Brass Magazine and giving back

I love my business and my volunteering and working on the MGB and all, but I have also been reading, attending some seminars and taking a long look at ways to build wealth. It will take a good deal to fund my foundation, so it can finance the projects I have planned, and more yet undiscovered. Giving back is very important to me.


One of the things I ran across is a magazine called “Brass”. It is a relatively new magazine for ‘young people’. Huh. I found it quite interesting and I’m only young at heart. I sure could have used something like this when I was ‘young’. The owner is a young guy who introduces himself and his magazine in this manner: “My name is Bryan Sims. I am the founder of brass|MEDIA Inc. I am a college student with a dream - and this is it.”
Bold, He has brass. He states his goal as: “To provide direct, intelligent, entertaining content to young adults about the money side of life.“ I could have used that back when I was younger. It gives me hope for our future.


One of he things that really caught my eye though was number 9 on his ‘Guiding Principles’:
“9. Give back and help others.
We believe strongly in giving back and helping others in a variety of ways. We value our contributions to the community, whether speaking to high school students or donating copies of our magazine to various groups, including organizations such as Johns Hopkins Hospital. We reserve ad pages for nonprofit organizations like the American Red Cross, UNICEF, and the American Indian College Fund.

However, giving back and helping others goes beyond supporting non-profits. It also means being socially engaged, like listening to the ideas of a young entrepreneur and sharing our contacts with them. It means hiring interns and young professionals to give them a chance to prove themselves in an up-and-coming environment. In short, this is our effort to make our community and world a better place through social entrepreneurship.” His website is http://www.brassmedia.com Check it out.
I admire him. I am sure he will do very well.


And there was another interesting statistic I saw somewhere, that said that 60+% of retired people volunteer or serve others in some way. I was surprised by that number. It is much higher that I thought it would be. There is so much negative stuff on the news and in the headlines that I am always pleased to see messages like these.

What are ways you know how we can give to others or ‘pay it forward’. What do you recommend? Add your list in the comments.

Mine are:
Donations to:
Guatemala Mission Outreach
The Susan G. Komen Foundation
The Brain Injury Recovery Network
Our local church
The Turks and Cacaos National Museum
The Safety Harbor Museum
giving automobiles to individuals in need of transportation

Volunteering at:
St. Petersburg High School
Coastal Cleanups
various fund raisers
The American Red Cross
Florida's National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship events

Musings on the holiday.

Musings on the holiday.

I’m sitting outside my '66 Airstream, enjoying a gentle 74 degree breeze, shaded from the sun, as it crosses the clear azure sky by the ocean blue awning....... . Writing, for me, is hard. Words don’t seem to come naturally to my brain or fingertips. I’m at Big Pine Fishing Lodge campground, on Big Pine Key, in the Florida Keys as usual for the Christmas holiday. It’s what I’ve been doing during the season for 25+ years. Most of the folks here have been coming here every year just as I have. The reason I come is that it is as close to Paradise as I can imagine and its easy to get to from my St. Petersburg home. Yesterday I went out on a small boat with “Painter Bob” and we caught enough fish to feed about 10 people. So tonight we will share our bounty with more friends.

Another friend stopped by, Gary, and we talked about the different ways people we know choose to spend their holidays. Some spend it at home with extended families, some with immediate family or with old friends. Some travel to resorts of one kind or another to swim,SCUBA dive, camp, ski, hike, or go to some athletic event. How do you spend your holidays? Are you caught up in the frenetic business of preparing, scheduling, wrapping and cooking or do you use the holiday to relax, regroup, and recuperate? Who do you spend your time with - Family, extended family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances from previous seasons, meeting new people, sharing time and perhaps serving other people less fortunate than yourselves?

However you spend it, do it well, with all the gusto you have and make memories that you will cherish for a lifetime and beyond.

New topic:
Oh yes, I am using the new compostable tableware, as I said I would, for all meals and snacks. They are being received with great interest by all who have tried them. Most say they are very interested to converting to the new product for their own picnics and casual parties. It’s a step. I suspect that the Florida Keys will act as the States of Washington and Oregon have, making recyclable and compostable, disposable ware the only ones acceptable, some time in the foreseeable future.

