20-21 February 26

My sister (-in-law) Liz Lavigne has a birthday every year on 21 February. Since that's in Pisces, Liz asked me to wear my Escher flying fish tie! It's entirely appropriate because the traditional zodiacal symbol shows two fish swimming in opposite directions. Some lore attached to those born under this sign: "Known for extreme empathy, creativity, and deep intuition, Pisces strengths include being compassionate, artistic, and adaptable. They express love with intense devotion, emotional depth, and by prioritizing their partner’s needs, often acting as caring healers." Dr. Liz is a Teaching Associate in Biology Education at Brown University. She and Mark (Beth's brother) live in Providence, RI.

25 October 23

When I need a tie to celebrate International Artist Day, my options include designs from Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dalí, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin and Edvard Munch. I chose this flying fish tessellation from M. C. Escher!

21 November 22

This is an excellent day to wear my Escher flying fish tie -- just because I really enjoy Escher's art!

17 June 21

 Today's tie celebrates the birthday of graphic artist M. C. Escher (1898-1972), known primarily for his dazzling creations that explore the limits of tessellation (interlocking images that cover the plane), emergence/evolution, and the relativity of perspective. My tie tessellates with dark red, blue and light gray flying fish. Today is also the birthday of John Wesley (O. S. 1703-1791), National Eat Your Vegetables Day, World Croc Day (celebrating both alligators and crocodiles), and Global Garbage Man Day (honoring waste and recycling workers).

17 June 20

Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher was born on this date in 1898. He died in 1972. My tie is based on his design with red, blue and beige flying fish tessellating the plane.

    

25-26 November 18

Catching up on two days for posting about my ties: On Sunday I wore my Escher "flying fish" tie, tessellating the plane with an iconic fish in three colors. I had no special reason except that it's a great tie and there was no great occasion to celebrate. Today (Monday) is the birthday of Charles Schulz, creator of Peanuts®, and so Snoopy has come along to wander all over a checkerboard.

19 June 17

Graphic artist M. C. Escher was born on 17 June 1898. My tie for today is based on his tessellation of "flying fish." For more wonderful creations, search for "escher images" and enjoy the panoply.

15 June 16

Graphic artist M. C. Escher was born on 17 June 1898. Since that's a Friday this year (with no tie for me), I'm celebrating two days early with this "flying fish" tessellation tie. As others have noted, we are currently in a sequence of palindromic calendar dates (6-10-16, 6-11-16, 6-12-16 and so on) whose internal mirroring symmetry would please Escher. And now you can look forward to the similar sequence in July next year.

2 August 15

Today's tie was selected by Jonathan, honoring his 27th birthday (yesterday). As he explained it, "I think you should wear your Escher flying-fish tie tomorrow to celebrate the three-year anniversary of the last time you wore it and it was not June 17." And he is correct (as always).

17 June 15

M. C. Escher was born on this date in 1898. He is the artist famous for painting intricate visual puzzles like "Drawing Hands," "Waterfall," and the looping stairs in "Ascending and Descending." My tie's pattern is based on his tessellations of flying fish. A tessellation is a drawing that fills the plane with repeating geometric units, like interlocking puzzle pieces or tiles on a floor. I think Escher would be very happy with the "loopiness" of the Trinity knot!

17 June 14

Birthday of M. C. Escher, 1898 (and also John Wesley, 1703). My tie features Escher's "flying fish" tessellation, and for the photo I'm recalling a theme (very crudely) from Escher's "Hand With Reflecting Sphere" self-portrait.

17 June 13

Dutch graphic artist M. C. Escher was born on this date in 1898. His art featured space-filling tessellations (as in the flying fish design on my tie), "impossible" cyclic figures (as in "Drawing Hands," "Waterfall," "Ascending and Descending," and many drawings based on Möbius loops), and studies of foreground/background and inside/outside perspectives.

2 August 12

This is my last tie-wearing day before my birthday (on Saturday), so I get to wear whatever I want. This year I choose Escher's flying fish tesselation.

12 October 11

I could use some ties with themes related to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, first published on this date in 1979. Maybe one made out of bath towel fabric? "Don't Panic!"? The number 42? Telephone sanitizers? I'm celebrating this 32nd anniversary with my Escher flying fish tie, in honor of another Douglas Adams book, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish. (And the fish might also remind you of babelfish, but they don't look ear-friendly.)

3 August 11

Hamilton Fish (August 3, 1808 – September 7, 1893) was an American statesman who served as the 16th Governor of New York, United States Senator, and Secretary of State (1869-1877, under U. S. Grant). His son, grandson and great-grandson (all named Hamilton Fish) all were elected to Congress from New York; his great-great-grandson, Hamilton Fish V, ran for Congress in 1988 and 1994, but lost the elections. He is not related to the infamous child killer Albert Fish, but it is noteworthy that Albert was originally named Hamilton in his honor.

02 May 11

Today I'm honoring the birthday last week (April 28) of my nephew David Huizenga, currently the pastor of Resurrection Community Church in Roslyn, Pennsylvania. He has taught high school mathematics and is a fan of the art of M. C. Escher, so I'm wearing my Flying Fish tie. I'm standing in a stairwell reminiscent of some of Escher's labyrinthine fantasies. But this stairwell is disappointingly ordinary, permitting ascent/descent only in a single gravitational orientation. (At least that's the only orientation I've been able to use so far.)

05 February 11

Today I am a pallbearer at Harry Smiley's funeral, also called a Celebration of Life. I chose to wear one of my Escher art ties, featuring paradoxical/puzzling flying fish, complemented with my dove-of-peace pendant.

17 June 10

Dutch artist M. C. Escher was born on June 17, 1898. This tie copies part of his "Flying Fish" print, and the castle picture on our great room wall reminds me of several of the intricate castles in Escher's drawings.

2 March 10

Dr. Seuss, known more formally as Theodore S. Geisel, was born on this date in 1904. I like all of his books, but one of my favorites is "Horton Hears a Who!" On this Escher tie you can also count "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish."














My copy of "Horton" has this inscription, ca. 1972: "To Eugene, Who reads Dr. Seuss books better than ANYONE else in the WHOLE world! Your friend, Debbie M."

27 September 09

My first tie featuring a true print from the artwork of M. C. Escher . . . flying fish . . . Searching for this tie led me to the very special tie emporium at "sweetsthecat" on ebay . . .