The Prince of Dartford

I never stopped believing in your smile...

Celebrating Keith's birthday by feeling my heartstrings tightening...thanks!

A Style Finds You

You don't find a style...a style finds you, Keith has said.

And I was reminded of his words as I stumbled upon StyleLikeU
and got seduced to stay by the byline "Freedom of expression 
through personal style".

Always one to find true personal style fascinating, I often struggle
with the implied vanity of spending time on looking like myself.
That in contrast to me taking the time to be in touch with myself,
knowing and trusting myself, getting wiser on what makes me
a unique person.

As the young designer Yara Flinn points out:

It's nice to wear clothes that draw attention but if they say more 
about you than you are saying about you, it's pointless.

Some Girls

I really do hate seeing Keith in drag. Of whatever kind.

Luckily it looks like he hates it too. The man is the pure essence of

masculinity to me: Strong, kind, witty and charming. And with that
all encompassing presence in every riff left in him.

Keith is not "some girl" who's name you can't remember. He's not

about to blend in with the masses or bow down to a grinding
numbness.

As it's been said about Keith:

The man is a fully achieved realisation of the idea of the man.

Not Feelin' It

Committing major blog sin by not posting for ages! 

I am aware. It didn’t slip my mind. 

I just haven’t been in a blogging mood for a while,

nor have I had the time to do much about it. 

So I try to own my imperfections, just accept the flaws, live with my need for time off at times when others are groovin’ it online, and live well with it!

The main thing is to know yourself. 

In a transition of some sorts anyway. Don’t know much about the future,
but something’s got to click massively for me to find a new joy in the daily routines. 

Not the worst thing to happen anyways. 

Changes are as important as ambiguity, and just as annoying at times. 

Cocksucker Blues

The über famous film of the '72 Exile on Main St. Tour by Robert Frank is by far
one of the rarest opportunitites to dig into the juicy, sexy, raw 70's decadence
- or perhaps better put as a free-range, all-in exploration of living in exile.

The film is often ordered taken down the minute it get's posted, so for as long
as it's here, watch and absorb this plundering soul of the Stones rip it all apart.

Perhaps more disturbing to the Stones when they saw the finished product, 
however, was the degree to which Frank faithfully captured the loneliness 
and despair of life on the road. 
     
Mick Jagger reportedly told Frank, "It's a fucking good film, Robert, 
but if it shows in America we'll never be allowed in the country again." 

  

Brass Balls

I've got to call Clint Eastwood, I think, and ask him how he displays his balls.

Count on Keith to lighten the spirit of my day, at any time. Thank you.

But as the man always shows, it's not all about balls, but of
head & heart & balls. The three go together through life.

Another Man - Another Photographer

While I'm usually drawn to the photos of Mario Sorrenti, I'm not particularly fond of the pictures he's taken of Keith for the Another Man issue.

It looks like the images are worlds apart.

As if one image is of a tired, old man. And another is of a strong, confident man, who'll spit at you for being in his face.

And maybe they're all very real and complex portraits of Keith as a man and and as an artist - though everybody knows "Art is just short for Arthur" - but somehow the photos don't crawl under my skin.

It could be pinned down to "not-matching-the-image", I realize that.

Then again I've looked at more photos of Keith than most, and they don't tend to give off this aura of distance or perhaps even of a dried out man.

But as Keith has said:
You could be sick as a dog, but as long as you've got a suntan, everybody thinks you're in great shape.


Appearances can indeed be deceiving.

Do It Wrong

Obsession is a way of organizing our lives so that we never have to deal with the hard part - the part between being two years old and dying, 
Geneen Roth writes on her Facebook profile.

She's right of course. It's way easier to involve yourself to the point of obsession in others or in the problems of addiction, ego or the world, than it is to silence your inner critic or embrace your own frailty.

Florence - of Florence and the Machine - seems to have it down though. To me she's got a natural kindness to her, as if she accepts the toing and froing of the creative process.

It's quite hard to string all of these pieces of past, present and future and other 
different influences all together. A lot of thought went into what songs should 
go on here to make it seem like a cohesive body of work. I think it's like a scrapbook.

I think she's right too. Life and work and relationships are all patchwork'ish, put together
of good days and bad, of good and bad decissions, and of good and bad interpretations
of what happened.

It follows that doing it wrong is just as important as doing it right, falling down as
important as getting back up.

Stumbling

I suspect this is true for most of us. A stumble that no one saw isn’t nearly as mortifying as a stumble with an audience, as they write at Tiny Buddha.

Not one to hide my errors as such, and still I sometimes find it hard to be openly vulnerable and maybe even in the wrong. The placid personality I haven't fully grown into yet. 

And clinging to the notion of discovering of my own inner tranquility with age might be a forlorn hope - or so it feels.

As you get older, younger people think you know where it's at. But it's a forlorn hope. Because everybody's growing up at the same time, you know, Keith has said. 

Daring to be imperfect is pretty scary in any Western culture. But with it comes a knowledge of ones personal borders and bounderies, and an understanding of what fly's and not for me, a recognition of what I consider to be bullshit in others and in myself.

What She Did For Google

At Google, Sandberg served as vice president of global online sales
and operations in a role that helped build the company's money-gushing 
search-advertising business.

