Spring is one of my favorite times of year, and not just because the weather is nice, which it is of course.
I love this time of year because we’re all still talking about our goals and plans, and the projects we’re working on. For about three months after the start of each year, I still believe that I will accomplish everything I set out to do. However, history has shown me that when summer arrives, I’ve started to eliminate some of the items on my list. And by the time fall rolls around, my list looks like a redacted government document.
In anticipation of my favorite time of year, I gifted myself a subscription to MasterClass this year … Oh, I just told a lie … What I really did was buy a subscription for my son and take the BOGO for myself. Have you ever done that? Give someone a gift that you really wanted yourself? My husband claims that all the items I give him are really things that I want. I’ve given him tools, appliances, and cookbooks all things that I love. I’ll let you be the judge.
So far, the master classes have been fantastic! Wow! I mean wow! I love this stuff.
I’ve watched Martha Stewart share a day in her life as a business mogul and learned Indra Nooyi’s 7Cs of leadership (Competence, Creativity, Courage, Communication, Coaching, Compass, and Citizenship, in case you were wondering).
The three-part series on gut health inspired me to make kombucha, and I’m working on my first batch of kimchi. One class is called GOAT - as in Greatest Of All Time. I wrote down the recipe for the greatest cup of coffee and the greatest pizza crust. About halfway through the show about the greatest ice cream, it occurred to me that I wasn’t writing the recipe down. I knew I would never make it. I used to love ice cream, but it didn’t love me back! I gave it up years ago, yet there I sat glued to the television for an hour.
HGTV was my first TV addiction. In the early years of HGTV, the programs gave “how-to” advice and step-by-step instructions. The hosts actually demonstrated the tools and materials. Today, HGTV looks more like reality TV. I remember having “the talk” with my producer about that very thing when I hosted the television series House to Home. I wanted each of my programs to give actionable advice and information. He told me that nobody would really do the projects and said that each program should be entertaining and wondered if I could do any prat falls. We did it his way, and House to Home aired for five seasons before we got cut. I guess he was right!
It seems to me that producers want shows to be like watching a train wreck so that viewers just can’t turn away. I guess it should be no surprise that social media influencers have acted on this philosophy and run with it. My niece announced that she wanted to be an influencer at Thanksgiving last year. “What are you going to influence people to do?” I asked. And just like my producer, she told me that I just didn’t get it.
Well, I may not “get it,” but I know I have limited memory space … and that space is precious! So, I vow not to waste any of mine on things like: The Kardashians, basically all reality TV stars, Tylor Swift and Travis Kelce, the secret meanings of emojis, or how photo filters work on Snapchat.
Because there are some things I just don’t care to know.
If you write down that ice cream recipe - I’d getting myself an ice cream maker this summer!