Thanks to my amazing friend  Cyn  Bicker and her extreme enthusiasm for discovering the great recipes that people are sharing, I decided to join Pinterest.  I'm extremely late to the Pinterest game, joining only recently in January of this year.  I've learned that I'm very rarely the first to join a social media site.  Usually, I wait until other people tell me it's great.  By that time, usually they've worked out most of the bugs, it has a rhythm and plenty of people are populating it with quality information.  

Well, I was instantly hooked. Let me tell you! I went through the normal phase of addiction before I could wean myself off of Pinterest nectar.  I'm now up to 24 boards, nearly 1000 pins and almost 900 likes.  Do you think I'm active?  I learned quickly how exciting a photo can be.  But, with all the recent press around Pinterest's Terms, I got a little wary and temporarily stayed away from pinning. The two major issues are: 

•  Basically protecting themselves and making you responsible for not infringing on copyright (everyone on pinterest is doing this. everyone.)
• Giving themselves and in a round about way other pinners the "right" to take ownership of your images, art, photos, etc. and do what they will with your works.  This is often accomplished by a user who downloads a copy of an image from your site, then uploads it back to pinterest making themselves the source.  While you can protect by locking down your images, you cut yourself off from the possibility that someone is truely trying to share the joy of discovering your work and ultimately a free marketing opportunity.    

I hadn't experienced the negative side of pinterest until I uploaded one of my #febphotoaday pics and someone repinned it to their "My Photography." board.  What irked me was that it came across like the person was taking ownership of my photo with their board name, but also that Pinterest just put "uploaded by user" as the reference to my photo's source.  Not by "gwengyldenege" my username.  So, because I was notified that the picture was repinned and who it was repinned by, I went to her board and commented that, "hey just want to clarify between your board name and my photography above.  This is my picture that I posted to pinterest today.  Thanks for the repin!"  While I didn't want to discourage the sharing (the astronomically huge value of pinterest), I did want to make sure it was clear that I am the rightful owner.  

As for the major legal issues going on around pinterest, likely I will wait out and see if pinterest is actually going to make some attempts to change how they do things.  If they don't, then I may be moving away from pinterest or changing the way I use it.  We're dealing with a social media tool that is in it's infancy.  So, naturally, there will be issues like this that will arise and have to be resolved.  If in my joy in sharing the beautiful images that pinterest brings to my world I have not given you proper credit or you wish to not have your images on my boards, I will gladly take them down immediately.  However, I would prefer that we find a solution that offers you the publicity by me sharing with my online audience and gives credit where it's due.  I strongly believe the sharing opportunity is great.  We just need to iron out a few kinks in the way we're doing things.  

As much as I want to make sure we do support one another and give credit (ultimately money is the reason for things like copyright), I think our society as a whole needs to relax and learn how to share again.  Being so connected also tends to give us license to be madder, react faster, and inflict more pain.  It's a double edged sword, but maybe if we let go and share, we just might have another amazing idea that we wouldn't have gotten if we'd held the thing we are sharing so tightly.

BUT!!!  One of the neatest things I saw that pulled me back into pinterest is that PBS is a user: PBSFood. They posted a link on And they have one board dedicated to Seasame Street called, "C is for Cookie".  And there I was able to discover the amazing food art by Jennifer Diaz.  I never would have even looked for cookie monster cupcakes had it not been for PBS posting to facebook.  How d'ya like them apples?  There are so many amazing discoveries that happen because we share.  These discoveries took so much more time before social media, before email, before BBS's.  Wouldn't you WANT to be discovered? Sometimes, you have to give a little to gain a lot!  

Jennifer, can I come over to your house when you're baking? Better yet, do you do mail order?  I love these cupcakes. SO much character.  

Photo Credit: Cookie Monster cupcakes by Jennifer Diaz. 

I imagined that there is some Tony Dinozzo character mocking my chameleon calling him McGecko. 

I finished him on February 12th, he's made from a small amount of leftover handspun. The fiber is BFL (Blue Faced Leicester). The pattern was created by Brigitte Reid. Isn't he just the cutest?