What a track record Sheryl Sandberg has! And she's not afraid of taking on
yet another huge challenge. Actually it's her dream:

My dream is really simple. I think every small business should be using 
Facebook. We're not going to stop until all of them are using it to grow 
their business.

When any company is able to engage our heart - i.e. dreams & longings,
fear & doubts, laughter & spirit - they're here to stay!

Adsense Making Sense?

"Ladies and gentlemen"...trying to build up a momentum before addressing the 

Google Adsense issue.

Not one to praise passive earnings since they rely on other people's actions. 

Not that keen on being in the hands of Adsense either, with no influence on what 

ad gets shown on your blog. 

The again it all comes down to the content you post!

And your visitors' current behaviour online. But mainly it's up to the blogger to 

know the right topics and the key audience of the blog. And more than anything:

to blog consistently about the topics and build up a reader momentum.

Easier said than done, like most in life. But by trying to put my money where my 

mouth is - though I do struggle with it! - I hope to learn about and practise using 

Adsense in this small scale, and at least for awhile. 

But did I say: I do struggle with it!

Airbrushed Reality

Trying to be perfect is such a waste of time. 

And it's never more visible than in election campaigns. 

We currently got it going on in DK. And with voting 1 day away, it's insane to see the amount of time, money & worries being poured into "creating an image". 

Now the idea of a government of the people, by the people, 

for the people, is absolute to me. I'm completely behind democracy as such, with its inherent flaws and failures.

Demo

But democracy only truly works when you're being honest and let the people choose freely among politicians who speak their mind, honestly and without a whole lot of "strategic considerations".

To me, we therefore need to stay away from airbrushing reality. Even when it hurts to 

look at and listen to politicians without a clue of the lives of the people they represent. And even when the few disregard the many, as we've seen for 10+ years in DK.

Better show insecurities and doubts than selling out for a TV slot to pretend on. 

As Keith said about Live Aid:

You're not gonna solve the problems of this world with a few rock concerts 

on a sattelite deal and a knighthood to the guy that put it together. 

That's like tryin' to put a Band-Aid on a rash.

Writer Of The Year

No one else can tell it quite like Keith can!

"Life" is every bit as mind blowing remarkebly as it possible could be. Every page feels like it's written in blood, Keith's pumping, loving, witty blood that is.

"Life" turned into a film, I don't know about.
The idea sounds sort of absurd.
Who could ever, just for an hour or two, play Keith?

But before getting ahead of myself in my doubts, Keith has answered it for me:

There are feelers out at the minute [but] I’m in no rush right at the moment. 
Also, how are they going to find me? The idea of a succession of Keith Richards 
coming down is horrifying.

Blogger Buzz

Blogger Buzz: Blogger’s fresh new look

As you may have heard, things are starting to look a little different across many 
Google products. Blogger is the next product to get a makeover.

Yeah! I've heard and I've noticed. And I have to admit to being oh-so-sensitive to
any GUI changes not made by myself.

Then again I acknowledge that it's my lazy creature of habit talking. And habits
can be changed. Fear not!

As Keith points out:
I start to feel good about records when I realize I can toss away the rule book.

Creepy Communication

The creepy TV show Toddlers & Tiaras would most probably be banned in DK.

Exploiting small kids and their celebrity hungy parents ought to be illigal anyway.
It's chilling to see children - as young as a couple of months old - being tought to
believe their biggest dream is to grow up and look like a prostitute.

Granted, there's a world of difference in culture, education and history between a
priviliged Danish childhood and today's American one.

Mothers of my time
Still, this kind of parenting is a long way from the way my generation of girls was
brought up. The mothers of my time would've fought tooth and nail to give us
different values, choices and ways of expressing our personality.

The worth of an education, of learning to reflect and ajust yourself in your world,
of role models showing you how to dig deeper and understand yourself, is as
fundamental to a young girl's self image as any stories of strong and brave heroines.

Luckily I remember how "me and my girlfriends" made loud protests and walked
out of the cinema when we went to see "Pretty Woman" back in the '90's!

Free-Range Social Media

We've now joined the Free-Range Social Media Movement, started by Brené Brown at ordinarycourage.com.

Behind it all is a foundation of thoughts on how to live, love and work wholeheartedly conncted to ourselves. And Brown emphasizes that above all other ingredients
of living an emotionally healthy life is the importance of loving ourselves.

Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. 
It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in 
the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone; 
I am enough.

Our fundamental need to live authentically is unfolded in The Gifts of Imperfection:
Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.

Creativity, innovation, and truth-telling can feel very vulnerable in our culture which 
is why we often feel deeply inspired when we see it . We’d love to know more about 
how you find the courage to share your authentic self and your work with the world.

Or as Keith says: When it's time to go on, it's time to go on, and when you get up 
there you either croak, puke, fall over, or not.

Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction

It's been a while since hotness was the Anita Pallenberg's of this world.

Anita came out of an artistic world, and she had quite a bit of talent herself - she was certainly a lover of art and pally with its contemporary practioners and wrapped up in the pop art world. 

So Keith describes her in "Life", generally in the sweetest, gentlest way, though he makes no secret of her being a wild woman, passionate to the core and when drugged-up even being a complete asshole, "Hitler".

Anita had rage whether there was dope or not, but if there was no dope she'd go crazy.

As far as I know, the Jersey Shore chicks pictured above are usually drunk.
And we're not talking "elegantly wasted", but hammered, loud & vulgar kind of drunk.
I fail to see the value of their tv-existence, and to me the whole concept is one big
waste of time.

