Refine Design Studio inc.

VACATION: Since we began our Facebook postings (using beginning-to-ending alphabetical letters to dictate our subject) what else could our next posting be but...Vacation? You’ll notice our last posting (‘Until’, way back in August) and although it wasn’t planned, it now seems appropriate... “Happy Trails...until we meet again.”... Well, guess what?...Here we are again!
Our summer flew by in the blink of an eye with outings, projects, travels and so much laughter...as well as some very deep sadness. I suppose that’s what we all call “Life”, right?
My mother loved to remind me; “You never know what’s around the corner,” and she certainly was right. Yet, each day we wake to find ourselves grateful for this amazing life we’re living; filled with love and promise and so many wonderful opportunities. We’ve met delightfully unique and remarkable people around every corner, each person offering unexpected ideas...with fresh and exciting possibilities...all we had to do was open our minds and just go with the flow.
How very blessed we are to be here today, right now at this very moment...to send this greeting out to you...and know that somehow it mysteriously zips through shadowy Internet connections and lands quietly on your desk...Amazing...what a truly miraculous world we live in (and so often take for granted).
If you are reading this, we thank you for checking in and thinking about us. Please know we are sending back positive thoughts, with many Bright Blessings to energize your day. May a smile from a stranger mirror your expression today.
Okay, so it’s Monday and it’s raining as we look outside...but what the heck, it’s still a beautiful day, right? Perspective...so much meaning in a single word.

Back from "Vacation"…And man, I Love This Life!!!

LOCASH - I Love This Life Music video by LOCASH performing I Love This Life. (C) 2015 Reviver Records http://vevo.ly/jOOIVL

UNTIL: Such a small word with such huge expectations…Until tomorrow, Until I feel better, Until my spouse recovers from surgery, Until I get a better job, Until I find a way through this…

"UNTIL" holds a lot of faith…"Until" means the interim of time from now on, as we keep believing that "wished-for" time will be granted. We often make it through our toughest times by relying on our faith in "Until".

And it's amazing how quickly time slips by as we're living and experiencing the days we looked forward to for so long…the days we planned on and dreamed about…the big party, the family visit, the vacation…our count-down 'Until'. And then, before we know it, the planned event is over. In the blink of an eye the memories are etched in our memories and everyone goes back to living their regular days again.

May we all learn to appreciate the wonder of each and every 'Until' we have been granted. And also to cherish the times in between, for those are the experiences our lives are really made of.

UNTIL we meet again...

Roy Rogers - Happy trails Roy Rogers, Dale Evans and Dusty Rogers sing together the beautiful song "Happy Trails".

TIME:
Lyrics from "In Your Time" - by Bob Seger
And after all
The dead ends and the lessons learned
After all
The stars have turned to stone
There'll be peace
Across the great unbroken void
All benign
In your time
You'll be fine
In your time

TIME: Why do time intervals feel so dissimilar at different moments in our lives? How can the minutes that drag by when we're faced with something unpleasant be the same minutes that fly by unnoticed as we love and laugh with joy? Are the minutes that tick-tock slowly by as we anxiously wait for medical results the same sixty second intervals that melt away while we're in the throws of passion? Will our mental focus on individual moments help to connect us with a longer timespan?

Some people seem to have an innate sense of time, always aware of the passing minutes and never arriving late. One of my favorite fictional characters, Jack Reacher (in the series by Lee Child) comes to mind here. I love his play by play mental insights as split-second strategies are analyzed and discarded before each defensive move. And it's fascinating to imagine having a constant mental timepiece, being able to wake on demand and chronicle invisible hours with no apparent effort.

On the other hand, there are lots of people, like me, who run closer to having no sense of time at all, barely realizing that a Dr's office is running way behind until looking up after closing the last page on my third magazine. Time slips by me as I focus on interesting patterns of light and color and while I'm immersed in the activities of some hapless insect as it bangs again and again against an invisible glass barrier...what is it thinking when it can't move forward?...is it on some mission and this delay will make it late? How does time move in the mind of that creature?