Got to go..... Santa arrives shortly (5 PM) by boat to greet the kids here at the camp. Then dinner of fresh grouper dinner and the annual Christmas play and party at the recreation hall. ( Last night supper was just caught, Spanish Hogfish for dinner.)

(Three hours later.) Santa arrived on schedule as usual. I’m always amazed that he can fit us in his schedule on his busiest night of the year. He will be back later to take care of his usual business, leaving presents.

I hope your entire Holiday Season is as wonderful as mine is and will be. 2007 has been a busy and profitable year and I have every expectation that 2008 will be even more so. This year I launched 3 new stores, BayBridalShop.com, BustersBooks.com, and finally TocobagaTraders.com. For the year 2008, I will focus on making each of my stores recognized for being the most customer friendly stores on the web, and noted for their exceptional service.

Thank you to all the visitors to my stores and especially to those of you who became customers and friends. Please let me know how I can serve you better by commenting here or by email through the contact page of one of my stores. Thank you.
Make your New Year the best ever.

Bob Lindstrom

The new store and the environment.

After several months work, the new store is up. Two years ago, when I first decided to build web stores, the first one I was anxious to build was a "green" store offering recycleable, reusable, and sustainable products. The store is now open and there is only one type of product so far. (I am looking at and for other products, and am trying out some solar yard lights.) I first thought that finding eco-friendly products would be easy. It isn't. Sure there's lots of stuff out there, but It is often overpriced, not well thought out, or not available. Then there is the question of quality. I won't market anything I don't believe in, so I test, personally, each product before I put it in my store. That takes time.

I am excited about this new stuff. Bioplastics are a new generation of materials that are made from natural products like corn, soybeans, and potatoes. It is a compostable, biodegradeable, replacement for all those styrofoam, paper, polyethylene and plastic dinnerware we used to buy for parties, picnics, and barbecues. Under perfect conditions the material can be turned into compost in as little as 180 days. When you compare that with our previous choices that sit in our landfills for hundreds of years and leave toxic remains, this is a huge step forward. I have been using the products in my home and am very pleased with the results. Yeah, at first my wife was upset that we weren't using the china, but now, she is equally impressed. We wash them and use them over as many as 10 times, and they hold up very well. They are strong enough to withstand cutting any meat or what ever and don't fold, even when I overload my plate. I'm done with the testing and they will be the exclusive dinnerware for our 2 week Christmas holiday at Big Pine Fish Camp in the Keys, and for all the trips in our 1966 Airstream. If you see us somewhere, stop by and I'll show them to you.

Oh yea, the new store is TocobagaTraders.com.

Breast Cancer Awareness

I have been busy in another arena for the last week and a half. Like many guys I never quite got it when it came to breast cancer. I lost a very good friend about 20 years ago to breast cancer but didn't understand the issue. It took another wonderful friend, who is recovering now to make me pay attention. I called her to see how she was doing and then she told me what she was going through. We have lunch together every other week and it has opened my eyes.

That's why I wanted to share this with you now. My friend shared with me that she had not been doing her monthly self breast exam and therefore wasn't diagnosed as soon as she could have. A regular self exam would probably have meant she wouldn't be going into her second round of treatments now.

What can we do to help? Lots! You can support cancer research and treatment by participating in walks and runs sponsered by your local Susan G. Komen group and the Pink Ribbon groups, and /or make donations. On the personal side you can ask women if they are doing their monthly exam. I called my sister and other loved ones, and after they got over the shock that I asked such a question, answered me and I was surprised that so many weren't. It's a love thing. Ask. Share your concern for them. They appreciated it. Only about 14% of all women do their breast self-exam. Thats not good enough, and half of those don't do it right.

Here is a website that shows you how to do it right:
http://www.y-me.org/information/concerned_about_breast_cancer/earlier_detection_methods/perform_BSE.php
Copy and paste it in that box thing at the top of your internet page. It will take you there.