You can't turn tv into "a reality", and if you try, you'll end up watching posers,
out to pretend the filter is gone, and this is who they are. It's not only less interesting
than real life to me, it's a perverted version of being present and "real" as a person.

You're So Vain

So not only a diabolic and despotic egomaniac, Muammar Gaddafi is said to have a disgustingly vain personality as well.

For years a private Ukrainian nurse used to travel with him everywhere. Packing daily shots of Botox
for the dictator, who apparently thought he'd look younger, fresher and more in vigor from injecting the poison.

Seen it all before
Sadly Gaddafi is not alone in this quest to look like something he's not.

The art of pretending, taking on a look, persona or image is quite common among
political and corporate leaders too. As if they're uncomfortable being themselves.
And more importantly as if they've never taken the time or had the courage to get
to know themselves.

Quite unlike Keith's defining charm of looking at things directly and to answer everyone honestly:The only thing I can say is, you gotta know yourself.

Keith is certainly not hiding his past, what he's done, who he is behind plastic & Botox.
It's all there, baby.

KeithRichards.com Store

KeithRichards Store

Vintage Vinos is the first collection of material from the solo recordings of Keith Richards. Pressed on 180-gram vinyl, the fourth side of this double LP set features an etching of the iconic image used on the album's cover.

Personaly I'm real fond of the label: Mindless Records

Practise Sharing

Experimenting with the share button for practise via addtoany.com.
First thing I notice is the missing Google+ button to add though, now come on!

Share It

I clearly prefer the AddThis functionality in Chrome
for regular sites though.

It works like a charm with real easy customization.

Flawless Is Fake

I get intimidated by the business women who appear as though they went to great lengths to look flawless.

The ones with tightly coiffed hairstyle, wrinkle free make-up, perfectly manicured nails, designer acsessories and
an oh so expensive wardrobe, along with 3 spotless kids under five, a well fitting career husband and a planned out future.

They come across as overwhelming to me, unatural, tense and worst of all, it's like they scream “Do Not Disturb”.

The opposite is portrayed
Even so, most companies go for this flawless image in a pursuit of "professionalism", as if to say "We don't make mistakes. Ergo you can count on us".

But in truth the opposite is portrayed. The corporate signals seem to be stripped of humour & humanity, tolerance, openness & true presence - i.e. the ethics that tie a modern organization in with its communities and customers.

Or as Keith says of image:
If they wrote about me as the sweet, gentle, loving family man, it would probably do me more damage. And be equally untrue.

In short: Hey, you can screw up. I have.

Under The Flesh, Brother

The skull...it has nothing to do with bravado and surface bullshit. Beauty is skin-deep. This is what we are all like under the flesh, brother. Take off the hair, pull off the skin, you're looking at the I and I.

The iconic skull ring is there. Always. I can't remember a photo of Keith without it. Or without the handcuff bracelet for that matter. Both are always there. As reminders.

The skull ring telling its tale of all us being the same underneath the skin. No bullshit needed.
We're all the same!

Or as they said in the old days: Humana non sunt turpia [the human is no shame].

To me, it's best done in ink. As permanent and beautiful reminders of being "the human". And of keeping in mind that mistakes are welcomed and that sometimes they turn into second chances of doing it better, bolder & braver.

And sometimes they don't. But they're still second chances in life, love & work. We keep growing as we live. And then at one point we stop. The end.

But the message, at bottom, isn't to say 'Screw you'. It's to inspire compassion.
as Jessica Pallington West says of the skull ring in What Would Keith Richards Do?

This To-ing And Fro-ing

Don't go down the LG phone road unless you're a real patient person.

Preferably a Buddhist monk with total body and mind control, forever unshaken by the physical world's waiting game. Then and only then, the LG might work for you.

If on the other hand you've got zero tolerance for network snail speed.

Or if you're inclined to feel interrupted and annoyed by not getting even a day of Android battery life to work with.

Or if you possibly could give in to frustrations now & then and accidentally throw the phone at the wall.

Then you most certainly will have a lot of mixed emotions, and will end up embracing the ol' iPhone again, 'cos the LG ain't gonna cut it!

This coming and going
Is driving me nuts
This to-ing and fro-ing
Is hurting my guts
So get off the fence
Its creasing your butt
Life is a party
Lets get out and strut

Online Wonders

Check out our new eCard via Cardcloud.
It's free & easy & green & interactive. Rock 'n roll!

Patience Now!

Patience isn’t so much a virtue, as an opportunity to look closer and appreciate the details of a situation. It’s actually a way to befriend yourself and others. With patience, we see the good intention beneath the twisted route we often take in seeking to fulfill our dreams.

So writes Lori Deschene, editor at the blog
Tiny Buddha.

As I've stated before I've got no religious views or preferences. To me, religion is between you and your God. If you have one. Or as Keith puts it:

If you're looking for a guru, forget it - they find you, you don't find them.

But my "unholy" impatience could use an invitation to: "Befriend the crooked path.
Wait with curiosity. See frustration as an opportunity to find alternative solutions.
See the good intention behind most failures. Be kind."

For now I try to be conscious of the mood before my head starts to wind up with
impatient worries. And then to sidestep the self-criticism without taking it out on
anybody else - most of the time!

