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,

"Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'

Into the future."

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.

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!

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

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! :-*

Happy Easter to All Our Java Pals!

From darkness, Light.  From despair, Hope.  Do the Happy Dance, because we have a new beginning!

With both its somber rituals and its light-hearted frivolities, Easter refreshes me and reminds me again of my "life raft" scripture:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

Rejoice!

Buried Treasure, Part 2

5 Steps to Creating a LinkedIn Recommendation
To view full sized, go to http://tiny.cc/Endorse

In the original Buried Treasure article, we discussed the professionals' methods for requesting, shaping, and leveraging effective recommendations from colleagues and clients.  However, in my perfect world, I would have preceded that instruction with tonight's post and asked this crucial question --

In Pursuit of Defining Yourself...

Senorita La Tinta, a/k/a Miss Inky, taking her photo opp

I was not looking for anything remotely like Ken Robert's essay when I stumbled across it in one of those blessed web serendipity moments.  La, la, la, la-lah, I was skipping along the 'net path, gathering posies, en route to some somber research for a client.

For we RPISH* entrepreneurs and contrarian thinkers wrestling the challenges inherent to re-structuring ourselves and our work, the scant few minutes it will take to read "We’re So Ashamed of Changing (This Is Why We’re Crazy)" at Ken Robert's blog, Mildly Creative, will be minutes well spent In Pursuit of Defining Yourself.

While you're there, check out KR's self-description, too.  If Ken's blog is food for thought, his About page is the whipped cream and cherry on top.  Read and ponder, Unicorns, read and ponder!

Appearing Soon at a Theatre Near You

In a day or two, in consideration of that whole re-structuring topic, we will return with some ponders.  Stay tuned!


*RPISH = Round Peg In A Square Hole

See you on the patio!

Don't Be Afraid of the Kid in You!

I don't care what anybody says, I like the Teletubbies.  I also dig Schnuffelbunny.  I'm a happy subscriber of Peter Rabbit and the rest of his posse, Jemima Puddle-Duck, Squirrel Nutkin, and Hunca Munca.

I've never needed an excuse to enjoy a retreat to childhood joys and fantasies -- when I was up to my eyeballs in the nightclub business and then later, music management, marketing and distribution, it was a welcome relief to arrive home in the pre-dawn hours, just in time for the local broadcast of Teletubbies.  Just the same, I'd like to thank my niece and nephew in Germany for sharing the welcome news of their soon-to-come baby.  If I need it, I have a cover story for why I'm singing the Schnuffelbunny song.

When you find yourself mired in cynicsm and the weariness of grown-up responsibilities, sing the Schnuffelbunny song to yourself, my friend.  It'll do you good.

See you on the patio!

Simplicity, Simplify: A Marketing Lesson from the Toybox

 Simplicity, Simplify

A few years into my brilliant marketing career, I learned an important lesson, albeit from an unexpected source.  A six year-old boy taught me how too many choices and too little opportunity to filter one's options can overwhelm and even disable the buying decision.

Kahve: The Joys of Java

"Ca Phe Sua Da" on the verandah

Vintage Coffee Packet Label

The Coffee Tribe

Once upon a time in the U.S., a "good cup of coffee" had less to do with the coffee's roast, grind, brew or flavour, and everything to do with the beverage being hot, plentiful, and cheap.