Time is measured in precise divisions that our society accepts and recognizes, however, the actual "time on the clock" we all accept as accurate is dependent on where you live. Ever since Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of Daylight Savings Time in 1784, mankind has been playing with the clock. Yet in some states today, like Arizona and Hawaii, they still don't recognize any seasonal time shift, so their "official time" is different than in all the other states, irregardless of time lines. It all seems kind of man-made to me.

The Gregorian calendar is internationally the most widely used civil calendar, named after Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, but really, it's still just a man-made division of time. Different cultures and religions accept various measurements of time...who is to say one is right or wrong? I suppose they are all right, depending on where your views rest, correct?

Anyway, I find TIME a fascinating concept and continually struggle to get a handle on it. Good grief, look at the clock now...already almost midnight and I need to get up early tomorrow. Where did the time go?...

'S' is for SUNSET today
Lyrics from: 'Sunset Bay' - by Graeme Connors
"I’ve been looking forward to this a while
To kick off my shoes and slip on a smile
On Sunset Bay the day unwinds
Like a castaway I’m on island time
Salt air in my nose sand between my toes
While the palm trees sway on Sunset Bay"

SUNSET: The beautiful ending to another day...and a true measure of the passing of time in all of our lives. Sometimes it seems like a particular sunset must be celebrating some grand cosmic accomplishment, outside of the realm of worries in our world, yet somehow spotlighting the grandeur on some unearthly calendar. The beauty of each sunset we see is our gift to be treasured... small moments of quiet awe. Wishing everyone a moment of humble sky-appreciation today.

Rita Hayworth Is Stayin' Alive Sorry guys, I disabled the comments because the comment system, that was forced upon us in 2013, is the biggest crap ever. I have no control of comments anym...

QUIET: Sometimes life is so hectic and busy that we forget to take a deep breath, and just remember how lucky we are. Even when the chaos and running around are all good things: like for me today, the grandkids are in town and it's the beach and Rays baseball, non-stop...such a wonderful day that promises laughter and happy memories! But before I begin today, I will take a few moments to give thanks. Simply a QUIET few moments to breathe deeply and remember to appreciate the gift of this day, this lifetime, this incredible planet we all share together. May your day be filled with wonder...Happy Sunday.

PEACE:
Lyrics from: "Peace In The Valley" - By Carole King

"Take care of little jealousies
And talk that kills for fun
And hold your heart in readiness
It's so easy to come undone"

PEACE in the Valley, such a simple concept…Our wish for you today.

CAROLE KING peace in the valley from the 1972 album RHYMES AND REASONS

"An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity."
Sir Winston Churchill

OPPORTUNITY or OPTIMISM?...having a hard time deciding on the "O" word today. But then the more we thought about it, the more we realized how these two words really need to go hand-in-hand. Think about it: whenever an opportunity arises it often ushers in change, and changes can be scary. In order to open ourselves up for new opportunities we need to stay optimistic and believe that good things will follow...otherwise, what's the point?

It's so easy to slide into a pessimistic funk after watching the news...so many bad things happening in the world. So how can we all stay in a more positive and optimistic frame of mind? Why do we find it so difficult to simply focus on all the good things that surround us every day?

It does seem easy to lose track of all the little pieces of our life that are really "given" gifts, the things we take for granted because we've never had to try living without them...like a fully functioning body with feet and legs to move us, hands that reach out and eyes that let us take in the world. And so many "necessities" we take for granted, like shelter and food...and transportation that can take us where ever we dream of going. When was the last time you couldn't switch on a light switch in the dark? It's amazing how readily I take that for granted, until the power goes out and I'm fumbling in the darkness to find candles and a match.

The simplest things are so easily taken for granted, yet those very gifts and joys are the small pieces that are filling our lives with wonder. Do you have a family...a child...a friend? Do you have an income, a home, a car...a computer? We've all come to expect these things and sometimes forget how lucky we are to be living this life we've been given.

Maybe if we can all give a little more effort, everyday!, toward feeling grateful for our small place in the world...for this day, for this very moment in time and space, we will shift our thoughts into a more positive flow. I often think about a "someday" in the future, when I'll be looking back on today, and perhaps realizing it was the very best time in my life. After my life has changed, with family and friends long gone, it will be too late to tell them how much they mean, and how grateful I am to have been surrounded with their caring and their love.