Passion & Consistency

Not one to curse myself all that much, but come on! I know this.
1. rule of blogging: Be consistent. Blog just-about every day.
At just-about the same time.

And that's what blogging for business is all about - it's a habit.
As they put it in The 'No Bullshit' Guide to Blogging for Business.

2. rule in business blogging is write about stuff you're passionate about.
This is surely what motivates me to blog in Kadence's name. It's an urge to
talk about the drive & the difficulties behind wanting to do business the
passionate Keith kind of way; and my kind of way.

We certainly didn't want to be rock 'n roll stars. That would be too tacky!

Dealing With A Brenda II

Being burnt by JM Kommunikation, Kadence is one of the violated creditors in the bankruptcy process, and as such got an update from the appointed solicitor by the
Danish Commercial Court.

Apparently the owner, Johan Håkansson, has refused to be of any assistance to the Court or hand over needed documents.

Imagine the amount of public resources used in order to force this unethical man to just follow the laws.

The lawyers can't find any of the company's statutory accounting, can't locate the money trail, and haven't found one ad contract for the inserts, Kadence was hired to write the content for.

Håkansson is a fraud to the bone alright!

On top of it, my intuition told me from the first second of meeting him that something was "off".

I didn't listen well enough and tried to rationalize my uneasiness by insisting I couldn't just walk away from a - potentially big - job "cos it didn't feel right". I was wrong, and I'm angry that he made me question my judgement, made me doubt me. That's real bad karma for ya!

Keith, as mentioned, most certainly would've dealt with the man in a much more direct & action packed manner. I don't do violence though, and I try to be zen about losing money, not ethics or friendships or self-respect.

But I do struggle with it!

Lead Vocalist Syndrome

As many of my generation I've done a complete
180 on U2.

I used to love those Irish boys with the white flag, singing out loud of inner and outer conflicts, of growing pains, of doing yours to save your soul.

But that was before they turned into showbiz, fronted by an egomaniac, out to copy a Mick sized thunder - whitout even trying to play the maracas!

As Keith has explained it:
Well, Mick got very big ideas. All lead singers do. It's a known affliction called LVS:
lead vocalist syndrome. [...] If you combine congential LVS with a nonstop
bombardement of flattery every waking moment over years and years, you can start
to believe the incoming.

And as Keith points out; even if you're not flattered by flattery, it will go to your head!

Staging of own importance
With the current U2 Tour grossing in way over $700 million, it's real hard to match the
band with any anti-poverty credibility - since they don't even pay income tax in Ireland,
i.e. don't contribute to the common good of the society they used to be part of.

And this is no "Exile" situation.

U2 hasn't been ripped off by management nor been arrested, once. Besides Mick
has never even hinted at believing The Stones could or would save the world,
as well as he still seem to have a good ol' dry humour. At times.

Bono on the other hand come across as pretentious to me. Taking on a rock God
image and never stop preaching about how he ("we") can save us from the world's
worst wankers.

This staging of own importance has eaten up his personal integrity. His voice doesn't
hold any promise or longing or fear no more. It no longer challenges you.

And if U2 was anything way back, they were challenging.

Chicks Wispering

There's nothing more disturbing than two chicks wispering to each other.

So Keith says on the subject of women.

He says a lot of other good stuff, but for now I'll focus on the wispering part.

Cos women wisper online as well. We share good consumer experiences and we bitch about the bad ones. The ones where we feel overlooked, misplaced or disregarded.
And girlfriends aren't taking it!

Last week we saw the strength in speaking up when some UK eating-disorder support groups voiced very critical views on Topshop using a size 0 model.

The retailer did replace the picture with a less anorectic looking one of the model, though never really seemed to get what the fuss was about in portraying this ultra skinny model.

This faux-pas in misunderstanding ones key customer is not unique, but it is fatal.

Count on a lot of women worldwide to no longer shop at Topshop. And count on them
to spread the word of why not to shop at Topshop

Looking good is a state of mind

But mostly chicks will wisper, talk and blog about clothes that makes us feel good 

in our own skin. Of fashion made for "real" women and the way we breathe, move and have curves, quite different from those of young boys.

We know that "looking good is a state of mind", and we want to feel good, be kind, laugh at our troubles and let love flow. 

We don't want to be scared of food or men or ourselves or have 

to control our flowing nature 24/7. Eating-disorders are inner demons and should not to be helped upon any woman. 

To me, we all have a responsibility to accept more and condemn less. Among that is to laugh out loud at those who want to sell us weak and needy self-images. 

I'm very keen on Sophia Loren. There, as they say, is a bird.

As Keith put it in 1964. 

Knighthood Not Really

There are knights and then there are dark knights.

And you wouldn't want your man, comrade or colleague to hang around with the
posing kinds.

Praising the establishment of whatever business you're in is as a rule counter-
productive, or in today's words "not exactely innovative".

Way more sane and creative to do it the Keith way:

The music business, in any given year, is ninety-eight percent crap. If you know that, 
and can avoid the posing...you might fail totally 'making it'...but it's not going to 
hurt you to go for that two percent. But go for the other ninety-eight and you're lost.

Brushes With Death

The insanly scarry man who yesterday killed close to 100 people in Norway
is just too cold to consider being human. But he is. Made me think of:

Other people's shopping list doesn't interest me.
So Keith said when being told he was on Mark Chapman's 1980 hit list,
along with John Lennon.

