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Pinterest, Pinterest for writers, Social Media platform, storyboards, using social media, vision boards

Back to the Future with Pinterest

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Are we going back to the future with Pinterest? 


It was in the early 2000’s when I first heard of vision boards and the ‘law of attraction.’ This was popularized in The Secret and then on Oprah.  A vision board is a visual representation of things you want to have, be or do in your life. People assembled photos, torn magazine pictures, drawings, and wrote inspirational words that represented their wishes or intentions. By selecting, pasting, and posting the vision board the creator would charge their emotions with feelings of passion and begin to manifest those things into their life. At least that was the theory behind it. 

I must confess, I created two vision boards. One on journal pages in 2004 and another on my bulletin board in 2008 when I decided to stop bullshitting around and write. My laptop sits on the desk beneath the board. 

This is what you’d see on my bulletin board:

An orange sticker: “I am a Writer” and a green one “Keep Going.”
A fortune cookie reading: “Your talents will be suitably recognized and rewarded.”
The Costa Rican Blue Morpho Butterfly. To the Costa Ricans it represents peace and love.

There are also postcards from Barcelona, depicting the distinctive architecture of  Guadi, the Manhattan skyline, Napa vineyards, the arch of Los Cabos, and a rainbow of hot air balloons in flight. Photos of my 19 year old as a 6 year old, my daughter at her prom, and an article on my oldest for a DJ magazine are also up there. 



A museum brochure with the blue figure of a woman titled “Puberty,” by Nicaraguan painter Omar d’ Leon graces the board along with a blue bodied mermaid with an iridescent green tail and cascading black wavy hair. 



Several index cards with my 2012 intention ‘Create,’ is smack in the middle with various cards titled “What does the character think, feel, need, discover, fear, presume? Show it.” And “Scene” cards on the four corners. 


To round out the pinned menagerie are scripture cards: “I can do all things…(Phil.4:13),” “Cast all your anxieties…(1 Peter 5:7),” and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…(Proverbs 3:5-6). 


There are many things you can decipher from my board besides a love of the color blue.  


But back to the original question: Are we going back to the future with Pinterest?


For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Pinterest launched in 2010 and has recently rocket boosted and propelled itself into the social media scene.In December 2011 it rose into the realm of the top 10 social networks with 11 million visits per week. This article describes why it will be the leading social network. 


Users create theme based boards with images they ‘pin’ to their virtual board. For example, the fashionistas create ‘Spring 12’ boards or ‘Trending Accessories,” boards. 

Yes, the board lover that I am dipped a toe into Pinterest. My boards center around my love of books, writing, arts, and travel. They provide a way to have beautiful and inspirational photos all in one place. 

Besides the esoteric, the boards are becoming a way to track one’s writing: i.e. Storyboards. They can give a visual about your work in progress, brand your author name, and illustrate who you are through the things you love. And you’re able to see other gorgeous boards and ‘repin’ their photos on to your own. 

So yes, it is a ‘back to the future’ for vision boards. And that is not a bad thing. Saves paper and space. 
Have you joined Pinterest yet? If so share your link to your board if you’re so inclined. You can see mine by following the red link at the top.
Books, Caldecott Awards, Children's Books, Simms Taback, Ventura County Museum

Making Pictures for Children

Mona Alvarado Frazier
You can always make something out of nothing-Simms Taback

The other day I visited our local county museum and found one of my favorite “read to the kids” books. A retrospective journey through the career of Simms Taback  filled half of the large room. Poster size book and magazine covers decorated the walls, mounds of his books sat up on shelves, and his amazing “Joseph” coat stood upright in the center of the room among many other wonderful surprises. 


You may not recognize the authors name but I’m sure you’ve read one or more of his books to your children, watched his work on the Children’s Television Workshop, or have seen his cover illustrations on Scholastic Magazine.


Simms Taback grew up in a Bronx cooperative housing project of mainly Jewish immigrants. During his writing career he became an advocate for artist rights. 


His bold colorful and textured collage like illustrations contained hidden surprises, beautiful details and reflected his neighborhood, culture, language and experiences. The lyrical quality of his words along with his beautiful illustrations made his books stand out. It is no wonder that two of his books received the Caldecott Awards for illustrations in 1998 and 2000. 


One of my favorite posters, and where I learned what “Shlemiel” and “Shlimazel” meant 
(remember when LaVerne & Shirley used to sing those words?) was this one:

Besides books and covers of magazines, his work extended to the design of the original McDonald’s “Happy Meal,” container in 1977. 

From New York, Simms Taback moved to Ventura County in 2007. He passed away on December 25, 2011 from pancreatic cancer.  A couple of weeks before he passed away he  attended the opening reception of the exhibit. I would like to imagine that he felt the warmth, admiration, and love for his books from the guests. 


The “Simms Taback: Making Pictures for Children,” retrospective runs until February 12, 2012 at the Ventura County Museum.