Pinterest Schminterest?

Tags

rants

I love Pinterest. I love that there is a way to save and organize specific images, items, recipes, etc online as you find it and it does not clog your bookmarks. Gone are the days where you scratch your brain and shake up the internal file memory for those crucial keywords. My committee and I are even using Pinterest to save ideas for a free kids’ health fair we will be hosting in early March. Fantastic use of 21st century social media!

But of late, the home page on Pinterest has lost its appeal – no longer am I scanning friends’ pins for inspiration for my own boards or even mere interest at what others find worthy to pin. Does this mean I should have my head examined for my lack of willingness to participate in the latest and greatest social media platform? What has gone wrong? My friends and the entire Pinterest community should be spurning me on to expand the clothes in my closet with funds I may or may not have, find new ways to decorate my dream home, and spend hours in the kitchen to create tasty new dishes (and from there, find the appropriate crowd to feed). Or on some days, plan for an extravagant, detail-rich wedding full of personal touches along with dates to go on once we are married and/or have children — all the while, skipping over the important fact that I still need to find my husband-to-be. (Paging Cupid!)

As a freshly minted 30-year-old woman and with friends of a similar age, the biggest frustration are the descriptions of the pins and thus the corresponding pins. Should we not be seeking “elegant”, “sophisticated”, “youthful”, “fun”, and “aspiration” to describe our boards? Not “CUTE” or it’s more egregious moniker “SOOOO CUTE!!”. When I read “SOOOO CUTE!!”, my brain immediately turns off. Rather than expecting amazing, I anticipate something that will only expand on the status quo. “CUTE” should be saved for the children of the world. I have been making a conscious effort of late to refer to myself and my female friends as “women”, not “girls”. Forward progression people! Let’s remember our childhoods with fondness and keep a child’s joy in our hearts but not surround ourselves with childish things!!

A few people I follow do embody the direction and focus I want my own Pinterest boards to reflect. And it is for them and their beautifully imagined world that I continue to peruse the home page. To gasp and sigh in awe and imagine amazing possibilities. Dreams do come true – don’t they??

Tess, the Lioness

UPDATE: This morning a coworker mentioned he needed help from a fellow man in the office with tying a tie. I immediately leapt from my seat and rushed to his office where I went straight to one of my boards. And what should be there but a graphic I pinned on how to tie a tie 10 different ways! He of course chose the one with the fewest steps and after about 10 min of “practicing”, he stopped by with a perfect Windsor knot. A great day for Pinterest!

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Peaceful Kingdom Update

Tags

pride life

This morning while getting ready for work, Mumsy tenatively walked up the stairs and declared she had an announcement to make. In her usual spot for morning lectures, Mumsy cautiously shared that we had three new kittens, all the while eyeing me out of the corner of her eye, anticipating my explosion. I did not fail to deliver as my immediate response combined incredulity, frustration, and exasperation. Three new kittens?! I could not believe it. “What now? What next? How? Good grief! AHH!” all raced through my head at once.

For those of you not keeping track at home, we currently feed and tend to six kittens, their mama, and once upon a time, their papa. The first kittens appeared on our back deck in November and how could any tender-heared person not want to make sure they survived the winter? The kittens were uncertain of our intentions at first but quickly accepted us. They loved to play and scamper about on the deck. We knew snow and freezing-cold temperatures were right around the corner so after several trips to Home Depot, a make-shift shelter with insulation and a tarp to protect it from the elements was added to the back deck. All was well. After a couple of weeks, I named them: Green Eyes, Golden Eyes, and Runt. Highly original I know. I am sure you are astounded by my creativity. The adult parents who we saw on occasion quickly received the monikers Mama and Big Papa.

Spring came and Mumsy took on the task to get the cats fixed. We successfully caught Golden Eyes and Runt and they returned to us happier than ever. Mama was caught shortly thereafter but wouldn’t you know, the county animal shelter was closed that week. Such a major lost opportunity! Big Papa was the next to enter the cage and thankfully the shelter was not closed that Monday morning. Sadly we have only seen him once or twice since. I hope he’s doing OK out there.

