My Wanderlust Ways are Being Watched

I have no intention of spending less time on Facebook, but sometimes it is a bit freaky.

I am currently participating in a 28-day Daily Art Practice Challenge with Opus Art Supplies.

Each morning I am emailed a prompt word at 5:35am. I have no idea why it comes at this exact time, but every day I find myself waking at 5:36 and fighting getting out of bed until 6 o'clock to check my prompt.

I know this is a god-awful time and there is absolutely no reason for someone not enslaved to employment to be awake, but I convince myself that I will just check the word and go back to bed to dream of what I might paint.

I stumble to the kitchen and brew a coffee, in an act of admitting complete denial of any intentions of going back to bed, before opening my email.

Today's prompt was "Wanderlust."  The word itself seems old and outdated and is defined by Merriam Webster as "strong longing or impulse toward wandering."  And while the dictionary could probably post my picture as part of the definition, (I live a bit of a wishy-washy la-la-la artist-y sort of life) it's a word I could count on one hand the number of times I've ever used it. And I think they all happened today.

Nothing I have done in my life epitomizes "wanderlust" to me more than our trip across Canada on our Goldwing. And more specifically, August 11, 2007 when we rode the Cabot Trail. I just try to block out of my mind that it was more than 10 years ago - it feels like yesterday. Yet feels like another lifetime away.

And here I go wanderlusting away on a rabbit trail again...

I posted my Wanderlust painting to Facebook, both on my personal page and the Opus page, sometime in the morning:

I will probably go back and re-work parts of this painting. My favourite part of it is my hubby's sexy arm in the mirror reflection - A view I had for six and a half weeks. 

Within an hour of posting this photo online I began seeing this ad that appeared numerous times throughout the day on Facebook:

Seriously!!??! Wanderlust is NOT a common word. This is not a fluke. It's a bit freaky. And on the other hand, I used to set up the Google advertising for work back in the day - 5 or 6 years ago, and I know how it works with cookies, keywords, demographics etc. But still, it somehow seems different when you are the prey instead of the predator. 

Reminds me of a time a while back when I washed my kitchen floors with Pinesol and strategically cornered myself into the area where my computer was so that I could lallygag on Facebook while waiting for the floors to dry.  I opened my browser and one of the first ads I saw was for Pinesol. Yes. Pinesol. 

Do you ever remember seeing an ad for Pinesol? I didn't. That was bizarre. I get that marketing uses cookies based on your browsing history. I even can fathom marketers having access to your microphone and/or camera in a Big Brother sort of way. But smells?? (The computer is out of camera view of the kitchen and I certainly didn't talk to myself about Pinesol.) Too weird. 

When is a "Challenge" not really a challenge.

The Tide Pod Challenge. Oh.My.Giddy.Aunt! Let it go already.

There have been numerous "challenges" on social media, more specifically Facebook, over the years. Some more rampant than others. Some more worthwhile than others.

These range from the "List three items starting with your first initial" to "post the 47th picture on phone" (I never know if they mean the 47th most recent or the 47th picture taken. And to be honest, the couple of times I have participated in this, I totally cheated and posted the picture I most wanted to practice my exhibitionism with.) to the "video yourself doing 'X' to prove you support 'Y.'"

And then there are the "click here to see who your celebrity doppelgänger is" (that's a fancy German word for "who do you look like") or click here to see what you would look like as the opposite sex. These apps can be very tempting to participate in. And I admit to caving to the pressure on occasion, knowing full well they are simple phishing sites who want access to all your Facebook information. Yes, you fully permit them access to all your photos and info when you "click here," usually without reading a damn thing they are disclosing.

Anyway, as usual, I am ranting off on a rabbit trail, so let's circle back around to the matter at hand: The Tide Pod Challenge.

Have you actually seen a for-real posting on Facebook from someone who has taken the challenge? No, I didn't think so.  It really hasn't happened all that often. Oh, to be sure, there are some dumbasses out there who have probably done it. thinking "everyone" is doing it. But the dumbasses are few and far between. I can promise you there are a lot more stupid things that a lot more stupid people have done in the last few months than eat a Tide Pod.

Remember a couple of years ago when the "Ice Bucket Challenge" was all the rage? This was an actual challenge that actual people did and actually posted the videos for all to see. With the intention to raise awareness for ALS, a terrible debilitating and fatal disease. This challenge was one that actually served it's purpose.

I'm always a skeptic, and doubt the effectiveness of how 'secretly posting the colour of your bra' on a social media site can really do anything for the real women who are enduring the battle with breast cancer. But I do personally know of someone, here in my hometown, who financially benefitted from the awareness and funds raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge. So don't let my ranting discourage you from participating in fun ways to create community and promote a cause.

But I am getting tired of the Tide Pod Challenge. It isn't really so much a challenge to participate as it is a way for the 'normal people,' like me, to make fun of and belittle someone else in an attempt to make myself feel smarter than. Sorry folks, The Challenge isn't nearly as much of a 'thing' as we would like it to be.

***end rant***

And just so you know, though I like to rant, I am not immune to succumbing. Here I am if I were a man:

I've always thought of myself as a "Cutting" and my brother Ted as a "DeBalinhard." However,  this phishing site, which I knowingly gave full permission to access my info, will prove we obviously share genes from both sides. 

I Can't Find the Door.

I've had an Instagram account for years. I'm not sure how many. Quite a few, but it's less than nine, because my username is grannyelzee and my grandson isn't quite nine years old, but it has been years.

I posted my third picture today. Yes, my third (my next most recent photo was posted almost 5 years ago.) Today I got 20-some likes in a few hours.

I have 78 followers.

One thing's for sure, no one will get tired following me cuz I'm not taking them anywhere.

I just don't get it.

And I want to get it. I do. Because there's obviously something there worth getting if EVERYONE is doing it.

If I can be honest here, the most frustrating part for me is that many of my followers are people who are, let's say, not so techno minded people. Some of them are even kind of elderly. And this freaks me out a bit.  Why can't I get it?

And hashtags ...  Remember when they were "number signs" and then evolved to the "pound key"? I sort of get what they do, but not really.

I can get around on Instagram marginally better if I access it on my computer, but logging in on my phone I see photos by natgeo, which I assume is National Geographic - I obviously figured out how to follow them at some point in time - and I see ads for Home Hardware and Penningtons.

On my computer I manage to see a few more photos from people I personally know. However I've already seen all the same photos on Facebook, so what's the point?

I'm trying hard not to be negative here, but...

Seriously, if there's actually something to it, I want in. But I can't find the door.

And Twitter?? Oh gosh. I don't even go there anymore. Lost in space, I am.

Here's a picture of my mother-in-law and me on Christmas Day, just because we match.
And I don't know how to put it on Instagram - she probably does though.