Sunday, January 31, 2010

Welcome to the Future?

Dear Black Eyed Peas,

Not only was your performance at the 2010 Grammys a bit (or a lot) unimpressive, but your exclamations after the finale confused me just a bit.

When you shout repeatedly to the audience and the cameras "Welcome to the future", I cannot help but rhetorically analyze your statement.

First, I am confused as to exactly what you mean by "the future". Is it not technically always future? Are you welcoming me from yesterday? the day before? this morning? an hour ago before the Grammys began? or five minutes ago before your 'epic' performance?

Or are you referring to the future of technology? Is that why your back-up dancers were dressed in silver boxes that I presume are supposed to be robots or stereos? If so, then how are you representing the future? You are using present-day technology to sing and perform your songs.

Are you referring to the future of music? Because you are just singing another typical catchy pop song with rhythmic hip-hop beats. This is not the future. This is the present and somewhat past.

Are you referring to the future of social justice? Because I think your anti-semitic lyrics and misuse of "Mazel tov" are not progressive one bit.

So please, Black Eyed Peas, please indulge me. How are you welcoming the world to the future? and how did you get there quicker than the rest of us so as to throw together a Welcome Party?

Thanks.

Love,

Shannon

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

Oh the question. That question. The one that everyone asks you since the day you learn how to form complete sentences. Unfortunately for me, due to my private school education, I was able to form sentences quicker than most. What do you want to be when you grow up?

My answers were similar to all little girl answers. They mainly revolved around a professional dancer, ballerina, dance instructor, actress, and vet. If I was lucky, I could combine all of these into one super-career.

Well as you get older, the question gets more serious. People demand answers beyond professional ballerina. I knew my Junior year of high school that I wanted to major in Communication. I was on the newspaper staff. I was an anchor for the school news show. I was in drama. I knew this was a field in which I could express myself, yet make a few good bucks at the same time (as I am not a fan of the starving-artist type).

So I got my undergraduate degree, and everything was smooth sailing. That is the thing about degrees in Communication. The field is so vast, that there are many different courses you can take without actually having to decide what you want to do with your life.

Then graduate school. I could not simply get a Masters in Communication. I had to actually figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had to pick a goal and go for it. I had to create an entire program of study revolving around what I want to do for the rest of my life. Well, after a semester of sleepless nights, thinking I was going nowhere with my life, due to the fact that I could not for the life of me make a freaking decision that affects the rest of my life, I finally did it. This month is the first official month that I can officially say I know what I want to be when I grow up.

When I realized that I could not easily combine all of my passions - art, dance, theatre, animals, food, music, community work, money - into one career, I knew I had to choose. Now which path do I choose? Well recently I had it narrowed down to record label PR, arts related PR, and community based work. Hey, I can still do all of the other stuff in my free time right?

Well then it hit me. I am always the type of person who does not care what others are doing. I do not follow paths just because people tell me to. I break new ground. I am going to bring community-based public relations into the corporate world. (aka I am going to save the world, just like every other young, naive, college student out there.)

Throughout my studies and observations I have seen a consistency in the public relations departments in corporate organizations. They throw messages at people. They categorize people, tell them how to act, and expect them to do it. There is no real relationship with the PR people and the community they serve. PR departments have a history of throwing messages at people and expecting them to absorb it and respond.

For instance, take the movement to revitalize Overton Square. The people in charge of the project are telling the midtowners what they need. "You do not need this place to be rebuilt" or "What you need are x kinds of stores". But really, who is taking the local residents seriously? Who is listening to them? Should it not be their decision as to what happens in that area, as long as it does not negatively affect anyone else?

I want to bring fresh new ideas into the field of PR. I want to help organizations establish true relationships with their clients. I want them to work with the clients instead of at them. I want to do community based projects through corporate organizations. After all, they have lots of money right? and I want the corporations to establish relationships with the community they are serving in these projects. So instead of a top-down approach to public relations, I want to create a horizontal approach.

One organization. By the people. For the people.

So congratulations to me for discovering what I finally want to do with my life. Not only is it a big sigh of relief, but it gives me something to look forward to. I cannot wait to get my degree so I can start on all of this stuff I have planned. I have big goals, and I am exited about achieving them.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

From a Biased Memphian's Perspective...

It really bothers me when people who live in the city of Memphis constantly complain about how horrible it is. I hear it all of the time. Common phrases include...

"Memphis sucks. I can't wait to get out of here."
"Memphis is one of the worst cities in the nation."
"Memphis is the armpit of the nation."

and the list goes on. But, you know what? Nobody is forcing you to be here. Nobody has a gun to your head, fully loaded, threatening to blow your brains out if you so decide to move. So, if you do not like Memphis THEN LEAVE. Are you here because of family? Because you can call/email/visit frequently. Are you here for school? Transfer. Are you here because of your job? Find a new one.

Why would you force yourself to be in such a city that is pure torcher? Do you enjoy tormenting yourself and living a miserable life? Do you? Because that is a completely seperate issue we need to address.

I find these people really annoying. First of all, people who whine are annoying. Second, people who whine about things I enjoy are annoying. Third, people who whine about situations that they can in fact change are SUPER ANNOYING.

Now that we have established the fact that these people are creating their own doomy fate, let us move on to another issue on this situation. The fact that Memphis is a totally awesome city, and whoever cannot find joy here is truly lame. Lame. Lame. Lame. Memphis is a metropolitan city. It has everything one could want. Let us go through a list of several amazing things that Memphis has.