Cooler than the coolest cat is the man! And just as kind and just as placid.

Mortality is hardly the first thing on Keith's mind, though he for one could speak
of his many near-death-encounters with insight. But as with any crisis, Keith
seem to travel down a brighter road than that of complaining and worrying:

Brushes with death are always, I've found, quite enervating in a way.

La Différence Culturelle

Any 7-year-old Flemish schoolchild knows 100 times more about cycling 
than all Americans combined.

So says American former pro cyclist turned author and television sports
commentator; Bob Roll.

Hats off to Bob! A bit cheeky, then again completely true. And nowhere are the cultural differences more visible than during Le Tour de France. Here we see and hear more of American riders than during all season.

I'm sure "they" are as surprised about "Europeans" when they're asked to let us in on how they deal with a beautiful failure or a tragic time loss, out to puncture their team.

We expect to cry with them, cheer them on and show our deepest respect for their strength & courage. And certainly so if they're beaten up by the road, the race and
the loss.

But then we hear them talk in what sounds like PR terms: "we can do it", "we might be down but we'll get back up", "we'll show them". Huh? Sounds like pretending, like showmen reading from a script.

And not like the heroes we admire for crying, yelling, laughing and fighting on the bike
- for showing us their pain and pride, their suffering and their fighting, bloody and all.

As Keith says:
To me, the biggest thing America had done this century - apart from throwing its weight around - was its music.

Hard Reset

Good Lord! I haven't even got a mobile phone!
While throwing his hands up in horror, that what was Charlie Watts said to
Mark Saxby as he told the dapper drummer that he writes for the Stones Facebook page.

I happen to own not only a mobile phone, but a Smartphone, letting me be online all the time - or not! Just a couple of weeks ago I switched worlds by abandoning the iPhone for an Android model - in this case a LG phone.

I remember cracking up when I first saw Keith quoted for:
I don't do mice!
in a cool-cat-respons to the (often repeated) question of why he doesn't use a computer very well. Or at all.

So after spending about 4 unpaid hours today on butchering all my LG settings with a hard reset, and then re-installing all apps and data, I must admit to thinking:
Smartphone - Smart ass! Just bloody work. I don't care what you collect of data as long as the actual phone is actually working!
 
It is now! But I've prioritized mighty tight and some of the apps just didn't make it. Cos along the way I'd discoverd that I don't use even half of my apps regularly. Or at all.

Cutting down on my gadget download is clearly step 1 in minimizing my phone clutter.

What's In Here

You won’t understand others, if you don’t understand yourself first.
That’s just the way it works.

Most of us knows it, most of the time. And yet we try to delay making room
for the aloneness, that's also needed in order to feel close to our inner self.

You don't have to be Buddhist about it. I'm not kissing no Maharishi's
feet either. But if we're out of empathy for ourselves, it's quite difficult to be
loose enough to let ideas, emotions and passions run their creative, often
crooked course through a project. Or a relationship.

Keith of course talks fluently about self-knowledge:
People should check in with what's in here [the heart] and then see how  
you can deal with what's out there.

The King Is The Man Who Can

You can't airbrush personality
As one of the young bloggers write at HeySugarMagazine

And she has a valid point, since today it seems like posers rule the world. If you're not famous for whatever, forget it.

Go get seen, is the message. Let others tell you who they think you are and avoid showing any doubts or insecurities. Become glitter or vanish. These are indeed mad times!

Personal depth and integrity always shines through though. You can't airbrush personality - and pretending is as vital as death. Don't want it around!

If you just fancy yourself as being a big star, don't bother.
As always Keith sets it straight.

The Bare Bones

When I'm watchin' my T.V. 

And that man comes on to tell me 

How white my shirts can be 

But he can't be a man 'cause he doesn't smoke 

The same cigarrettes as me

This is probably my favorite part of the legendary song. I'm not into the ranting 
"I can't get no..." and leave it to the karaoke machines to do the sing-along.

Then again; it's such an incredible sound that just hit you. And such a classic 
story of Keith writing it in his sleep, recording it on his little Phillips casette
player. Or at least opening up to it, letting the antenna out and capturing 
what was there, around him, and in him.

There was just the bare bones of the song, and it didn't have that noise, 
of course, because I was on acoustic. And forty minutes of me snoring.
But the bare bones is all you need.

The Great Escape Or Career Queen I'm Not

I have to work. What else would I do? Lie in bed and go mad?
So is Keith's take on work, it's there, you're needed, go do, go get better, practise!

I struggle a bit more with my take on work.

It's important to me, it's what I do. And there are many more corporate stories out there for me to nurse into full grown identity supporting pieces.

But I've not fallen into the trap of devoting all my mind & heart to 'da biz', as I've seen many an entrepreneur do.

I did as well for a while. And my soul suffered.
It's a great escape from yourself and your feelings when you let work exhaust you. It's not living or giving and it's not loving or growing.

To me you end up with a rotten life if you're devoted to work more than you're devoted to the person(s) you love & to yourself. So I allow myself to need the man I love. I can't do all my living, exploring and loving on my own, and I don't want to!

Truth is I'm not all self-sufficient, thankfully.

And though the bills can't be paid with feeling good, I can make sure that every time I do pay them, my heart is bursting with love.

Love Wears A White Stetson

Love Wears A White Stetson!

