the. jana.

Me make stuff.

I set a lot of goals. Daily, weekly, monthly. But they all seem to revolve around my project numero uno, “work”.

Realizing I do my best “work” when I’m creating outside of “work”, here is my simple list of creatives I want to learn or continue this year*.

1. Letterpress. Learn it. Make postcard collection. Sell them.
2. Cheese. Become a certified cheesemonger and make some cheese.
3. Beer. Get involved in a local NYC brewing group and brew some goodness. Share with friends.

Holding myself to this by December 31st. Feel free to help push me along in anyway you see fit. Here’s to kicking the rest of 2012’s fun ass!

*I am continually putting “work” in quotes because let’s be honest, my day job is pretty amazing and fun.

Classic Grammy Jo FWD:

Date: May 19th, 2007

This is worth reading. Jo

>
>
>         What Religion is Your Bra?
>
>
>         A man walked into the ladies department of a Macy’s and shyly
>walked up to the woman behind the counter and said, “I’d like to buy a
bra
>for my wife.”
>         “What type of bra?” asked the clerk.
>         ” Type?” inquires the man, “There’s more than one type?
>         “Look around,” said the saleslady, as she showed a sea of bras
in
>every shape, size, color and material imaginable.
>
>
>         “Actually, even with all of this variety, there are really only

>four types of bras to choose from .”
>         Relieved, the man asked about the types. The saleslady replied:
>         There are the Catholic, the Salvation Army, the Presbyterian,
and
>the Baptist types. Which one would you prefer?
>
>
>         Now totally befuddled, the man asked about the differences
between

>them.
>         The Saleslady responded, “It is all really quite simple..
>
>
>         The Catholic type supports the masses.
>         The Salvation Army type lifts the fallen,
>         The Presbyterian type keeps them staunch and upright, and
>         The Baptist makes mountains out of mole hills.
>
>
>         Have you ever wondered why A, B, C, D, DD, E, F, G, and H are
the
>letters used to define bra sizes?
>         If you have wondered why, but couldn’t figure out what the
letters

>stood for, it is about time you became informed!
>
>
>         (A} Almost Boobs…
>         {B} Barely there.
>         {C} Can’t Complain!
>         {D} Dang!
>         {DD} Double dang!
>         {E} Enormous!
>         {F} Fake.
>         {G} Get a Reduction.
>         {H} Help me, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up !
>
>
>         Send this to all that will appreciate it!
>
>
>         They forgot the German bra.
>         Holtzemfromfloppen

Just do.

It’s Janaury 21st, 21 days into the new year. This year has already been a huge one, a move to New York to join the Dogpatch Labs family, and numerous other profesional and personal leaps.

But why am I feeling like I still haven’t done enough? This great post Who You Are Speaks So Loudly I Can’t Hear What You’re Saying from Ryan Cox nails it. (I don’t know Ryan personally, but through the magic of the internet hope to soon, I mean, come on, “your mom goes to college” is part of his blog name).

Back to his post. I have a big personality, and can talk a lot of game. I’ve got huge great ideas, and I’ll tell anyone about them. Have five minutes now to talk??

But why does a seemingly awesome start to my year feel like I am already behind? Because I haven’t done, made, or completed anything yet.

This also goes back to a post from a dear friend of mine, Micah Baldwin, The Fade Away Jump Shot. It’s about resting on the laurels of your passion. Walking into a room and trusting only your story and the passion you have for your company. Passion is a gimme in this game, there comes a point when that just isn’t enough. It’s time to do.

We’ve applied to numerous accelerators and received great feedback. We’ve had so many no’s, when we got the yes from Dogpatch, I had to read it 10 times on Christmas Eve morning to make sure it was real.

Now we are here in NYC. My first week was full of the BD hustle, reaching out to everyone we know, you know, the “hey we are here” emails. I sat and waited a day for some intros. Gah, I wasted a fucking day. I know better, I need to just jump in and make those calls myself. Get. Shit. Done.

Startup programs and accelerators are that, they accelerate. They don’t do the work for you. You still have to make all of those calls, get all of those no’s, go through all of the pain. We are beyond excited to be a Dogpatch resident, and the opportunity is a great one. But it’s not going to build this company for me. 

Here is to the next 11.25 months of creating, closing, and doing.