Reducing My Technological Footprint

Though the home renovations have gotten the most headlines due to their nature (constant onslaught of choices and tasks that need to be completed), one of the most important items on the agenda of the six-month project has been to drastically reduce my digital footprint.  By the end of the program, I will have one personal presence [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Signing My 11th Year About.com Contract

I’m working from home this afternoon, in part because I plan on making a beautiful corn chowder recipe for the family’s dinner tonight.  I needed to take a break from what I was doing to review the new About.com contract that will govern the licensing of my copyrights to The New York Times subsidiary for the [...]

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The Master Bedroom Renovations Are Mostly Done!

The master bedroom is done!  One more thing to mark off the six month project.  Thank you all for your great thoughts on carpet selection.  I finally grabbed as many samples as I could, took them home, and then made a decision based solely on feel (“hand”, as I’ve learned it is called in the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

E. Dehillerin Delivers When Williams-Sonoma Doesn’t

In early December I ordered a 10-piece set of Mauviel Professional 2.5mm copper pots and pans from Williams-Sonoma.  They were backordered until December 26th.  Then, they were supposed to be delivered January 5th or 6th.  Then, they were pushed back to February 28th.  On the morning of January 20th, I received an email telling me [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Making a Beef Stew at 10 p.m. Might Not Be the Best Idea … But I Wanted to Try the Staub Cookware

I’m disappointed I haven’t been able to keep up on the blog or my messages this month because there have been some wonderful memories and experiences the past few weeks, from putting on a puppet show for my nephew to having an Auntie Mame movie night with pizza for a few members of my family. [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Sitting Room – Before and After (In Progress) Home Renovation Photos

The home renovation or home upgrade project continues to progress.  There is still much to be done so these aren’t really before and after pictures … more like before and in-progress pictures, half of which are taken at night in low light.  I decided to post them, anyway, for Aunt Donna because it will give her [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Attending Pat’s Family Night Visitation

This evening, I had an important family event come up that required me to recess myself from my previous plans.  My first cousin once removed (my mother’s cousin and grandmother’s niece) lost her battle with cancer on Tuesday.  She was 63 years old.  The visitation took place a couple hours away so four generations gathered [...]

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My Day In Pictures – Staying Home During a Winter Storm to Take Deliveries – Thursday, January 12th, 2012

There is a winter storm descended on the area, announcing itself last night with raging winds that ushered in snow flakes and ice.  The temperature dropped so low that it almost feels as if the cold is seeping into the house, radiating from the glass window panes, which hardly ever happens since the home is [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Every Month, 200 Fresh Roses Are Delivered to My Home (A Lesson on How to Save Money)

I’m working on an essay about how to run your home like a business to maximize your purchasing power when I realized my actions today provide a great didactic example of how I work in my day-to-day life.   Earlier, I did something that I’ve wanted to do since my childhood.  I’m not sure why [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Late Night Dividend Calculations Over Tea and Downton Abbey

I’m reviewing the dividend distributions for the last fiscal year over a cup of tea with cream and sugar and buttered toast, working out the final capital retention policies for one of the companies.  Striking a balance between opportunity costs is particularly hard because, as the saying goes, “when it rains, it pours”.  Suddenly, very good [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Once Upon a Time Set Design Makes Me Think the Evil Queen Was Spying On Our Home Renovations

This Sunday New Year Day, the family slept in until 11 a.m. and then decided to do brunch again, having enjoyed the Belgian waffle party so much the other night, as we watched movies and television shows on Hulu Plus and Netflix, starting with Once Upon a Time, an ABC family show.   The premise [...]

from Joshua Kennon

A Memory of Long Ago and a Way to Reflect It In My Life Today

After the Belgian waffle party tonight, once the goodbyes had been said and the lights turned off, I set to work on the personal projects that need to be accomplished.  This led to me, in the silence of my living room, remembering something that brought me tremendous joy. When I was 18 years old, my [...]