Keith said it. I now have it tattooed on my foot.
To me it's all about acknowledging what's important to you. My own truth. And being bold & brave in love is what I dream of.

Of following my feelings to where they belong, and of risking it all on my way there.

In business it's just as scarry to go all in. And yet as with all things of importance, it's really simple. It's about figuring out what is important, to be brave enough to truly get what drives you - and leave the junk behind.

That said, you have to be into chasing meaning, not money. Getting rich is completely uninteresting to me - unlike Keith - but I do envy his carefree financial situation.

Still, as we all know: Stones is not in it for the money.

Celebrating Mistakes

On the subject of his junky teeth suddenly reappearing in excellent shape,
Keith have said: Miraculously, due to abstinence and prayer, my teeth grew back.

You can try to hide what you do or didn't do fast enough, but there's really no need for it.

First of all; any major corporate errors happening in your market is bound to be leaked,
if not addressed and digested.

Besides, why the wish to cover up and pretend no mistakes happen? When we all
know that a healthy business thrives on mistakes - if they openly deal with them as
a much needed part of any development.

Have a look at Ben&Jerry’s Flavor Cemetery for inspiration!
This is celebrating your mistakes/outdated products in the most positive way:

One of the things that makes Ben&Jerry’s special is the wide variety of flavors, 
but as new ones emerge every year, older and unpopular ones reach the end 
of the line. To honor their memory, Ben&Jerry’s built a cemetery just for them.

I'm A Lousy Plumber

I've said it before, this is all I can do. I'm a lousy plumber,
as the well-known Keith qoute goes.

It all comes down to knowing yourself, respecting your drive to do better,
not bigger or flashier - to dig a bit deeper.

Now me, I'm no guitar player. And I'm no plumber either. Oh dear, no!

But I am a passionate teller of the stories that matter, and I do try to bring out the authentic soul
of every company I'm working for.

Pretending is not an interesting route
Having said that, the naked truth - whether it be doubts, mistakes, errors, worries or fears - is not for everyone to deal with.

Some companies don't find any value in openly talking about their challenges,
and they fight tooth 'n nail to hold on to (what they percieve as) a clean-cut image.

But keep in mind that the world is full of Mick-kind-of-businesses, of chasing
profit and jumping on whatever wagon is running the show.

These are not the fair, creative & visionary leaders of tomorrows bands!

Evolution Makes You Versatile

How Writers Evolve is a wicked article on Men With Pens.
It's by Vangile Makwakwa, a writer and spoken word poet, who digs deep
into the need to grow and evolve personally.

We aren’t scared of change itself. We’re scared of the consequences that 
change brings, she states. And it does ring true to me. Change is a given,
often a welcomed on, as it might as well be, since time ruins regrets for all of us.

Or as Keith puts it: No regrets. No. What goes down, goes down, 
and it's how you deal with it that counts.

And still I sometimes struggle with the concept of the ever changing life.
I get afraid of facing the consequences of my changing, of growing in a new or
different direction, fearing that if I leave "old" truths behind, it erases the meaning
it once had to me.

Not true, but that's how change can feel to even the most easy going of us.

Ergo I'll give Vangile's words some more thought and reflect on her 3 tips:

1: Reconnect with your personal mission
2: Acquire new knowledge and techniques
3: Build a tribe of like-minded people

I Haven't Forgotten Any Of It

"There have been numerous books written about the Rolling Stones or individual members of the band, but "Life" is the biggest seller of them all them all" it says of "Life" being released as paperback.

Good thing too, since my first hard copy is all doodled up + you wanna bring the man and his words withya!

And now Keith's again been honoured for this masterpiece of a bestseller.

"Life" took home the award for Outstanding Literary Achievement at the Spike's Guy's Choice Awards - even a hit with the critics!

And literary outstanding is Keith's telling, and so is his memory. "This is the Life. Believe it or not I haven't forgotten any of it." as the quote goes on the back of the book. And I believe Keith.

Boston Globe said in their review:
"Unlike a slew of recent authors whose phonied-up "memoirs’’ belied lives that actually weren’t too eventful, Richards is the real thing; his drug binges, brushes with the law, and public feuds with Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger are all a matter of public record.".

4 Extra Hours

The saying goes that Richard Branson was once asked at an entrepreneur scholarship program 

- by the way; held at his private island - how he'd manage to run a number of big-brand companies, while still having time for himself and his family.

And the answer from yet another knighted business man was: I work out!

Branson went on to say that his steady work out routine in turn gave him 4 extra hours a day to be productive. Get out of here! Don't believe it. Don't get me started!

Even with all the known benefits of getting your blood pumpin', gaining 4 more productive hours a day sounds highly unrealistic to me. Then again; what do I know of Branson's daily efficiency?

Nevertheless I've now begun a list of what-to-do-with-4-more-hours-a-day. 

Not that my work out routine is steady. 

But maybe it would be if I got to read, laugh and relax in the sun for even 2 hours a day.

Sannyasa

The Sanskrit word sannyas means 'laying or setting aside, abandoning, 
or giving up', writes Barbara De Angelis as I'm reading about "liberation".

Not giving up, the only way to leave this band is in a casket, can probably
count as the Keith way, and I admire his strenght. Absolutely. Am in awe.

Still, me, myself and I need to take other steps to let go of looking back, getting
stuck in a sadness from what could have been instead of opening up to the present,
embracing it. The Now.

