Twedding

So we tweeted our marriage as promised (above) - thanks to so many of you for tuning in and for sending messages of congratulations!

We also got married for real too, which to be honest was a little better than the virtual ceremony!

Twitter Wedding Announced

I recently appealed for a tweeter to wed my man and me. We met on line and courted virtually, so a tweet wedding seems fitting (and fun). We are pleased to say we have found the perfect son-ova-preacher-man right under our noses.

You are cordially invited to the virtual wedding of
carolinejaine
And
Jim_Clennell
Service to be carried out by
RevKRWood
On http://twitter.com
At 10:00 am (British Summer Time)
On Thursday 28th May 2009

No need to wear a hat or bring a gift – just sign up to Twitter and follow the three of us to be part of the virtual ceremony.

Tweeter needed for a new media marriage

We met on an internet dating site (bigup Guardian Soulmates). I had seen him there the year before and although he lived in France (and was therefore not even a 10% match apparently) I thought I would send him some smart arse quip about whether he was burying women under the patio. He liked it. I was attracted by his profile status. I really was. We exchanged messages, then emails. He found me on Facebook. I Googled him from afar. Then we moved onto instant messages. Then onto skype. Eventually I had the courage to actually plug in the web cam.

When we met it was like nothing I had ever experienced. I fell head over heels – a stranger to my eyes, but one I knew so well. We continued to date, making full use of budget airlines and building up some bad kharma environmentally. He told me about blogging (one of his previous girlfriends was a popular blogger) and I realised a new art form for my written word. Me a sloppy mild dyslexic, him a pedantic spelling maestro we began to put words together down the lines. We kept our love alive when we were apart with written notes and cards, but in the main with email and skype. We shared YouTube clips of our favourite comedians (Eddie Izzard featured very strongly) and music (Kloot and Elbow but definitely not Debbie Harry). Largely thanks to him, I now run an ethical communications business (which he aptly named – imediate.org).

After a year we took it offline. We have downloaded everything, taken a backup and we now live together in England (and sometimes in France). In the summer we plan to get married. We haven’t got much cash during these credit crunch times, so the wedding will be a modest affair – an exchange of vows with our parents and children and two very close friends, a walk by the river in Cambridge, a pub lunch. However, we will invite the whole virtual world to join us as we will be tweeting in celebration of our union. Whether you are a friend, family member or complete stranger you can tune into twitter.com/carolinejaine and twitter.com/jim_clennell on 16 June 2009 at 10:00 UK time and be part of it all - I promise NOT to be too cheesy. My side of the tweets will be tweeted on this page – but what we really need is someone to marry us.

So if you would like to conduct a short marriage ceremony (non religious) via twitter, please get in touch. If you are Eddie Izzard (or possibly Stephen Fry though it may be hard to get him to shut up) that would be fab, if not say why you want to wed us and drop me a line. Answers on a postcard.....erm....email....tweet....whatever.

Obama and the Skinhead

On Tuesday 20th January 2009 I was rushing to a meeting in central London when I suddenly realised the time. I called my business partner and said we needed to hold the meeting somewhere near a television screen. I then dived into The Globe pub on the Marylebone Road and texted him. I found somewhere. And they served alcohol. Bonus. I ordered a white wine.

As the crowds in the pub clapped and cheered in a most un-British fashion at first Aretha Franklin taking stage then the great man himself, I noticed a solitary silent man avoiding the screen. A young skinhead stood at the bar looking more than unmoved - he was angry and was refusing to look at the screen.

The image of this boy will stay with me longer than the emotional hopes and outpourings of the day. We are many of us working towards a better world - but let's not get carried away. We need to listen wide to every man, woman and child. We need to tackle ignorance, isolation, marginalisation, pain and anguish - whatever it's root.

You have been tagged

I have been tagged by Asif who authors Life as I know it. Basically the tagging thing is a way to promote the (seven) blogs you like by mentioning their names in your blog. Being tagged also means that you have to share 7 random facts about yourself. So here it goes…

1. I have had five different surnames. And I might even go for the sixth one day soon.

2. I have moved house 43 times and been to 36 countries

3. I am in love, like never before

4. I can't stand chutney

5. I auditioned for the X factor a couple of years ago

6. I live in a small village opposite a pub

7. I have size 11 feet

OK, so one of the above isn't true.

Now it’s time to name seven of my favorite blogs.

Dahr Jamail's Mideast Dispatches

Registan.net

Zenpundit

Communityleague

Nomad (not me - another one!)

Sweet sweet violet

Anok

Thanks Asif!

Change or a Shift?