Lyrics from: "If Tomorrow Never Comes" - by Garth Brooks
'Cause I've lost
Loved ones in my life
Who never knew
How much I loved them

Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for
Them never were revealed"

Such a simple thing to focus on...with such incredibly positive and OPTIMISTIC results. So here's to hoping we can all focus on making the most of our OPPORTUNITIES, and appreciating each of our "given" blessings. Our mindset is that opportunities will alway open a new door to good things... we just have to keep believing, and stay positive.

May your hours ahead be filled with Bright Blessings.

"N" is the letter for today so we chose: NOTEWORTHY.
In searching for interesting content to share with you along these lines, we came across this amazing A Ca****la group called, what else?…Noteworthy.
Enjoy!

Muse "Madness" - All-Female A Ca****la Music Video by Noteworthy Available on iTunes and other digital stores! - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/madness-single/id905972830 This arrangement by Catherine Papworth of Muse's...

MEANING: Still searching?
Lyric from: 'Point of Light' - recorded by Randy Travis
"All it takes is a point of light
A ray of hope in the darkest night
If you see what's wrong
and you try to make it right
You will be a point of light"

MEANING: I just had a friend ask me," what does it mean?" referring to our posts, and when I asked her what SHE meant, she admitted she was enjoying the daily posts, but wasn't sure what we were trying to accomplish.

"Huh..." I thought.

She went on to tell me of her general impression of Facebook business pages and how they're usually trying to sell something. "So what's your point?" she asked again, "What are you trying to sell me?"

So, I suppose that's a very good question...and if we had to put a label on "the purpose" of this page, we'd simply say it's mainly meant to introduce ourselves. To tell you that we're more than just Interior Designers, and we care more about what we do than simply selling you a chair or some draperies.

We think that each time anyone out there hires an Interior Designer, they are basically opening up their lives to a stranger: the way you live, the styles you prefer, how you sleep and wake and start your daily routine, how you cook and entertain, and so many other personal aspects of your household. Any or all of these things may come into play if a new interior plan is truly going to be successful for you.

What works for your friend or your neighbor may look pretty, but wouldn't be practical for your family or lifestyle. The biggest part of our job is listening, and really hearing how you'd like your household to function. There are a thousand different looks we can create for any interior, but only one of them is going to be perfect for you. And there is so much more to creating your functional living space than simply choosing colors and fabrics and furniture; your PERSONAL LIFESTYLE must be the foundation everything else revolves around.

So, how do you feel about opening up your life, with all your quirky habits, and maybe a few unconventional routines, to a total stranger? Wouldn't you rather get a glimpse into the personalities of these strangers first? Don't you think it would be nice to know a little more about how they think before you open your door?

So, in answer to my friend's question about what we're selling here? I guess it's just "Us." We love to laugh, and enjoy life, and help people when we can.

What does this page MEAN? It means we're opening our hearts a little, to give you a small glimpse into what we're all about. We hope we may become friends with you over time, and if you call us for Interior Design advice, you'll feel a bit more comfortable right from the start. And even if you don't call us for advice, we hope you'll still find a smile, or at least a feel-good thought, from something we write or post here. Smiles are meant to be shared, don't you think? We hope you'll pass yours around often.

Random acts of kindness...they come in many different forms.

LAUGHTER: Our greatest natural medicine...and so easily taken for granted. Laughter actually releases chemicals in our brains that can help us through our toughest times. Have you had a good laugh yet today? Here are two images that always bring a smile...

Our letter for today is 'K' - so we've chosen KINDNESS as our focus.

One of the most memorable acts of kindness I ever received happened as I was struggling to make it through my mother's final days. It was a difficult and emotional time; nothing felt normal or hopeful as I stumbled through those last days in a numbed stupor.

On this particular day I had to make a quick drive up on the freeway, for some reason, and when I stopped at the toll-booth I was told that my fare had already been paid by the car in front of me. Tears of gratitude were rolling down my cheeks as I smiled for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

In the overall scheme of things it was a very small gesture of kindness, that's true. But on that particular day, in the midst of extreme darkness and uncertainty in my life, it was like a golden bolt of sunshine had suddenly brightened my world.

