Love of the Day - Pinterest

Ah, Pinterest; the shiny repository of the (not-at-all-) secret hopes and aesthetically pleasing dreams of so many.

I have to confess that when I first heard of Pinterest I was furious.  Furious and somewhat sniffy, since, back in 2006 when I was just getting to grips with the brave new world of MySpace/Facebook, I came up with a fabulous idea.  What if there was some kind of site where people could have a page where they display all the stuff they liked? Pictures of things, and lists, and music thingys - all that? 'It could be called TasteMaker!!' I excitedly pitched to my completely disinterested boyfriend of the time.  Alas, however, for I knew nothing about website creation and was distracted by a passing danish pastry so the idea slipped back into the nothingness that was my brain back then (also now).

Perhaps understandable then, that I was slightly annoyed when I discovered a bunch of people had quite clearly stolen my idea and named it 'Pinterest', PFF! and proceeded to deny them the gift of my patronage for ages after it became obvious that I would love it?  In March last year, however, I decided to switch off my Facebook account and find some other 'more creative, inspirational' form of social networking/wasting my life away staring at the internet.  And oh the wonders that I discovered there.  The lovely pictures, the pretty pretty pictures of loveliness! The beautiful scenery, amazing artwork, ingenious craft, the sumptuous dishes, the cosy homes, the exquisite-looking humans! All suffused with light and joy and the promise of better things to come...

Here I am, squatting in a stranger's house, masquerading as some kind of waitressing cat-slave, in the suburbs of February-sodden Glasgow and it's fine, IT'S ALL FINE! Because I have Pinterest.  In particular my 'Beat the Winter Blues' pinboard, filled with pictures of bright, happy things, sunny places and orange:

Armed with Pinterest, I will make it through - make it through until the warmer weather comes, make it through until I find out I HAVE got PhD funding and make it through until I suddenly discover I am able to cook elaborate and delicious foods, sew complicated quilt designs and achieve insane amounts of yoga/trapeze flexibility, all with no effort whatsoever.

Yes.

Love of the Day - The Sochi Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Sun

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

 

 

Second in brilliance only to the ACTUAL sun (this one is more stylised, but the actual sun is responsible for all life on earth, so I guess it wins). 

Bug of the Day - February

(Okay so this should be, by definition, 'Bug of the Month', but I'm trying to establish my format here so let's just ignore that).

Before I start today's mega-whinge, I would like to state that I am pro-winter.  I love the opportunities it gives me to break out the scarves and gloves, layer on clothes, cosy up to the radiator and eat mounds of stodgy food.  What can I say? I'm British! I greet November every year with gleeful anticipation of the stews, hotpots, potatoes, pies, mulled wine, mini stollen bites, eggnog, snowballs and mince pies to come. And Bonfire Night - what's not to love about Bonfire Night?! December brings birthdays, Christmas and NYE (something to at least focus on through the short days even if you're not the biggest fan of those occasions).  January is full of good intentions and resolutions, the distraction of belt-tightening and optimistic exercise.

But February? February is an odious toad of a month - nothing but unmitigated, grinding drabness.  The weather is at best grey and freezing, at worst blizzardy or flood-ridden.  By the time February arrives all of the New Year's resolutions have been broken, everyone is confronting their own weakness in the face of temptation and we have all just HAD ENOUGH of winter. But there's still at least a month or two before the weather starts to warm up, plants start to stir or the sun rises for long enough for anyone to actually notice. 

As if all that wasn't enough, February also contains the most abhorrent holiday of all the fake greeting-card company created celebrations: Valentines Day.  It's not just that I'm a bitter spinster who is filled with jealousy at all those who are in love/yoked to another human being, I hate Valentines Day when I'm in a relationship too.  The pink, the hearts, the cheesy obligatory gifts of flowers, stuffed toys and chocolate, the forced coupleyness, ugh ugh UGH it's just vile!

So, February, frankly you suck.  In the more financially affluent years that I'm sure are just around the corner for me, I will definitely be taking some kind of sunshine-filled beach holiday in order to escape you.  In the meantime I am reduced to using Home and Away as my only source of Vitamin D.