Our friend Scot Nery sent us this amazing photo of himself wearing our signature Pirate Chefs T-shirt and posing with a giant waffle king. If Scot is rocking the Pirate Chefs T-shirt then I know we are on the right track, as he is an all-round bad-ass actor/performer.
Check him out…
Scot Nery: Pancake Juggler
http://scotnery.com
Last November I walked into the workshop to find that Jeff had draw out a measuring surface on our worktable. It completely revolutionized the way we use the workshop. After a year of getting the first surface scuffed up, we flipped the table top, renumbered it, and put a waterproof coating of poly on top to protect it. It’s August, and we are already prepping for the Holiday season.
My mind goes about a million miles a second, and by that I mean I’m in my head a lot. I can’t complain, it’s helped bring about success, but it can be taxing. Life is all about balance.
The other day I felt like sharing a memory of my buddy, Fred, with someone special, so I did. Granted, I almost cried, but it felt good.
I just got my new shower curtain for my new place. IT IS AMAZING! Just wanted to share.
Today our good friend, Jesse, got us a tour of the White House. Full suits in 100 degree + temperatures. But it was worth it to get a behind-the-scenes look. Then I ran back to the workshop to get orders out and just made the Post Office deadline by 2 minutes. Also I had a milkshake today!
“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned to have the life that is waiting for us.” – EM Forester. It’s a commonly passed around quote and one that was on the label of my Honest Tea bottle. But just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it doesn’t have merit. It’s quite the truism!
For me it applies to relationships, letting go of my preconceived notions of relationships and letting in the ones that I truly connect with. i.e. I don’t need to marry Rachael McAdams, though I am still not opposed to the idea should the situation present itself.
For work, I never had any notion of a planned life. I have no memory of ever thinking life would turn out a certain way. Aside from believing I would be a firefighter at age 5 (and an astronaut since then) I have always raged against certain normalities. My dad would have longggg talks with me about financial responsibility, retirement, family, etc. I always pushed back. I am really grateful for those talks. Dad was expressing nothing but love and trying to help me have the best life possible.
Luckily I had an inkling of an idea that I needed to pursue other avenues. Now, I get to be a nexus for amazing artists and produce fun items that people really connect with. It’s an amazing ride.
That’s another thing, don’t forget that life is a ride… hold on tight cause it will be over before you know it. And don’t forget to scream, have that sinking feeling in your stomach, hold the person next to you, feel the rush… you get the idea.
A few weeks ago we wrapped up a successful trip out to San Fran and L.A. to do some craft festivals. Inbetween the San Fran and L.A. shows my friend Mike and I visited Yosemite… Part 2.
The first thing we saw when we got to Yosemite was a massive gift shop. We didn’t expect it to be such a commercial park.
We just might have found a really cool rock slide to climb.
On the way up the trail. Keeping it cool.
We couldn’t climb the rock side any higher, it was starting to get dangerous and went from rocks to rock dust. Not exactly sure footing.
The next day Mike and I climbed the Glacier Point trail. It was nearly 45 degrees tack backs all the way up the mountain.
A view of Half Dome on the way up.
Waterfall. This is a waterfall. Another view on the way up the Glacier Trail path.
View from the top.
On the way down I touched a red wood.
On the way out of Yosemite we got right up to the base of the waterfall.
Standing triumphant at the base of the waterfall. Later I would climb closer and closer and closer till the mist was so dense that I couldn’t see and was totally soaked.
Then we headed back to L.A. to do another craft festival. Amazing vacation.
Heat index has us near 115. UV warning. Pollutant warning. It is one of those rare days we decided not to sell at Eastern Market but instead stayed in the workshop and are working on making hundreds of wrist cuffs for the Christmas Season.
Matt is a first year intern. He’s learning the ropes and seeing what it takes to make a business successful.
Palmer is a second year intern. Last year he was working with us in my parent’s garage. We’re happy he stayed with us! That’s some serious dedication!
This is John Paul, who owns Fuzzy-Ink.com. He is hanging out in the workshop and escaping the heat as well. We all met at a show a few years ago and both realized their are few people that are obsessed with their companies as we are.
And saving the best for last, Jeff Ball, President of the operation. Jeff took a big chance on me. I once told Jeff of how I hoped we could grow the company enough that I could pay him a salary. He took that quiet seriously, quitting his job and living off his savings for over a year until we could get the company far enough that I could pay him a modest salary. It was rough. We were broke. We made it work.
Two years later and I couldn’t run the operation without him. And now it truly is an operation.
