This is kind of a light diary. I had planned to delve into the "Six Degrees of Separation", but found the concepts to go beyond the scope for one (or even several) diary(ies). I'll give a few links to this interesting field below.
We Krew, I've discovered, are some of the smartest, most civil, most progressive, most enlightened, and most decent people on earth, in my humble opinion. We certainly all have "Claims to Fame" even though those claims may not be famous in the most common definition of the word.
Here is one definition of fame: "Public reputation, renowned."
Alrighty then: We Blogistanis meet those standards. Since we are a small community, we're not expected to gain wide celebrity. BUT, we are, at least within DKos, seen in a positive light, and we know we possess skills and abilities beyond "average" people, i.e. Republicans. (Time to beat chests, yell HOORAY, buff fingernails on your chests, etc. WE are already there, TEH FAMOUS!!)
More chest-beating below the fold.
Here's a narrower definition of fame, from Dictionary.com:
- Widespread reputation, esp. of a favorable character; renown; public eminence: to seek fame as, e.g. an opera singer.
- A common estimation or opinion generally held of a person or thing; reputation.
I know we have some contributors here at Daily Kos, and even on Morning Feature, who are "famous." Fame, used productively, is a powerful tool for promoting our attitudes, our personal beliefs, and our politics. Looking at the definitions above, it's also important to realize that by our very opinions expressed here, our thought processes, our emotions, our hopes, and our goals bring us fame within a pretty broad spectrum of readers on a daily basis.
Thousands of people may or may not read our diaries and comments. Sharing our thoughts brings us front and center to curious readers, and I cannot help but think synergism results.
Collectively, here on Morning Feature, we are famous. We progressives here, performing as perfectionistic, picky, persnickety, proud, puffy, pretentious, palidinian, pandemonious, predominant, paramount, perpetual, pluperfect, political, polytechnic, popular, powerful, practicable, preciptitous, precise, precocious, preemptive, premier, prestigious, prevalent, proficient, prodigious, prolific, prurient, provocative, pulchritudinous, pithy pioneers of posterity, know we have the most important claims to fame within our own socio/political group. (Ummm, sorry to get carried away, but I have a penchant for "P" alliteration.)
Beyond our collective fame, most of us have individual "Claims to Fame" There's a fun discussion of Claims to Fame here.
A Claim to Fame can involve a simple brushing up against a celebrity (as I did with Melanie Griffith in an L.A. restroom years ago and realized I was a foot taller than she!) Or it could be getting to know someone famous through someone else, as wewhodream recounted re her new-found relationship (harumphh) with Jesse Jackson Jr.
Or your "Famous One" may be a friend of a friend or relative, like theKgirls' brother being an office employee of Sarah Palin in good ole' Wasilla, AK. Mmmmm. (And you really should open the Palin link.) Connections just go on and on.
The Six Degrees of Separation
To me, the "Six Degrees of Separation" concept is fascinating. According to the premise:
Six degrees of separation is the theory that anyone on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances that has no more than five intermediaries.
The theory has been more than proven via multiple long-term experiments, despite some isolated incidences where remote islands did not and/or could not participate in the experimental networking effort. With the ever-broadening internet (including the social networking sites like MySpace and Twitter) the next stage is more like five, or even four degrees of separation until the "target person", who has been previously unknown to all the "degrees",is contacted.
The idea is like a multi-spoke wheel, with the spokes intertwined into social networking, illness prevention, terrorism alerts, physics concepts moving forward, new math theorems, etc. Here are some starting links if you want to delve into why we really are just a breath away from "fame": here, here, here, and here.
My Claims to Fame
I'm sure the older you are, the more brushes with fame you've had. I've actually had quite a few, but I'll only highlight a couple here. Then, it's your turn.
I Sang With John Denver
When I was a student at University of Iowa (Go Hawkeyes) eons ago, a friend of mine told me John Denver was coming to town, would be staying at my friend's place, would be singing at the student union, and that he needed an opening group. At the time, I was in a folk-singing group (Peter, Paul and Mary type) and we regularly sang at the Union. John had written and recorded "Leaving On a Jet Plane", but it had been sung and had become semi-famous by P P and M, not Denver. Our group (myself and two others) jumped at the chance to sing with him. We met him in advance at my friend's place, and then jammed with him for several hours to a packed house at the student union.
But it wasn't singing with him that left my greatest impression of John Denver. He was the first true progressive I had ever met. His opinions on global warming, the environment, post-Viet Nam, Nixon, and post-racism left impressions on me that have been everlasting. I was grief-stricken when he died.
I Played Golf (and More) with Smokey Robinson
In 1991, I went with my ex and my two kids to the Waikaloa Resort on the Big Island, Hawaii. The first full day there, my ex and I had an early golf tee time. The starter asked us if we would mind playing with Smokey Robinson and his lighting manager. My ex said (cornily), "That would be a miracle." We had a delightful five hour golf round. Smokey is a scratch golfer, but also a slow golfer (especially when landing in the black volcanic rock areas at Waikaloa.)
Smokey told me of his miraculous "cure" from crack cocaine addiction, via one healing minister. Well, it worked for him! (He had never been on drugs or alcohol the whole time he was at Motown. He got addicted to crack cocaine at age 45 and lost his wife and children.)
He also liked me a lot, and he didn't like my ex. He was very prophetic, telling me that I wouldn't be married for much longer, that my ex was a cheater, and that he (Smokey) and I were meant to be together. I figured he was a schmoozer. He also invited me (us) to the concert he was giving that night, for Seagram's, his reason for being at the resort. He called our room and made sure we came to the concert. We were seated at the front table with his people, and had a great time.
He had offered to send me some of his new CD's, so I had given him my business card. He called many times after we got home to CA. He really wanted me to join him in Palm Desert at his home. (I never did because I was still married.) Anyway, he was right about my ex. Smokey has an unbelievable memory, and I'm sure if I contacted him today he would still remember me. He's a lovely and remarkable person that I'm glad I got to know!
Briefly, there are more: I had coffee with Maury Wills, whom I met at an Elvis concert in 1977. I met and danced with the original "Barney", David Joyner on a cruise. I saw and chatted with Bette Midler in the early seventies before she was discovered, at Mr. Kelly's in Chicago. I was a neighbor of Jon Bon Jovi, Paul Goydos and Fred Couples. Enough?? Anyway, if I have claims to fame as a very non-famous person, I'm sure you have more.
Okay, It's Time to Share Your Claims to Fame!
I can't wait to hear your "Claims to Fame", and the Krew and all of Blogistan awaits your comments!