Ian from Raleigh, NC, USA

[furrycelt]

Greetings gents,

I have been a member here for a while, but remained inactive as life got in the way (finished college degree, changed careers, had a 2nd child, etc.). I have lurked for a bit, and I am excited to re-join. There appears to be a great bunch of guys here.

A bit about me... (geez, i don't know where to begin). Born and raised in Western North Carolina, now live in its capital. Married 5 years, 2 sons, both young. I currently work in the belly of a giant concrete and glass block at the heart of an IBM campus. I'm in a phone center doing upper level software trouble shooting and I write code for our project for ad hoc applications. (and I design websites on the side in my copious free time.)

I just recently got into the IT world (less than 2 years ago). Before that for nearly a decade I was a professional fulltime stagehand, sound engineer, lighting designer, and even did a bit of acting on the stage. I loved that world and miss it terribly, but I had to give it up if I wanted to be a family man. When hug my wife and sons, I know it was worth it. (Perhaps someday I will return to the stage and the catwalks.)

As for me kilts... It is neat to read about men who have recently discovered kilts. Such a thing is foreign to me. I have worn a kilt longer than I can remember. My parents have always celebrated their Scottish heritage, and have passed that onto me. So I am not sure the number of kilts I have owned over time. Presently, I have 5. Two are the "Breacan an Fhéilidh" or "belted plaid"; ya know the type, one giant square piece of wool that becomes a kilt after some strategy, yoga, and cussing. Two more are simple kilts that are handmade by my dad; and last is a formal professionally made kilt that was bought for my wedding. All but the formal kilt are historical reproductions based on my dad's research (he's a retired museum director).

I frequent highland games, and always have. I used to drag my wife along, but over the years she has grown fond of going. She has no Celtic blood in her at all, except when she was pregnant At one games, I am actually apart of the games. The Loch Norman Highland Games every April, near Charlotte NC has an historical section. I and my parents help out with that group. (Thus my need for historical repro's.) My older son has a kilt that he has already outgrown, but we will pass that on to his little brother.

I am currently looking for a casual kilt. I love hiking and camping, and a kilt is perfect for such activities, but I dare not subject my 100% wool kilts to the roughness of campfires, rocks, trees, dirt, mud, rivers, etc. I have been looking at AmeriKilts, Freedom Kilts, and UtiliKilts.... heck, I have actually been looking at all of them. I have pretty much veto'ed anything made from PV. Bear Kilts in Canada was gracious enough to send me a sample. It looks great but just felt like a pair of silk boxers I own, instead of any of my wool kilts. (I feel bad that I put Bear thru that trouble, but I just can't imagine a kilt made from that slippery stuff.) I am really digging the "Survival" kilt from UtiliKilts, but I am not digging its price.

(i hope my PV comment doesn't ruffle too many pleats here)

I really wish I could wear my kilt everyday. I am jealous of those of you who can. My work is very strict about dress code, and any other code that promotes de-humanization. I am so thrilled to randomly see men about my metro-area wearing kilts as everyday clothes. I want to join them. I just hope I can get over my fear of drawing attention to myself in public. However, I realize that if we want kilts to become main-stream, we all gotta start wearing them as much as possible.

To echo another "ian" in this forum: I think that our occidental society would greatly benefit by busting down many of the established norms of masculinity. There is so much more to being a *man* than what our culture prescribes. Donning a kilt is a fantastic way to prove to the world that masculinity is so much more varied and interesting.

Well, I have prattled on long enough. Thanks for reading this far. (I fancy myself as a writer, if you couldn't tell.) If you are bored feel free to hit these links:
http://furycelt.freeshell.org/blogMain.html
http://profiles.yahoo.com/furrycelt
http://photos.yahoo.com/furrycelt

[GMan]

Ian,

Welcome!

Thanks for a very informative post. Indeed life does seem to get in the way of our own enjoyment of life, but glad that things are now getting to the point that you can post.

Again glad that you stepped out of the lurking mode.

[Robin]

Welcome

[Kiltedmusiclover]

Ian,

Always good to have a new member, especially one from NC.:mrgreen:
A most hearty welcome to you.

[Southern Breeze]

Welcome aboard.

[starbkjrus]

Welcome. Strap yourself in and hang on - it's a fun ride.

[Mike n NC]

Welcome Ian from about 2 hours away. I find your background interesting, especially the western NC angle. In that part of the state your family name shows up in marriage records with my family, the Austins. So a big welcome to you.

Mike

[GlassMan]

Greetings & Holiday Salutations! Nice to have another Southern gent aboard.

[Riverkilt]

Welcome Ian,

My daughter was born in Raleigh. Was a Raleigh cop back in the late 60s...not fun times, burning crosses, MLK riots, et.al. Beautiful country.

There's a new thread on kilt advice about kilts for camping.

I own three Utilikilt Survivals. Saved some money on the last by buying off the scratch and dent rack. If you're lucky your size will be there. It is expensive, but I gotta tell you, the value is solid.

Another advantage of the survival is you can unsnap the cargo pockets and have a sort of dress casual kilt, looks a lot like the mocker.

There are a lot of pics of casual kilts, including the UK survival, in my gallery. Feel free to check them out.

Ron

[Kirkwood]

Thanks for coming out of lurk-dom. Ilook forward to reading more of your posts.