By John Y. Brown III, on Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET  Several months ago my friend Jonathan Miller, who had been concerned about my attire choices, took mr to Brooks Brothers and made me buy a single dark suit and a blue blazer.
And today I am wearing my dark Brooks Brotbers suit.
As I left the house this morning I felt like I was wearing my Big Boy dark suit and my Big Boy tie and had my Big Boy Samsonite brief case bag and got into my Big Boy gray Avalon car and headed to meet one on my clients to do some Big Boy stuff today. I even have important looking papers and a legal pad with my writing on it sticking out of my bag. All very Big boy -esque.
 But as I was typing this I noticed I had on the wrong grey pants and not the ones that came with the suit. Dang it! Having on the right Big Boy pants is key to pulling off a Big Boy day.
Well, I got the socks and shoes right and the gray pant color is close enough to the grey jacket.
Bottom line is if no one notices my dark pants don’t perfectly match my dark jacket, I am going to have a Big Boy day anyway! Or at least try to.
And just hope no one can tell I still don’t feel like a big boy on the inside. Especially if they notice the off-color pants.
By Julie Rath, on Fri Jan 3, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET
Many of my recent conversations with guys about menswear have turned to what to wear on your feet in sloppy winter weather. If you have nice shoes but are worried the slush/salt/rogue gifts from the neighborhood dogs lurking in the snow are going to ruin your gear, consider a pair of overshoes. Companies like Sierra Trading Post and Neos make boots that go over any kind of footwear you’re wearing without having to pull and stretch on rubber like those creepy galoshes from back in the day. They’re waterproof, warm and have high traction on the soles so you stay upright at all times. My favorites are the Explorers
and Uptowners
from Neos and the New England All-Season Overboots from Sierra Trading Post.
If you’re looking for something a little more streamlined, check out the Men’s Executive Overshoe from Tingley.
They aren’t insulated, but they’ll keep you dry and standing on your feet instead of your bottom. You gotta love the names companies give for men’s shoes…”Uptowner” and “Executive” — how subtle!
And if you’re just looking for rainwear that’s not obnoxiously ugly, I am very into Tretorn’s rain boots. I like both the green for a downtown look and the charcoal for something more conservative, or “uptown,” if you will.
By John Y. Brown III, on Thu Jan 2, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET
If we each discovered the magic remote control to our life story, I think we have to ask ourselves which of these options we would choose.
Would we:
- Want to change the channel?
- TiVO it to watch later?
- Mute it and play music in the background?
- Try to rewind?
- Try to fast forward?
- Pause it?
- Make popcorn?
- Watch on the HD screen TV?
- Try to adjust the color?
- Increase the screen brightness amd then later dim it back?
- Wish it were from the Action section?
- Not care what section our life story would be filed in as long as it was displayed in the “Employees Picks” section?
- Wonder if there will be a sequel?
- Hope it is not a prequel?
- Wish it were in subtitles?
- Wonder if you would have missed parts when LOST was at its peak popularity?
- Wonder what you have to do to get nominated for a Emmy award?
- Wonder if we don’t watch would it hurt our Nielsen ratings in a way that could be hard to explain later on?
- Begin to truly see the value and social utility of commercial breaks?
- Wonder if your life story is running on PBS, HBO, network TV, or Bravo?
- Wish you had been able to get an up-and-coming actor to play you instead of you playing yourself?
- Prefer your life story had been a monologue?
- Think it was a mistake you could only play one character?
- Feel the producer has made a lot of amateurish mistakes and should probably get fired?
- Suspect a cameo role may have been a better fit?
- Wonder if the line you are about to deliver will be the one replayed at the next Academy Awards ceremony?
- Worry that your life wouldn’t have survived as a pilot for a reality TV show?
- Wish that even though it’s not a game show, there was at least a catchy theme song?
- Feel you should be allowed to narrate it?
- Pine for the days when after midnight you would hear The Star Spangled banner and stare at a stationary picture of an Indian man?
- Wonder if the Mac Book Pro is really yours or just effective product placement?
- Be grateful for the possibility of future royalties for syndication?
- Wonder if it is true that the “camera puts on 10 poumds” or if it was just you who put on 10 pounds?
- Wonder if it would be better in Anime?
- Tell yourself “Although it may seem slow at times, it will make you think”?
- Try to convince yourself that Roger Ebert would give your life a “Thumbs up”?
- Secretly prefer that Gene Siskel give you a “Thumbs Down” because he just doesn’t “get it”?
- Wished you had at least one signing part?
- Realize there are a lot of surprises even though you thought the trailer gave it away?
- Hope that later on you can watch your favorite parts over and over.
By Josh Bowen, on Thu Jan 2, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET  Story time.
