"The Quest" Begins... Sorta

I don't really consider myself a blogger, yet here I am! This is not about sounding off about my idea(l)s or anything, it's intended more as a web-wide project. You see, I'm a T-shirt kinda guy. Ask anyone who knows me at all, and they'll tell you that it is rare to see me in anything other than a T-shirt. They'll also tell you that I have a very eclectic taste in T-shirts. I don't own a single Nike swoosh, or any other logo- or store name-only type of shirt. Bo-ring.
No, I'm after the humorous, the attention-getting, the thought-provoking brand of T-shirt. If it's from a bar or restaurant, it better have a cool graphic too. Case in point, I have one from a local restaurant, Sam's BBQ. Just a plain white tee, but it's got an illustration of a pig cooking over a barbecue grill. The irony! That's one I like, certainly, although I'm not sure it would qualify as one of America's Top 100 T-shirts as judged by me, but that list is in fact in it's infancy, so it's hard to tell at this point.
Anyway, I've been collecting T-shirts for a long time - at least since the mid to late 70's. I've passed on some of my prize collection to my 13-year old daughter, who loves them. I've found and lost many good sources of T-shirts (Mervyn's used to have some good Simpson's T-shirts until fairly recently, for example), and I'm always on the prowl for more. Which brings me back to The Quest, which in fact is not new by any stretch of the imagination, but also hasn't been as carefully defined as it now is either.

I'm pretty confident that there are T-shirts out there that I would want in my top 100, but that I don't even know about yet. And I know that there are people who would be happy to "hook me up" with some choice T-shirts too. And I further know that there are some very talented people out there designing T-shirts, some of which I've had the very recent pleasure to come to know by becoming a member of the Zazzle community. I guess it was inevitable that I would someday start designing T-shirts myself, if for no other reason than to provide another source for my primary wardrobe choice. And I'm hereby signing up everyone who can read these words to help me put my top 100 collection together.

What do you get out of it? If you're a T-shirt designer, then you'll get not only a likely sale of your product to me, but you'll also get some amount of free advertising as well - I will absolutely be putting together a page that displays the top 100, along with information on how others can get one of these T-shirts for themselves. I'm all too happy to "spread the wealth" of information! And if you're not the designer, well, there are undoubtedly ways you can still profit from passing on such useful information, either financially from paid click-throughs or even just from a "karmic" point of view. Some people take great and genuine pleasure in just helping others out, with no material gains for themselves (It's true! I'm well-acquainted with many of such type!)

So, how does it work? Well, I'll definitely be putting together an FAQ on this whole thing at some point in the near future, but basically you just send me the information on a T-shirt you want me to consider. The very best set of information would include:

1. A picture of the T-shirt (something in the range of 325x325 pixels), not huge, but big enough so that details can be seen. If there's a front/back design, please send both sides, either as an animated GIF, or in two individual graphics.
2. A link to where the T-shirt can be purchased, or a snail-mail address (although that is so last millenium!) It's totally OK with me if you get any kind of "cut" as part of that link reference, of course.
   
3. Let me know whether or not you want me to credit you with the "find", should I decide that your candidate makes the list (just your name, or if you want me to link somewhere, or whatever).

At a bare minimum, provide the details listed in #2 above and I'll go out and hunt it down (although that will obviously delay things significantly). And please, don't just send me a description ("I saw this guy wearing this really hot T-shirt with a frog on it..."), that's just useless to The Quest.

Just so you know what kind of things will not possibly make the list:

• No porn. I wouldn't wear that kind of thing around, as it would both offend others and, frankly, embarrass me. I'm not a prude, but I most definitely am sensitive to others and the effects I create on them.
  
• No foul language (fowl language, on the other hand, would be OK). See above.
• No Nike swooshes, Old Navy, or anything else that falls into that sort of classification. Bo-ring.
• If it's esoteric or specialized in any way, it's not likely to make the list either. WoW might be a great game and all, but most people just don't get it (and if this information is new or shocking to you, I'm very sorry), and it doesn't make for the kind of T-shirt I'm after, either. I'm looking for T-shirts that other people will get a kick out of seeing too. In fact, that's at least some part of why I choose the T-shirts I do - the enjoyment of others.

I've already got some great candidates in mind to "seed the list", but I'm also ready to start getting suggestions for additions to the list too. Let the games begin!

Oh, and if you're thinking that the only reason I'm putting this blog together is to publicize my own designs... in fact, you're partially right - that is one of my goals. But, I also want to supplement my existing (and aging, sadly) collection as well. Even though my intentions aren't completely altruistic, they're not completely selfish either! If I can help others succeed, improve and expand my own T-shirt wardrobe, and expand my T-shirt sales all at the same time, then... why not? Who knows, I might even provide some entertainment value along the way...