Easter rolled around and bam! Three new kittens! The same introduction and dynamics as with their older siblings. As they were all the same color, it took a lot longer to name them. Shortly after Mumsy caught one kitten, they were named Clipper (because all feral cats who have been fixed by the county have an ear clipped), Gray (which quickly turned into Grayson), and Stripey (no one in the family liked that one so I believe his name is now Splotch – is that really that much better?). We learned to closely watch Mama’s weight and constantly ask her if she’s pregnant. Her weight has seemed consistently low so thoughts of a new batch of kittens never crossed our minds.

So back to this morning! Three new kittens?! Mumsy calmly stated she saw a golden kitten in the yard while picking tomatoes then saw two gray kittens with it. All three of us immediately trooped down the stairs and outside. With just my apple green bath towel on and hair still quite wet, I immediately glanced over and found not one golden kitten but two! Which brings us to a total of four! Four new kittens!! They quickly scampered into the bushes and away from the deck. If Mumsy was the first human they ever saw, then the poor dears must have had quite a fright seeing me, their second human! We have no idea who their parents might be or when they will join the other members of the Peaceful Kingdom on the back deck.

But for now we will rejoice the raccoons are gone! So current tally is TEN kittens, one adult cat, and one possum for the Peaceful Kingdom. Amazing.

Tess, the Lioness – Gamekeeper

Back to Reality

I was quickly reminded with the alarm clock on Monday morning that my short escape to the mountains and the bliss of no Internet reception was over and reality of a very busy week lay ahead. The to-do list for work and NBF displays signs of chaos with its many different items all claiming their right to priority. The light at the end of the tunnel is a mere speck on the horizon at present but I have faith that its brilliance will soon be magnificent. Till then, I continue to do my best to keep my sanity and my bite in check.

Tess, the Lioness

Missed You Too

How do you tell or explain to a beloved pet that you will be gone for a few days? That your daily, hourly, nightly routines and together time will be temporarily interrupted while you take a trip and leave them behind. Everyday, my cat sits on the table by my bedroom window to look out at the neighborhood activities and for the past three days, she stayed glued to that spot waiting for me to come home.

Of course for my actual arrival, she chose to hide behind the curtain of Mumsy’s bathroom window. As soon as I entered the room calling her name, she spoke her mind. General gist could be translated thus, “Where have you been?! I have been waiting for you for the past 3 days. You never call. I have been worried sick.” I immediately picked her up and her rantings quieted. Then true to her personality, she decided that was enough lovey-dovey time. Back to the real world and she hopped down to do her own thing.

This weekend I spoke more about the cats in my life than I ever do with non-family members. I was even teased for the abundance – discussing the personalities of Cappuccina, Archie, Winston, & most importantly Miss Mopsy. Perhaps by sharing with the world how much I sang their praises & love their parents give them all, the karma I have built up with the animal kingdom will get back to Miss Mopsy and all will be smoothed over.

Or I can just crawl into bed…

Tess, the Lioness

MOTM 2012

Tags

music, road trip

I spent the day with no cell reception so I could only use my phone to take photos. Here are a couple from Instagram (so I know they look somewhat decent!).

How can you not have an awesome time when you have an All Access pass to a music festival?

Railroad Earth closed Saturday night and were by far the best band of the day.

Time for bed (still the ever pale),

Tess, the Lioness

Music on the Mountaintop

Tags

music, road trip

This weekend I am escaping the urban sprawl of DC for the western Appalachian mountains in North Carolina. A very good friend’s brother organized & is hosting a music festival called Music on the Mountaintop near Boone, NC. Now in its fifth year, the festival traditionally showcases “bluegrass meets new grass” and has expanded the selection this year to appeal to a larger audience.

