And once in awhile, the unexpected happens…

Oldold Man Finn and I took off for Clewiston, Florida at about 10:30 am this morning. He wanted to show me a little bit of Florida history during this “bad” weather – bad as in “it hasn’t broken 60 in a few a days.”

Clewiston sits on the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee. It’s the home of US Sugar Company, the company that once owned the historic Clewiston Inn where the oldold Man and I had lunch.

The Clewiston Inn looks like a classic Southern Inn on the outside with a two-story, white marble column entrance. Its inside has decor that pays homage to the Everglades – wildlife, fishing, hunting…

Glorious wooden greeting room, a legendary lounge with a wall-to-wall mural painted by a local artist, Clewiston Inn was indeed a nice little local treasure.

While at lunch, I got a call from a buddy who suggested I write about the Clewiston Inn. I might still do that. I took pictures and I’ll put them in a Flickr gallery when I get back home.

But it was after lunch that stirred the imagination

As we were leaving the parking lot at Clewiston Inn and heading a mile down the road towards “the last light in town” (because our waitress thought we knew where that was) which would take us to a scenic trail for Lake Okeechobee, I pointed out the there are roads that circle the water.

“Yeah, but you really don’t see the lake,” he pointed out.

If the “scenic” trail was any indication, then he was dead on. We shoulda brought the boat we don’t have.

As we were comin’ back from the “scenic” trail, I played around on Google Maps to check our trail back when something surprising caught my eye:

I pointed out to the oldold man that we were actually closer to West Palm Beach (~ 45 miles) then we were to Ft. Myers (~72 miles).

“Oh yeah? You know of West Palm Beach?”

“My once-employer used to have an office there.”

He hemmed and hawed as we started to head back towards Ft. Myers.

A couple miles later he pulled into a gas station.

“You have three-quarters of a tank left,” I noted.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t turn around on the road.”

“We’re actually going to tour Lake Okeechobee?”

“Nope.”

And before I knew it, we were headed for the Atlantic Ocean.

I’ll write more about the trip in the next couple days, but for now I was overwhelmed by the fact he turned around. I knew the oldold man still had it in him.

I think he’s starting to realize the vitality of his age.

I’m older than I care to admit and today I got to take an unplanned, college-style roadtrip from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean and back with my 84-year-old grandfather.

And if you’ve been reading, then yeah, with “six strong hands on the steering wheel.”

I can’t wait to script this into the Book of Blues Prequel. I can’t wait for the family to find out.

And by the way, Google Maps, it didn’t take us 1 day, 16 hours to drive the 46.2 miles. He doesn’t drive that slow.

Does anyone in your life need to re-remember what makes life worth living? Have you done anything with them to remind them?

Popularity: 10% [?]

Since my 99 week pilgrimage started, I’ve had many people ask what my next steps are going to be. I’ve even gotten a couple projects from these conversations. I am grateful for the questions and appreciative of the concern, but I can’t say for certain, yet, as to where I’m going.

Sleepless nights, numerous conversations, and apprehensive afternoons have been fidgeted away because, like Max Power who had having trouble focusing on his last PPC Hero blog post, I’ve been gripping too hard to the question, “What to do next.”

Then something changed, a little.

1) Bless the cursed marketing promotion for John Mayer’s, “Who Says.” I’m not the biggest John Mayer fan. It’s not because of his talent. He’s a craftsmen. It’s because I haven’t been in his target market of 14-year-old girls. But in his song, “Who Says,” not only is it a well crafted, finger-picked song, but I’ll confess I relate to it.

“It’s been a long time since ‘22′
I don’t remember you lookin’ any  better
then again I don’t remember you…”

The images in his video also captivate me:  the sharp lines and right angles of his European-styled apartment, latest fashion trends of his city friends, walking the streets at night, great food, good drink… But none of the scenes caught my attention more than the scene with the old wooden chair along a white wall with a Martin acoustic guitar in its lap 13 seconds in.

Most of us who fall in love with our guitars dream of this spot. Many of us work through our days to get back to this spot at night. I used to even turn off the lights so I wouldn’t watch my fingers.

2) After I saw the “Who Says,” video I stopped over at oldold man Finn’s house to check on his place. He’s snowbirding in Ft. Myers. I’ll be down there soon to visit.

I went into his house, checked the rooms, and saw my Martin guitar sitting in his living room. It’s been sitting there almost two years in its black hardtop case. I don’t have the space to store it and I didn’t have time to play it. I sat in the old dining room chair, pulled the guitar out of its case, and placed it in my lap. The first thing that hit me was the fresh smell of Mahogany. The second thing that hit me was how it felt like I was hugging an old friend.

Some people get into careers to feed themselves. Some get into their careers only as far as it takes to feed their family. I dove deep into my career so I could always have a space to play guitar and work on my book of blues. Once I got in there, I found my career, my guitar playing, and my blues books can all help each other. That’s why my topic of my site is:

“Live Music. Blues Books. Inbound Marketing, Social Media, SEO, Blogging…”

All my passions have become family. Now I have to bring my family together.

I still don’t know where the next step will be, but it’ll involve live music, blues books, and inbound marketing.

It has been a long time since 22. And don’t remember her looking any better, but then again I don’t know if I remember her anymore.