However, before I start, I want people to know that everything I am about to mention is not all that the city has to offer. Countless TV shows, radio shows, websites, blogs, etc. have been devoted to this topic. This is just an overview of things to do in Memphis. This is to prove a point about how awesome Memphis really is. If you want more information and things to do, please feel free to email me.

1.) Food. Memphis is a foodie town. I am a foodie and am always trying new places. We have something for every taste. Amazing local food that you cannot find anywhere else. Want Italian? Pete and Sams. Want Mexican? Guadulapana. Burgers? Hueys. Thai? Pho Hua Binh. Pizza? Memphis Pizza Cafe. Seafood? Half Shell. Let us not even discuss the endless possibilities of barbeque and soul food that are available in Memphis. That could be an entire website or blog itself. The list goes on and on and on of the amazing places one can find food.

2.) Sports. Memphis has local sports teams of all kinds. Basketball fan? Go see the Grizzlies play. Baseball? We got the Redbirds. We also have The University of Memphis with all of their teams as well. There is always athletic entertainment in the city.

3.) Music. Why do I even have to talk about this one? Really? Do I need to even give a musical history essay on Elvis, Al Green, BB King, Stax, etc? Memphis is THE BEST place to find music in this nation. Period. Any kind of music you enjoy, you can find. Blues. Jazz. Rock. Country. Indie. Hip Hop. Punk. Metal. Gospel. The list is forever long.

Not only can you find endless music venues that have live music seven days a week, but you also have all of the music museums as well. Stax. Sun Studios. Graceland anyone? The museums are amazing. And there are many of them. The music history in Memphis is vast. Did you know that Aretha Franklin was born in South Memphis? Did you know that the lead singer of Survivor ("Eye of the Tiger") used to live in Nutbush, but now resides somewhere else in the city? These little trivia facts are countless.

4.) Art. Not only does Memphis have its own art college with fantastic local works, but right across the street is the Brooks Musuem, which holds even more fabulous work. And it is also very inexpensive. If you open the Memphis Flyer, there are always several pages of art openings and listings in there. You can find art almost anywhere in the city.

5.) Festivals. um hello...Memphis in May anyone? My favorite time of year in Memphis. International fest. Music fest. Barbeque fest. Greek fest. Italian fest. etc etc etc. My second favorite time of year in Memphis? The month of September. This is when all of the crafts festivals occur. Pink Palace arts and crafts fest. Germantown fest. Cordova fest. Bartlett fest. Throughout the year there are so many other festivals as well. Catfish and jazz festival. October fest. etc.

6.) Nightlife. See, Memphis has this thing called Beale Street. Its a pretty spectacular place. Apparently it has a lot of historical value as well. Lots of live music, booze, food, and fun to be had. Other than Beale Street, there is also the Cooper Young area, Overton Square, Main Street, amongst many others. In fact, there is so much nightlife in Memphis, that many locals have a hard time choosing where to go on the weekends.

7.) Theatre. Memphis is one of (I believe) seven cities in the nation to have an Orpheum theatre that allows national touring casts of Broadway musicals to perform. One of seven. That means that Memphians get to see amazing shows that only six other cities in the nation get to experience. Not only do we have the Orpheum, we also have amazing local talent as well. We have Theatre Memphis, Playhouse on the Square, Circuit Playhouse, and Theatreworks. Along with these, Rhodes and The University of Memphis both have spectacular theatre departments. There are also many other small, local theatre companies that also perform.

Along with plays, Memphis also has three original improv troupes as well that perform monthly or bi-monthly. Memphis also has a comedy club.

8.) Outdoors. Memphis has beautiful parks and hiking trails as well. Overton Park is nice. Tom Lee Park by the river. Shelby Farms. Audubon Park. These are just main ones. There a vast number of other, smaller parks. Along with these, Memphis also has Shelby Forest, another park with beautiful scenery and many hiking/biking trails. Shelby Farms also has hiking/biking trails. There are places to fish in Memphis too. If you want a bigger, more wildlife friendly, Reelfoot, Archabutla, and many other places are not too far of a drive.

9.) Family fun. Memphis has THE NUMBER ONE ZOO IN AMERICA. The. number. one. zoo. How can you say a city that has the number one zoo in the nation sucks? Really? We have an awesome zoo. We have pandas. How many other zoos can say that? Oh wait, thats right. Only one other one. We also have super amazing exhibits as well. Cat Country. The polar bear exhibit. They are all fantastic.

(On a side note, a very not family friendly event occurs every year at the zoo called Zoo Rendezvous. Basically, it is lots of live music plus all of the food and booze you can consume from around 100 different loca restaurants. This is also in September and another reason it is my second favorite time of year to be in Memphis.)

Alongside the zoo, we also have The Pink Palace, Lichterman Nature Center, The Children's Museum, The Mud Island River Park, many family entertainment centers, and much more!

I know I sound like an add for Memphis, but I just really want to show people how awesome of a place this city is. We have our own culture. And depending on what party of the city you are in, each little district has its own culture as well. It is pretty amazing. The people are (for the most part) really friendly.

So what is to not like about this place? If you say that "Memphis sucks", are you really trying to enjoy the city? Or are you just sitting in your crappy apartment all day, watching TV, and complaining about how bored you are?