I attended the festival two years ago and loved the laid-back manner, the emphasis on being green, and listening to great music with people who are huge fans of the bands. (I admit that I go for the experience rather than any particular band.) And the VIP pass doesn’t hurt the experience either. Ha!

I look forward to Chick-Fil-A, stops at small-town Walmart (mandatory part of any road trip), having little to no cell reception, hanging out with great people, and enjoying the cool mountain air. I will share pictures over the weekend if I can. Have a great weekend!

Tess, the Lioness

Rose Claire

I did not post anything yesterday as the muse was not speaking to me. Granted this is contradictory to the advice given by many great writers that if you want to succeed with the written word, you must write! I do want to improve my writing skills so I hang my head in shame.

At one point, I imagined I could use the platform to write out any weird dreams I might have. Once when I was a young girl, I had a very vivid dream and amazingly, moments from that dream played out in real life shortly thereafter. But we will skip the details of the intricate and complex life of a 4th grader and move onto my dream last night.

Following the rule book of Dreamland, my adventures last night were appropriately bizarre and illogical. My writing skills are not strong enough to tackle the storyline properly over my lunch break; thus I share with you the conversation I had with Mumsy this morning.

BEGIN SCENE

Tess: “Mumsy, I had a dream last night.”

Mumsy: “Was it a dream or a nightmare?”

Tess: “Could go either way. I dreamt  I was 9 months pregnant and unmarried. No hints on who the baby daddy was.”

Mumsy with the look of shock and horror on her face: “Nightmare!”

Tess: “That wasn’t the worst part. I dreamt I went to the hospital because I was having labor pains but the dream skipped the labor & delivery part. Next thing I knew, I was someplace else, not pregnant, but my body ached and felt tired which when translated in dream-speak, I had given birth. I wanted to find out more about the baby so found you. You calmly said I had a girl and that I named her Rose Claire.”

Mumsy: “I LET YOU NAME HER ROSE CLAIRE?! Two names you know that are not acceptable!”

[Insert author’s note: Mumsy has very strong opinions on what are good names for her grandchildren. The list of appropriate and inappropriate names started 15 years ago and new names are added on a regular basis. Now before you remind me that I get to name to my children, not my mother, I agree with her most of the time so that is not a battle I choose to fight.]

Tess: “I KNOW! I was horrified that you let me name my daughter ROSE CLAIRE. I kept asking, ‘How could you?!’ I was shocked and appalled. Rose Claire. Ugh.”

[Insert author’s note: No offense intended for anyone named Rose or Claire. My opinions on the name Rose – never thrilled me. Claire – I like the sound but again, never thrilled me enough to add to the list of possible names for my daughter. But together?? Horrific! You have to admit the names do not roll off the tongue well at all.]

Mumsy: “That was not your mother in your dream. Definitely a nightmare.”

END SCENE

Please let this not be a harbinger of things to come. Please!!

Tess, the Lioness

O Captain! My Captain!

Is anyone watching Bunheads on ABC Family besides me? Is anyone else hoping against hope that ASP has been able to create the new Gilmore Girls? As the creator of both Bunheads and Gilmore Girls, Amy Sherman-Palladino is doing her absolute darnedest to recreate the magic – quirky small town, rapid-fire dialogue, obscure pop culture references thrown in left, right, and center. ASP has even gone so far as to bring over some of the same actors too – a quick 5-second tally is at four. (Bets are now being taken as to when Taylor will appear in Season 2.) I am the furthest thing away from a TV critic but even I can tell there are some rough edges that need to be worked out on the adult side. But I will say it’s a joy to watch two Tony Award winning actresses go head-to-head on TV. Go Sutton!