I never got the opportunity to thank that good Samaritan for their kindness to me, but I will never forget it. We never know what someone else is dealing with, right?...especially a stranger. I only hope someday I'll be able to repay that small gesture of giving... ...pay-it-forward is an incredible mindset, that's for sure. May we all feel and share a small measure of KINDNESS in our lives today.

Small acts of kindness generally require such small efforts on our part, only a tiny moment away from our normal routines, yet what an incredible difference that moment can make in the lives of those around us. Have you made any efforts, today, to share a bit of kindness with a stranger? It's still not too late!

Random Acts of Kindness caught on film YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THIS SONG HERE: https://mega.co.nz/ #!N5oxGJRD!DG1Wb2cIvnrlzWzmnsJXIX9k1-Fwz450v1zXVojvHVw ► Want to support? SUBSCRIBE, LIKE & FAV! It will ...

'J' is our letter today - "Jump for Joy" our message. No great words of wisdom, just a smile...hope you'll enjoy the magic and beauty of boy and dog in motion. Happy Saturday!

Alex & Jumpy - The Parkour Dog Click here for more videos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i79J7Wy84hA&list=PLRvIEZaUOpBFXbsBHm9NCtDqRDMts7PXj&index=2 Chances are that if you have been bro...

The letter today is "I"
Lyric from: 'Wanna Talk About Me' - by Toby Keith
"Wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
Oh my, me, mine
What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see"

Indecision:
For some reason the letter “I” has been more difficult to pin down with an appropriate message or meaning than all the previous letters combined. It probably has more to do with personal time restraints outside of this writing venue than anything else, or maybe it’s just a concentration issue, running hand-in-hand with the full moon. Whatever the excuse, our original goal of “daily posts” has been interrupted (and even as these words are hitting the page, the entire purpose of this particular entry remains elusive and unknown. Is there a point to this, still floating out there somewhere in limbo?...sure hope so.)

Our goal all along has been to promote interest, to be somewhat instructional; to prompt your inner-voice into heeding your intuition, and maybe prod your imagination. Basically we’ve just tried to say something we feel is important. But today?... the only “I” word we keep coming back to is “Impossible”.

Well, maybe we’ll just accept this as one lone day, simply floating by and unencumbered with attached messages or deep meanings. Or maybe the meaning of our chosen “I” letter for today should be complete unto itself, just “I”...What “I” need...what “I” see...what “I” feel.

Sometimes nurturing the “I” within each of us feels impractical in the midst of our daily responsibilities and obligations, but maybe that very observation should be the point of this entire post. Have you taken a moment to appreciate your individuality today?

All the experiences and lessons you’ve learned over a lifetime have molded you into the person you are today; all the good things, all the bad things, the joys as well as each layer of grief and sorrow. All of your successes, as well as your failures, have led you to this very moment. Are you appreciating the individual “I” you have become today?

Are you a “giver” or a “taker”? Do people cherish your friendship? If you had one split-second to realize this was your last day on earth, would you say, “I was good, I made a positive difference in my little corner of the world?”

Each moment we are given is a new chance toward becoming a better “I”. We’re all in this together, an entire world of “I”s, yet when we’re able to join forces and work as “we”s, it’s a beautiful thing. (Well, what do you know? Maybe there is a message floating around somewhere in all these ramblings.)

May we all learn to cherish our individualities and come to love the “I”s we each represent. Remember, we’re all given 24 hours in a day, and how you choose to spend yours says a lot about whom you are. Choose well, because your split second moment could come along anytime, with no warning.

So, we’ll leave you with this last thought; an anonymous quote that is tacked up above our computer screen...it really says it all:

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, in it’s place is something you have left behind...let it be something good.”
Author unknown

Happiness:
“Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”
Henry David Thoreau

What is it that brings you happiness?

Do you find happiness in the small moments of your daily activities as well as the big and anticipated events in your life? Sometimes it’s easy to overlook the small joys that can make our days more beautiful, even if it’s just the happiness we share with our dogs on a morning walk. The small moments that all splice together to create an entire day are the building blocks that make our lifetimes.

