In Perpetual Motion: Reflections On a 2.0 Vacation
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or Subscribe by Email. Thanks for visiting!
That’s me coming out of a London phone booth on Heddon Street last week. If any David Bowie fans are reading this, they’re nodding their heads; and if the rest of you are scratching your noggins wondering what I’m going on about, here’s why Heddon Street is legendary to Ziggy Stardust fans, of whom my husband is king (and therefore, by association, am I queen).
In perpetual motion
You’re also probably wondering why I chose a photo that’s a bit fuzzy to illustrate this post. I did so because it captures me in motion, and that’s what our vacation (which was wonderful) felt like.
We were in perpetual motion, as we took in the Globe, Abbey Road, Lord’s, Abbaworld (awesome!), some great restaurants and the whole point of going to London in some very crappy weather – to see Elvis Presley in Concert as my “milestone birthday” celebration. (After all, when you’re in one of the world’s most vibrant cities for five days, you want to do as much as you can.)
It’s also how I think of life today. Ever since getting back to the U.S., I’ve slowly been getting back to my “real” life, which was blissfully suspended for a week. And real life in the 21st century moves very, very fast. The kind of thing we say we want to get away from… which is why we go on vacation, right?
Kinda sorta. While we were traveling, I did keep my Blackberry close at hand, but I didn’t send too many emails from it (at least, I’d like to think I didn’t, though my colleagues at IABC/DC Metro are probably snorting right now).
So while the vacation was meant to be a getaway, I didn’t really “get away” as much as I could have… but was that a bad thing?
The 2.0 vacation
Because of my BB, for example, we were able to minimize how much paper (directions, addresses, etc.) that we carried with us while we were traipsing across the city. A green vacation… after a fashion!
And I was able to stay in touch with my Twitter peeps thanks to Ubertwitter. One of them, Howard Riefs, introduced me to the fabulous Tom Aikens, who very kindly made a reservation for me at Tom’s Kitchen (which you really have to go to when you’re next in London). The best eggs benedict I’ve eaten in a while, not to mention the best loo sign ever. Check it out:
They also told me how much postage I’d need to mail in some bill payments that I’d forgotten to drop off in the mad rush before we left. Staying connected helped me find one of London’s three remaining post offices (or so someone said) and take that load off my mind.
Because we had mobile connectivity, we were able to find some really dinky record stores – the kind that only take cash – that my husband’s been dreaming of going to.
And I was able to meet up with friends like Richard Bagnall and Ved Sen, and meet IRL tweeps such as Kristin Wadge, Russell Pearson, Bryce Keane and Sheema Siddiqui (the latter of whom organized a #shonalitweetup – love it!)
Whether we like it or not, hyper-connectivity is part and parcel of our lives, especially for those of us who live in the social media plane. Yes, that’s sometimes tiring, even irritating… but it can also be incredibly helpful.
So while it’ll take me a little time to get back into full 2.0 work mode, I’m grateful to the 2.0 world for adding dimension to a vacation that was a once-in-a-lifetime event for us.
You might call it a 2.0 vacation.
Why Elvis Is Always On My Mind
Gulp. I jumped the gun. In my excitement over the King’s upcoming remembrance, I published this on January 7 when he was, in fact, born on January 8, 1935. So I’m editing the beginning of this post to reflect that accuracy, and apologize for my inaccuracy, or eagerness, whichever one makes you more likely to forgive me. The rest remains the same. Rock on, Elvis.
Tomorrow would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday. And this is my tribute, admittedly a very tiny one, to someone who literally touched my life across space and time. Is that a strange thing to say for a gal from India who landed in DC via San Francisco?
Back in The Day
I grew up in a home attuned to music. My maternal grandmother was an operatic soprano, and my mother has a gorgeous alto. She is also the one who turned me onto Elvis.
