Silk Screen Philosophy

Click to enlarge

A few days before we left southern California for the frigid Midwest, we stopped for lunch at the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica.  While waiting for our food I glanced at a neighboring table, focusing on a young man sporting a tee shirt which read:  What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about?  What indeed? 

That got me thinking of the many tee shirt sayings I’ve seen in the last few years.  A short walk on the Venice Beach boardwalk provides visual and philosophical ideas worth pondering for weeks! All sorts of messages reveal all variety of viewpoints.  For years I’ve seen catalogs virtually teeming with pity sayings, silk screened on cotton blends.  I have decided to share a few samples I have cobbled together in the spirit of “Philosophy for the Masses.”

All tee shirt statements have been created in the spirit of fun only. I include some of my own idle thoughts while others are are based on quotations. The library tee shirt paraphrases the wise words of my former library director.  In the ten samples attached I chose graphics that came from “free to use” GOOGLE images or the clip art included with my MS 2010 PowerPoint software.  No commercial use is intended.

There are many other possibilities. Some un-illustrated ideas follow. Some come from catalogs, ever a source of revenue for the Postal Service.  What favorite sayings can you add  to benefit the tee shirt wearing world?

From Signals—visit website for details (www.signals.com):  1. Let’s Eat Grandma; Let’s Eat, Grandma; Commas Save Lives. 2. I dream of a society where a chicken can cross the road without its motives questioned. 3. I’m on the endangered species waiting list.

From Northern Sun—visit website for details especially because I am not a customer and have no commercial history with this company (www.northernsun.com):  1. I may be getting old but I DID get to see all the COOL bands. 2. Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes. 3. The Lifestyle you ordered is currently out of stock. 4. Well-behaved women seldom make history.

Some famous quotations itching for a cotton/polyester blend:  1. Angels fly because they take themselves lightly. (G.K. Chesterton) 2. Seek Simplicity…and Distrust It. (Alfred North Whitehead) 3. Wisdom has two parts—Having a lot to say, and Not saying it. 4. Accessing information is almost as good as knowing things. (from “Oliver’s Travels”) 5.  Truth—something you don’t have to lie about. 6. What is a Friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. (Aristotle) 7. Cui bono? (Cicero) 8. I will make it a felony to drink small beer. (Shakespeare, “King Henry VI”) 9. There was never yet philosopher that could endure the toothache patiently. (Shakespeare, “Much Ado About Nothing”) 10. AGE—is a personal choice. 11. The Chicken came first. 12. A great ox stands on my tongue. (Aeschylus, “Agamemnon”) What does that mean!?!