There are 86,400 seconds flying by every day and any one of them could hold your opportunity to capture, and maybe share, a small piece of happiness. Even in the most dire circumstances a small act of kindness can light a tiny spark to burn through the darkness. Your smile could spread a touch of hope, even within a room of strangers.

Did you know that simply smiling can literally change the way you feel? Here are some interesting excerpts from an article we found in Psychology Today:

“There’s Magic In Your Smile” - by Sarah Stevenson
“The act of smiling activates neural messaging that benefits your health and happiness...
..smiling activates the release of neuropeptides that work toward fighting off stress. Neuropeptides are tiny molecules that allow neurons to communicate. They facilitate messaging to the whole body when we are happy, sad, angry, depressed, excited. The feel good neurotransmitters dopamine, endorphins and serotonin are all released when a smile flashes across your face as well. This not only relaxes your body, but it can lower your heart rate and blood pressure.

When you smile, people treat you differently. You’re viewed as attractive, reliable, relaxed and sincere. A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia reported that seeing an attractive smiling face activates your orbitofrontal cortex, the region in your brain that process sensory rewards. This suggests that when you view a person smiling, you actually feel rewarded.”

So that’s it, the letter ‘H’ in our alphabetical sequence is dedicated to helping us think about HAPPINESS. And our abilities to appreciate individual moments of happiness lie in our awareness of the smallest moments of time. It only takes a moment to share a smile, and that moment could be just the lift you need when YOUR smile gets returned. It may only be a tiny moment of happiness, but every second ticks away toward the making of an entire day. Your happiness doesn’t have to be measured in huge chunks of pleasure, don’t forget that mountains are basically the accumulation of many tiny bits of stones and sand.

Think about creating a bit of happiness today with a simple smile... who knows where it might lead?

And finally, one last quote to ponder:

“Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.”
Epicurus

Lyric from 'Happy' - Pharrell Williams
"Because I'm happy,
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I'm happy,
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I'm happy,
Clap along if you feel like that's what you want to do."

Sending our smiles out to you...
Bobi and Kate

FLOUNDERING:
Some projects just don’t turn out the way you planned. Have you ever had an idea that seemed so simple in the beginning but then it morphed into a monster, leaving you overwhelmed and, well, basically stuck? We get a lot of calls from people who thought they had the perfect solution for their interiors, but now that their ideas are in place?...well, it’s obviously not working. That’s when real frustration and a sense of panic begin taking over their lives because they’ve “already spent so much money!” yet they hate the results.

Sometimes just having a fresh perspective is all you need to get you back on track. We’ve had a lot of design consultations that merely required some creative rearrangement of furniture and accessories to get started. And by the time we left they had a comprehensive list of additional adjustments and “fixes” they could implement, still following through with their do-it-yourself approach.

Hiring an Interior Designer doesn’t have to be intimidating. We’ve talked with clients who were too afraid to seek professional advice because they were embarrassed about their efforts so far, or maybe about the condition of their homes. At Refine Design Studio we stress our easy-going and friendly approach to helping you find your “perfect” interior style. (Be sure to check out our web site for more information: RefineDesignStudio.com)

Our job is not to judge or criticize your choices or your lifestyle. We’ve helped client’s pull together every “perfect” style you can imagine, whether it’s cozy and cluttered or sleek and minimalistic; the principals of scale and balance and functionality still directed the flow. We’ve learned a lot of tricks over our thirty years of solving design challenges and sometimes a simple application of an accent color, a strategically placed mirror and changing the color of a ceiling will dramatically alter the “visual” proportions in a space. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to tweak the flaws out of your design issues.

So, if you ever find yourself floundering around in the middle of a project that’s just not coming together properly, we hope you’ll give us a call. Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes to help you get back on track.

Keep things in perspective and don’t panic, it isn’t the end of the world. Our philosophy is: Fun, Frugal, yet still Fabulous. It’s all a state of mind. Good luck with all your projects!

Lyric from: 'Somebody Like You' - by Keith Urban
"I used to run in circles goin' no where fast
I'd take one step forward, end up two steps back
Couldn't walk a straight line,
even if I wanted to...

