Missoni - Style, Olympics, Love.

Mary should probably be writing this post, because I know nothing about fashion.

I have, however, seen the name "Missoni" on a fair number of chic-looking things. And the name conjures in my mind images of fabulous people sipping espresso on Roman balconies.

I don't know if that's accurate, but if my name conjured that image in even one person, I'd be pretty jazzed.

So I can't help but be impressed to learn that chic, amazing brand actually started with a 16-year-old girl falling in love with an athlete at the 1948 Olympics.

Antony & Cleopatra - The Last Tango in Alexandria

This is where it all started for us.

Some years ago, at the Peoples Improv Theater's first "Sketchprov" festival, we got the suggestions of "Tango" along with "Antony & Cleopatra" at the same time. What unfolded was something like this extremely historically accurate scene.

How ya fixed for spit and dry socks?

My father was a soldier, and one of his favorite sayings was "How're ya fixed for spit and dry socks?"

I'm still trying to figure out precisely what it meant, but it seemed to be what he always said when we really had no option but to grin and bear it. And it definitely came from combat.

I think it meant something like:
You're out of food. You're out of ammo. You're cold. Someone's shooting at you. But hey, you've got some fresh socks to put on, so really, things could be worse.

Socks become very important to a guy who's mucking through the mud for weeks at a time.

And they were extremely important to Ken Sweet, an Australian soldier in World War II.

Why? Because these were special socks. They started a 65 year marriage.