07 August 2014

Life Is Too Damn Short….



While designing the above image, I remembered a strand of Longfellow's "A Psalm Of Life". If you, too, are muddling your way through loss, grief, broken-heartedness, or end-of-life issues, it will be well worth your time to read the brief poem here.  I like HWL's turns of verse from dark-to-light and confusion-to-hope, every word a reflection of his own struggle to make sense of the unexpected death of his young wife and child.

Yesterday marks four calendar weeks since my beloved friend and confidante Beverly died; Saturday the ninth makes it a calendar month.  As the song says,



Life is short, my friends, very, very short.  One minute you're running downfield, making your play, and bang, out of nowhere, there's the Referee, waving a red card at you.

Bottom line:  You matter, your life matters.  Whoever you are, big or small, famous or unknown, YOU are beloved of God and no matter how successful or wasted your life has been, He can use you to encourage, inspire, and revive others.

Life IS short and your Red Card is coming.  Eat dessert first, laugh more, hug more, dare to love when you might lose the one you love.  Stop giving a damn about naysayers, whiney-babies, and other time-wasting folk who drain and distract your energy with "important" or "urgent" bullshit.  Do this instead:


Live your life high, wide, and handsome.


Yee-haw!

Mi querida amiga Beverly, te echo de menos profundamente.  Mi vida tiene un agujero en él y sólo él quien es Todo y Santo puede llenarlo.

26 March 2014

Welcome, Spring!

Bright yellow jasmine makes even a grey day sunny.
~ Click to enlarge image. ~
(You are welcome to use this image as a *personal* screensaver.)

Today was cold and grey and rainy and windswept.  Yet….

17 March 2014

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

I know everyone in the US is big on wearing green for Saint Patrick's Day, but green is just not in our palette of wardrobe colours. We're in good company: artist Piet Mondrian wasn't keen for green either. Naturally occurring green in nature is wonderful, but green beer? Emphatically, no.
These Purple Shamrocks grow along our brick walkway, and, at certain times of day, especially when the setting sun illumines them, they transform into a jewel-toned red.  Red, purple -- those are our colours!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all our friends, followers, and family!  In this part of the globe, we wish you a soon-arriving Springtime after this hard winter we've all endured.

Photo copyrighted 2012 by Gitanajava Productions LLC



See you on the patio!













14 February 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!

A small Valentine gift for all our friends, clients, colleagues, and followers.  Remember to add chocolate -- or whatever sweetness brings you joy!

Best advice we ever heard when feeling forlorn and forgotten on Valentine's Day, "Be your own Valentine!"  So, stop your scoffing and sniveling and Snap Out Of It!  You are beloved and lovable, don't doubt it for a moment.  Treat yourself well and others will, too!




12 February 2014

Our Valentine's Day Solution...

Finding the right place and the right way to celebrate Valentine's Day is always a challenge.  Sometimes, it's even a headache or a dreadful duty.

We wanted something elegant but fun, exotic, romantic yet not over-the-top mushy.  Found it!  Yeh, we kinda waited until late in the week to nail our plans down, but the weather yo-yo has kept us guessing.  Still, we found our solution!


Check out the dining room:


Best of all, this is a restaurant that takes coffee seriously:


We already know we love the warm atmosphere and food.  The toughest choice of the evening will be which dessert to indulge -- right now, I'm leaning toward the decadently chocolate "Queen's Dome Cake".  Stay tuned, we'll let you know….

Meanwhile, to all our friends and beloved ones, we leave you this






30 December 2013

A Fresh Year, New Chances, New Choices...



Yes, we're posting another welcome to the new year!

Why?  Because the last few days runneth over with an abundance of joys, some minute, some majestic, and all magnificent:   a chilly but serene walk around the lake as the sun slipped into a gold horizon; new-found old friends; an authentic Ethiopian jebena for making spicy, molten coffee; a brother-in-law who will soon leave the hospital to greet a new year with his wife and children; the generous neighbours who haven't yet taken down their Christmas lights; the jingling harnesses of the coach-&-horses as holiday-makers make one more chance to revel; the friend who invited me to share her Christmas celebrations.  Life is good.




However you welcome your new year -- sleeping through the toll of midnight, dancing in the streets, toasting champagne, or in quiet candlelight -- here is our New Year's toast to java-pals & Twitterverse compadres.  May yours be a safe & glittering 2014!

See you on the patio in 2014! ;-)




27 December 2013

Joy to the World!

Photo & design by Gitanajava Productions LLC, ©2014

To all our family, friends, and colleagues,

We wish you a joyous 2014!

At first glance, "Joy to the World" may seem futile when even the high holidays aren't exempt from grim and dreary headlines.  But joy is not jolliness, or happiness -- it is not a glib and ephemeral emotion.  It is not dependent on circumstances being perfect or on your life being well-ordered and secure.

Joy is deep, unreasonable stuff.  It is illogical.  Joy is born from an iron-willed determination.

Like the fountain in the photo above, we pray your 2014 will overflow with blessings, benedictions, serenity in the midst of chaos, and the moxie to choose joy.

This past year has been, hmmm...interesting.  You've heard the saying, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans"?  We lived it, learned it (again!), and hit plenty of speed bumps along the way.  Our deepest thanks, regards, love, and respect for all of you, our cherished friends and colleagues, who kept the faith with us through the ups/downs, highs and lows.  Amigas y amigos, you rock! :-*







04 June 2013

War of the Worlds: Evernote vs. Earthlings

The role of invading aliens will be played by Evernote


In September 2012, T. J. Luoma, a writer for TUAW (a/k/a The Unofficial Apple Weblog) posted a pungent, well-reasoned article about Evernote's absorption of the highly esteemed Mac application,  Skitch.  You can read Skitch 2.0 is like Skitch 1.0 without all those pesky "features" for yourself.  Go ahead, you'll be glad you did.  The story of Skitch's dismantling demonstrates all too vividly what happens when the vision of creators, users, and opportunistic buyers clash.  "Creative disruption" can be a good thing.  Mutilation, not so much.

Today, I re-encountered Luoma's article.  It still resonates.  This time, I'm pausing long enough to respond and add a history update -- what broadcaster Paul Harvey called "the rest of the story".

28 May 2013

Lost In The Dark...

A free screensaver, "Lost In The Dark", compliments
of Gitanajava Productions LLC.

For personal use only.  To use commercially,
contact us for written permission.

To download the full-sized version (1815 x 1443), go here.


Con profundo cariño y admiración de Beverly, mi amiga querida.


A Note From Home...

Next time you're having one of those days when you need a note from home, here it is, ready and waiting.  Use in good health! ;-)