I wasn’t an Elvis fan when I walked into Graceland, but I was when I walked out.
Yeah, that’s right. I’m an Elvis girl. The dork stripes, remember? Add it onto the list, right in between the Renaissance Faire and my love of Doctor Who.
Young Elvis.
Movie star Elvis.
White bejeweled jumpsuit Elvis.
Huggy Bear Elvis.
I love them all.
And if you’ve ever been to Graceland, you probably understand why.
Because besides being massively talented and playing music that goes straight to the joy center of my brain, the man wasn’t afraid to be himself. Need proof?
Yeah, that’s the Jungle Room. Do you have a Jungle Room? Hmmm...me neither. I don’t know anyone who has a Jungle Room. And I don’t remember seeing one the last time I watched Cribs or flipped through the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. Nope, only Elvis had a jungle room.
Or how about this. If your eyes are somehow able to focus on the center of this picture, you’ll see a pool table. Now, who the hell covers the walls, the ceiling and the sofa of their billiard room in ream after ream of pleated patchwork fabric? Someone with a thick stream of awesome running through their veins, that’s who. Someone like Elvis.
And the thing about Graceland is its not that big, not what I’d consider mansion anyways. Its a nice house--certainly bigger than anyplace I’ve ever lived--but hardly the palace-sized home you would imagine the King of Rock and Roll would live out his days in.
So, what does Graceland have to do with Grace? Well if I had to pick some kind of connection out of thin air--and I do, this post has to end somehow, you know--I would probably say something about how being true to yourself and surrounding yourself with the things that make you happy, not what some magazine writer or tv host or anybody else for that matter says you should like, is one way to fill your life with real Grace.
Or I can just give you the ending you knew was coming from the very start, and tell you that in the end it doesn't really matter, because...
Elvis Has Left The Building!
3 comments:
I had a new appreciation for Graceland after hearing Paul Simon's song of the same name. Since then I've wanted to visit, and now...??? Now I realize where the awesome Madonna Inn got its ideas!
Oh Julie, my love for the Madonna Inn is strong. So very strong.
i never, ever wanted to visit graceland until just now. and i always thought the jungle room was this huge, slick, i don't know...provocative place. that picture you posted makes it look a place where you would eat a casserole with a potato chip crust. :) In flannel jammies.
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