If you are reading this, you consider me a friend.  For that fact alone, I thank you and am grateful for your presence in my life.  Those that chose not to read this will have made their choice clear as well.  Seeing as I will not know who read it, only time will tell who did and did not.  I only say this because I am about to talk to you about what I see in our world and what I am doing about it.

Most of us are in our thirties now, scary I know, with families, mortgages, and jobs.  I say most because some are still single, some are younger, and some are unemployed.  It is a difficult time we live in.  That makes my sense of urgency that much more vital in regards to what I am writing to you about.  Time is running out.

I am neither a fear monger, nor am I a conspiracy theorist.  I am a practical man who has made a great many mistakes in his life.  I cannot spend another day silent as to what has been presented to me, and what I am doing about it.  The world around us has been built on a digital foundation of debt and slavery.  We pay our taxes because we are told that we must.  I don’t want you in jail, so keep paying your taxes, for now.

What I am talking about is putting your hard earned money into a store of value that will be worth something one day.  Your bank account is losing money each day.  With interest rates near zero, and inflation on the rise, you are a fool if you are keeping your money in the bank.  The truth is, most are living paycheck to paycheck and have little to save, let alone invest.  There are some of you that have created a great life for yourself and your family.  I am truly happy for you.  Please continue reading, as this pertains to you as well.

The dollar is not worth the paper it is printed on.  Only tangible assets will survive the collapse of the U.S. economy.  And rest assured, it is a mathematical certainty that it will collapse.  As it is impractical to store, oil, food, and most other commodities, and gold currently priced over$1600 per ounce, silver is the only real thing left available to us.  The bankers (pronounced: Corporate whore slave traders) can keep printing money to keep the government afloat, and the Federal Reserve can keep buying bonds from the U.S. Treasury.  They bought 61% of them last year.  There is only so much silver in the world, and that amount is getting smaller as we go forward.

Right now silver is undervalued and cheap enough for the masses to buy.  It is affordable enough for the average person to give up your daily grande soy peppermint laté and purchase a mercury dime from the local coin shop. One dime per day for a month will cost you $75 a month right now.  If you pay yourself first, you will not miss this minimal amount of money from your check.  That is a wild boast for me to tell you how much you can or cannot afford to put away.  Here is my case for your consideration:

For the last 2000 years and in half the world today, the average days wage was 1/10 of an ounce of silver.  2/3 of the world lives on less than $2.50 a day. Right now you can check coinflation.com and see that a mercury dime has a melt value of $2.2851.  On sale compared to the suffering of 2/3 of the world.  Each one of these you can put away gives you an advantage over the rest of the sheep out there.  Think of the buffer that 10 ounces of silver will give your family, that is the equivalent of 100 days of hard human labor. Can you give up $2.50 a day to protect your family?

Most of the population has no idea of how we are living on the edge of a cliff.  Those in the UK are facing the equivalent of $10 per gallon for gas right now.  We are upset about $4 per gallon.  What would you do if gas were $10 per gallon here?  Would you drive less, or cut money from somewhere else?  Right now you can purchase silver for unheard of prices.

I am not asking you to buy anything from me. I am talking about putting your money into something of value.  Soon the paper storm will come and only the real thing will be worth anything.  If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it.  Don’t take my word on it, do your own research and you will find that what I am saying is the truth, not spin.  All debts come due. I am trying to show you the chair for when the music stops.

But, you say, you cannot eat silver.  To which I say. I agree.  That is why I also believe that you must start growing a hearty home garden.  We have lost our ability to feed ourselves.  We have to pay for our food at the grocery store to eat.  Are we that lazy?  I don’t think so.  We have just put it as a lower priority.  It has become easier to go buy it than put the effort into growing it.  What happens when gas is $10 per gallon and the trucks stop running.  There is a 3 day supply of food in the chain.  That is it.  Take a look in your pantry and tell me if you think that you could survive without the grocery store for a week?  A month?  Perspective.

The last thing that I want to talk about is relationships.  I have not been as in touch with you as I could have been.  Those days are over.  The internet is great, but you are not your facebook page.  A solid local network will be just as important as your garden and your silver.  There are skills that we do not possess that others around us do.  We don’t talk to our neighbors any more.  Why?  Too busy.  It is time to reset the paradigm.

Friend, if you are still with me, I am so thankful for this opportunity to talk to you.  I am putting my best foot forward to start building foundations for the future of our once great country.  Many of you stood by me in the big green machine once, and I know that some of you still are.  For us, it would be a good reminder to look back at the oath we took. It was to protect and defend the constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. For those of you who did not choose the military as your path, stand with us now and let your voice be heard.  You are just as much a patriot if you still believe that this once great land can be great again.

We are the generation that will be the leaders of the next human cycle.  Rise up with me and declare yourself free and not afraid.

Your friend,

B

Time 

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.

So you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again.
The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older,
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.

Every year is getting shorter never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I’d something more to say.

Despair seems to turn into ambivalence, which eventually settles on hope, leading to a final fork pointing to accomplishment on one side, and back down to despair on the other. Seems pretty obvious where I currently find myself stalled – or perhaps, “settled”, is the better word.

Settled…how easy it is to find a soft place to lay down. I make myself sick, as if forced to watch an avatar, wasting away before me. It would seem I’d have control over this…thing, yet it doesn’t seem to follow my desires, or commands. I prod, wave carrots, and taunt it to action, yet each effort only seems to budge this, deceptively, immobile object a single nanometer.

You can’t be me…how could I possibly be this pathetic? So, what are you then?

Move, god damn you…move!

Finished platter

After a fairly busy day on Monday, Tuesday was less so, thanks to our meticulous planning.  I nearly had a heart attack when I cooked a test piece of salmon and it was so, so salty.  It was brined, so it should have been a little salty, but this was overwhelming.  Like I need to drink a glass of water overwhelming.  The cured salmon was the same way.  Really, really salty.

Cured salmon.

Luckily, after I rinsed both of the pieces, the salt content was reduced significantly.  I though I nearly ruined our platter.  You can’t really tell from the picture, but the texture of this salmon changed immensely.  It was firm and all the moisture from it was gone-the salt takes it out.  It reminded me of the texture of smoked salmon.  We didn’t even cook it.  We just sliced it very thinly and presented it as is.

