Ellis Harman is copy desk chief at The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.According to Pinterest, I am, for the first time ever, popular.
I have no idea how it happened, but I like it. Better late than never, right?
A while back, I started noticing everyone was talking about “pinning” things, or making things based off of other things they’d pinned, or all the things they were going to pin.
And I started to feel left out.
It turns out you need an invitation to join the pinning crowd — Pinterest isn’t interested in just anybody. As a general rule, I don’t like having to be invited to the Internet — my self-esteem is plenty low already, thank you very much — but I put on my big girl pants and begged Pinterest to include me in its wonderfully illustrated world of delicious food, fancy houses and adorable puppies.
And OMG, the puppies. SO MANY PUPPIES. I can’t pin ’em fast enough.
I’ll be honest: I don’t really understand the point of Pinterest, but frankly, I really don’t care. I mean, what exactly am I supposed to be pinning? Because I’m pretty sure the point is not to pin 204 recipes I won’t try, 22 dresses for the wedding I’m not having and 92 DIY projects I’ll never actually DIY.
And, of course, SO MANY PUPPIES.
I just can’t help myself. Before I knew what had hit me, I’d pinned four different sets of instructions on how to make an upholstered headboard, six different sets of instructions on how to repave my own patio and seven recipes for salmon.
I don’t even like salmon!
And it didn’t stop there. I now have boards — the virtual “bulletin boards” where I “pin” all my Internet finds — dedicated future sewing projects, fancy alcoholic beverages, garden gnomes and mason jars, which I didn’t even know I was obsessed with until I saw 900 of them on Pinterest.
(The garden gnomes, though, have always been a secret passion. Don’t judge me. You know deep down, you love them, too. Pin with pride, my fellow gnomiacs!)
But then, somewhere between my “twice-baked potato casserole recipe” pin and my “No-Sew Roman Shades Made From A Target Tablecloth tutorial” pin, it happened.
I became popular.
Strangers started following my every pin! More than 100 people — whom I don’t even know — repinned my “Chicken, Spinach and Goat Cheese Quesadilla with Avocado Sour Cream” pin! I haven’t even made this yet, but people love it! If this many people like something I like, that can really only mean one thing: I’m hip! I finally like what the cool kids like! At the age of 30, I am finally a trendsetter! You like me, world, you really like me!
I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think this is what Jennifer Aniston felt like when women across America flocked to hair salons to get “The Rachel.”
Except maybe better, because I’ve got SO MANY PUPPIES.
Ellis Harman is copy desk chief at The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. Follow her on Pinterest at pinterest.com/ellisharman.