Apparently my mother (who was quite a hottie in her day) could have put any of her American counterparts to shame as an Elvis fan. She was a member of his fan club in India (I don’t know how they did it back in the day, but somehow they managed to establish a fan club for him), and I think she still has a couple of her old Elvis “annual” magazines. I remember leafing through those as a kid and being transported to the world of “Blue Hawaii” and “Roustabout” through the black-and-white photographs I’d see.
When we got a VCR, musicals were some of our favorites to watch – and Elvis rated high on our list. I know, most of them are very cheesy, but who could resist those eyes, that hair, those songs? Indian television was pretty boring when I was a kid, so trips to the video rental place were eagerly awaited.
And beware the store owner if the tape was defective in any way; an Elvis fan thwarted is an Elvis fan to be wary of.
Fast forward several (never mind how many) years, and here I am, in the land that gave the world the King of Rock’n'Roll. Not only do I live here, I even got to drive through and visit Elvis’ “homeland” last year. It was our 10th wedding anniversary “country music/Elvis homage road trip” through Tennessee (my husband’s a fan too, but I like to think he became a bigger fan since we got married – don’t let him tell you otherwise).
Visiting Graceland (carefully planned so that the tour actually happened on our anniversary) was surreal – in a really good way. We’d been to the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame the previous year, so seen a lot of the Elvis-a-bilia there, but it’s a completely different experience to walk his line. And I got goosebumps at Sun Studios, though that didn’t prevent me from hamming it up (I used to be an actress, after all).
And if you’re into music but haven’t read Peter Guralnick’s masterful books on the life and death of the King, you should; they’re not just beautifully written, they’re a fascinating look at not just Elvis, but of the world he lived in and the music that inspired him; music that is intrinsically American.
What Kind of Fan?
We’re not the crazy, “I think Elvis is still alive” kind of fans. I’ll admit that I currently have an Elvis screen saver, and revel in my Christmas gift of an Elvis bathrobe. And an Elvis house key. But that’s not crazy, just cute, right? I mean, I don’t expect to wake up at 5 am and find him sitting in my kitchen, wanting me to whip up a peanut butter and banana sandwich for him.
That would be spooky.
The Big Question: Why?
I could say: why not? I love the music – it makes me happy. His voice and mastery of his craft – impeccable. Every time I watch a concert, I’m agape at how he could – even when he was on the way down – mesmerize audiences with his sheer force of personality.
More than that, though, he touched lives in a way he certainly didn’t know he’d do. He touched the lives of people he never knew – like my mother – in countries he probably never even dreamed of visiting. He touched – and continues to touch – generations.
Even for a performer, whose job it is to communicate using their medium, he was a master communicator; one shake of the head, one look of the eye, one curl of the lip and you knew what was going on inside his head.
Is it just the music? That’s a large part of it, obviously. And performers have a “shortcut” to their audiences. But I think there’s something extraordinarily powerful about Elvis’ rags-to-riches story, his well-documented adoration of his mother and, at the end of it, the sheer simplicity and humanity of him.
As a communicator, Elvis has absolutely nothing to do with how I earn a living. But my unabashed, possibly uncool, adoration has led to some incredible connections with others in my field, which have benefited me personally and professionally.
Just as an example, a relationship with a client – whom I’ve known for years, and which has always been good – went to a whole other level when I found out he actually saw Elvis perform live. Now we connect not just as client and consultant, but as people with a common interest too.
So when I say he’s “always on my mind,” it’s not just me being dippy about a music icon; he really does continue to touch my life and enrich it.
We’re All People
Because at the end of the day, we’re all people. And when an Elvis comes along, we’re reminded of just how great, yet how fallible, people can be – we can be. But somehow, he kept going. And that keeps us going.
Happy birthday, King.
Tweetup… A Pocketful of Rainbows
I told you a couple of days ago about #shonalitweetup that’s being organized around PRSA2009. Now I’m really excited that we’ve added another layer to what I know is going to be a great evening and will, I hope, help an extremely worthy fund raising effort meet its goal.
We’ve partnered with 12for12K to help one of its charities, Musicians on Call. If you’re active in the social media world, you’re already familiar with 12for12K and Danny Brown, the brains and passion behind it. If you’re not, you can learn more here and here.
