Coffee Ramblings

Here’s a couple of great pop culture coffee references for you…

My wife and I devoured the entire run of How I Met Your Mother that was available on Netflix’s instant play. There were a couple of really good coffee references over the course of the series.

There was episode 2:7 Swarley, which featured a coffeeshop romance of sorts and a spoof on the Central Perk coffeeshop from Friends, The coffee shop layout is an obvious reference to Friends. Barney also mentions, “Hanging out at a coffee place, not nearly as much fun as hanging out at a bar”. In an episode of Friends, it is shown that a bar had once occupied the space that later became Central Perk.

In episode 1:8 The Duel we’re really introduced to Shocky, Ted’s old coffeepot that always gives him an electric jolt when he uses it. Sometimes a unique coffee experience needs to be created and an electric jolt should do the trick. Coffee with a kick.

There was a great old school coffee reference in the book The Legend of Grizzly Adams by Richard Dillon- “He pounded grass seeds into meal or flour; he roasted acorns to make a passable kind of coffee.” p17. “He even tried strewing a trail of sugar into the pen, knowing the love felt by grizzlies for the sweet granules. But this sacrifice of his coffee sweetening failed, too.” It’s on page 119.

Fringe is doing a really neat thing with coffee in the dual universes. On the recent episode 4:18 The Consultant, Alter-Astrid is given a can of crappy coffee by normal Astrid. Even though it’s crappy coffee, it’s a pretty awesome gift because coffee is a marvelous delicacy in the alternate universe. Alter-Astrid is super happy in her OCD way, saying, ”I never thought that I was going to taste this again.”

And the last one I’ll leave you with today is supermutant Cyclops from the X-Men enjoying a mug of brew on the cartoon series Wolverine and the X-Men. It’s episode 1:12 eXcessive force.

Be Yourself. Brand Yourself.

Johnny Cash wore all black, all the time, so much so that it earned him the nickname “The Man in Black”. According to Mr. Cash in his song Man in Black, “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, but is there because he’s a victim of the times.”

Other folks through the years, both celebrities and the not-so-famous have chosen certain aspects of appearance in order to brand themselves and use the outer experession of their inner identity to help define who they are.

I’ve struggled with this for years for several reasons. One of them is that I’m extremely self-conscious. I constantly question myself, my appearance, my actions. This might surprise those of you that know me. It’s something that I’ve worked on over the years. My answer to counter it is to really express my inner self in more extreme ways. I’ve grown out a fearsome red beard. I wear superhero shirts. I wear a kilt on occasion.

I saw an article out of Melbourne, Australia about a barista that branded herself by proudly showing her pink hair, piercings, and a full sleeve of tattoos. Now this might turn some people off, but you will too, no matter what you look like. The thing is, she makes a mean cup of coffee. In other words, she’s good at what she does. You can read the article HERE.

I urge you to express who you want to be and brand YOU, not just what you do or who you work for. There are just a couple of caveats though…

• If you’re entry level or bottom tier in your profession, you may not have the freedom to do what you want.
• If you’re an employee and not a free agent, you have to do what The Man says to do.
• And, the most important, you have to be the best at what you do.

If you follow the last one, you can write your own rules about how you dress or look. Lisbeth Salander did just that. Fiction or not, it’s a realistic character that she became.

Homeschool Tips- School Choice Bill in SC

This article was originally published in print in Parent News magazine…

Many of you may not realize, but there’s a very important school choice bill making its way through the South Carolina legislature. It’s a great idea, not just for homeschoolers, but for parents of any type who’d like more input into their child’s education.

The bill primarily supports low-income students and children with special educational needs through privately funded scholarships. Modest tax deductions for families who homeschool their children or pay out of pocket for independent schools are also part of the plan.

“Parents have always had the most information and the best motivation to make decisions for their own children,” explained Senator Larry Grooms (R-Berkeley), the legislation’s lead sponsor. “Freedom in education isn’t just academically effective and economically efficient; it’s also the right thing to do for families.” Senator Grooms reiterated his long standing belief that parental engagement is the most important part of education reform. “There are 15,000 low-income students in private schools in South Carolina,” explained Grooms.

“Their parents are really sacrificing to keep their sons and daughters enrolled in the school they believe is best for that child. Those same parents pay over $8 million in state income taxes each year, but save the state $72 million in public school spending. There is a total disconnect here.”

Other states such as North Carolina and Georgia have recently encated similar laws with great success. Our local dentist Senator Ray Cleary is in support of the bill. I hope it passes, as it will be a great benefit to many families across the state.

