Why a Somerville T-Shirt?

It was one of those ideas that came to me accidentally. I have an unconscious habit of flipping words and sounds in my head after I hear them. One day, Somervillain just came to me. What better image for a spunky little-brother town than a tough-guy Villain? The idea's come to others too. One the thing about the internet, it teaches humility.

Living outside of Davis and Porter Squares for the past six years, I've seen a lot to love about the area. Somerville is one of those stories of a neighborhood that may get a little bit of teasing, but to its credit I've never heard a single anti-Cambridge or anti-Boston word in return.

Some may argue that Porter and Davis Squares aren't really Somerville and they'd have a point, I do live on the frontier, but what better place to see the difference? Oh, and look for me at Bukowski's in Iman too, and Sherman's or Bloc 11 Coffee Shops in Union, running on Tuft's campus, or the Minute Man Trail or hanging with my Little Brother in Winter Hill.

So why a T-Shirt? Because this town has character and I thought it made sense to make it one. Check it out and wear it with pride, Somerville.

p.s. To all you other Somerville's out there, our shirts fit you too.

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The Moon Through my iPhone and Telescope

We finally got to see the moon here in New England tonight and I took advantage of it by pointing my new Celestron NexStar 114 XLT Telescope and iPhone at it. Can you believe it was a birthday present from mid-June and this was my first real chance to see the moon? update: It's currently still not raining. Weird.

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How'd You Pick These T-Shirt Categories?

I recently learned a new word: Polymath. I found it while looking for words to describe a person with a ton of different interests. Although I wouldn't call myself one, I can relate to having interests all over the place.

In fact at last check I have the following list: snowboarding, skateboarding, designing t-shirts, designing computer chips, starting companies and web sites, mentoring kids, writing short stories (some published) and I've written a novel while driving across America. I write songs and play the guitar and keyboard. I follow and make fun of most burgeoning internet trends (but still participate). I run a small outdoor drive-in and have recently revised an interest in astronomy with a sweet new telescope.

I am also currently between work assignments, making me one of America's army of unemployed. With all the activities listed above I still fill the day with work and employ two people part-time.

With all this going on around me, when I have t-shirt ideas, I never know where they are gonna come from. I did my best to categorize them. Here's what I've got:

• Recessin' -- For all the ideas that hit me while I'm bemused by this current economy.

• Clothe The Nerds -- I design computer chips, graphics and web sites. I'm a nerd from way-back.

• Modern Life -- This is a spot for all the new topics facing human beings and is a bit of a catch-all category for my random thoughts and for topics local to me in Massachusetts.

• NetShirting -- All things fun or funny about the internet.

• Anti-Social Networking -- I like to poke fun at social networking. It's almost too easy.

• Citizens of the Word -- For my inner literary side (and grammatical tyrant).
  

Most of all, though, I like people and to make my friends and family laugh. Hopefully some of my shirts will make you happy too. Order one today!

-polymatt (not really)

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Once Pressed. Forever Worn.

Do you have a special notebook? If it's the kind I'm thinking of, it's probably pretty beat-up. Maybe it's by your bed to record your dreams? Maybe you even email yourself ideas? For me it's a moleskine, my phone or the reliably low-tech post-it. I need these things because my brain never stops.

Ideas happen at random. You may overhear a phrase, roll it over in your head and have an idea that you find just too clever to let go. With some confidence that what you have to say is worth expressing, you write it down. (Let the other subway riders wonder.)

Over the years a recurring T-Shirt Idea List kept showing up in my notebooks. OncePressed is the culmination of that list and the ideas are still coming. I hope you enjoy them and one finds its way into your dresser drawer, not in a notebook, but in cotton.

Once Pressed, Forever Worn.

Thanks for stopping by.

-matt

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