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My Day In Pictures – Belgian Waffle Party

We had an impromptu Belgian waffle party tonight at the house and it was awesome.  The recipe came from America’s Test Kitchen and included buttermilk, seltzer water, sour cream, sugar, salt, unbleached flour, eggs, vegetable oil, and a host of other items to create a waffle batter mix that was crispy on the outside and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Reflections on 2011 and Setting the Agenda for 2012

Fiscal 2011 was huge for us.  I feel like it went too quickly because we didn’t get everything finished we wanted but in terms of progress toward our ultimate goals, it was very good personally and professionally.  The companies grew, profits were up, the family expanded, there was quite a bit of travel, and this blog, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Night Equals Rocking Out to Dixie Lady, Reviewing More Home Upgrades, and a Ton of Work That Needs to Get Done in the Next 72 Hours

There has been a lot of progress today but it’s been disorganized.  There will likely continue to be because I am in the middle of some projects I haven’t discussed on the site and very well might be up until four or five in the morning.   Right now, I’m sprawled out on a blanket [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Day Has Been Frustrating But At Least the Crystal Cabinet Was Delivered This Afternoon

My day so far hasn’t been very productive.  Everything was thrown off because a possible impending snow storm, plus I had to be home to sign for a delivery for the crystal cabinet.  Throw in some computer problems with a near brand-new MacBook Pro, and I finally decided to spend a good part of the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Managed to Settle on the Fine China and Sterling Silver Flatware Sets

In between pizza and Coca-Cola and an afternoon of work, I managed to get away for an hour or two to approve the final flatware and china purchases for the before-I-turn-30-next-year home upgrades.  For now, I’m dividing things into a core “fine” set for dinners, holidays, and regular family meals, and a “casual” set for [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Brown Glazed Coffee Mugs and Life Satisfaction

If you were born in the 1980′s or earlier, you might remember those wonderful brown glazed coffee mugs that made an appearance at everywhere from comfortable hotels to old fashioned diners.   Those brown glazed mugs were forged from the zeitgeist and aesthetic of the time.  Companies like McDonald’s were the pride of America; an [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Finding the Love of Your Life (or Cold Lamb Sandwiches)

I’ve never understood those who believe love is a weakness or somehow mutually exclusive from financial and professional success.  Mind you, I’m not talking about infatuation or being in love with the idea of love, endlessly pursuing the flavor of the week or looking for a never-ending stream of feel-good butterflies and chocolates, but actual [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Wisdom from My Grandmother

On September 21st of this year, I didn’t tell you but I traveled several hours to visit my 80 year old grandmother, as I periodically do, to spend the day with her. This is part of my life that is normally private. Over the afternoon of conversation, food, and company, she added some emphatic absolutes [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Full Lead Crystal Glassware and Barware Arrived

Today was incredibly sad.  Both Aaron and I had to do something in regards to a third party that we didn’t want to do but it was necessary.  We’re both upset, we know it was the right decision, but it will take some time to get over the consequences.  I’m just glad he is as [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Took the Plunge and Bought the Professional Mauviel Copper Cookware Upgrades to the Kitchen, As Well as a Few Stainless Steel Ruffoni Pots and Pans

The gourmet food posts on the site are probably going to grow exponentially over the coming years.  I’d publicly debated various cookware as far back as last year and finally decided to take the plunge as part of the six-month May Day project.  Yesterday evening, I bought a set of copper Ruffoni pots and pans, which were going [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Antique Dealers, Copper Coffee Pots, Copper Pans, and Christmas Shopping

A few hours ago, I jumped up and yelled for Aaron after suddenly remembering there was an antique consigner that I had meant to stop by yesterday (unfortunately, I arrived a few minutes after they closed their doors last night).  He said he could go with me, finishing his work later, so we got in [...]

from Joshua Kennon

A Look at the Site Seven Years Ago

I’m going back through some of my personal archives and found one of the early holding pages for this site, more than seven years ago.  It was a single index.html page created on my local machine and uploaded via FTP.  I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, nor did I foresee [...]