Inlay garnish

The colored stars are inlay garnish.  Stephanie made colored aspic (consomme + gelatin = aspic) by making a puree of cilantro and a puree of red peppers.  You squeeze the liquid out of those and then add it to the aspic.  After the gelatin sets, you can cut shapes out of it and set them on your platter as garnish.  They’re held in place by the white aspic all along the bottom of the platter.

Sesame seed crusted scallops. Rice noodle salad.

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of aspic.  It sort of like jello, but it tastes like meat.  Meat jello; I’ll have two servings, thanks.  You have to coat the proteins and vegetables with aspic to help them keep longer.  Yuck.  It does do a pretty decent job of preserving the platter elements though.  We finished our platter 15 minutes early, sweet!  I rather enjoyed making a platter.  It could be the Type A, I-have-to-plan-everything personality that so defines me, but I also like all the technique and attention to detail that goes into planning a platter.  It’s satisfying to plan something and then have it executed exactly the way you planned it.  

Today, we started a new platter and I made forcemeat from the ends of a beef tenderloin!  Pictures tomorrow!  My sister thinks forcemeat sounds pretty sick.  I guess it does have an unfortunate name.

Platter on a banquet table!

I finished up our project for this class, which was to plan a banquet of some sort.  I planned a wedding reception, which was kind of fun.  I made mine and the bf’s favorite foods and there was an open bar.  The open bar is key!

Obviously a soup station. Don't be jealous of my drawing abilities.

Off to do the dishes, one day I will have a dish washer.  One day.  Until then, I will continue to only wash the utensil and plate I need and leave the sink filled with dirty dishes.

That’s it…I must know, deep down, that any decision I make will have consequences and I’ll only have myself to blame for them. Could it be I’m always leaving myself a valid reason to fail?

I feel I should make the next “habit” one of specialization. I want to spend the next 15 day cycle forcing myself to stay on a single track. I should eat, sleep and breathe on that chosen road. If by the end of that time I don’t love what I’m doing, then I should move on to something else.

I need to give a concerted effort to discover my purpose. Maybe If I perform all my interests with the intent of making as much profit from them, within the 15 days, I can choose the winner of my time. The sense of urgency brought on by the deadline might also spur me on to give each endeavor my best shot.

Here’s your situation: You are in need of something from a professional place of business. Whether it be work, service, a product, or the resolution of an issue, all you want is that chance to speak your mind and get what you desire. After going through the Chain-of-Command of professionals, you get to the big guy…The man in charge. Now you feel as though you are going to get the help you want.

Here’s another situation: Maybe you don’t need anything from a business, but want something from a family member or a friend. Quite possibly you could be interested in a potential mate and you want desperately to get that chance with them. Soon, however, you begin to realize that people are giving you the RUN AROUND. Once you get to that point, you need to figure out if what you want from that person or company is worth the time and effort to get past the run around and get your results.

What exactly is the run around?

Basically, the run around is a specific set of lies/actions meant to keep you in a loop of expectation without actually giving you what you want. The person giving you the run around never had the intention of fulfilling your desires in the first place. So they give you the run around hoping that you will “get the hint” after awhile and give up. This is not to be confused with someone who has a really busy or hectic life or schedule and just can’t set the time aside for you. Their intentions may be well, and they more than likely want to address your needs or meet with you, but the timing is not right.

See, what’s happening when you get the run around is that your intended target doesn’t see the value in who you are or what your needs are. Maybe you haven’t placed enough value on what you desire? Maybe you haven’t placed enough value on yourself? Maybe there has been no sense of urgency surrounding your situation? No matter what the question is, the answer is the same: you’re getting nowhere fast with this person. After awhile you feel like giving up because either you believe that your target is too busy or you know they are giving you the run around.

How do you know this? Well, if you’re in tune with own intuition, you should be able to pick up on it. May not be right away, but you’ll pick up on it. If you’re not in tune with your intuition, then you need to observe a few things.

1^st things 1^st:

Let’s check the situation. Just because you feel you’re situation deserves much needed attention, that doesn’t mean it does. How serious are your needs? Dire? Extreme? Light? Can you make it through life without having that meeting with an old friend? Will you be able to function if you never see the store manager for a customer service or product related issue? Does your project have to be seen by this potentially influential individual or can you find someone else with the same clout and influence somewhere else?

2ndly:

Let’s check your interactions. Are you able to talk to your target? What was that like? Did they sound sincere in their voice? Did they rush you off the phone, out of their office, or away from the meeting area? Were they asking questions of you to get as much info as necessary? Did they make claims to have the time available only to reschedule time and time again? Do you FEEL put off? DOES IT FEEL LIKE YOUR TARGET SEEMS TO BE BOTHERED BY YOU? Do you find yourself contacting them over and over again, with barely any reply?

Lastly:

Let’s check yourself. Were you frustrated by your situation from the beginning? Do you know your target’s current situation? Were you polite when you contacted your target? Have you been able to place value on resolving the situation or having your needs met? DO YOU FIND YOURSELF CONTACTING YOUR TARGET OFTEN? Do you lack the patience needed to deal with a potential “run around” situation?

So now that you’ve asked yourself these questions and answered them, what overall conclusion have you come to? Are you getting the run around?

Here are some things to consider:

When interacting face to face – Check your target’s overall posture, gestures, and facial expressions. Make sure they are paying attention to you as you speak. Paying attention doesn’t mean staring. For all that they could be looking through you, not at you. Look at their posture. If it seems like they are bored or uninterested, they probably are. Watch their gestures because if they are fiddling with things like their pockets or other devices, writing or anything that doesn’t seem to be involving you, then it may be that you’re not that important to them and they feel as long as they are there to hear you speak that will satisfy you. Check out their tone of voice. Does it seem like they really want to speak?

Listen to their excuses – If you know their situation, the excuses for giving you the run around will either be valid or invalid. For example: A manager looking to hire someone quickly will not give you the run around if they feel you are a quality candidate for work. So if they schedule for an interview, then cancel without a reschedule, chances are you will get the run around. Remember, everyone who works knows their schedule so they know when they are available. Especially managers.

Knowing when someone is giving you the run around is more about feeling and intuition than facts or timing. Trust your gut instincts and know when to either give up or push the issue more. My next blog will tell you how to stop a person from giving you the run around.

Good luck in your efforts.