(Here’s a live version of John Mayer’s “Who Says”)

(photo credit:  Marite 2007 via flickr)

Popularity: 24% [?]

(Try planning this kind of fun. Go ahead, good luck)

Tweetups, like Meetups and Networking Events, are always nice to plan. It’s also helpful to be able to pick your venue, plan a menu, craft a guest list, and develop a framework for how the evening should flow in advance. It’s especially helpful to the venue owner in case the numbers attending your event are going to need their own space.

But Tweetups, in their essence, are spontaneous and can’t always be planned. Much like any given day, you never know what’s going to happen…

1. When political protesters in Iraq were getting the word out about places to meet, they couldn’t plan the event. They simply couldn’t risk it.
2. Take last night. The home town was having a “Christmas window” viewing down the main street. Families flocked up and down the street to admire the store owners’ creations. While that was going on, a local company was having a networking event. Those events weren’t going to go on all night yet some of the attendees still wanted to enjoy the night out with friends.

TWEETUP!

A few tweets later and a crew of folks were meeting at a local establishment. Dubbed an “afterweetup” after respect for the local company’s event, the new movement later became an “afteraftertweetup,” when the scene moved to a local Mexican diner for a “nightcap.”

How to Spread the Word About an Unplanned Tweetup

You spread the word on an unplanned tweetup much like you do with a planned tweetup. You just do it much more hastily.

• Use familar hastags on twitter to spread the word
• Tweet often
• Don’t be afraid to use Facebook, texts, emails, and that talk feature on the cell phone too.
• Whatever crowd-gathering measures comes to mind
• Repeat with frequency
• Document with photos, videos, tweets, and posts

Then, most importantly, go have some fun.  Before too long, word gets out about the events and people start to get used to the “planned spontaneity.”

TweetUp HashTags in Northwest Indiana

There are a few hashtags those in The Region use to announce Tweetups

• #nwindiana
• #nwitweetup
• #nwi
• #aftertweetup
• #afteraftertweetup
• #nwitwoker

Keep monitoring tweets with these words. You never know when they’re announcing a tweetup.

How Often Do You Plan a TweetUp?

(photo credit:  Svavar Trausti via Flickr)

Popularity: 22% [?]

(I’m working towards this scene, but forgetting to rest as I go)

I woke up, got prepared for a meeting in New Buffalo, MI, and called to confirm. They answered, said it would be better if I backed it up a day, and I was none more thankful. Now I’m backing up my trip to Indy.

Heaven bless the nature of the business.

See the night before I went out with my old boss and a few co-workers. My old boss claimed it was my birthday and people flocked out. Imagine my surprise. Not only that, it was my third birthday this year. And a, “thank you,” goes out to all who came.

Sometimes you have to blow off steam. I forget that.

I don’t do it enough. I try to pretend I’m a machine. I think about how I’ve got 16 days before I go to Ft. Myers, Margaritaville for three weeks and then think I can work straight on till I board the plane.

I’m not a machine.

So when I went back to bed and didn’t wake up until 3pm, refreshed, invigorated, and mostly free from Gumballhead hangover, my body was trying to remind me to balance myself.

In sports, they would call my last few weeks, “playing to the level of the competition.” Some teams can give the best in their sport a run for their money on any given night and then turn around and falter to the league doormats.

If I can’t perform at my best every day, then I’ll never get to where I want to go. Right now, I have no real pressure or deadlines except ones I imply on myself. The best realize the only real pressure to worry about is the pressure to be the best “you” you can be. Everything is temporal and fades away with time.

I’m getting too old not to remember that.

And someday, I’ll be a craftsman.

Are you doing your best every day?

(Photo Credit: Pat Kono via Flickr)

Popularity: 18% [?]

A long back-end of 2009 came to a peaceful end. I’ll miss the production crew, but unless something magical happens the synergy in that office we’ll never go back to the way it was. At least not today and probably not tomorrow.

“I’ve seen the needle and the damage done,” - Neil Young.

I’ve been told I could be welcomed back as a contractor soon. I don’t know if they were sincere and I don’t know if I’d accept. I’m afraid I’ll be surrounded by ghosts of memories past and there’ll be too much space in that office for the memories to swirl around. Though I’m told the space is contracting. Watched too many tears shed and life is only supposed to go in one direction. But it was a good-faith gesture and for that I am thankful.

But I hope they turn it around. There are still good folks remaining amongst the survivors. And if the situation arises and bridges are mended, maybe I finish what I started.

Maybe.

As for me, I’m a free agent. My next 99 weeks ought to be an adventure. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be allowed to sing off-key for awhile as well as find new audiences to perform in front of.

And when I have freedom, people to see, and projects to work on, that only means one thing:

She’s gonna be gettin’ a little work in.

I’ve got two trips planned before Ft. Myers, Margaritaville and I’ll probably start my retreat around Thanksgiving this year. Oldold man Finn is 84 and could use a driving companion. I just hope my car can stay at that slow a’speed .

And who knows what that trip couple bring.

Thank y’all so much for the support. I hadn’t had this much action on my facebook page, well, ever.

And there’s a good chance I’ll be seein’ y’all soon.

Popularity: 21% [?]