I'm a long time fan of the Russian Matryoshka nesting doll. The Russian doll sets appeal to me as something feminine, historical and cultural. They're pretty too. I've found all sorts of doll sets in various themes and mediums - not just the standard wooden doll any more.

I bought my first Matryoshka doll at the Canadian National Exhibition. I had wanted one for years, since the first time I noticed them at the CNE (or The Ex, as we also called it).

I didn't know anything about the Russian dolls then, not even the right name for them. A lot of people don't know them by anything more than "that Russian doll set". The proper name is Matryoshka (other spellings - Matroishka and Matreshka). They are also called nesting dolls or stacking dolls.

I had seen them here and there and thought they were pretty, but more than that, I saw the history and the legacy to them. I have always been a history fan. Those Russian dolls were far too well known and wide spread to be something without a great history to them.

The First Russian Nesting Doll

The first doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin (a folk crafts painter). The doll set was painted by Malyutin, eight dolls staring with a girl in a traditional dress holding a rooster. The inner dolls were girls and a boy, the smallest was a baby.

Zvyozdochkin and Malyutin were inspired by a Japanese made doll. In turn, I read the Japanese say this doll was inspired by a Russian monk originally.

Traditional Matryoshka dolls have the theme with women and girls in traditional Russian dress. However, new dolls can have any random theme under the sun. Try looking up nesting dolls and anything other theme or idea and see what you find. Chances are there will be something in any theme for anyone who wants them.

I'm more of a traditional type. I like the history and prettiness of the doll in her Russian dress/ costume. Especially those with flowers painted on the skirts. But, I do have a weakness for the winter set too. All blue and white colours with snowflakes instead of flowers.

The first Matryoshka doll set are displayed in the Museum of Toys in Russia.

I like retro, vintage, old things. Choosing to preserve or repurpose is her dilemma - can't change your mind once started.

Pinterest is popular as a social media site. It's also one of he well known content curation sites. Content curation is about keeping content you find online (including content which you create yourself) and using a service, like Pinterest, to manage and display the content for a specific topic or theme. A long explanation for something which is pretty simple really.

If you take a look at Pinterest you will notice people have several topics in their account. These are the topics which they curate. Think of curation like a museum curator. It's basically the same idea. The curator searches for content and then displays it for other people to see, learn and understand.

Pinterest is mostly women. Ironic considering it's men who claim to be more visual than women.

Pinterest is Visual

One big thing to keep in mind about using Pinterest, as a content curator, is how visual Pinterest is. Nothing on Pinterest can be displayed without an image, graphic or illustration of some kind. It just doesn't work that way. This visual plan doesn't always work for everything you find online. You may be interested in topics which don't work well visually. (There may not be a lot to choose from). Some of the best visual topics on Pinterest are arts and crafts. One topic which does not succeed well on Pinterest is writing. Writing is about text, not so much images.

If you want to start out on Pinterest know the importance of being visual.

Like Facebook, Pinterest claims all rights to use (including sell) any content you add to Pinterest. You can find this in the fine print of the TOS (terms of service) which almost no one actually reads. There are people who won't use Pinterest because of the theft of images and artist copyrights.

Don't let this scare you off. If you are pinning one image along with a link back to the original site your use of that image falls under fair use when it comes to copyright law. If Pinterest sells that image, their use will not fall under fair use. Fair use is about using a few lines of text or an image in order to illustrate a point and/ or lead readers to the original source for more information.

However, you should be aware that your images are not really your own online. Any image can be used by hundreds of other people. If you really want to keep your copyrights to your work, don't post it online.

If you read more about the Pinterest fine print you will see Pinterest claims they will pass any legal fees they incur on to you for any image you pin to their site (if the image owner makes a claim against Pinterest for selling the image to a second party).

I am not a legal expert. If you need more information or advice see what you can find online or ask someone who will know a lot more than I do about the twists and turns of the legalities of copyright, fair use and etc.

Do you remember the day you first saw someone type :) or 😀 ?

I do. It wasn't 30 years ago, more like 16 years and a couple of months ago. I started online in the summer of 1996. I was an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) diva. Talking online, using a sort of bulletin board which was live over the Internet. Not a lot of people still use the IRC these days. It was lots of fun at the time.