Network29

This is the sign that hangs under the clock in the kitchen of the French Laundry, in Yountville, California. Thomas Keller, the executive chef and owner, is famously (infamously?) meticulous and exacting, which is why he has been awarded not just one, but multiple three-michelin stars simultaneously, and the sign clearly shows that he tolerates no tardiness. I guess the diners, who paid hundreds of dollars just for the privilege of sitting at one of his tables, are anxiously awaiting their meals.

Yesterday during our Bible Study on the book of Esther, we read this passage in Esther chapter 9:

 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes, sealed the dispatches with the king’s signet ring, and sent them by mounted couriers, who rode fast horses especially bred for the king.

The king’s edict granted the Jews in every city the right to assemble and protect themselves; to destroy, kill and annihilate the armed men of any nationality or province who might attack them and their women and children,and to plunder the property of their enemies. The day appointed for the Jews to do this in all the provinces of King Xerxes was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so that the Jews would be ready on that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

The couriers, riding the royal horses, went out, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. (vv 10-14)

The Israelites had been sentenced to sure death by an edict issued by their enemy, Haman. The edict designated a day in which the Israelites were all to be put to death. Queen Esther, at great risk to her life, pleaded for her life and for the lives of her people, and the King granted her wish. Another edict was issued allowing the Israelites to defend and so save themselves. Once the edict was issued, the couriers raced out to spread the good news throughout the Persian empire so that the people would get the news in time. In nine months the first edict would have been carried out, so within that time the news of the second edict must reach even the farthest reaches of the empire. There was no time to lose!

At the end of the study, our leader asked us, “Do you have a sense of urgency to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to those around you?”

I had to admit the answer was no. I want to share the Gospel, but often I feel that if I pushed the issue today, then the other person would become antagonistic. I tell myself that I’ll do it tomorrow, or next week, or next year, when “the other person is more receptive”. But what if there is no tomorrow?

I remember a story a missionary stationed in Egypt told us. He and a friend went to pay a visit to someone who lived in an apartment building. They rang the bell but when the resident opened the door, they realized they were at the wrong apartment. They excused themselves, went to the right place, and paid their visit. On their way out they decided to visit the first man, to share the Gospel with him. After all, they had interrupted him once already! Unfortunately when they got to his floor, they saw the door was open and people were in the hall. The first man had had an heart attack and had died before they could revisit him. After that incident, the missionary was reminded to share the Gospel at each and every opportunity. You do not know if you will have another chance.

Even the cooks at the French Laundry operate with a sense of urgency, just so some people who already ate too much can have more food. How much more should we share the Good News of Jesus Christ to a generation who are starving to hear it?

As we began to contemplate the idea of the ‘Pop Up’ village store, we realized the opportunity that the concept provided SolCom. By consigning our products to an existing entrepreneur in a Village for a three-month contract, neither the entrepreneur nor SolCom take too much risk.  This will be similar the way the current MicroConsignment Model works, except now the entrepreneur is located in one location.  The entrepreneur will also have the ability to renew his or her contract at the end of three months.  Because the store has the potential to only be open for three moths, we believe it will cause a sense of urgency for the beneficiaries, similar to what occurs during MicroConsignment village campaigns.

Each ‘Pop Up’ village store will offer a lead product that will best serve the community the store is in.  There will be a choice between solar and vision, but the choice will not be mutually exclusive. Leading with solar products will involve a larger consignment of solar products and a smaller consignment of glasses and vice-versa.

A new savings plan will be tested with the ‘Pop Up’ village stores as well.  One water filter will be consigned to each store. The Village Store entrepreneur will offer villagers the opportunity to make an order for a water filter, which will be delivered after three months. Villagers will have set dates whereby they may leave part payments for the filter with the Village Store entrepreneur before delivery, thus effectively creating a product savings plan.

The store entrepreneur will receive extensive training not only on the products he or she will be offering but also in store management.  The entrepreneur will have the ability to renew their contract at the end of three months and receive additional training to better support their store.

Currently, regional coordinators are conducting searches to find micro entrepreneurs who are interested in this unique opportunity.  Soon five ‘Pop Up’ village stores will be created in four departments: Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, and Sacatepéquez.

OTC program director Alexa Bradley was one of the presenters at Occupy Wall Street’s inaugural forum on the commons Feb. 16-19 in Brooklyn. Here is her report on what that happened.

A report from the Occupy Wall Street forum on the commons

I am just back from Making Worlds, an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) Forum on the Commons consisting of workshops, presentations and discussions last Thursday through Sunday that explored the intersections of the Occupy movement and growing efforts around the world to reclaim and reinvent our commons.

If ever two emerging movements had synergy and much to offer each other, it is these two. Both the commons movement and Occupy spring from a shared sense of urgency about need for a different path toward the future, given the widespread human suffering and ecological destruction caused by the dominant economic system. The commons movement brings working models for shared resource governance. Occupy represents a a highly energetic mass movement that is determined to redefine the politics and possibilities of our times.

As the Occupy movement considers how to expand the influence and energy of last fall’s uprising into the next wave of work, it is looking at strategies for social transformation that combine a commitment to deep democracy, equitable economics, life-sustaining interdependence with the natural world and a liberatory remaking of social relationships. It is not surprising then that the commons, as both a worldview and practical approach for sharing resources, would provide fertile ground for strategies and solutions..

Some 100 people participated in the Forum—both long time commons proponents and others new to the ideas, people from New York and around the world, all engaging in rich and thoughtful conversation. The group was hungry to look at how the commons might offer new ways of reclaiming or creating shared resources and deeper community links, allowing us to “embody the vision of the society we want to create,” as Sylvia Federici, an activist and teacher at Hofstra University, put it.

The conversation was wide ranging with the crowd engaging enthusiastically about open source and digital democracy, water and seeds, culture and education, community/solidarity economic models, alternative banking, public assets and public space, and issues related to families, sexuality and health. Throughout the discussion speakers noted that commons of all kinds are defined by a type of social relationship in which the users of a given shared resource are also the co-creators, producers, protectors, stewards and decision makers. As Marcela Olivera, a Bolivian activist on the staff of Food & Water Watch,stated, “the commons is a social construction, not a thing. The commons will come from the doing and living of them.”