“Americans vote for Change” is the headline since Barack Obama made history last week. Which got me thinking. Just in my lifetime I have seen the arrival of the internet and mobile phones (even my ten year old has one), of a female Prime Minister in Britain (although I would like to distance myself from that “achievement”!) of a War on Terror and so called “global threats”. I have seen the IRA murder innocents in my country and I have seen too the conflict in Northern Ireland come to rest. My former flat mate used to keep a crumbling piece of the Berlin Wall in his bedside table and I have my own wonderful memory of myself, heavily pregnant, queuing in Trafalgar Square outside the South African Embassy together with the voters who delivered the first black President of South Africa (hahaha - my former father-in-law had said “thet will never hapin”).



But on a minute level change is a part of life, part of every moment. When I look out of the window across the road to the public house and the trees beyond glowing orange in the autumn sunshine, I do not see a static, dead world. I see a world where leaves are growing (or falling), grass is moving, wind and elements eroding paint from the pub wall, the car parked on the drive is very slowly corroding, and Steve, the pub landlord is becoming older (whether he likes it or not).

Life is a fluid thing, and how we are influenced and what we believe as we go through life changes along the way. I used to not like olives, I used to think the military was quite sexy, I used to only wear black, I used to be pretty intolerant of religion. What interests me is not change, but a global shift of consciousness – which is what I think this Obama fellow is all about.

Change is inevitable. It is The Shift which is remarkable. So be part of it.

http://www.theshiftmovie.com/

Peace Day Awards

Today is a special day. It is International Day of Peace, but it is special for another reason – those that are close to me know why. A Gaelic Blessing for some special twins:

Deep peace of the running wave to you,
Deep Peace of the flowing air to you,
Depp peace of the quiet earth to you,
Deep peace of the gentle night to you,
Deep peace of the shining stars to you,
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you,
Deep peace of the One who is Light of the World to you.

Moved to tears I was today, as the spirit of the Lord was upon me (not in a Samuel L Jackson kind of way). Only one man was missing.

So on to business on this day of days. I promised an award. And without a shadow of a doubt first prize goes to Carl in Spain. Not simply for his account of his time in Sri Lanka – a place of course dear to my heart after a three years stint 2000-2003, but on account of Carl’s eloquent contributions on the BC discussion boards. So top Blogel Peace Prize goes to him.

But I haven’t finished there. Per chance I was awarded a Blogging Friends award from another favourite this week. Hanifa from Singapore. I am encouraged to nominate four of my favourites.

The task is easy. Carl, Hanifa, you are up there (although I have to confess Carl, I have NO idea what you are on about most of the time. For me Serendipity means only one thing – that wonderful island that you and I know). Hanifa, I am blessed that you have reached out to me. I commend you in return. For those of you unaware, Hanifa aka Hello Annie is a diverse well travelled linguist, who blogs about language. As I am about to add French to boost my smatterings of useless languages, I found her an inspiration.

The other two are also clear winners for me. Alex in India (although I kinda know that isn’t really his name) and I have been BC pals a while. For some reason he seems to follow my every move, comment on my every blog, not only that - he is articulate and funny himself – and rattles a few cages from time to time.

And Tony. No, I am not being a creep. The owner of Blog Catalogue doessn’t HAVE to care, but he does. He has developed Bloggers Unite and clearly has a conscience. He didn’t think twice about supporting the Blog 4 Peace campaign, and I do enjoy the clear simple blog he runs. http://antonyberkman.com/ check out his simple words on being an entrepreneur – very poignant for me at the moment.

So to recap:

Carl Galloway - http://www.carlgalloway.com/archives/466-International-Peace-Day,-21st-September.html

Hanifa http://childhoodspeech.com/?p=224

Tony http://antonyberkman.com/

Little pink bear – sometimes known as Alex http://www.livefrombangalore.blogspot.com/

And here is a list of links to other BC bloggers who have taken part in Peace day. Thank you so much for your support!

Lord I want to be whole http://lordiwanttobewhole.blogspot.com/

What does Peace mean by Shiley http://proofpositivity.blogspot.com/2008/09/proof-positivity-what-does-peace-mean.html

Our World: Our responsibility by Irtiza http://lifeasiknowit22.blogspot.com/2008/09/our-worldour-responsibility.html

Human rights Digest: http://www.humanrightsdigest.org/1461/un-international-peace-day-21st-september-2008

Weblogian - http://weblogian.com/blog/index.php/2008/09/showcast-the-power-of-bloggingblogging-for-change/

And of course all those I haven’t mentioned who have linked and blogged – many thanks. I am sure I will report more on it in coming days.

Shamelessly mine own
My path to peace in Iraq two years ago 4nomadic.wordpress.com/2008/09/20/path-to-peace/

How do we Sell Peace? publicsphere.worldbank.org/how-do-we-make-people-value-peace

Apparently those I have nominated have to pass it on. Yes I guess it’s a chain letter, but a very nice one. You have to nominate an award to:

1. A máximum of five bloggers
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award