You did what?

In all my years managing people in these tobacco shops I've come to realize that I can generalize people into two very simplified classes of employees.

There are those who come to me and say "What do you need me to do today?" and afterward say "I've finished that, what can I do to contribute now?"

Then there are those who occasionally come to me and say "Look what I just did!" to distract me from the hundreds of things they should have stayed on top of on a daily basis, did not do, and hoped I didn't notice.

The former will earn my respect, admiration, and advancement. The latter I am unimpressed by.

Folks, I don't miss much, if anything. I just keep track.

Decide which you are and become it, but remember there are either rewards or consequences.

The choice is always yours.

Milton Bernal - Pintor Del Tabaco

A week or so ago a painting appeared in my Facebook news feed of Alejandro Robaina. I was immediately struck by the image, and sat in wonder at how much the artist had accomplished with so deliberately limited a palette.

You see, Senor Robaina holds a very special place in my heart even though I never met the man. He, through his tutelage of my dear friend A.J. Fernandez, has blessed me with more knowledge than I ever imagined I could attain about cigars and tobacco.

I immediately set out to discover more about the artist, Milton Bernal, and what I've discovered is that I'd somehow managed to overlook one of the most amazing of talents.

This morning as I had my coffee I summoned up the courage to contact Senor Bernal, and ask his permission to try to bring awareness of his work to my readers, and he graciously agreed. So I give you just a taste of what he does, but implore you to delve further into his work yourselves, and come away as awestruck as I have become.

Here's what's remarkable: every painting incorporates tobacco into the creative process, and not just as you might assume. Bernal manufactures his own papers of vegetable fibers, paints the initial images in oil, and then carefully incorporates either pigments from, or actual overlays of tobacco into each.

Many of the paintings reinvent historic masterpieces using these techniques in imaginative new ways that simply astound. Others, of his own creation, are so distinctly unique that he may well have developed a style that others will emulate far into the future.

I encourage you to take a moment, look at his web site, and then research deeply beyond that. As La Musa kept putting it when she reviewed his portfolio today: "Wow!"

To learn more about Bernal and the processes he uses to create these marvelous works read this interview from Progreso Weekly

News Release: Chattanooga Tweetup Cigars

 

#CHATweetUp2012

Twitter, Everywhere – What started last year with the inaugural Tweetup event at Burns Tobacconist (@burnstobacco99) and was put together by the hard work of David Jones (@dmjones1009) tikibaronline.com has grown into the massive event that is expected to converge on Chattanooga on August 24^th and August 25^th. To commemorate the united voice of cigar smokers on Twitter  Emilio Cigars and Miami Cigar & Co. have joined forces to release a limited edition set.

The cedar box of 2 cigars will contain a cigars made just for this historic event. The Añoranza in a box-pressed Churchill, and the debut of La Musa Melete from Emilio cigars in the same format. These sizes will be limited to 300 boxes of 2.

Gary Griffith (@emiliocigar) states,  “We are delighted to be releasing this joint project with Miami Cigar and Co., dear industry friends, on behalf of Burns Tobacconist, one of the finest retailers in the country. We chose this opportunity to release this special size of the new La Musa Melete blend, and as the first appearance of the blend on the market.”

In their second year supporting the Tweet-Up, Jason Wood (@miamicigar) VP of Miami Cigar adds, “Cigar smokers on twitter have become a driving voice in the industry. These aficionados are passionate about our craft, and we wanted to share with them something special.”

If you can’t make it to Chattanooga, you can follow the festivities via the twitter hash-tag #CHATweetup2012

Like a Phoenix - Skip Martin of RoMa Craft Tobac

     There were no ashes to rise from, as did the legendary Phoenix. There was mud and mold, stench, rot, and a dream erased by walls of wind and waves of water.

     When Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Texas in September 2008 Skip Martin and his partner owned a thriving cigar shop. What he discovered a few days later was that it was gone, his dream erased. Most would have given up and moved on, but not this infectiously optimistic and cheerful young man. He simply determined to succeed again, and he has in a way that has earned him both respect and praise in the cigar industry.

     "I inhaled the aroma from the foot of the cigar directly into my nostril; it displaced all of my other senses. I ceremoniously peeled the cap off of the end of the cigar and lit it. I stood there, in that damp and dank room, smoking my cigar and began to cry for the first time in more than ten years."

     Less than four years later Skip is riding a creative wave that by any rational measure would have seemed impossible, and the cigars his RoMa Craft Tobac factory are producing are in such great demand they are sold virtually before they are produced.

     I recently had the pleasure of traveling across Texas for a week with Skip.  You couldn't ask for a better guy to do a road trip with. Late nights of speeding along empty highways for hours allowed us plenty of time to know and understand each other, and I learned to appreciate Hip Hop music, barbeque, and the joy of spending time with an honorable man who has earned a special place in my heart.

     Each time I look at his picture I am reminded of someone else in my life who is so unique and special that her value to me is beyond measure, and what they share in common is that at about the same age most people would have written them off.  But, from the first moment I met each of them I knew they were the kind of people one could only ever hope to meet once in a lifetime. I am twice blessed.

     Will he succeed? Let me put it this way: I got five on it.

     Please join us September 15, 2012 at Delaware Park Racetrack and Casino in Wilmington, DE for the 6th annual Delaware Cigar Festival to meet Skip, and participate in the national release of his new Aquitaine Cigars. You'll be glad you did.  For additional information, or to purchase tickets call 302-836-4889.

More from intention....

"Live more from intention, and less from habit."

I haven't a clue what the original source of this quote is, though I've scoured the web and am still unable to give a correct citation. Nonetheless, it has stuck with me these last several weeks since I came across it, and it strikes me as a bit of advice useful to those who have dreams, but live on the promises of others.

What do you intend of your life? What are your dreams? What are your goals?

These are the first questions you must ask of yourself before you proceed, lest you fall into established habits and comforts to your own detriment.

Here's a quick and easy way to discover whether you're really pursuing your own dreams, or being drawn into those of others as little more than a comfortable thing rather than the person you are:

Flip a coin and make a wish. Before it lands on the ground or in your hand you'll know what you really want. Pursue the path that rewards you with that, not the one that is convenient for now.

It is not the now that rewards us. It is the future. You only have one.

The people who are using you to their own comfort and benefit have multiple options. They always do. If you open your eyes the signs are the same ones that were there the last time you made this same mistake.

Fix it quickly. Move on. Succeed.