James Quilligan, of the Global Commons Trust brought this thought into a discussion about the relationship between the commons in both public and private realms. He cited the need for communities to “common” resources in either realm by reasserting their rightful claim, not just on benefit or access, but also in direct stewardship and governance. Where that is threatened, he said, “we must reclaim and negotiate in order to roll back the enclosures that deny people their livelihood, well-being and shared wealth.”

Most of the conversations expressed a belief that needed solutions will arise from the creativity and actions of people and communities, not the embattled and often bureaucratic public sector or the private sector. One of the challenges noted over the three days is the need to continually sustain the commons and the understandings and practices that are necessary to do that.

In that light, University of Southern Maine philosoph professor George Caffentzis talked about the long-standing lobster fishing commons in Maine as illustrative of what it takes to create and maintain a commons over time. He identified three conditions that make it possible to share and co-manage these fishing areas:

*The shadow of the future*– the recognition of ecological limits that must be respected if we are to sustain the commons
The development and preservation of communal values
The perpetual creation and production of the commons given that it will be under siege from both the market (privatization, individualism) and the state (bureaucratic rules rather than local decision making).

These observations rang true as we looked at various commons—past and present, natural and created, vibrant and endangered.

The planners of the Commons Forum, a working group of OWS, put together a remarkable resource of writings and web links for any one interested. These are posted on their wiki at http://makingworlds.wikispaces.com/home

The organizers consider this an initial exploration in what they see as an on-going dialogue within OWS about the commons and commons strategies. All of us at On The Commons look forward to participating in that exciting process.

Youtube on-screen

In today’s tech-savvy society, it is not hard to find any clip of a news event, TV show, award ceremony, or something incredibly hilarious on the popular website YouTube. For the past five years, YouTube has become one of the most visited and popular sites on the internet, and with Google’s recent acquisition of the site it is not hard infer that the site will only continue to grow in popularity as well as revenue as time goes on.

The Washington Post has taken advantage of the popular site by creating their very own YouTube channel in 2006, which has in turn given them 9,224 subscribers with over six million uploaded content views. Though the YouTube Channel for the Washington Post is only available on YouTube. This allows Post subscribers to have a visual-video aide along with whatever news story they are reading in the given text.

The way The Washington Post is using this new media is brilliant. It takes the reader further than what words can offer in a story by showing the environment in which a story took place, who is being affected by the story (if interviews with citizens or other people did occur), and the YouTube videos also create a sense of urgency in regards to the matter at hand. Today’s media consumers are all about the story becoming real for them and the story being visual, The Washington Post does a great job at making this possible for readers by using the YouTube feature on the actual site through their channel.

That word this time was “accuser”.

My awesome wife was making mention of some things, about visiting Oswiecim (Auschwitz) and seeing the reality of the history there. See the reality of Hitler’s madness. So we will go when we are in Poland soon. We also got to talking a little about Hitler’s position in Germany leading up to the war, what he said to the people, how he said it and what he did. Those who are in league with the prince of this world, are always vehement liars. They lie about everything, they lie with a passion and they lie like it is the truth. Have you ever met or seen someone like this? Our society actually has more and more of these, everywhere, in all walks of life. Workplaces, government, churches!!
Lies are what exactly? False accounts, false testimony, false promises, false witness, and more. It is an intentional effort to avoid truth, to slander, for ill will.
We as believers are above this. We have Jesus, truth and salvation. There is room only for living in a glass house for us, for then we are free for the work of the Spirit of God and all things become possible. For what can be said about someone who speaks truth, fact, and lives life openly? Only another liar can ever accuse us of anything. The Lord wants us, His adopted sons and daughters to live lives of repute, so that no one can point and say anything against us, so that the world sees how “different” and free a believer is. The Word of God states that such people will be snared by the words of their mouth.

[Psalms 9:16-17]
16 The LORD revealed himself;
he accomplished justice;
the wicked were ensnared by their own actions. (Higgaion. Selah)
17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol;
this is the destiny of all the nations that ignore God

[Proverbs 12:13]
13 The evil person is ensnared by the transgression of his speech,
but the righteous person escapes out of trouble.
14 A person will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words,
and the work of his hands will be rendered to him.

It also says that those who slander and speak evil against us, shall be called out. God has us well in hand!

[1 Peter 3:13-17]
13 For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is good?  14 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. But do not be terrified of them or be shaken.  15 But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess.  16 Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.  17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

So why do I go into all of this?
When we as believers open our mouth, it should always be to edify, encourage, speak truth, speak the Word, speak good, speak the great things that the Lord can do and will do for us and for His glory. I am not talking about being super spiritual. Christians need to drop the church lingo. It makes you a look like a weirdo. But speak with a smile on your face, with everyone knowing that your life is transparent, that you are predictable, emotionally stable, one of the few people that people can go to knowing you will always encourage, always be good for your word, always speak well of them behind closed doors, in an attitude worthy of Jesus.

The accuser:

[Revelation 12:7-12]
7 Then war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, so there was no longer any place left in heaven for him and his angels. 9 So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
“The salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the ruling authority of his Christ, have now come,
because the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
the one who accuses them day and night before our God,
has been thrown down.
11 But they overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.
12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea
because the devil has come down to you!
He is filled with terrible anger,
for he knows that he only has a little time!”

We know him as the the father of lies, the prince of this world, the deceiver, the toothless lion, the serpent, a manipulator,  that he comes to steal, to kill, to destroy, and to accuse us. We know he has little time left. Filled with pride, filled with arrogance, filled with anger. He actually tried to get the Son of the Living God to bow before him Matthew 4:8-10 (major stupid move). He came to accuse in Joshua 3:1. He came to manipulate Job. The list is long. His purpose and character are very clear now. The New Testament, the letters, speak extensively on where our conduct comes from. Either from our sinful nature, Satan, or the Spirit of the Lord. We have to choose. Choose, not default or fall into automatically. Choose. Make your choice. And if you choose the Spirit of God, you will have to do more than just cruise along in life. There is no such thing as “cruising in life”. There is going forward, which requires effort, goals, decisions, courage, or you “cruise” and automatically go backward and life will choose for you. Life is bound to this world. We are here. If you let life decide, it means you let Satan decide for you, because our flesh responds to the world. And he will choose to destroy you, in mind, in spirit, in the physical, in the mental, in the emotional. Choose wisely. The accuser will always do what he does, and that is accuse, lie, bring the world to bear down on you, slander you, your family, your life. But the Word of God says that very quickly, the very world itself will call those people to account and put them on display as fools, if you live your life in a glass house, for all to see, for all to know that you are true.