My wife recently got information about a new device that aids in doing a self breast exam, making it easier to do it correctly and helping you to find lumps easier and sooner. Its called 'The Breast Self-Examination Kit'. So, what am I doing? First I made a large donation to the local branch of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Then I participated in their walk. And, I have put the self exam kits in my bridal store to make them available to everyone. Why do I want that word bold? Because, men, you want to protect your loved ones. A portion of the profit made by the supplier is donated to their local cancer charities, and I am doing the same in St. Petersburg. Fla.

What are you doing?

Thanks for listening,
Bob

Have you seen "The Secret" yet?

If you haven't seen the movie/video "The Secret" yet, then you have an interesting viewing to do. I saw it a couple of months ago and thought, "I knew that." And I did know it, in an unconcious way. I remembered that a friend of my Dad's, told me when I was about 11 years old, to watch what I thought about, because thoughts become things. So if I wanted something, think like you have it and it will happen. Later when I worked as an IBM salesman, I read Napoleon Hill's book and he said the same thing. So what? Well, the idea wasn't really solid in my mind but I can think of a lot of instances where I used it, but wasn't really aware of what I was doing.
Actually seeing the video made it hit home for me and clarified it in my mind. As I have noted elsewhere in this blog, I am on a new track with a new vision of where I am going. I am going to actively use "The Secret" on this new journey and I will share the trip with you. If you are interested in learning more of how to do this, (this was what escaped me most of my life,) below is a link for seven free 'How to do the secret' lessons. They were assembled by three of the guys on video and I am putting them to use.

Sharkwater

I had a great treat last night. Remember "JAWS". Well this wasn't anything like it ....it was better! I went to a preview screening of the new film "SHARKWATER". There were lots of sharks, large schools of hammerheads, whale sharks, great whites, nurse sharks, and many more. There was lots of blood, flesh eating disease, a chase scene, ships colliding and intrigue. In other words a great film.

The photography was outstanding with beautiful scenery, and incredible underwater scenes. During much of the film I was in a state of awe.

Now that I have your attention. This film is a documentry about the slaughter of of sharks.The worst offenders are the people who do 'shark finning'. They catch the shark, cut off the fins and tail and throw the body back in the water, alive. Without it's fins the shark cannot swim and dies because it can't breath, and is eaten alive by other sharks and fish. Shark specialists estimate that 100 million sharks are killed for their fins, annually.

Why is that important?
1. It threatens the stability of marine ecosystems. Sharks, as the top preditors in the sea, maintain the balance of species in the sea.
2. Up to 99 per cent of the shark is thrown away. By disgarding the body of the shark, they waste protein and other shark-based products that could be harvested by others.

There are many other reasons, that would take too long to list here. What I recommend is that you visit the movie's website http://www.sharkwater.com and learn about this issue.

As a former SCUBA instructor and charter dive boat operator, I was blessed to share the beauty of the sea with many people. It was a rare treat to dive with a shark when they provided that opportunity. (I'll tell you about the great time I had with a 6 foot bull shark I swam with some time.) Check out the website and go see this movie when it comes to your area. You wont regret it.

The movie will debut September 28 in Florida, and will open around the rest of the country on November 1st.

Abuse

About three weeks ago I finished reading a very interesting book titled "Because I Love Him" 'How Girls Become Battered Women and Why They Stay'. It is the most comprehensive book I have read on the subject. Because of my background in counseling and working with adolescents for 25+ years, I was asked, by a friend of mine, to read it and tell the author, who I have never met yet, what I thought. I was taken by the honesty and detail in this book. The author, Jasper Jamison, knows the real world of the battered spouse and was blessed to come through it. Since then she has worked for over 20 years to help others who have or are experiencing it now. The book will come out in, I believe, 2 months. I will keep you posted as things progress.

By the way, "100% of the author's net profits wil go to victim recovery programs, adolescents rehabilitation, and animal rescue."

When I add it to our book store, http"//www.BustersBooks.com .(copy & paste or use link) those profits will also be disbursed in the same way I described in a prevoius post.