Greater Milwaukee Men

My brother recently tipped me off to a very cool website - Kaufmann Mercantile . As the name implies it is an online store, but it is much more than that. It is a veritable resource for a man's live, and all with a very Well-Met outlook. Forget rum, whiskey is the real man's choice for cologne  First and foremost Kaufmann Mercantile is an  online store  for 'carefully selected, long-lasting, and well-designed goods'. These are simple, well-made, form follows function, not overly-designed products many of which are all-natural, sustainable, or otherwise 'green' in manufacture. There is lots of leather and metal along with wood. Categories include Accessories, Office, Grooming & Beauty, Tools & Outdoors, Home, Kitchen, Grocery, and Garden as well as all New products. Pricing varies from extravagant to reasonable but considering the quality of make and materials even the expensive items I am sure are worth the price. For the women out ...

I think I have seen it said that one way we can judge the is how we care for our children and our elderly, if no one else said well, then, I guess just did. At this time of year we often think of the children first, and we rightfully  reach out to provide the holiday experience to those children in need. But the elderly, those in care without family around, also like getting gifts. Luckily there is a great, easy program designed to bring out the twinkle in the eye of seniors that may not normally get a gift this time of year called Be A Santa To A Senior . The program was started by Home Instead Senior Care who partners with local non-profit and community organizations to identify seniors who might not otherwise receive gifts this holiday season. The company then works with local businesses and retail stores to help facilitate the purchase and distribution of gifts by placing trees and ornaments within their various locations. Each senior's gift requests are written on a  B...

Ask and you shall receive, I guess. Just when I questioned the Bucks organization and players on their community involvement, I see a news story that Brandon Jennings (who I did note has been involved) worked with Hunger Task Force  to give a great holiday gift to 200 local children. They rented out Dave & Busters to treat them to a day of fun, games, and of course food and gave autographs to all in attendance. Great to see Jennings prove me wrong and dish it out off the court.

I normally like to keep things positive here - talk only about what good men are doing  versus what they should do or aren't doing. In fact I think this is my first ever negative post. But the more I hear about local professional sports teams the more I ask myself the question "Where are the Bucks?" And I don't mean in the standings, but in the community. What's Missing Here? There may be nothing I like more here at Well-Met than the chance to praise athletes and teams for their charitable efforts. When someone that people consider a hero truly acts as one, the world is all right. And as you can see right here, it happens very often with members of the  Brewers  and  Packers , even the smaller teams like the  Admirals  (involved in  Movember  and more) and the  Wave  with their Wave of Hope program are involved in the community and take ownership of the  communities in their names whether Milwaukee or Green Bay or wh...

Even Damon doesn't look good in a holiday sweater Women like to say it's hard to shop for men, but men shopping for men don't have that problem. So women can use some help with tips on what to get men. It can be even harder if you are socially conscious and want to get him gifts that align with your beliefs. We previously told men how to shop for the holidays , a more of where than what to buy, but here are some gifts for men  that also have some side benefits whether environmental, charitable, or otherwise. These are a few examples, you can use them as a kickstarter to other ideas and check back for more ideas as we see or think of them. Pro-tip - clothes in general are way too much about personal taste to buy as a gift, even if you think you really know them.

A stadium full of people calls for John Kuhn every game. Now, the Green Bay fullback is calling you. Kuhn’s father was in a motorcycle accident, and John knows that the blood transfusions his Dad received saved his life. While John does his best to pay it forward by donating blood regularly, he’s asking you to  RUN YOUR ROUTE  straight to a  BloodCenter of Wisconsin  donor center November 19, 2012 through January 6, 2013. If your center has the best donor turnout during that time you’ll win a party with John Kuhn! Besides having a chance to meet John Kuhn, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’ve helped save lives here in Wisconsin. Patients in our community need blood every day for surgery, cancer treatment or for accident victims like John’s Dad. Call 1-877-BE-A-HERO (1-877-232-4376) to schedule your appointment today.

I recently saw a blurb about a local man that mentioned how he crossed North America on a trip to promote awareness of hereditary cancer, cancer that he himself has. Alone the tale is extraordinary, but there is so much more to the story. As I looked into it, I found out about a man who is the epitome of what it means to be truly Well-Met. Todd Spurrier with his trusty Ducati Todd Spurrier of Cascade, WI, inspired by Ewan McGregor's  Long Way Round  and  Long Way Down   chronicled motorbike adventures which also supported charities, decided to do something similar to raise awareness for Cancer which took his father as well as  Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)  which was the root of his father's colon cancer and his two sisters, niece, nephew and himself have. But it's bigger than that.  He also wanted to bring attention to Desmoid Tumor Research - you see Todd has an inoperable intra-abdominal desmoid tumor which made it perso...

We are coming up on just about two weeks before the end of the Mayan calendar - December 21, 2012 - and as some see it the end of the world. I see it differently - don't all calendars repeat? Whichever way you look at it, you can pose the same question - What should I do now? If it is to be the end of world, if you believe that, wouldn't you take the next two weeks to go out with a bang? If that is your belief wouldn't you do the same thing many people experience when diagnosed with a terminal illness? But why do we have to wait for that situation to come up? We can use any time to take stock and make sure we have done what we wanted to, especially when there is some kind of deadline involved. Before the end of a decade - be it calendar or life, the end of school, the end of your career (retirement), or any other you have the chance to assess and see if you did everything you wanted to or should do. Did you take all the classes you wanted to fulfill your career needs or ...