This past week I got very frustrated with people living in yesterday!   

Throughout the week it seemed every other phone call or zoom was rooted in reliving the good old days.  OR it was focused on where people are going.   

Interestingly – it didn’t seem age related. 

Young people were just as guilty of focusing on the past as older people were to be focused on living in the now and tomorrow. 

When sitting at the Brain Brew Beach Bar – I’m ok with a few stories of the past.   But before long, I yearn for talk of the future – about possibilities, dreams and aspirations. 

My life has been and hopefully will always be about living forward and not looking back. I get it – COVID craziness can get us caught in a spiral of thinking on what we’ve “lost.”

My advice – as I’ve said before is to “Get up, Get out & Get Going!”

Cheers,

Doug

“Have Fun Playing in the Snow” was on my mind this week.

It was written by my daughter Tori (Victoria) on a piece of scrap paper and hidden inside my backpack when I participated in the Aspirations Expedition to the North Pole years ago. It was one of a number of notes my wife Debbie and our kids had left me to find.

I opened one note every other day or so. “Have Fun Playing in the Snow” was opened the morning after a horrible day. We’d been traveling in a white out… stumbling on our skis while we chased the dog sleds. The day had been tough on me physically but even more so on me emotionally.   

Tori’s note gave me a new energy. Instead of wallowing in my pains and frustrations, I approached the day with a new outlook. I became light on my skis and took to the pressure ridges and rusty ice with youthful energy. 

This past week as snow fell and fell at the Beach Bar at the Eureka! Ranch in Cincy, I cross country skied around the lake to have fun playing in the snow. 

Today – just like at the pole – it’s all how you look at things. We can let the pandemic frustrate us or we can find ways to have fun playing during the pandemic. 

I’m writing this Saturday morning. Morning has broken – it’s time to get up, get out and have fun playing in the snow.  

If you’re interested you can learn more about this adventure in my book North Pole Tenderfoot.

Cheers,

Doug

This week the Brain Brew Crew spent some time crafting romance cocktails. Said another way – it was an excuse to put ourselves under the constraint of creating drinks that are red in color :). 

I Bring the Party Mocktail  (left) 

This is mocktail with attitude. It’s a ton of fun with just enough bubble and just enough depth to ignite the mood!  

Add the following to a mixing glass:

• 1/2 Oz Pineapple Juice
• 2 oz  Cranberry Juice
• 1 oz Club Soda
• Squeeze of Lime

Next, stir gently with ice, strain into a glass and garnish with lime. 

I Love You Berry Much (middle) 

This is a romantic version of a whiskey sour crafted by Sue Hogan. The strawberries bring some sweetness and hopes for spring and the lemon juice gets you ready to pucker up. 

Muddle the following ingredients in a cocktail shaker:

• 3 Strawberries
• 1/2 ounce (or one Tablespoon) Vermont Maple Syrup
• 3/4 Ounce of Lemon Juice
• 2 oz Paddle Wheel Bourbon

Next, shake with ice, strain into a glass and garnish with strawberry.

You’re the Zest  (right)  

This is a romantic version of a Belmont from John Ferris. It’s a complex yet clean cocktail that will open you to love.

Add the following ingredients to a cocktail shaker:

• 2 oz Paddle Wheel Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Pomegranate Juice
• 1 oz of Lemonade
• Squeeze of Fresh Lemon & Some Lemon Zest

Next, shake with ice, strain into a glass and garnish with lemon.

If you’re looking for something fun to do at home and enjoy these cocktail recipes, check out the The Raptor Center’s Love is for the Birds Live Program this Friday, February 12th. The event is a fun Valentine’s Day special informational program hosted by the Minnesota Raptor Center and features these fun recipes with bird-themed names.

Enjoy,

Doug

26 years ago in my first book, I wrote about our Eureka! Research findings on the exponential power of diversity to ignite smarter and more innovative ideas. 

Patrick Aylward’s new book, THE COLLABORATIVE PATH, is a must read for anyone who is interested in making diversity and collaboration work. 

The book’s wisdom comes from his deep expertise igniting collaboration during years of work as a lawyer, arbitrator, mediator and conflict management consultant. 

The book is filled with dozens of “nuggets” on how we can all get along better. It’s a practical book with detailed ideas, advice and techniques. 