Strange Color Blue

The Dane in me just love that pale blue color, its constant and slight change between green, turquoise and blue, depending on the light.

Perhaps in need of a visit to the seaside?
Like Keith taking off for Jamaica and getting his groove back.

I had first gone to Jamaica for a few days off at a place called Frenchman's Cove in 1969. You could hear the rhythm going around.

Today's advice to myself is to go find someting blue'ish to gaze at, let the calmness of the color get to me, and accept I'm not
living it up barefoot in Jamaica.

Water Under The Bridge

Mick pouted a bit, as is his wont. I told him, 'It's water under
the bridge. I want to talk about the future. We're larger
than a little bitching'.

In Keith's words, that's what happend when he and Mick first
met up after the "Jagger willy jibe" in "Life".

And considering the evil warfare between The Glimmer Twins down through the years, this can only be seen as a tiny ripple. Well, maybe not if you're Mick Jagger.

But as Keith says on dealing with his evil twin: There's no possibility of divorce. We have to take care of the baby.

Somtimes you're stuck with a Brenda on your back, and no matter how pretentious
and overblown you might think they are, you still have to deal with them, work with
them, fight with them...and possibly even get to create with them.

Nevertheless, to put it like Keith:
With the Stones he's great. It's best to keep him on a short leash.

Opposites Complement

"Opposites attract" might be yet another Hollywood
lie in romance.

In work and in friendship it often works really
well though, sometimes turning out completely
unexpected insights and heartfelt laughs.

The good stuff you want more of!

Keith and Alberto are probably as much of opposites

as possible for two men to be. 

The ridig regime of Alberto's training and ascetic 

way of living - versus Keith's nocturnal instinct while 

basking in the love of art, music and his family, his close 

friends and the guitar. For one!

But I guess underneath the skin of both men is a sublime 

passion for being seriously good at what they do. Of respecting 

their competitors and honoring the old masters. Of staying true 

to yourself, devouring life on a daily basis and of insisting on being brave.

The man is a fully achieved realisation of the idea of the man.

as Keith has been portrayed more than once.

Gentlemen! You Inspire Me!

One Shape Fits Nobody

The wicked Japan Relief T-Shirt was in the mail yesterday. A nice surprise on a rainy day, baby.

Fans from 35 countries helped raise $138,000 USD 
by purchasing more than 5,000 limited edition t-shirts.

The T doesn't fit me though.
I'm not squarly shaped. By far!

It's not Keith's nor my fault. It just follows that a design made to fit "everybody" fits "nobody".

You can't erase the differences, and you shouldn't try
to either. And I reckon Keith agrees, but then it was all done for helping out in Japan.
That's a good enough reason for me!

For decades, Japanese fans have been some of the most passionate supporters of 
rock and roll and as an effort to give back, Richards made this special, limited 
edition t-shirt based on a photo taken by Claude Gassian on the Japanese leg of 
the Steel Wheels Tour in 1990.

How you can help: JapanSociety.org/earthquake

Choose Your Mentors

It's nice to sit down on the job occationally.

Keith of course finds meaning in most. And true to his deep understanding
of what drives his passionate contributions, he openly reaches out to other
musicians, sounds and instruments.

To me it certainly beats the 30 minute webinar on how to create your first
online business.

I do like the idea of creating lots more incomes through my passion(s)
online though. I just don't believe in mastering any corporate or personal
skill in a flash - via luck, faking it or otherwise pretending to be a wiz.

If you try and add a melody to a riff rather than evolving from it, 
it always sounds completely false.

What a Wake-up

 

What an amazing way to start the day off with a
"direct message from Keith Richards".

I saw it the inbox & my heart skipped a beat, baby :-)

The Spread The Love Method

Reading up on blogging I consulted a cool site: www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com
and got blown away by the article:
Everything You’ve Been Force-fed About Blogging Is Wrong.
And I do like to have my mind blown!

As Keith says:
I never know what I'm looking for, exactely, but when I hit upon it, I know it.

The article points out that:
"Conventional wisdom suggests one of the following ways to become
a successful blogger:
1: Write amazing content on a consistent schedule.
2: The fans will follow."

We all kind of know better, and still I kept to the thinking for a while,
like "I'll just post and the rest will follow." Doesn't work that way.

Spread The Love Method
Instead I took another advice from the article about "be everywhere".
Ergo I have added links to my Facebook and Twitter accounts to the blog.

And I intent to follow through on the Spread The Love Method:

1: Write amazing content on a consistent schedule.
2: Write amazing content for others.
3: The fans will follow.

Practise

In Keith's words: Nostalgia is a luxury

Looking back is probably not as important as it once was.

Or maybe it is just as important as always to get the old masters'
knowledge under your skin in order to find your own truth in what you do
& what you'd like to do.

In any sense practise can't be overlooked as a daily effort of huge value.

Like anything else, the more practise you have at something, the more 
you find room to maneuver and find out what your limits are and how 
to overcome them.

On My List

Everybody knows Keith is a heavy reader.

And as a classic lover of literature, Keith says he found refuge
in books before he discovered the blues.

He now owns thousands of books and even considered "professional training" to manage them.

Sounds a bit geeky, and the librarian’s standard Dewey Decimal classification system did turn out to be "too much hassle" - restoring my belief in the Keith kind of not trying to control things too much.