FLOUNDERING:
Some projects just don't come together the way you planned...

EASY-GOING:
We all like to call ourselves “Easy-going” and carefree, but what does that really mean? It probably means something different for each individual, but here’s the definition we strive for: Friendly and happy, lacking airs, unpretentious, not fussy, upbeat and fun to be around, light-hearted, relaxed, non-judgmental, mellow, goes with the flow...
Okay, no can be that “easy-going” all the time (not even us!) but just for today we’re hoping everyone who reads this will give it a try.

It’s a sunny, but very wet Sunday afternoon here in Dunedin, FL as these words are hitting the page, and for our firm, it’s a day of rest. The shop is closed and no grand designs will materialize on our desks or drafting tables today. It’s a day to regroup with family and friends and appreciate the privilege of creating and sharing our memories together. We will make every effort to unwind and put our worries and troubles on hold...because, as we all know, those same issues will still be piled on our desks tomorrow morning.

We realize many people will still be working today, so perhaps it seems unkind or indifferent of us to go on about our day of leisure. However, you can rest assured our “easy-going” message today really has nothing to do with any particular day, this just happens to be ours. Our intent is simply to act as a reminder of how we often forget to relax and take it easy, to unwind and really appreciate the beauty of any given moment.

During the course of a week all the issues we stress over appear so overwhelming, so all encompassing... and when we’re in the heat of the moment and under fire on the job, our tunnel vision frequently blinds us to the smallest joys. The stresses of life can paint our worlds with darkness and cloud our vision. That is the bane of so many modern workplaces, yet it’s incredibly difficult to avoid. However, if we can stop and think through each moment... simply analyzing the pressures and then breaking them down?...Hey, it’s really all about our state of mind, right?

So just for a day (whatever day works best for you, today is certainly optional) make a conscious effort to be more easy-going. Take five minutes, stare at the sky, or a tree or anything organic and natural, and truly appreciate the beauty of nature. Try laughing more and being less serious (it’s amazing how contagious laughter can be when you spread it around). Share a smile, and maybe a hug. Stop the world for a minute and breathe in your joys. So often our moments slip by unnoticed and that’s just a fact of life. But if we could all strive for more conscious moments, allowing the colors of nature and happiness to wash over us? Hey, who knows what might get started. Make the effort...you will find peace in that moment.
Happy Sunday!

Lyrics from: 'Knee Deep' - Zac Brown Band
"Knee deep in the water somewhere
got the blue sky breeze blowing wind through my hair
Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair?
Sun rise there's a fire in the sky
Never been so happy, never felt so high
and I think I might have found my own kind of paradise."

Need directions?
Be sure to check out our thoughts (below) on mapping out your plan.

DIRECTION:
One of the biggest mistakes we see clients make is straying from their initial path after they're already half way through a project. When phase three of a project detours in a way that cancels out or eliminates the need for already completed parts of phase one, costly mistakes are the result. And nothing dulls enthusiasm for a project faster than wasted money, time and effort.

But we also hear clients lamenting over the fact that their funds won't stretch far enough to complete everything, so they're "doing our best to pull it all off on a shoestring." But what that usually means is they're simply winging it and hoping for the best, rather than creating a long-range plan that can be broken down into more manageable phases.

Even if you don't have a lot of money to start, make the time to really map out your ultimate goal. Visualize your finished project in your mind, then make a list of the most important components required to pull it together. Depending on the scope of your project, there may be a lot of small things you can implement immediately, even if you know you won't start the major renovation for a few years. Having the long-range plan will help you make progress today without making unnecessary mistakes that will haunt you tomorrow. No matter how elaborate or how simple your dreams for your new interior, having that organized plan of action helps guide each individual phase down a consistent and logical path. You won't get lost or detoured along the way and your progress can continue in a positive direction.

DIRECTION: Can you map out a plan?
Hey, this is what we do for a living, remember?
If you need any help, we're just a phone call away.
727-422-7427

Lyric from: 'Netherlands' - by Dan Fogelberg
"Once in a vision I came on some woods,
and stood at a fork in the road,
My choices were clear, yet I froze with the fear
of not knowing which way to go..."