We must take action. God cannot help, steer or guide if we are not moving. The unexpected, the surprises, the open doors, the impossible and the remarkable will happen for you if you act, do. It is very hard to be anything but excited, focused and honest in all things when you are taking action in something constantly and consistently. And so I leave you a quote that I have actually discovered is true, through and through. When you wake to action and activity, lies fall away and the accuser is left with nothing to hold you with.

“We are men of action.
Lies do not become us.”

Spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette, dehydrated apple chip, blue cheese and candied cashews with chili powder.

“Sous Chef, we need more serving spoons on the line.”

“Sous Chef, where is your soup?”

“Sous Chef, who’s at your carving station?”

“Sous Chef, I need you here!”

“Sous Chef, where is your SOUP?”

Every day in our New World class, a student is appointed to be our Chef’s Sous Chef.  On Thursday, that was myself.  I didn’t know that I was going to be Sous Chef that day, but I was ready.  I am a highly organized and efficient person, so organizing the line and designating tasks to people wasn’t hard.  But, when does anything go as smoothly as you want it to?  I will probably never forget this day in class, simply because it was incredibly busy and I learned that instilling a sense of urgency into a person is much, much harder than it looks.  I’m beginning to wonder if a sense of urgency is something that a person is just gifted with, and can not necessarily be taught.  I still don’t have an answer…

Laminated dough. Steph and I made this in under an hour on Wednesday. Holy shit that was fast.

Roasted corn soup was what my group was making today.  As we divided up tasks, one person in our group volunteered to make it and so we gave it to her.  Being the Sous Chef meant that in addition to organizing the class for service, I also had to help my group produce the foods required of us.  I helped Stephanie roll out our laminated dough and fill it with corn puree and goat cheese.  I helped out where I could and asked every single person in our group several times throughout the day if they needed help with anything, including the person making soup.  At 9:30, I asked her when she thought her soup was going to be done.  The stock had to simmer for another hour, which would have put them 10:30.  We serve at 10:30.

“That’s not going to work.  Simmer that stock for just a bit longer and then start putting the soup together.  It’s 9:30, you don’t have time to simmer stock for an hour.” 

She informed me that she didn’t realize what time it was and that she would start making the soup.  Everyone knows what time it is, always.  You live and die by time as a chef.  Our service is always at 10:30, how could you NOT know what time it is?  I started checking in with this person periodically, to have an idea on the soup’s status.  I told her the way she needed to set up her mise en place for the soup service, and after I explained it to her, she said “Could you write that down for me, I don’t know if I’ll remember.”  

My favorite plate of class, deconstructed octopus salad.

No, I can’t write that down for you, I have eight other things to do right now.  I told her to find me when it got closer to service and I would tell her again.  At 10:15, she was still passing soup through a china cap to make it thinner.  I walked by her, asking her if she was almost ready to go.  She asked if I could take over for her, as her arm was hurting from pushing the soup through the strainer.  It took all of my strength to not explode and said, “No, but I can find someone to help you.”  Remarkably, we still managed to get the soup out for service.  Two people jumped in and started putting the garnishes on the soup and that was a huge help.

Cod with fried potatoes and apple / jicama slaw

The point of this story is simply that it’s pretty damn hard to light a fire under someone’s ass.  You can’t force someone to work faster; you can scream at them all you want, but they’re never going to work faster unless they learn how to work faster or unless they want to work faster.  I asked this person several times if she needed help and she denied it until the very end; she was in the weeds the whole time she was making the soup.  I could have recognized that this was the case and enlisted someone to help her, but part of it was also that she needed to ask for help.  A kitchen is not the place to be proud.

I was pretty pissed after class Thursday and really worn out from all the stress of the day.  This Chef is by far one of my favorites and who I work the hardest to impress.  I tried so hard to purse excellence in the kitchen as the Sous Chef, but perfection is not ever attainable.  Thursday could have been much, much worse than it was; I just saw all the little things that went wrong and it seemed much worse to me than everyone else.  There were a few people that day who impressed me throughly, as they stepped up their game and made a much bigger effort than they usually do.  I suppose I lit a fire under a few people, and a few is better than none.  Nobody every talks about how hard it is to be in charge, how you must help cook, but also organize your team and motivate people and instill them with a sense of urgency.  But, despite all the stress I loved it.  The energy, the furious pace and the solidaity that forms between people is worth the stress I went through on Thursday to get us to service.

I didn’t take a picture of the corn soup, because I was so pissed about it.  But, I wish I had now; it ended up looking pretty good.

 I think we need an unreasonable sense of urgency a lot of the time in business. Not just to be creative and innovative but to maintain a high energy culture that can deliver high outputs and the ‘extra stuff’ when needed. An unreasonable sense of urgency in this context is not sustainable long term but rather a space you get into (as an individual or team) that is for a period of time to meet high workload demands or handle peak times.

Having an unreasonable sense of urgency as part of your culture can be part of what sets apart successful organisations and teams from being average.

 Rod Hattch

Priorities!!! Many will read this and say, “She’s just hating cause she ain’t got no money to get it.” –> You’re right! I don’t have money to waste on a phone that’s not adding significant VALUE to my life. I rather pay my daughter’s tuition and pay for her extra activities that mold her passion and drive like dance, piano, and acting soon. *coverseyes* I rather donate my money to charity. I rather invest in a life insurance plan. <-How many of you WITH kids even have that?!? Smh… I rather deposit it in my DAUGHTER’s bank account. I rather send it to Haiti to my family who are living in tents. See, I’m not bitter or broke, I just see waaaaaaay wiser decisions I can make with my money that will BENEFIT OTHERS more than impressing people and sticking with the times. When “I” feel an upgrade is necessary I’ll do so, not when society and pressure from other people’s opinions tell me to. The iphone does look cool but not for me right NOW. Hey, when I probably come around to actually getting one, you all will be “upgrading” to my phone because you have to be cool like me. HA! Smh…

If you had no need to work for a living, no need to impress anyone, no need to buy into any other person’s priorities, if all those things were suddenly lifted from your life, what genuine, personally meaningful priorities would still be there, underneath them all? Those are the priorities to pay attention to. Those are the things that will enable you to make valuable, productive and fulfilling use of your time and money, so keep your focus on them and seek to let go of the rest. Just be mindful of what you include as a priority and don’t get lost in the world of upgrading because “EVERYONE” is doing it. God gave me brains which came with some common sense, attached with some “Hey, Dianne…I made YOU unique, who cares?!?”.  <- I <3 his humor. Lol! Maybe some of you experienced this with others or maybe some of you are literally living in the dark BUT you’re cool because you got that iphone, what do I know..lol! Maybe this will enlighten some about other things in life that matter more than a new phone. Sharing is Caring! : ) Let me upgrade you all with my dimple and help some of you smile. POW! That’s a FREE upgrade kidd.