His discussion on “The Big Three Conversations the BOTTLE, the BLURT, the BLAB” is worth the price of the book alone:

BOTTLE (don’t speak up when frustrated with someone)

BLURT (suddenly blurts out a negative reaction to them )

BLAB (gossip negatively about the person to someone else)

Most importantly, he outlines in detail how to confront and neutralize each of these negative conversations. In a world that sometimes seems to have gone mad – it’s comforting and encouraging to read a book like this. 

I especially love how Patrick defines working together as not a win / lose situation but rather as more of a wholistic endeavor.  His definition is simple….

COLLABORATION = BETTER SOLUTIONS + STRONGER RELATIONSHIPS.     

The book is available to order in print or digital form world wide. 

Here’s a link for Canada

Here’s a link for UK

Here’s a link for USA

Enjoy,

Doug

Sitting beside the fireplace at the Brain Brew Beach Bar I concluded that I should commit myself to learning something new… so that I don’t “waste” the last months of the pandemic.

Before we know it, we will all be busier than ever, leaving no time for learning something new. 

 As adults – we tend to live a life of optimizing what we already know. Learning something new – starting as a raw beginner – failing more than succeeding  – on a new learning journey is something we avoid. 

A few text messages with my cousin John in Winnipeg and it was set. The next day I’d buy a guitar and start to learn it. My goal being to play at least a couple songs with him at our Beach Bar on PEI and on his Beach Cottage in New Brunswick. (Hopefully this summer – fingers crossed).

And thus I now own a guitar and after four days, I have sore finger tips and lots of frustration.  However, the online course I’m using gives me just enough moments of joy – to inspire me to do it again and again. 

I didn’t know it when I started but learning to play the guitar has other benefits to my health. I recently heard an interview with Sanjay Gupta MD about his new book KEEP SHARP – Build a Better Brain at Any Age.  It appears that learning Guitar – or engaging in any new learning – will “Jump Start My Brain.”

So what are you waiting for – get up – get out – learn something new. 

EASY START – Customize The Whiskey Sour:   If you want an easy way to start engaging your brain.   Try experimenting and discovering a your favorite cocktail. I’m going to explore the optimization of one of the classic cocktails – the Whiskey Sour. The whiskey sour is made with the classic 2 – 1 – 1 cocktail ratio. 

 2 parts strong, 1 part sweet and 1 part sour. 

For STRONG – I’m partial to our Paddle Wheel Bourbon or Deckhand Rye

For SWEET – I’m going to Explore Simple Syrup (50/50 sugar and water) & Honey Water (50/50 mix water and honey.

For SOUR – I’m going to explore the juice of fresh Lemons, Limes, Orange, Grapefruit.   

I’m going to engage my brain in creating a testing sequence. I’m also going to do blends of 1/2 Lemon and 1/2 Lime, etc. 

My goal is to craft MY WORLD’S BEST Whiskey Sour! 

For measuring – and to make sure my judgement is good  – I’ll use our Micro Cocktail Ladles to do measuring.  If you don’t have the Brain Brew Custom Cocktail Kit (that includes them) – you can use a Teaspoon:  2 teaspoons of Strong, 1 Teaspoon of Sweet and 1 teaspoon of sour. Then, stir with an ice cube.

OK – so customizing a whiskey sour may not be what Dr. Gupta is recommending – but at least it’s a step in the right direction. 

Cheers,

Doug

At the Brain Brew Beach Bar we’ve been talking about the differences between Did, Done and Doing. We’ve concluded that the only one that matters is Doing! 

DID – is the past.  It’s nice to reflect on, but it’s no longer alive.

DONE – can be more recent as in “I got it done” but it’s still the past. 

DOING – is the future.  It’s the “juice” of life. 

DOING is about believing in tomorrow. DOING gets us up in the morning. DID and DONE are about living in the past.  

Bruce Springsteen captures the “DID/DONE”mindset in his song “Glory Days” from his 1984 album Born in the USA.  It’s about a formerly great baseball player who is fixated on the Glory Days. 

In the last verse of the song, Bruce warns us about living in the past. In my mind, he’s trying to get us to live in the DOING:

“Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight

And I’m going to drink till I get my fill

And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it

But I probably will

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture

A little of the glory of, well time slips away

And leaves you with nothing mister but

Boring stories of glory days

Glory days, well, they’ll pass you by

Glory days, in the wink of a young girl’s eye

Glory Days, glory days. “

So what are you waiting for? Get Up! Get Out! Get Going! 

Cheers,

Doug