Instead he keeps his favoured books close to hand, and so do I.


ON MY LIST: 

Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business
Erik Qualman

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner

Stone me. The Wit and Wisdom of Keith Richards
Mark Blake

The Internet is a Playground
David Thorne

Influenze. The Psychology of Persuasion
Robert B. Cialdini

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
By Malcolm Gladwell

Womenomics: Write Your Own Rules for Success
Claire Shipman, Katty Kay

The Next Big Thing: Spotting and Forecasting Consumer Trends for Profit
William Higham

The Myths of Innovation
Scott Berkun

My Name is Charles Saatchi and I am an Artoholic: Everything You Need to Know 
About Art, Ads, Life, God and Other Mysteries and Weren't Afraid to Ask
Charles Saatchi

The Main Thing

It's not that easy to be Keith Richards. But it's not so hard, either.
The main thing is to know yourself.

So Keith is quoted along with his picture, always placed next to my desk.

It could be mistaken for a 'Keith shrine' with the
candle and the fresh flowers, like offerings to the guru.
But there's no such thing in my world.

Keith, his life, his philosophy and way of thinking, of being, is a strong and kind influence in my daily life.

Now he's no God, but he is a king. And I do try to navigate with both ears open to his big sea of wisdom and courage - in order to find my own route through it all.

As Keith says: Everybody starts by imitating their heroes.

Karma is a bitch!

You might as well accept the fact that evil is there and deal with it any way you can.
'Sympathy for the Devil' is a song that says 'Don't forget him. If you confront him,
then he's out of a job.'

That would certainly be true in the case of Johan Håkansson of JM Kommunikation.

The man is going out of business faster than I can say:
"So sick and tired of hanging around with jerks like you"!

Yet another freelance supplier burned by Johan Håkansson
Today I got a call from another freelance supplier, who's been burned by Håkansson.

Johan Håkansson got in touch with the person in question at one of the Danish
freelancer sites. And using the same dodgy tactic of heavily hinting at "12-14 big jobs
in the pipeline", as he used with me, he managed to persuade this freelancer into
delivering a week's job done in 24 hours!

Håkansson added some new lies to his "explanations" and then cashed in on
yet another "free" delivery by another small business owner, now bleeding!

But karma is a bitch, Johan Håkansson. Go google yourself!

Solid Sunday

I do love a quiet morning with the bare essentials.
And I adore the wit flowing from a passionate man's
colossal history - it's like Keith starting the day off with Mozart; a solid base.

A new day, a new beginning; It's curcial to my sanity that I bring that thought with me every where. It's what I have to do..."Lose your dreams, And you will lose your mind" as the song goes.

Try Livin' Off Of It

As Keith says in a response to "All You Need Is Love"; the hippie Beatles tune:
Yeah - try livin' off of it.

Back from a meeting with the bank, where they still wear suits all day, everyday.
And it made me reflect on how Keith would handle the finance folks, speaking
in numbers and demanding clear sights of future income.

Then again "Stones Aren't In It For The Money" and neither am I. 
I need to feel like I'm part of a daily adventure, out to conquer the whole bloody world
- find meaning in my collaborations, be a valued & kind person as well as a kick-ass
& upfront advisor to my clients. I don't do bullshit!

Still, I can't just "Wear some shades and don't say a thing" as Allen Klein instructed
when negotiating the Stones' record deals.

I'm not rich enough to buy off questions I don't want to answer.
I have to focus more on the cashflow of things, and still not sell out any of my
personal freedom to choose.

It is indeed an ongoing battle, but as Keith says on dealing with (inner) demons:
My policy is to identify one and deal with that.

Dealing With A Brenda

So I recently ran into a real prick of a client - a first! For real!
One true asshole, like Mick in the 80's, so by all means let's call him "Brenda".

His real name is Johan Håkansson, and he's behind the company JM Kommunikation
- as we speak crumbling in his unethical hands.

Håkansson ordered up one - with the potential of many more jobs to come - big job in January.

As a new client he had me slaving away to meet insane deadlines, breaking new grounds
and dealing with a bunch of unknown targetgroups. And a decent job I did!

It then turns out the bastard doesn't pay the bills! 

He's now gone into hiding, doesn't answer phone or mails, is filing for bankruptcy and has been in the process to do so since before he ordered a load of articles from Kadence.

What would Keith do?
...probably chase the idiot with a knife in his hand, or simply kick the wimp in the face...

At the end of the day you don't mess with me. There's no point in doing it.

So in trying to find my own knife-to-live-by I go with words. Mind you, they can be pretty powerful, once out there, you have to deal with them forever.

Johan Håkansson will have to face his shit like Spanish Tony Sanchez.

But for the sake of your self-respect and your pocket; Don't go near the bastard!

What Would Keith Do?

So what would Keith Richards do if he was pres of my company? 

And how will Keith and his outlook on life & love, music & work inspire me to
run a rolling business?
 
THE KEITH WAY OF DOING BUSINESS:

- know, understand and live with yourself
- stick to your guns..."I'm a lousy plumber"
- speak the truth as you know it
- expand your mind, soul and knowledge
- stay away from the overblown and pretentious
- use your voice as a means of expression
- look for ambiguity
- you're an antenna, it's not all down to you
- if you can write one song, you can write nine hundred
- let it bleed

Not the worst set of guidelines to bring along for the ride...