So a very hot topic for this month, and perhaps even the year, is relationships of the intimate sort. Everyone seems to be searching for that “special someone” like the end is near and this is their last chance. I’d even say that the sense of urgency to be in a relationship or married far exceeds any sense of urgency for the salvation of the lost; for the resurrection of the dead who walk among us every day. Liz Hineman has a very insightful series of blogs concerning the chaos that surrounds vain pursuits of romance here: http://lizhineman.wordpress.com/ . And while they are very well written and informative as well as thought provoking, they don’t really address much of the biblical principles behind the problems addressed.

Allow me to make something abundantly clear: you are not on this earth to get married and make babies! Yes, God did tell Adam and Eve from the get go to be fruitful and multiply, but mission #1 is and always has been to worship Him with our lives! More than half of the church doesn’t even grasp this concept, they have the two completely reversed. Many would even say something as ignorant as “I can’t start in my calling until I find my spouse”. Why? Where in the world is that part laid out in scripture? (I can show you where it isn’t!) Oh sure, we’ve all heard it in sermons or songs and know how to recite the words verbatim any time the question arises, “What is the mission of the church?” And the answer is in some way shape or form, ”To build God’s Kingdom”. But how many believers actually believe that? Judging by the divorce rate within the church I’d say very few. A dire problem in the church today is that we have all the right words to quote scripture and those witty little churchy-phrases, but we don’t actually believe nor receive them. We weren’t called to “build the Kingdom” through reproduction…and a lot of Christians can’t even get that part right! There’s a satanic doctrine preached around social circles in the Church that is deceiving people to believe that discipline is non-physical. “Reasoning” with a child makes you stupid. Take some advice from Solomon, you know him right? The wisest man to ever live (and make some stupid mistakes, but even still). He said in Proverbs 13:24 – “He who spares the rod of correction hates his children, but he who loves his children is careful to discipline them.” But I’m getting ahead of myself! Already talking about parenting without yet addressing the many stages that come prior…so then, let’s get down to business:

The mindset of “I believe it for someone else, it’s just not for me,” is an utter failure in faith! I’m going to be bold enough to say that there is no wisdom in the matters of a Godly relationship except for that given in the Word…and God will agree with me on that. Many people will argue that the Bible doesn’t make the topic of relationships very clear. Yes it does. What I’m about to do is shoot down several incorrect concepts and ideas concerning the pursuit of romance and replace them with biblical concepts:

#1: “But God said in the Bible that it’s not good for man to be alone.” Yes, but He didn’t follow that with, “So go ahead and hook-up and keep testing the waters until you ‘find the pool that suits you’.” Our primary purpose on this earth is to live lives of obedience to God and deliver the message of salvation to the lost and dying world. Your happiness, or rather what you think would make you happy, is completely unimportant. If this is your mindset, that romance is your primary concern, what you fail to realize is that there is no lasting happiness to be found in the things and ideals of this world: joy only comes from God. The same way wisdom supersedes knowledge and can only be obtained through God, joy supersedes happiness. God doesn’t want you to be happy, He wants you to be filled with His joy! He wants you to have lasting feelings of worth and meaning, to find endless pleasure in life despite your current condition! It would be better that you were utterly alone and in His will than in a relationship against it. Or have you forgotten that your life is not your own and that you were bought by Jesus on the cross. You are His inheritance…believe me, He wants you to be the best you can be. He cares about your desires, but He needs you to be more concerned with His!

#2: “But I’ve been seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness…shouldn’t I have had ‘all these things added to me’ by now?” I’m sorry, is there a meter that shows how much faith combined with works for furtherance of the Kingdom is enough until a spouse is released from God’s “prize bin”? If you’re doing to earn and giving to get, I have bad news for you: your heart is misaligned! Let me lay it all out for you: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these [other] things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33 First of all, the context of this scripture is referring to life necessities: food, water, clothing, and shelter. Christians misconstrue this passage to mean that “if I’m good enough, I’ll get a woman/man”. Wrong. How are you wrong? Allow me to enlighten you! We serve a good God. Boom! Did you miss it? That was it, right there! Okay hold on, let me do it again: ——- We serve a good God ——- . I’m going to tell you something that is going to hurt: you don’t have that special someone in your life because you aren’t ready! Ohhhhhh no, here we go with that can of worms! Let me bring some clarity to this issue. We’ve all heard it before, “When it’s your time, she’ll/he’ll just come along!” And quite frankly it just makes us mad. We’re impatient by nature and it infuriates us (especially if spoken by someone who is already in a relationship) to be told we’re being denied something we desperately crave because of a timing issue. NO! NO NO NO NO!!! It is not a timing issue at all! It is a heart issue 150%!!! We serve a good God, and that means that He is not going to put something on your plate that you can’t handle. 2 reasons: 1) He cares too much about His investment in you to allow you to fall apart by taking on more than you’re capable of handling, 2) He cares too much about you to allow you to make a decision that will lead you astray. Seeking first the Kingdom of God is not a means to an end!!!! It means devoting yourself to a life of submission to His will no matter what! It means that your obedience is not based on what He gives you or what you lack, it means you serve God in spite of what you think you lack! You do it because you love Him and you couldn’t see any greater calling in life than to prepare yourself as the bride of Christ – the Church as He intended it.

