" of gifts to less fortunate people. In our modern times it has also become a day for retailers to sell leftover Christmas goods "by the box," and for consumers to box up and return unwanted or wrong-size gifts. My tie showing  gaily wrapped boxed gifts just looks nice on Boxing Day.

25 December 24

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

Those are words from a 1971 song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. It gets blended with a wonderful pacifist messsage:

War is over
If you want it
War is over
Now

I am fully aware that "wanting" war to be over has not been successful, but I am also fully undeterred from proclaiming that message. I hope I've given you an earworm to enjoy.

Today's tie is a pretty Christmas tree with candles, originally owned by Dad Robert Wollenweber!

22 December 24

 For the fourth Sunday in Advent 2024 I wore my Christmas trees tie that includes a sound chip that "chirps" the melody from Silent Night.

20 December 24

My calendar shows no special occasions for today, but yesterday marked 153 years since Mark Twain received the first of his three patents for suspenders. Today's tie is a great new gift from David and Rachel Haskins; I'm wearing its nice display of stars, constellations and eclipses for our Friday morning Zoom "donuts" meeting, which includes astronomy professor Jessica Lair!

15 December 24

The theme for the Third Sunday in Advent is JOY. My joyful tie features singing penguins! And my tie clip is a joyful pink elephant. (My hair tie that you can't see is pink, the color associated with this Sunday.)