Sharing, the Old Ken Way: An Experiment

Do you collect things? Perhaps you have a favorite kind of object—porcelain swans, records, antique cars? I know how various your tastes are! Well, if there is anything Old Ken collects, it would probably be t-shirts. Inexpensive, light weight, and yet surprisingly elusive (at least when you are trying to find something perfectly delightful), the t-shirt has a real charm for an itinerant figure like Old Ken. Displaying one's t-shirt collection is of course a simple matter in real life; one just adorns all of the shirts one owns and then ceremoniously peels off layer after layer as is demanded by conversation or convenience. But how to show and tell on the internet?

Well, what you see above (believe it or not) is a close-up of a Rick Springfield t-shirt yours truly found at a thrift store in Chicago a few years ago. While I won't bore you with an academic discourse on semiotics, this shirt must certainly be considered something closer to a Peircean symbol rather than an icon as it is only by dint of conventional agreement that we could possibly be satisfied that this image represents matinée idol Rick Springfield rather than some ghoulish version of the Incredible Hulk (as our uninstructed senses might tell us). As we are on the topic (well, kind of), I'd just ask you to take a moment to appreciate Sir Rick's chest hair; insignificant as it seems to have been to the t-shirt maker to attend to Mr. Springfield's physiognomy, loving detail has been lavished on his hirsute breast. Rightly so, of course.



As seems to be the fate of the t-shirt collector, Old Ken has never really been able to incorporate this object into his wardrobe. The cotton-blend fabric seems to have shrunk and streched simultaneously such that the shirt is extremely wide and very short. Therefore, it has seemed best to keep this garment as a memento, totem, or life coach—not as a sartorial option.



A similar state of affairs has come to pass with the t-shirt you see excerpted above. Enormously proportioned and composed of a rather repulsive-feeling fabric, this t-shirt nonetheless bears a compelling truth of our times (in glitter no less)! Beyond its sheer resonance with all of my various moods, part of my reason for particularly appreciating this phrase is that it maps nicely onto the penultimate section of a iconic song by one of my favorite bands. For those of you who would like to hear that fine, fine piece of music (and who should have a Quicktime or similar player), the mp3 is posted below. Old Ken is sure that there must be a better way to post such quality, and he'll see if he can figure it out in the future. But, for now, please enjoy in moderation.

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