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The Music Room Project Has Begun

As part of the six-month project (which we have taken to calling “Project May Day” since it ends at the stroke of midnight on May 1st), my home study is being converted into a music room (the study itself will be moved elsewhere).  A lot of work remains but the other furniture was moved out and [...]

from Joshua Kennon

How Chenille Letters and Varsity Letters Are Manufactured

The letterman jacket, varsity jacket, and varsity letter factory for Mount Olympus Awards and MOA Team Supply is testing new chenille equipment for its next round of upgrades and expansion.  I had my iPhone in my pocket and thought it might be interested to show you what the behind-the-scenes looks like when the raw materials are [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Orange Chicken Stir Fry, Publishing Uploads, and Trading Places

I am spending my evening watching an old movie, Trading Places, as I upload my November articles for the network and have dinner as I wrap up some work relating to Kennon & Green.  There are actually a number of great lessons from the film, which are worth learning; I’ll publish my thoughts on that [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Happy Thanksgiving from the Midwest

I woke up this Thanksgiving morning with blindingly bright, brilliant sunlight streaming through the windows at home, having homemade caramel put in my face with cries of, “This is the best caramel I’ve ever made!”  The caramel was, indeed, the best caramel I’d ever had and it was the key ingredient in sea salt caramel [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Time I Ran from Chris Tomlin Backstage at a New Jersey Concert

I’m at home working on new content for the Investing for Beginners site at About.com, a division of The New York Times, thinking about the first conclusion bias mental model, and listening to Chris Tomlin’s latest album, “And If Our God Is For Us” when it reminded me of a story.   A decade ago, I [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Day In Pictures – Designing a Room Is Incredibly Fun

I’ve read Architectural Digest since I was in middle school.  Having my own canvas upon which to paint is enjoyable and turning out to be my favorite part of this iteration of the six-month project.  Putting a room together is the same feeling as composing or writing a well-crafted essay.   The aesthetics for the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Solving Technological Problems While Battling Draugr

It’s nearly 1:30 a.m. and I am up working on the MacBook from an armchair in my living room as Aaron battles Draugr in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Playstation 3.   My plan had been to work out but instead I found myself drawn into a technological problem that was facing one of the [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Kennon & Green Method for Managing Life and Business: How We Arrange, Evaluate, and Oversee Our Homes and Companies

With the weather turning cold, the temperatures reaching barely above freezing at night, I’ve switched over to fireplace heat, broken out my favorite Tiffany & Company holiday coffee mug, and begun my usual habit of working from home this time of year so as to enjoy the weather from picturesque windows instead of having to venture [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Six-Month Project Continues: Renovating My Sitting Room and Living Spaces

I promised I’d try to keep many of you updated, since you seem interested in this sort of thing.  That is a bit of challenge due to time and the fact that, again, I’m running into the “you better not blog this!” phenomenon.  I’ve redacted 90% of today’s photos and will give you a glimpse into [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Tonight, 13 to 18 Million Viewers Watched Marcus Canty Share the Stage with Mount Olympus Awards Varsity Jackets and Varsity Letters During the X-Factor Live Show

Last week, Simon Cowell’s new show, X-Factor, called one of my companies, Mount Olympus Awards asking if we could outfit the varsity jackets for Marcus Canty’s performance of Bobby Brown’s hit “Every Little Step I Take” on tonight’s live show.   Most of the time, letterman jackets with custom chenilles take 4 to 6 weeks, but [...]

from Joshua Kennon

It Is Time for Another Major Life Reorganization and Revamp

I haven’t been around as much recently because things are crazy around here.  I’m gearing up to launch a six month project that will restructure my entire life and work processes, both at home and the office.  As our operations have grown and lives expanded since the start-up days, this is something that has become [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Kennon & Green Foundation Issues $1,000.00 Grant to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Over the past year, the Kennon & Green Foundation has done a lot for anti-poverty, education, marriage equality, and Christian religious causes but not much in the medical area.  (Other than a personal project that culminated on March 30th, 2010, when I cut off all of my hair to donate to Locks for Love, the charity that makes [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Mount Olympus Awards Letterman Jackets and Varsity Letters Featured on Saturday Night Live

Earlier this year, I was watching Gossip Girl and suddenly the characters on screen were wearing varsity jackets.  I immediately called the office and demanded to know why we hadn’t been the one that made the products.  The response?  ”We were.”   There have been a few other moments like that in the past couple of months [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Stock Market Drops Make Me Excited

