Pinterest-ing

            I hate myself for being so Pinterest-ed. I worry that Oprah likes it. I don’t actually want to like it. I struggle with my addiction because I don’t want to be trendy (it’s actually my worst nightmare), I don’t want to spend the time staring at the screen (there are things to see and places to go!) , I don’t have an I-pad (or even know how to spell it), I don’t want to buy a freaking Kindle (in the lunchroom at work, a software company mind you, I was reading a 500 page biography and couldn’t get anything read because I was told time and again, by every person who walked through, how I needed a Kindle), and I don’t like a lot of stuff other women like (let’s be honest, this site is for chicks). There are so many reasons not to be on Pinterest, but at the top of the list is this: I don’t want to see stuff for babies and wedding crap.

It all started when I heard some mention of it at work, a friend of mine telling me how much his wife loves it, and the very next day a friend of mine (who has good taste and owns a darling shop just south of here) invited me to join. Since I had just heard about it the day before from a friend whose wife is trustworthy and then again from another trustworthy source, I thought Pinterest and I must be fated. So I told this shop owning friend of mine I’d join up, under the condition that she’d help with any and all technological questions I came across in the process (or moments of just not “getting it”). She promised, so I started on my Pinterest journey, and while I occasionally cringe when I realize what I’m actually doing, I’ve learned some important things along the way.

            I’ve learned that a person can spend hours at the computer looking at pretty pictures and lose all conception of time and space. It’s true, and it’s wonderful. It feels satisfyingly voyeuristic to spy on your friends and their boards and see what they like, almost as satisfying as finding and reading their top secret diaries. Except somehow, their stuff isn’t top secret, and you get to spy all you want (you can take your time!). When I started on Pinterest, I wasn’t sure I’d like many pins (baby stuff and wedding crap), but I’ve been humbled by the gorgeous black and white photo of Vivien Leigh in that excessive dress, that Punch Drunk Love movie poster I’d never seen with the crazy bright illustrations, and that magnificent blue wallpaper I’d love to replicate the moment I become a homeowner. I still think it might be better use of my time to read a book, or fold the laundry, or talk to my husband, but what I’ve learned from Pinterest is that it’s a great big world out there, that I’m hungry, and sometimes a girl just can’t help herself.