I really began seeing emoticons when I became an active member of the ASCII art newsgroups. We didn't stop at simple smileys and emoticons though.

ASCII art are pictures created with standard keyboard characters. I've been making ASCII art since 1998. See my ASCII art gallery, ldb ASCII Art.

September 19th 2012 is 30 Years of Smileys!

If you have never created an emoticon - do it!

Some people think emoticons are dorky, too retro, too silly. No doubt there are lists of reasons you can find (or create) for not using an emoticon in your email or online comments, etc. But, emoticons are still the best way we have to include emotional direction into our typed out text.

Online, no one can see you smile

Someone reading your email can't really tell if you are cracking a joke, being serious, being sarcastic or just being a jerk. Emoticons give the essential information as to the tone and meaning behind your commentary. Emoticons are important tools for people who like to be snarky but don't really want to offend or upset others. Emoticons are great for the other side too - when you want someone to know you're serious and feeling pretty ticked off too. Your words and language may be polite but one angry emoticon can let them know you're just being polite.

Smiley Lore 😀 Scott E. Fahlman

Here in Canada and the US people plant flowers still, but the cemeteries don't like it any more. The groundskeepers want to keep it simple and no work. So people take artificial flowers instead. Plastic flowers last better in the rain but tend to blow away and then don't look nice for long. The silk flowers don't handle the weather very well and soon look pretty ragged.

Cut flowers are allowed. But cemeteries will not be responsible for anything like a vase, which the flowers come with. The simplest thing is cut flowers without any accessories. These will not need to be picked up and disposed of as they can usually be cut along with the grass and disposed of along with the grass clippings.

I've gone to the cemetery and collected artificial flowers which had blown away and still looked nice. I brought them back and put them on my kitchen table, in a vase. Some people would think that's in poor taste. But, the groundskeepers will collect the flowers too. Then he or she will throw them all away. I just see my gathering of the flowers as recycling.

Flowers for a Funeral

Typical flowers sent or given at funerals are:

• lilies
• carnations
• gladiolas
• chrysanthemums

Other flowers which work well and last as cut flowers are good choices:

• daisies
• iris
• tulips
• zinnias
• cosmos
• daylilies
• sunflowers
• marigolds

Picking Colours

White flowers are traditional mourning flowers in many countries. My older relatives all disliked white lilies because, for them, they were the flowers of funerals. So, you might not want to go with the traditional colour (or the traditional flower) in every case.

White carnations are pretty traditional too. They have the advantage of being durable, able to last well as a cut flower. Some will also smell nice. But, I've found most of the carnations sold in stores no longer have the cinnamon smell, as I remember it.

Red flowers are meant to show passion, even in death. You would pick red flowers for a husband or wife, or someone else you've been intimate with and don't mind having it known by all.

Purple was a royal colour and a mourning colour as well. In Spring, purple tulips would be suitable for just about anyone, men or women.

Conditioning Cut Flowers

Cut all stems at an angle. This helps them to get water up the stem while they are in the vase/ arrangement. Use sharp scissors or a knife so the cut is clean and you cut it without pinching the end closed. If possible, cut the stem under water.

Remove any foliage (leaves) which touches the water or lies below the waterline. Anything in the water will encourage algae and bacteria which will stink and cause the foliage to rot as well.

Florists will often provide cut flower water additives in a package with the flowers. If you are doing your own arrangement you can create the formula yourself. For every quart of water, add two aspirins, a teaspoon of sugar, and a few drops of bleach.

Check the water often - make sure the flower stems are covered. Change the water about every 5 days. You will probably need to trim your flowers too. Deadhead them and cut more off the stems - anything beginning to rot needs to be cut off.

Keep your flowers out of direct sunlight and avoid heat or cold from any other source. Heat will cause them to wilt sooner.

The best time to cut the flowers in your own garden is the early morning.

Some people add a copper penny to the bottom of the vase but there is so little copper in pennies now, I doubt this advice has the same value. The Canadian Mint stopped making pennies this year even.