A Great Memorial Day Weekend

posted on May 31, 2011

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I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I honestly don’t think I could have asked for a better few days with family and friends.

The weather was hot, the drinks were cold and the conversations were filled with laughter. That is how I love to spend a weekend.

I joked with Emily how in the course of the weekend she personally had gone swimming, fishing with a friend, slept out in her tree fort in the woods, marched in a parade, had ice cream AND had corn on the cob with grilled steak. An all around perfect Chapman weekend we both thought.

What bothered me a bit (and I know I really shouldn’t care at all) was how many people I saw still writing the “top 10″ and “social media is” type of posts over the weekend. They were talking about the same things over and over like they do every other day instead of turning that off and enjoying life for even a little bit.

I love that the tools are out there to allow us to stay connected. Instagram is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as it allows me to peek into the little moments of people’s lives that I remember seeing shared from the early days of Facebook and Twitter before everyone started caring more about resharing, linking and influence rankings.

The fun for me with the social web is that I can stay connected and share experiences with everyone. I can see a silly pug walking down the street with balloons and share it with you. When my family goes for a walk through the woods you can come along virtually. THOSE moments are what make me love this world I live and work in. No matter where I go or what I am doing I can share it with others. I love that!

I just find it a bit sad how few people around me can’t seem to appreciate that side of their lives. They seem more concerned about missing a post, meme or funny video that will all still be waiting for them when they come back. Unplugging your brain and activities doesn’t mean you have to unplug from the world. It just means you get away from your computer and get out and enjoy life.

Life is far too short to live it all through technology alone.

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Categories: Rambles

http://www.brooksbell.com Gregory Ng

CC, THANK YOU (yes i’m yelling) for writing this.

I think this is why some people are more engaging in social media spaces than others. I personally have a tough time just hearing all work, no play or better yet, all megaphone and no whisper in my ear types of messaging.

I like following you because I feel I know a little bit more about who you are not just what you believe in. Granted, you are a special case with all of your projects but through your content I know your music tastes, the foods you like, a little bit about your family, what your office looks like, AND all the biz-like stuff. It doesn’t make you any less of an expert, it makes you more of one.

I try to offer the same slice of life for my followers. On weekends like these when you have good weather, good friends and family, save your work for tuesday.

Thanks again.

http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

I might need to borrow that phrase of “all megaphone, no whisper” because
that is exactly how I was feeling.

I love knowing about all sides of people an the people who are all work all
the time drive me nuts. I’m a hard worker. I spend far too many hours
working on stuff, but I also enjoy the not working time just as much.

Just because we CAN be connected all the time, doesn’t mean we have to.

Glad I’m not alone in this thinking. Of course now your one comment has me
wondering if I have something in my freezer to cook *grin*

http://twitter.com/SteveCoulson Steve Coulson

Having just returned from a five day family vacation with no computer, iPad OR iPhone – ie no connection at all – I can heartily recommend.

Stroutmeister

CC – I could have written this exact same post (all the way down to the Instagram comment). I did a lot of unplugging this weekend and tried to keep my social activity limited to the face-2-face varietal with the exception of a few pictures posted to Flickr and Instagram.

By the way, glad to hear you all got some nice weather up north. It’s about damn time.

http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

Yes, we skipped spring and jumped right into summer here.

I guess us old timers share a lot of the same feelings. *grin*

http://www.facebook.com/stevegarfield Steve Garfield

Hey CC,
Sharing the little moments of our lives with Instagram always reminds me of the early days of videoblogging, where there were a handful of us sharing video moments. That’s how we all got to know each other. The Socialcam video app on iPhone recaptures that feeling, as does Instagram. I love being able to share food photos on there. I went a little Instagram crazy in NYC last week and loved it.

I also saw those ‘Top 10′ posts this weekend and just skipped over them. Before we get all crazy with Instagram, there are a few things that I don’t like about it. First is that it doesn’t save a full sized image. I bet people would pay for that. Second, it’s not like Flickr on the web, with all Flickr’s commenting and sharing features.

Now I’ve got to go write a post about the ‘Top 5 Tips for Being On Camera’ post.
–Steve

http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

*laugh* Yeah there are a ton of improvements I’d like to see to Instagram,
but for now I’m happy with what it gives me. The little peaks into
everyone’s lives rock.

I love all your food photos, even though they make me hungy. Heck, I took a
picture of my grilled chicken just because I had a feeling you’d be sharing
yours as well

I’ll be sure to RT that post when it comes out.

http://www.ewanspence.com/blog Ewan Spence

You’ll RT it but will you read it? :-p
http://www.cc-chapman.com/ C.C. Chapman

Ha! That is a whole other conversation.

http://chelpixie.com/ Chel Wolverton

New rule: you tweet your junk on a holiday, receive immediate unfollow?

Seriously though, that’s exactly how I feel +1 about Instagram. It’s perfect for sharing slices that are meaningful.