I Know a Guy Who Makes His Own Soap and Shaves with an Axe

This article originally published in print as part of my Time to Relax column in Transitions magazine…

Soap Dock, www.soapdock.com and Mountain Man Soap, www.mountainmansoap.com

A friend of mine Brett Traudt has been making soap for years and selling it at Mountain Man Soap. I’ve been using the soap, and it’s pretty awesome. I like to idea of using soap made from natural ingredients instead of the nastiness that’s found in most cleansing agents. Brett also uses ground oatmeal in the bars to provide a loofah effect which really helps me when I’ve been out hiking or biking and come home all muddy and manly smelling. You can order the soap directly from his website.

Brett also just launched a new product called the Soap Dock. It’s a completely biodegradable soap holder designed to reduce the mess in your bathroom, make your soap last longer, and keep it from getting soft and nasty in the shower. It’s pretty cool.

Check out Brett’s sites where you can order a sample pack of soap and a pair of Soap Docks. On the Soap Dock site, you can watch my video on the Testimonials page. I filmed it while in the shower. I promise, no nudity.

Journal or Die!

I’ve always been a big fan of journaling. I have an entire shelf of journals in my office that I’ve completed over the years. A lesson I learned a long time ago that I repeat often is that you’ll seldom find a truly successful person in any field of endeavor that is not a frequent chronicler in his or her journal. Try it.

Journals don’t have to be boring either. My journal is as close to multimedia experience as an analog device can be. There are drawings, stickers, pasted cut-outs, food labels, lots of writing, and just about anything else that I can glue, staple, or tape down. My kids even complete pages in there from time to time with stickers and kid art.

I’d love to go into a huge lesson on journaling, but we each have our own way that stokes our creativity and leads onward to greatness. Instead, I’d like to point you a recent blog by a good friend of mine, the muse of Nonstop Awesomeness, Nathan Agin. It’s how he journals every day.

I hope you enjoy. Here’s the link- A Doorway to Nonstop Awesomeness Journaling.

Sullie Saves the Seas (Book Review)

This article was originally published in print in Transitions magazine…

Time to Read- Sullie Saves the Seas by Goffinet McLaren

I have a beef with most book reviewers. A lot of times, book reviewers are nothing but readers and seldom go beyond that. I’d like to be different. Many of the authors whose writings I review each month are people I have personally gotten to know and talk to at length about their writings. That’s one of the reasons I’ll seldom write a negative review. If I read a book I don’t like I’ll just toss it aside. I suppose I could tell you about a bad experience as a public service, but I’d rather spend time on good reads, on book that are a good time investment, and authors worth meeting.

I reviewed 7 Easy Steps to Memoir Writing by Mary Anne Benedetto last month. It was an extremely useful book, and I’ve since gotten to know her even better. As a matter of fact she’ll be speaking at my church The Pilgrimage on Sunday June 24 at 10 a.m. We’re really focusing on the personal stories that shape our lives as Christians, and I thought a message about writing memoirs would be of great benefit to our congregation.

Mary Anne also introduced me to a friend of hers, another local author. Her name is Goffinet McLaren, and she wrote Sullie Saves the Seas. It’s a children’s book about a seagull who purposes to help preserve his habitat and keep his friends safe. McLaren is no stranger to the ocean. She grew up in Carrickfergus, a small coastal town in Northern Ireland. She and her husband retired to our shabby chic Pawleys Island in 2006. She’s seen the mess people leave on the beaches at times and how it damages the ocean and threatens marine life and sought to do her part by writing the book.

Ordinarily I won’t review children’s books for this column, but I thought this one was different. It’s not just a pure entertainment or ‘go-to-bedtime’ book. This one teaches an important less that is multigenerational and is best when shared. In other words, I think the lesson is learned best coming from someone older, someone like Sullie, who would like to teach the younger birds. I know that some of you still have small children or small grandchildren running around. If you do, I would urge you to check out this book and read it to them. Instead of just reading it myself, I decided to take turns reading it with my boys. I read a chapter then my oldest would read a chapter. That way I could also get their point-of-view for the review. They enjoyed it immensely, and kept asking me when we could read more. Both of them really got the story, and it resonated well with their own efforts to keep the beach clean. We often go down to play and pick up trash while we’re there.

The book is great and, to be honest, even though it’s written as a book for kids, I think adults could gain a lot of insight from it as well. It’s available at many of our local independent booksellers and also online. Maybe you could also catch up with Ms McLaren at a local event or book signing. It’d be so worth it to get an autographed copy and listen to her Irish accent.

Who’s Drinking Coffee Today? Green Lantern, Justin Timberlake, and Dresden

It’s Wednesday. That means it’s coffee day on the old blogosphere. Thought I’d do another round of pop culture coffee references for you.

Here’s a Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) coffee scene from GL #66 in Sept 1995.

What’s up Lantern? You save the coffee mug with your magic green chicanery one minute and give up on it the next?

