Home Ec: Eat Local

-The best milk on the planet. It was in a cow 15 miles from here last week.

-Obviously I, like you, get annoyed by food snobs and eco-yuppies, but I'd be stupid not to take advantage of the vast availability of great local food that exists in this hyper-eco-conscious community. If you like good food, then you want to the freshest food available. If you're reasoning is based mostly on matters of taste, then you remain pretty much free of the well-intentioned but often blowhardy moral arguments made by most organic advocates.
Eat well, be well. more

School Supplies: Nikon FE2

-My favorite purchase in a very long time, I got this Nikon FE2 (1983-1987) on eBay last month and have been making my way through my first roll. I'd shot film with an FM10 a bit but the weight and the feel of the FE2 are unmatched. The lens pictured here is one I bought a few years ago, but I'm researching for my next lens investment, and still looking for the perfect strap.


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Yearbook: Winter Whites and Nostalgia

-In the first episode of No Logos I talked about being a clothes hoarder and the fact that I still have a few things from high school (2002-2006.) The conversation got me wondering if I had a whole cohesive outfit of remnants from high school. Aside from the Sperry's here, which are new but basically otherwise basically the same as the pair I bought in 2005, this whole fit is from high school. I don't think I ever wore this combo together, but I did pair this tie and sweater pretty often. Abandoning guidelines, I'll probably wear this with loafers and different socks in the future.

-Pants: Levi's 514
-OCBD: Polo, thrifted
-Tie: Marquis, thrifted
-Sweater: American Eagle
-Socks: Gift

-In breaking out the winter whites I remembered a good tip I learned from a fellow Grime Time All-Star, my friend Goody, who told me that white jeans should never be pristine. If you're walking around fretting getting something on your pants, you're doing it wrong. Don't be afraid to let them get, and stay, a little dirty. They are jeans, after all, regardless of color. more

Phys. Ed.: Nike Zoom Hyperfuse

-If you follow me on Twitter you're probably aware to the point of annoyance that basketball is a big part of my life. As a kid, throughout my teens and during my first few years in college I made a point to play about every other day. As my schedule has been unceasingly hectic for the past two years, I haven't been able to play ball as much as I'd like, and so have consistently refused my desire to update the ragged pair of RBK kicks I'd been hooping in since early 2007. Partly to motivate myself to get back into dunking on fools¹, I started shopping and finally decided on picking up the Nike Zoom Hyperfuse. It's the first time I've had Nike basketball shoes, but I was sold on the overall lack of weight and excess mass of this model. The main reason I wanted to post though was just to mess around with my new Speedlight SB-700, and because I'm pretty stoked on this top picture. More photos after the jump.
1- By "dunking" I mean "laying it up soft."



-I'm morally obligated to only buy athletic gear that accords with the Trailblazer color-scheme.

-The light wasn't as great in the color photos, but I'm still getting a hang of the Speedlight (I think these look pretty good for shooting in my kitchen.)

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School Supplies: My Denim

-Here's a look at the jeans that I own. Not much to say, I just thought it would be interesting to compare them via their patch. Given my current hectic schedule, many of my posts for the foreseeable future will be mainly photographic. more

Winter Quarter: Authentic Upgrades

-This quarter I've had to cycle more than ever, and it being winter in the rainiest part of the country, the commute usually involves a good deal of precipitation. I decided to take a cue from Ryan of YHBTI and wax my Authentics. I was about to apply some Martexin wax that I purchased from the Archival Clothing store, when I realized it would be pretty pointless to wax my sneakers given that they had holes in the toes. I've got a big pair of Carhartt pants I bought at a thrift shop specifically for use as a patching fabric, so I just cut out a couple squares, superglued them beneath the holes, and then applied the wax. I've been wearing these exclusively while commuting for about a  month now and they've held up pretty well. I expect the wax will have mostly worn off by the time summer rolls around.

-In related news, I picked up my second pair of Authentics, though I probably won't break them out until the weather warms up so they don't get needlessly muddied. Follow me after the jump for a few more photos of both pairs and some info about my choice of laces.





-I I bought these red laces at J.Crew. I'm not ashamed to admit I was straight copying what they've been doing in their catalog with colored laces in desert boots. I don't have desert boots but I have Wallabees and I planned on putting these laces in them. I was disappointed when I brought them home to find that the laces were way too long for the Wallows. I wasn't really feeling the white laces that came with the new pair, something about true white against off-white was amiss, so I decided to put my forgotten red laces to use.

-This post was a little dry. Sorry. I'm busier than ever, so upcoming posts will probably be more photographic than textual. Check back soon.
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School Supplies: Levi's for J.Crew Rinsed Indigo 511

-If you've been a reader for any length of time you probably know that I'm a big fan of Levi's 511 cut. Though I love my raw denim, lately I've been looking for a pair of clean, dark jeans that I can wear on occasions that are casual enough that denim will suffice, but nice enough that I want to wear something without a faded back pocket and noticeable whiskering. I haven't been buying a ton of clothes lately, my wardrobe is pretty solid for this juncture in my life, but I had a J. Crew gift card so I was perusing the site and stumbled upon, and bought, this pair. They're dark indigo so they look clean, but they're a washed denim, a phrase which LAS insightfully pointed out awhile back  has become unfairly stigmatized amidst the raw denim resurgence. I still love my Baldwins, but the 511 remains the best cut I've found from any jean, and these will make a nice back-up to my go-to denim. more

Winter Break:

-Posting has been a bit sparse as I had a pretty hectic finals week, but in case you missed them, I've had a few recent posts elsewhere: a look at my Baldwin 77s few weeks ago over at Denim Debate, and the one from which the above photo is taken, my review of Bertucci field watches over at the Wharf blog. I mentioned on my Tumblr yesterday that I just sold my primary camera, but that doesn't mean I won't be blogging over winter break, it just means that any photographic content will come from iPhone photography or the unlikely chance that I get some film developed soon. In early January I will be getting my hands on a new camera and I'm very excited about what it will mean for the blog. Look out for even better photos and a lot more video projects in the coming year. As always, thanks for the continued support. more