One scene during the season finale last night pulled at my heart – the moment one of the teenage ballet students stood on her chair in defiant support and yelled “O Captain! My Captain!” If your high school English education was anything like mine, you have already envisioned 1950s prep school boys standing on desks yelling the same words with tears in their eyes at Robin Williams as he says goodbye. (By the way, each time I see the actor who died in Dead Poets Society in the House promos on TV, my emotions are always mixed – first complete sadness as I remember how his character died in a film over 20 years ago and then happiness to see him alive and working. Perhaps that is one reason I never got into the series – lack of desire to go through that rigamarole week after week. Moving on…) Like Robin, Sutton calmly thanked the students and quietly walked out.

Tears dripped down my face as I watched their leader lose heart and leave. Someone pointed out that her relationship with the teenage ballerinas is quite similar to one I was lucky to be part of growing up. And to imagine my “O Captain! My Captain” walking out the same way before time was up. . . Still brings tears to my eyes! As a tribute, I leave you today with the original inspiration for an ever more classic line – the beautiful words of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain” on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln:

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up–for you the flag is flung–for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths–for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

Tess, the Lioness

Monday, Monday

Good morning on this cool, overcast Monday morning! Two counties in the region started school today with more starting next week and rest the week after. Where did the summer go?!

I had visions of baking and blogging this past weekend. My mother wanted me to make Martha Stewart’s potato chip cookies as visions of the perfect combination of sweet and salty danced through her head. I planned to bake a cake from the “Vintage Cakes” cookbook by Julie Richardson, a birthday gift from a friend, for a party on Saturday night as said friend would be attending. Cookies and cake were baked but no blogging followed.

This weekend turned into as complete disconnect from the world and the Internet as I could possibly get. Upon coming home on Friday night, I was exhausted, my head ached, and I was uninspired to accomplish much. This Monday morning, I feel re-energized again to tackle what promises to be another busy week. So please forgive my lack of updates. I promise to be better and might even post twice in one day!

Tally-ho!

Tess, the Lioness

#FF: IHateGreenBeans.Com

When joining Twitter, one of the odder conventions to grasp and master in my opinion is the hashtag. Deciding when to create your own, when to insert (at the end only, in the middle of the tweet), and what certain Twitter-centric acronyms meant took some time to understand. Occasionally I will compose a tweet and think it’s incomplete somehow without a fun, topic-appropriate hashtag. And of course in those moments, my wit flies away and the tweet is sent out to the world showing off my lack of tweeting skill. “Tweets” makes perfect?

On first introduction I scratched my head when I saw various users I followed using #FF everywhere. Tradtionally you would seek to find the common denominator and expound from there but as the users had little in common with one another, I struggled through the morning. Finally someone wrote out “#FollowFriday”. In an effort to share the love and to introduce your followers to other fantastic Twitter users, people across the spectrum have embraced tweeting the username of a favorite handle with #ff at the end.

I want to extend this trend over this blog and introduce the first blog I ever latched onto: www.ihategreenbeans.com (on Twitter, @linceeray)

I must now admit that I love watching the Bachelor franchise. My favorite episode is the first one where all 25 “contestants” are introduced. For the “Officer & A Gentleman” season, Navy Lieutenant Dr. Andy Baldwin met the beautiful Tessa. I suddenly had the desperate need to find out as much as I could about her and make sure that everyone loved her as much as I did.  From the moment I clicked on ihategreenbeans.com, I knew I had found a great place to get my Bachelor fix.

Written by the witty and humorous Lincee Ray in Houston, TX, IHateGreenBeans.Com is a must-read for anyone who watches the franchise. Lincee started sending emails to friends recapping the previous night’s episode during Andrew Firestone’s season (remember when we had FRESH bachelors?! Oh those were the days!) From there, her emails were forwarded on to more friends who wanted to join and eventually the send list was so large, Lincee created her own website for the sole purpose of sharing her recaps. She now writes mini-recaps for the Huffington Post, does occasional radio bits, and is tight with OHCH (Our Host Chris Harrison for those not in the know). While the “quality” of the show has gone downhill of late, Lincee keeps me watching for the sole purpose of better appreciating her jokes and comments.

Sharing the love,

Tess, the Lioness