#3: “If only I had someone (romantically) to help me along in my walk…someone to help me understand what my relationship with God is supposed to look like, I’d be so much better off and would grow so much stronger in Him!” *facepalm* I weep for you…you’re on the road to becoming another failure statistic! How on earth can you love another human when you obviously don’t yet know what love is? God is love. The same way that wisdom and joy only come from Him, love can only come from Him. Everything else is just a counterfeit. It’s why the word “love” in our culture has become a buzzword which signifies a desire to engage physically with one another. “Love” is negated once the physical desire fades. This is a travesty! You can’t know what love is until you receive the revelation of its beauty from God alone. ”…From everyone who much is given, much will be required, and to him who is entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Luke 12:48. If you can’t even handle the responsibility that’s been placed on your own plate and serve diligently in God’s Kingdom alone, what on earth makes you think He would entrust you with the care of another human being? People are not “training wheels” to learn how to love God, and it is a terrible ideology that you “need another person to further your walk with Christ”. If you think that a romance will bring you closer to God, I’m willing to bet the next person that comes to you with a little affection is a temptation to try and tear you down! The enemy has been keeping tabs on you! Our enemy knows your tendencies, your weaknesses, your desires…no, Satan and his demons can’t read your mind, but they can very astutely observe your actions and attempt to place roadblocks on your path to righteousness. They’ve been around since the beginning and have studied man and his weaknesses from the fall in the Garden to the present day, they don’t really need help knowing what makes your carnal nature tick…you don’t have to give them inside tips as to how best to tempt you. It’s not a vast mystery as to why the pornography industry is one of the most successful and productive industries in the world. Untamed desire and unbridled natures, devoid of the wisdom of God, eat it up like it’s the cure for cancer and the elixir of immortality. It’s death. Death is what happens when we choose our way over God’s. And not just physical death, spiritual death, which is far worse.

Let’s take a good look at some very hard scriptures to swallow on this subject…a not so popular set of passages: “Now to the unmarried and the widows I say it is good for them to remain unmarried, as I do. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” - 1 Corinthians 7:8-9. NO, this does not mean, “Oh, well I have a problem with lusting, so the Bible says I should get married!” Don’t be a fool, that is completely ignorant and contrary to scripture. God does not honor lust and it is never a just cause for marriage! If you can’t stop lusting after another person, that is a clue that you need to FLEE that relationship, not PURSUE it! Again, do I need to remind you of the divorce rate in the church? What these verses are referring to is the side-effect of romantic love that is biblically sound and blameless before God: we have desires for the opposite gender, that’s a fact. If God delivers the one He has set aside for you, it’s only a matter of time before you both start feeling desire for each other…that’s healthy! But not, “Oh my gosh I want in her/his pants SO BAD!!!” Down Sparky! Bad! BAD! What this scripture means is this: don’t deny yourself the gift of the love of God’s chosen spouse for you for fear that you will be dishonoring Him. “What do you mean by that, how is that applicable to what was just said?” I’m about to show you…

Another difficult scripture to follow for the romantically hopeless to swallow is one only a few verses down the page from the last: “…An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs – how he can please Him. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world – how he can please his wife – and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: her aim is to be devoted to the Lord both in body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world – how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.” – 1 Corinthians 7:32-35. This scripture is written in reference to an increasingly vile generation who were pursuing sexual passions over righteousness. Sound familiar? It should…it’s just history repeating itself. This was to curb their fleshly pursuits and give them a wakeup call to realign with the heart of God.  Now this isn’t Paul commanding everyone to remain single because he is accusing them of giving up serving the Lord to fully devote themselves to their spouses, because then if we wanted to truly seek God we would have to stop marrying and reproducing altogether. He’s referring to getting your priorities right. You have to be a fully functional disciple before you can be trusted with the combined devotion to the Lord and secondly to your spouse. We serve a good God…but you have to believe that! You have to have faith that He knows what He is doing and not worry about what you want and desire…He’s got a better life for you than you could ever put together yourself. It’s like trusting a toddler to put together a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Have faith! He knows what He is doing. He knows what He is doing! He knows what He is doing!!! Now granted, this one little post (and “little” is very relative at this point) only scratches the surface of the vast knowledge and wisdom on the issue, but it’s a good starting point for many to use as a reference to begin their own study into what God tells us is a healthy and obedient romance. But you have to believe Him. “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6

Amen.

“Now that all has been heard, here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

One of the best ways to cultivate a sense of urgency is to craft a powerful Case for Change. Simply put, the Case for Change is a story that explains the changes coming to the organization. Its objective is to provide a common baseline of awareness and understanding among stakeholders. How the Case for Change is constructed and communicated is very important.

Below, I explain the method I’ve developed and refined over years of supporting successful business transformations for Fortune 500 clients – most involving thousands of impacted stakeholders and multi-billions of dollars (in investments or cost savings). It’s simple, yet effective.

Crafting the Case for Change

My medium of choice for telling the Case for Change story and communicating it to others is PowerPoint (did you expect anything less from a management consultant?). The rule of thumb I use: tell the Case for Change story in 10-15 slides and include visuals/graphics to enhance the story wherever possible (a picture can often convey what words cannot, or at least help convey it more potently).

The major content pieces to incorporate into your Case for Change are as follows:

• Context: Set the stage by explaining why changes are needed now. Be sure to include a mix of internally driven reasons (opportunities) and external factors (threats). Include summary analysis from your business case as appropriate. E.g., changing regulations, need for leaner operations, new market entrants, opportunity to build internal capability while customer demand is low.
• Changes: At a high-level, articulate what will change and who will be impacted. Conversely, be sure to highlight what will not change, as this provides boundaries and a sense of stability for people. E.g., organization structure will change, we will deploy new technology tools, we will preserve our culture, changes to compensation are out of scope.
• Process: Describe how you will implement the proposed changes and the expected timing of the changes. Provide immediate next steps and introduce team members who will lead the change effort. E.g., high-level Gantt chart, quarterly objectives, program team structure.
• Benefits: Highlight the benefits that are expected as a result of the changes. Be sure to address all levels of benefits: enterprise-wide, specific division(s), and individual roles. Include economic highlights from your business case as appropriate. E.g., improve the company stock price for shareholders, decrease administrative burden, create more opportunities for career advancement.
• Consequences: List out the consequences of delaying these changes. This is an often overlooked, but very important aspect to the story. These are the counterpoints to those who would say “we can wait until next year to do this.” E.g., customers will switch to our rival competitor, missing financial targets, unable to fulfill orders.
• Expectations: Inform your audience (who are your stakeholders) about what is expected of them. Make it clear that everyone has a role to play in successfully implementing the changes. E.g., Remain open to new ways of working, actively provide feedback to managers, participate on transition teams, help design solutions.
• Commitment: In most cases, the senior executive sponsor should present the Case for Change initially. Then subordinate leaders should present it to their respective teams from there (a cascade approach). To close the presentation, each leader should state the explicit commitments that the leadership team has made to the change process. Not only does this foster trust, but it makes the leaders accountable to their employees. E.g., leadership will model new behaviors, will share information with you in a timely manner, will have an open door policy for feedback, etc.