When I was an exercise science student at the University of Kentucky, I had to take swimming in order to graduate. Why? Who knows but also would think it would be difficult. I’m not an avid swimmer, I do better under the water than on top but I absolutely hate cold water. I freeze easy and it’s hard for me to move any part of my body. The very thought of cold water makes me cringe but I needed this class to graduate and I was taking it in January no less. The first day of class the teacher throws us in the water to see where our “skills” were. Back stroke, front stroke, butterfly all your favorite Olympic disciples were graded. She would decide if we needed to be in the class or would need to drop it. I couldn’t of done worse. I damn near drowned in the water and ran out of gas easy because it was so cold. Did I mention I don’t do cold? Anyway, the next class the teacher pulled me aside and asked me to drop the class. Appalled, I asked why and she replied “you don’t have the skills to pass my class.” I told her I wouldn’t be dropping her class and I would show up an hour early everyday to practice. Her reply, “good luck.” Seriously, who makes swimming hard?
So everyday I showed up to the UK aquatics center an hour before class to practice my strokes. I braved the cold weather and cold pool, to get use to it so I could show this teacher she was wrong. I was consistent and with my consistency, I saw progress. Real progress. So good I amazed this teacher and I got an A in the class. Now, everyone should get an A in swimming, that’s not impressive, the point is I was consistent and I got better. Much better. We have to apply this principle to fitness. You can’t expect great results with minimal effort. The infomercials lie to you. Using a Shake Weight is not going to help you lose 15lbs, it’s just that simple. But also with that, you can’t expect significant results if you are not consistent in two areas:
1. Your workouts
2. Your diet
 So here are two strategies to help with consistency as we make this fitness journey together:
1. Commit less- This may sound weird but as I’ve said before we often commit too much too soon that it becomes sensory overload and we quit. It becomes too much to maintain. Had I told the teacher I would be in the pool five days a week, there would be no way for me to keep that pace consistent (nor would I want too). Commit to what you think you can do. This works for your nutrition as well. Commit to eating one vegetable at dinner, 3 nights per week. Any one can do this. This creates momentum. There is great value in little, everyday successes. Foundation is always something to build off of.
2. Commit more- Contrary to the above, some people may be able to commit to more because they are ready for more. If this is you make consistency a commitment, a marriage. Start what you finish and don’t let off the gas pedal.
In order to see progress we NEED consistency. It is vital to anything we want to accomplish.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Jan 1, 2014 at 12:00 PM ET Passing down (and up) traditions and wisdom from generation to generation.
Sunday night my son was walking out to his car with a short sleeve shirt on and I yelled “Johnny, wait a minute. How are you going to stay warm?”
Johnny replied, “My car, Dad. It has heat.” “I know that,”
I said, “But what if you have a flat tire or your car breaks down? It would be a good idea to keep a jacket or blanket in your car, just in case. I know I am irrritating you with advice like this but my mom told me the same thing when I was walking out of the house at your age without any socks on in the middle of a snow storm.”
Johnny, looking at me not irritated but amused shot back, “Did you do it? Did you keep a blanket or jacket in your car after that?”
“No. No, I didn’t,” I said. “But it was still pretty good advice. You know?”
“Look, Dad,” Johnny responded, “You are forgetting you had two parents you got your genes from. Grandmommy, who constantly is giving advice; and Big John, who never takes any advice. And I have the same genes so it’s just a waste of both our time for you to keep trying to tell me what I should do. It may be a good idea. But you didnt do those things and neither will I.”
We both laughed and agreed that was the wisest advice passed between father and son in a long time.
By Lauren Mayer, on Wed Jan 1, 2014 at 8:30 AM ET Yes, once again it’s time for end-of-the-year rituals. Maybe you come up with the type of resolutions that help gyms make a fortune from people who join and never show up. Or perhaps you scour critics’ lists of ’10 Best’ or ’10 Worst’ lists of the year’s movies, t.v. shows, political scandals, etc. Some families have charming New Year’s traditions. When I was a kid, we would eat chocolate fondue, drink Andre Cold Duck (hey, I was 8, I thought it was classy) and watch old Abbott & Costello movies (on a projector my mom borrowed from the school where she taught – this was way before DVDs and videos, although despite my own kids’ rude comments about how old I am, it was WAY after one-room schoolhouses). When my own kids were little, I would let them watch the televised countdown from Times Square (of course, when they were younger, I was able to convince them that midnight in New York was the same in California, thus enabling me to get them to bed at 9 p.m.) (Which was not intended to get back at them for the ‘mom, you’re old’ teasing . . . but I digress.)
My earliest comedy-song-writing influence was Tom Lehrer’s great album, “That Was The Year That Was” (hold on, you’ll see how it relates). I wanted to reference that album in relation to this week’s song, but in researching which year he’d meant (which turns out to be mostly 1964, although the album was released in 1965), I learned that he had been the resident songwriter for performers on the US version of a British weekly TV program, “That Was The Week That Was,” and the record featured Lehrer finally performing those songs himself. So weekly comedy songs are part of a long tradition!
Anyway, as inspired by Mr. Lehrer, here’s a musical recap of the year’s highs and lows, or as some might say, “from the sublime to the ridiculous.” Happy New Year!
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The Recovering Politician Bookstore
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Several months ago my friend Jonathan Miller, who had been concerned about my attire choices, took mr to Brooks Brothers and made me buy a single dark suit and a blue blazer.