It’s been awhile since I updated you on the only investments I tend to discuss on the site, the KRIP portfolio.  That is the backup source of retirement funds behind the businesses, the projects, the “real” investments, and main focus of my career.  It tends to hold high-quality blue chip stocks that get bought at [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Mind, The Mental File Cabinet, and The Sanborn Map Company

A few moments ago, I was reading a typeface graphic design site and came across this image. I immediately recognized the name, Sanborn Map Company, from an older biography of Warren Buffett I read 15+ years ago as a kid.  It was one of the first big holdings of the Buffett Partnerships.  Warren talked about [...]

from Joshua Kennon

The Ceramic Mr. Monopoly Bank Arrived

The ceramic Mr. Monopoly bank I bought the other day (er … middle of the night) arrived earlier than expected.  I love it.  I wish there were Monopoly art and collectibles to the same degree there is with Scrooge McDuck thanks to the work of Carl Barks.

from Joshua Kennon

Hanging Out in the Hospital

My early afternoon today was spent in a hospital visiting someone very close to me recovering from surgery.  As I was looking around at the capacity of the facility, it dawned on me that the quantity of coffee necessary to serve all of these people would require a reconstitution, grind-free system that had a reasonable [...]

from Joshua Kennon

My Day In Pictures – A Shattered iPad, a New Bottle of Creed, Books, and a Store of Flavored Olive Oils – September 12, 2011

Aaron shattered his 32 Gigabyte White WiFi+3G iPad 2 last night on the way to watching the True Blood season finale with our regular obsessed fan group.  Yes, the same iPad that caused us to hide out in the Intercontinental Hotel in Kansas City so we could be at the doors before the sun come up [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Hanging Out with Ranny and the Kids

It is no exaggeration to say that many of the most enjoyable moments of my life are now spent watching Disney movies and just hanging out with tiny people talking to them as we sit on the porch or lay on the floor for hours.  At one of the two family dinners I have today, [...]

from Joshua Kennon

It’s Going to Be a Busy Weekend …

After writing to you about mapping out life goals last night, I played Resonance of Fate for an hour or two, ran a few miles, then collaborated with Aaron on part of the secret project that is so integral to the future plans of one of the businesses.   A few hours later, I decided [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Protected: Meeting the Disney Princesses for My Niece

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

from Joshua Kennon

Fireworks, Thunderstorms, and Final Thoughts Before Flying Back to Kansas City

After dinner and dessert at the Yachtsman Club restaurant, we made our way back to The Magic Kingdom because we have reserved seating for the fireworks show at Cinderella’s castle.  The whole thing is themed as a dessert service but I doubt any of us are going to be able to eat anything else, though [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Dinner at the Yachtsman Club Restaurant in the Yacht and Beach Club Resort at Walt Disney World

Dinner tonight was at the Yachtsman Club restaurant in Orlando, Florida, on the Walt Disney World property (specifically, the Yacht and Beach Club resort).  It’s a classic steakhouse menu that comes highly recommended.  The bar is going to be set high after dinner at Citricos last night and The California Grill prior to that but [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Touring the Boardwalk

It’s been a full day so far.  I’m not going to post most of the pictures of our events but we weren’t able to track down the Disneyland Blue Bayou drink anywhere in Walt Disney World, we saw a lot of stuff, did many more things, hung out with people, and now the four foodie groupies are [...]

from Joshua Kennon

I Bought 100 Shares of The Walt Disney Company as a Souvenir During My Visit to the Resort

After breakfast this morning at the Animal Kingdom lodge, we headed over to Downtown Disney.  As we shopped for souvenirs before flying back to Kansas City tomorrow, I was in the enormous World of Disney store when I realized the best possible souvenir I could have would be ownership in the business.  From the kitchen section, surrounded [...]

from Joshua Kennon

Another Glorious Morning in Orlando and an Update of Today’s Itinerary

After dinner at Citricos, I went back to the room at the Animal Kingdom resort, took a shower, read the news, worked on the MacBook Pro, and relaxed until 2 or 3 in the morning, when I fell asleep.  Today, we have a few things to do: Return to Downtown Disney to purchase and ship [...]

from Joshua Kennon