I recommend you address each of the above content pieces with no more than one or two slides. While you may have sophisticated financial models, reams of in-depth analyses, and a 100+ page business case, this is not the place to present it. Use follow-up meeting to deep-dive into the data and additional information with key stakeholders, as needed.

Again, your objective with the Case for Change is to establish baseline level of awareness and understanding of the changes. You can then build from this foundation with subsequent communications and stakeholder engagement over time.

Skorzch: Behind-the-scenes

Zano Sithetho a.k.a. Mr. Skorzch and I are snug in our respective seats: he, in a regal armchair and I, occupying one side of a two-seater couch. “It is vital that I know what the client wants.” The tone in which this statement is delivered stresses its importance. “In the past I have lost clients due a lack of a communicative relationship; they couldn’t articulate what they did not like during the fittings and just accepted the final product and were never to be seen again.” Mr. Skorzch takes up his cappuccino, carefully wraps his fingers around the cup and reclines back into his couch. He fixes his jacket before continuing the conversation in the same serious and weighted fashion. “I now ensure that I establish common interests with my clients and get a relaxed, yet professional, relationship going.” A waitress interrupts us, placing a much-welcomed delicatessen of rich chocolate cake before us. So comfortable and absorbed I am that for those handful of minutes Mr. Skorzch had been speaking I had forgotten that we are at Kaldi’s Coffee in Newtown. This is our final stop after a tiring day of fabric searching. I had met the mister at the Joburg CBD earlier on in the day and after a quick briefing on what his corporate client wanted (a formal structured shirt and pants), he wasted no time leading me to Benjamin Woollens.

Known as The House of Quality Fabrics, Benjamin Woollens (established in 1967) is located on the corner of Bree and Troye Streets in the Joburg CBD. Mr. Skorzch and I briskly walked into Benjamin’s, the smell of wood pungent and reminiscent of a patriarchal library. Judging from the enthusiastic greetings, “Yes, sir. How are you today?” I was convinced Mr. Skorzch was a regular customer. Once again, his sense of urgency led to a swift flick of his wrist and his swatches books (fabric samples) were on the table. As he pointed out the fabrics, his long arms acting as a pointer, I finally had the chance to watch, really watch, Mr. Skorzch. I took in his navy coloured vintage suit, the black shirt and textured slim tie, the rusty brown belt and matching lace-up shoes. I chuckled under my breath as his tall figure staggered clumsily like a frail tree during a thunderstorm with each hearty laugh, a result of a joke made by one of the employees at Benjamin’s. A few minutes’ later rolls of material were laid before him but this was not his lucky day. We soon found out that the material he wanted sold out during the festive season. Before I could turn around and ask Mr. Skorzch what he would tell his client, he was already on the phone. He informed his client about the situation and they arranged on a meeting to choose new fabrics for the following morning. Immediately after that call we had to source out fabrics that were similar to what the client initially chose and others that he may be interested in. This signaled the beginning of our fabric search. The guys at Benjamin Woollens cut up the swatches as requested. Within minutes were out on the congested streets of Jozi, off to see what other shops would offer. Mr. Skorzch, not satisfied with what he saw, led us to the Oriental Plaza and after obtaining a few more swatches, we settled down for a chat over coffee at Kaldi’s.

His cappuccino back in its saucer and his hands now free to move gracefully as he speaks, Mr. Skorzch explains why he is a regular customer at Benjamin Woolens. “They have quality fabrics, they are reliable and I always get professional treatment”, he muses. I recall how he had been addressed as ‘sir’ and the neat rectangular swatches he received as opposed to the scanty and rugged pieces of fabric from the other shops. I understood. “A lot of these other shops also have the same type of material”, he continued, “and from that you just get seasonal clothes, which is not what Skorzch is about. At Benjamin Woollens one receives material that can be used to create something that will last you a lifetime, both in quality and style”.

The quality of the material having being stressed, Mr. Skorzch addresses another key element in Skorzch clothing: the fit. He relays an incident where he had to create a tuxedo for a size 28 client and, having already shaped and cut the suit, realized during a fitting that it was not right. “I could have slimmed the suit but because I wanted it to be a perfect fit, I went out, got more material and redid suit. It came out good.” His refusal to work around an error, the easier thing to do, has contributed in maintaining the standards that Skorzch has set. The Creative Director confidently expresses the vision for the Skorzch brand: to be Africa’s exclusive men’s wear brand in competing with international fashion houses such as Gianni Versace and D&G. So it does seem logical for Skorzch to take its creations so seriously.

Back pocket in progress...

Back pocket completed...

A day later I am invited into the Skorzch Studio at Kempton Park. The attention that is paid to each individual part that makes up an item is a sight for sore eyes. Observing Mr. Skorzch as he cuts, sews, irons and hand stitches is like watching a painter create an art piece, just in fast motion. The Skorzch production process is about precision and, as Mr. Skorzch had already displayed during our fabric search, carried out with great efficiency. It was fascinating to watch him put together a back pocket for a pair of pants. Although the process took no more than ten minutes, commitment and, dare I say it, love, were without a doubt infused into the labour. With Skorzch, the small things do count. The Creative Director’s strict use of only good quality cotton, religiously taking up the iron after each time he sews a portion of a garment under construction, cutting loose cotton strands as he goes along to retain neatness: all these, and more, show how much definiteness and dedication are attributed to each Skorzch creation.

To be continued…

Part 3 of the Skorzch feature will be up on Monday. To view more Skorzch pictures click here.

Benjamin Woollens contact details: 011 3377336

Call Zano Sithetho on 083 7275425.

Tons of Chic love…
Jozichic