Look what I found in my tip jar at this afternoon's gig. What a nice surprise. Would have been nicer if it was written on a $100 bill. hee hee.. All kidding aside this made me feel good. 

My new logo. 
Thanks Rick!

http://www.moserdesign.com/

Love it! Although, I was just working on the inside of my guitar yesterday and it didn't look like this... very dusty. Anyway, check these out.. dust bunny free and awesome looking. http://www.boredpanda.org/musical-instruments-photographed-from-inside/ 

When we read about the deforestation of the Amazon rain forest we get mad and angry. This video accurately and humorously describes what some of us fantasize about doing... but we don't. We can AT LEAST Follow the Frog!

For those not familiar with Derek Silvers he is best known for being the founder and former president of CD Baby, an online CD store for independent musicians. he is fascinated with the usable psychology of self-improvement, communication, business, philosophy, and cross-cultural relativism. 

I found his article on the book So Good They Can't Ignore You - by Cal Newport to be very helpful in rewiring my way of thinking in hopes to be happier and more successful in my career. You'll find shockingly smart thoughts about your career here. A MUST-READ for anyone who is not loving their work, wanting to quit their job, and follow their passion, or not sure what to do next.

Here are some of the highlights of the article.

How do people end up loving what they do? 

The narratives in this book are bound by a common thread: the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your working life, you need something rare and valuable to offer in return. In other words, you need to be good at something before you can expect a good job.

Mastery by itself is not enough to guarantee happiness: The many examples of well-respected but miserable workaholics support this claim. The main thread of my argument moves beyond the mere acquisition of useful skills and into the subtle art of investing the career capital this generates into the right types of traits in your working life

The passion hypothesis convinces people that somewhere there's a magic "right" job waiting for them, and that if they find it, they'll immediately recognize that this is the work they were meant to do. The problem, of course, is when they fail to find this certainty, bad things follow, such as chronic job-hopping and crippling self-doubt.

The craftsman mindset is crucial for building a career you love. 

When you focus only on what your work offers you, it makes you hyperaware of what you don't like about it.

The deep questions driving the passion mindset - "Who am I?" and "What do truly love?"-are essentially impossible to confirm. "Is this who I really am?" and "Do I love this?" rarely reduce to a clear yes-or-no response. In other words, the passion mindset is almost guaranteed to keep you perpetually unhappy and confused

There's something liberating about the craftsman mindset: It asks you to leave behind self-centered concerns about whether your job is "just right," and instead put your head down and plug away at getting really damn good. No one owes you a great career, it argues; you need to earn it - and the process won't be easy.

Put aside the question of whether your job is your true passion, and instead turn your focus toward becoming so good they can't ignore you.

Regardless of how you feel about your job right now, adopting the craftsman mindset will be the foundation on which you'll build a compelling career. 

Adopt the craftsman mindset first and then the passion follows.

If you want to love what you do, abandon the passion mindset ("what can the world offer me?") and instead adopt the craftsman mindset ("what can I offer the world?").

he more experience you have, the more likely you are to love your work.

The traits that define great work are rare and valuable.
Supply and demand says you need rare and valuable skills to offer in return.
These rare and valuable skills are your career capital.
The craftsman mindset leads to acquiring career capital. 

You need to get good in order to get good things in your working life, and the craftsman mindset is focused on achieving exactly this goal.

You have to get good before you can expect good work.

It's dangerous to pursue more control in your working life before you have career capital to offer in exchange.

A hard truth of the real world: It's really hard to convince people to give you money.

Just because you're committed to a certain lifestyle doesn't mean you'll find people who are committed to supporting you.

Control that's acquired without career capital is not sustainable.

She tried to obtain control without any capital to offer in return, and ended up with a mere shadow of real autonomy.

Build up a decade's worth of relevant career capital before taking the dive into full-time farming.

Do what people are willing to pay for.

To those enthralled by the myth of a true calling, there's nothing more heroic than trading comfort for passion.

Courage culture: a growing community of authors and online commentators pushing the following idea: The biggest obstacle between you and work you love is a lack of courage to follow your dream.

The downside of the passion mindset is that it strips away merit.

Great work doesn't just require great courage, but also skills of great (and real) value.

I'm having a new poster designed to advertise my upcoming shows. In the next few days, please feel free to find me on FaceBook and vote on your favorite. Any input from you would be helpful.

BATV films all the concerts at Kiss The Sky Records on the last Sunday of the month hosted by Noah Gabriel. My show there this past Sunday with friends Rob Anderlik, John Michaels & Barbara Hollek was no exception. Filming this appeared to me to be no small effort. These guys set-up the equivalent of a film & recording studio in a record shop within just a few hours. Multiple cameras, mixers, computers and a spaghetti bowl of cords and wires. Enjoy the fruits of their labor this Fri April 4th (time TBA) when it airs on BATV. Comcast channel 17, ATT channel 99 in the Northern Illinois area or online next week at your convenience http://mybatv.com/show/live-from-kiss-the-sky/ or www.jimgreenmusic.com