So, in a nutshell, if we all give a little, we’ll be able to help some extremely worthy causes. $12K per charity sounds like an awful lot, but not if we all chip in $10, $20, whatever we can (and companies, you should be giving more!). Little drops of water, little grains of sand, etc.
All the charities that have been selected for 12for12K are worthy causes. Even if we haven’t lived in a war zone, been excruciatingly hungry, or have been blessed with keeping our vision, we can identify with those who have/do, have been/are, and haven’t/can’t. If you haven’t been touched by these issues directly, you have been, in some way, shape or form, indirectly.
When it comes to music, though, there is not a single person who has not been touched by it directly. Remember how excited I was to visit Graceland, or listening to/watching Adam Lambert? In other words, the soundtrack of our lives.
So please help Danny and his team support Musicians on Call. Here are some ways in which you can do this:
1. If you’re coming to #shonalitweetup, consider chipping in. Yes, the tweetup is still sponsored, thanks to PRNewswire, Mike Smith Public Affairs and dna13 (that means hosted beverages and pie aka pizza for a limited time, so that we don’t drink Bar Basic out of house and home). And you don’t have to chip in – but it would be so nice if you would.
2. Whether you’re coming to the tweetup or not, share this post and/or the link to its 12for12K page with your networks; Facebook, Twitter, even email… you know the drill. Oh, and how about embedding the donation widget on your blog?
3. If you really think this is a good idea, put the squeeze on people you can ask directly to chip in.
You, my community, have been very good to me – from egging me on when I started this blog a whopping 11 months ago, to helping me find Darby the GSD a home. I hope I’ve been good for you in some way too. Now let’s all be good for 12for12K and Musicians On Call.
One other thing – and this is very important – just because the tweetup is tomorrow night, we’re not going to stop trying to help there. 12for12K runs through the end of the year… so we have a few weeks to help them reach their goal. Let’s do it!
Can we help some very worthwhile causes find their pockets full of rainbows?
As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart. (Psst, I downloaded MoC’s logo from their site, in case you want to do that as well).
London Calling
I love London, no two ways about it. And next week’s first Twitgigs Experiment is another reason I wish I lived a little closer (just a wee bit).
What’s Twitgigs, you ask? A Twitter-gig, of course. But for a more-than-140 character description, my friend Rax Lakhani (who’s organizing it) says it’s a Twitter-enabled experiment at organizing a great evening of live music, and using the platform to enhance the audience experience.
Three bands – Essay Like Nephew (@EssayLikeNephew), The Seal Club Clubbing Club (@thesccc), Mike Dingham (@mikedignammusic) – will be performing at The Vibe Bar in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 6. It’ll also be livestreamed on the Twitgigs Ustream Channel, there’ll be live Twitterfall projections around the venue with various Tweet-stations for those who need ‘em, lots of Twitpic challenges (with cool prizes, I’m told)… and a hashtag voting system for the audience to vote for the winner of the Battle of the Bands.
Pretty cool. When I hear of something like this, though, the first question that usually pops into my head is… why?
The ever-patient Rax said, “Have you ever been to see a band and wished that you could tell them (and the rest of the world for that matter) exactly how freakin’ awesome they are!? Well, that was the initial driver behind putting on The Twitgigs Experiment. Twitter is the perfect medium to bring together musicians and music lovers.”
YES! Like Elvis!
So – how do you buy tickets and get involved? You have to follow @twitgigs (hey, this IS a Twitter-enabled event), and then buy your £5.50 tickets here (and you have to be over 18).
The Billy Mays Moment
But wait, there’s more! Rax has generously given me five tickets to give away to folks in London. So if you’re in London and would like one, re-tweet this post, and you’ll be able to go to what looks like a ton of fun.
I’m just glad I’ll be able to follow the event from across the pond. Don’t you love technology and social media?
What do you think of events like this? Do leave a comment; I’d love to know.
Phone booth & Big Ben photo: jpvargas
