2000 Pins...It's a virtual Bumper Sticker!!!!

2000 pins on Pinterest. What does this mean? Why do I do this? Have I lost my mind? Pinboard: "Oh, You're a Clever Girl!":

From the Pinboard: "Oh, you're a clever girl!"

Time suck? Pinboard: Eichler-ish:

Pinboard: Eichler-ish

Source: tumblr.com via Karen on Pinterest

 Pure addiction? Pinboard: Cycling, Elswhere.

Pinboard: cycling, elsewhere

Source: google.com via Karen on Pinterest

Commodification of all that exists, good and bad? Pinboard: Objects for living in a house:

Pinboard: Objects for living in a house.

Source: tippoys.com via Karen on Pinterest

OK, OK, maybe. But here's an attempt at a sincere justification. When I pin, I pin with an agenda.  Folks who know me, know that I have a strong opinion about everything.  After all, Julie and Mary, years ago knew me well enough to give me the much-celebrated bumper sticker called: Not Neutral! Ask my Opinion!

From the board: "Thoughts whilst training: Ironman"

So this is a not-so-subtle way to attach images to thoughts, often excluding the thoughts.  Whoever sees the pin can draw their own conclusions, ponder my meaning, or go ahead and send it forward to their followers.  I love bumper stickers, so perhaps it's not such a surprise that I love Pinterest.

Pinboard: Art Cars

Source: sanfrancisco.about.com via Karen on Pinterest

Given that Pinterest is an image factory, there is no avoiding the fact that most of the images found on Pinterest are very alluring ones.  Be they of clothing, travel destinations, home exterior, home interior, or celebrity, the beautiful grandiose images are robust and rampant.  The images that I choose, in my opinion, are probably just as sexy as any others, in their own way, but I'm trying to keep the images grounded in some sort of aesthetic based upon what we remember to be, sometimes with sadness and sometimes with happiness.

Pinboard: Remember when...or was it a dream?

from the board: Remember when...or was it a dream?

  Even when pinning images involving home improvement or design, I am attracted to an aesthetic that gives us a little bit of yearning for what was, or what might have been, or the dreams that we had, long ago.  I adore the board Mobile Home, for so many reasons, and I've found other sympathetic souls out there in the world.  I know that my own board dedicated to mobile homes is different from the similar boards that others have created.

Source: flickr.com via Karen on Pinterest

So what am I doing?  Am I not creating some sort of cosmic wish list for myself? Am I not recreating images that I aspire to?  What's the idea here?  I am trying to cultivate a scrapbook, a sampling of the things that really turn me on.  Take, for example, my board called "The End of Things." On this board, I've collected images of lost heroes, and lost places, even images that remind us that, as we used to hear so often: "The End is Near." Detroit Boat Club, Belle Isle, Detroit, MI.

Source: detroityes.com via Karen on Pinterest

And on and on.  This has been a terribly difficult blog post to drag together.  It's been the better part of a week, and I still feel that I can't create a story out of it, so maybe Pinterest is a lazy woman's game. A way to simply click and pin on "turn-ons" and insist my audience, however small or large, make sense of it, or just stay away from it. And so, here it is, my two thousandth pin!!! It's a repin from one of my Yarn Goddess, Heroes, Babuka Babukatorium.  This yarn bombed chair is whimsical, beautiful, something that I love and aspire to!!! And there I go, onto my own Pinboard: Yarn Factory:

Source: hiedra-elrincondeloshilos.blogspot.hu via Babuka on Pinterest

Dear ATT

Midcentury gem: rare in Oak Park but not extinct.

Dear AT&T, 
Thank you for providing me and my family with mediocre dsl connection.  My constant drops in internet connection have prevented me from fully indulging in my obsession with Pinterest and other online activities.  When the connection slows down, it gives me an opportunity to walk away from the computer and do something else...like eat breakfast.  Today, in particular, I'm grateful that you are visiting my alley to inspect the wiring and connection to my home.  Because our date will occur sometime between 8AM and 8PM, it gives me ample excuse to sit in my pajamas for the entire day, surfing the web and pinning images, so I can accurately log the multiple occasions that internet service is interrupted.  If it weren't for you, AT&T, I might have dragged myself out of bed this morning and gone for a bike ride, or at least a run sometime before 12 noon.  But with your loving support,  I'm sitting here with a cup of hot coffee and bowl of ten grain cereal.  Oh well, let's hope we can resolve this issue, or I'll never leave this desk.


With Warmth,
Karen


ps: in case you're wondering, AT&T, why I've attached a photo of the above home, (which is not my home, as you probably already know), it's because I wonder, deep in the recesses of my mind, whether everyone in our fine village suffers such angst at the hands of the telecom giant, (you), dear friend.  Is it possible that each of us, in our own way, is experience sub-par experience, be it with our home telephone service, our internet, or even our cellular service?  This home, one of my favorite midcentury houses in Oak Park, looks so pristine and complete. It's hard to imagine that it's inhabitants suffer such inconveniences also.  Usually, when my computer sputters or I hear static on the line on my telephone, I assume it's some blunder of mine, or my family's...but really, what if these folks are suffering too? After all, they have a vintage portal-front door, painted to perfection, a bleached coral. Don't they deserve the great service as promised?  Well?