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In 2015 I will be writing a Sentence a Day. You can read more about why here.
Today is the 7 April 2015.
Question:
What is something you should have done yesterday?
Answer:
Sorted out my pesky iPhone which needs upgrading and has finally given up on me - no contacts, no calendar, it can't store any more photos, no more room on it and WhatsApp temperamental; I just can't bear the obligatory phone calls to providers or the dreaded word 'tariff', yuck...
Thank you to each and everyone of my Material Whirl followers. The likers, the admiring head-nodders, the laugh-out-louders, the sharers, the forwarders, and the retweeters.
You make... late nights after long (real job) days surviving only by the power of Diet Coke, standing on the tube with my face way too close to a stranger and typing on an iPhone, the solitary coffees in cafes with just me and my Mac, and the begging, emailing, researching...absolutely 100% worth it.
With your help and support 2013 has seen Material Whirl take a small but noticeable step (in uncomfortable, but new shoes). I am lucky to have reviewed some fantastic acts for Jazz FM, have guest reviewed for some smashing London hangouts with their support (and retweets) and some inspiring fashion people have even been in touch with me. Right this minute, I have 139 Facebook likes, 100 Instagram followers and 411 Twitter followers with numbers rising - not bad but definitely need more.
2013 was kind to Material Whirl. Did you know a New York City subway train holds 1,200 people? Well, this blog was viewed about 8,000 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 7 trips to carry that many people. That makes me smile and keeps me motivated to do more in 2014. - have a quick read of my report below (with fancy images, thanks Wordpress)
Here's a little report of Material Whirl's progress in 2013.
It is a great start and I am absolutely over the moon; but 2014 needs to be bigger and even better (with more NYC subway train trips. Or, even better, Tube trips if I knew the stats on that). Hopefully this is just the beginning.
Thank you so much to each and everyone of you who made it happen.
Happy New Year. I hope 2014 brings you everything you want and deserve... I have a feeling it is going to be spectacular.
xxx
Life, eh? What a little b*gger it can be sometimes.
As someone easily embarrassed and prone to calamity, I have experienced my fair share of humiliating minor gaffes. A recent little treat was this:
With tiredness reaching new and interesting levels, I arrived at my office one morning laden with bags, like a donkey, and thus unable to easily locate my security access pass. A kind man came to my rescue and once safely inside the building, I fumbled around in my Mary Poppins bag (one day I will pull out a hat stand) until I finally realised it was tucked safely into my jacket pocket. Feeling triumphant, I decided to take the lift instead of the stairs, taking a crazy diversion to my morning routine.
Said lift was jam-packed with bleary-eyed workers and as I was the last one in, lift-etiquette dictated that I was the one to kick off our upward journey using my pass to activate the sensor. I attempted this by bending my knees, awkwardly, and swiping my coat pocket across the sensor in the hope it would send us on our merry way. It didn't. I tried again. Nothing. In effect, I pelvic-thrusted the lift sensor, twice, in front of a group of strangers. Someone coughed nervously. Determined not to be beaten, I gave it one more thrust and finally we were on our way up, the uncomfortable silence now deafening.
As we ascended, I concentrated on looking serious, professional, meaning business in a kind of Melanie Griffiths-Working Girl manner. I glanced around the lift in exaggerated impatience at someone's very loud and irritating music, completely unaware that the tinny noise was in fact coming from my own iPhone headphones. It was I'm Going Bananas by Madonna, as featured on the Dick Tracy soundtrack. Which wasn't in the slightest bit embarrassing.
For those unfamiliar with this song, in my opinion, it's a fine piece of music. With a nod to Broadway and a slice of Spanish pop, inspired by the 1940s, it is chirpy, cheepy and makes me think of past car journeys with my parents and two sisters when we were kids and utterly obsessed with the Dick Tracy soundtrack. (Flashback: my Dad finally succumbing to the torture of having to listen to it on repeat 27 times and ejecting the cassette in desperate rage).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-JgNduaHgA&w=560&h=315]
The thing is, it's the kind of song you don't actually want anyone else to know you like. Or have purposely, actively downloaded. Especially as it was recorded in 1990. I only had to travel a single floor to reach my office, but I may as well have climbed the full length of The Shard. I couldn't bear anymore fumbling around to try to de-activate iTunes from my phone (hidden somewhere in the depths of bag), so instead Madonna went bananas and so did everyone else. After what seemed like an hour, we finally reached my floor where I ran to the safe cocoon of my office. Mortified.
It was here where I began to think about embarrassing songs we all secretly store on our playlists. Deeply personal, usually connected to an event or time in our life and accompanied by a heap of memories. We love them but know full well they should never should be given public exposure, certainly not in the workplace. My guilty pleasures include As Long as He Needs Me from the Oliver! Soundtrack - often wandering around London's charming back streets or Theatreland when I'm feeling particularly dramatic, I fancy myself as Nancy belting out the 'ell I've got my pride, AS LONG AS HE NEEDS ME! in all her cockney finery for nasty Bill Sikes - and Alone by Heart that amazing soft-rock classic from the 1980s where the lead singer never really cared until she met you. Utter brilliance.
Fortunately, some dignity has been restored by talking to my friends who confirm they too have some absolute corkers on their pods / pads / devices which they have cared to share with me.
It is 1997 again whenever I hear this song.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHozn0YXAeE&w=420&h=315]
Backstreet's back, alright.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug88HO2mg44&w=420&h=315]
This song defies brilliance. The inclusion of Pepsi and Shirley is almost too much to handle.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsyHQgiem8c&w=420&h=315]
The friend who confessed to this also admitted alcohol may have been involved.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtCNbERKvMs&w=560&h=315]
Empowerment in one song. I've got my pride, I will not cry.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM6n644spw0&w=560&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lfHO8QQYJw&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnYHdO1vKbY&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ro0FW9Qt-4&w=560&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPMMitJDYg&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXwgZL4zx9o&w=560&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Voc8NPm9A&w=420&h=315]
He won't run out on you again. Believe him.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJ1t6r2NFTk&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1plvBR02wDs&w=420&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCadcBR95oU&w=560&h=315]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtqJpsnsm5g&w=420&h=315]
An excellent selection, and definitely worthy of lift-exposure.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHthhhPxHfo&w=420&h=315]