How about Justin Timberlake? Now, this gives you a great idea of the true worth of a mug of joe. It’s a pic from his movie In Time where people are willing to trade minutes off of their very lives for some coffee. The going price for a basic coffee is 3 minutes. Great movie, by the way. You should check it out.

And the last lovely juice of the brown bean tidbit I’ll give you today is from a book by my absolute fave sci-fi/fantasy author Jim Butcher. It’s from his book Side Jobs.

 

From the short story Day Off…

p159- “My apprentice came in and set two Starbucks cups down on the coffee table, along with a bag that would be full of something expensive that Starbucks thought people should eat with coffee.”

P162- “I checked the fireplace, which Molly had lit and which was crackling quietly. My coffeepot hung on a swinging arm near the fire, close enough to stay warm without boiling. I went to the pot and checked. She’d put my cup of expensive Starbucks elixir in there to stay warm. If I’d been preparing to murder her, that single act of compassion would have been reason enough to spare her life.”

 

Are You Worth Your Salary?

I always love it when the annual salary issue comes out in Parade magazine. It presents a good cross-section of wages and occupations across the country. This year’s issue also revisited people who’ve been profiled in the past.

The revisit also raised a few interesting questions for me.

1.  It’d be interesting to see how the belly dancer increased her income so much in a bad economy. I also find it funny that she makes almost as much as the psychotherapist. Imagine the education differential.

2. Going back to school doesn’t seem like a smart move to me. An increase in money? Nah. Annual increases at her old job would’ve probably left her with a higher salary. And going into a job that’s ending? Pretty stupid. Should’ve kept the old job and been happy with the Masters degree.

3. Very well done on the second career!

4. This one is actually not very well represented. To get a true idea of someone’s income, it should represent all sources. I’d guess that the POTUS’ book royalties eclipsed what he makes as the Prez.

 

5. What the heck is a laughter ambassador? It does pay better than a Pastor’s salary.

6. Hey genius! Maybe consider turning one of these into a fulltime job? At this wage, I have to ask, are you any good at any of these or still just entry level after all these years?

7. Those that can’t, teach. Apparently, it pays better sometimes too.

8.  Sweetie, maybe it’s time to realize that you’re no good at what you’re doing. If you do know how to cook, but you’re a crappy business owner, consider working for someone else.

9. At least someone had a good excuse for making less money. He’s enjoying the Hawaiian life and hanging out on the beach.

 

10. Another great example of those that can’t moving into teaching. A crappy quarterback turned millionaire coach.

 

Pushing Buttons and Providing Opportunities

As most of you know, I’m a huge sci-fi and pop culture nerd. I enjoyed watching the short lived micro-episodes of The Booth at the End on Hulu. It was an interesting show about a mysterious Man played by Xander Berkeley who helps people get their desires if they will do something he asks. It’s how I work with my clients by asking them to do the things that make their passions come alive.

I pulled an interesting set of quotes from one of the episodes that really resonated well with me. These are from season 1, episode 4 titled I Have My Reasons.

 

Client- “She says how you make things happen.”

The Man- “I don’t.”

Client 2- “He doesn’t make things happen.”

The Man- “I provide opportunities.”

Client 2- “It’s like he gives you a button, and you can push it to get what you want.”

 

That’s what I do for my clients…

Present intel.

Provide opportunities.

Push buttons.

A Review of Storybranding by Jim Signorelli

This article was originally published in print in Transitions magazine…

A Review of Storybranding by Jim Signorelli-

Last year I attended a conference by Don Miller called Storyline. It was all about writing the story of your life before you live it, not when it’s too late to change anything. The idea of writing a great story and living it out really appeals to me. As much as I liked the idea of writing a story with my life, I also wondered where business figures into it. I know that the source of my income plays into my story in a big way, but is it possible to write the story that I want my business ventures to live out as their own story?

Turns out there is a way to do this. I recently started reading a book called StoryBranding by Jim Signorelli. It’s all about telling stories through your business and telling a story with your business. Your own personal story is rather easy. After all, you’re the main character and everyone else is only supporting cast. With a business, even your own, It is the main character and You are part of the supporting cast. Each individual part of your business plays a role in its story, from customer service to the bookkeepers. Even your customers will p ay roles, sometimes even pivotal ones, so be sure how you both select and treat them.

So far though, I’ve only spoken of story. There’s also the devotion to branding that exists as well. After all, that is the purpose of the story, to create a brand that stands out.

The book is very good from several points of view. Of course, there’s the business side of things, which is amply discussed. Then there’s also the storytelling view of things. We are all storytellers, even if we do not realize it. Our lives tell a story. We relate stories to family and friends every day. It’s interesting to understand the business side of that function. I could see the usefulness of reading this book from a consumer’s point of view as well. Imagine if you had the choice to choose between two businesses to spend your money with. If all else were similar, would you rather spend your money with one that cultivated a memorable story or one that simply existed only to make money?