student life

Fridge Magnets? They say It all Really!

10 years ago
by Naomi
Refrigerator_magnet_1[1].jpg
Written by Naomi

Fridge Magnets? An article on fridge magnets? Really? I mean who needs more than three or four I hear you ask? Well as it turns out I do. Of course, I’m not sure if I need them but I HAVE more than four.  Thirty-six to be precise.

Why? That is a very good question, which I will endeavour to answer and probably learn something about myself in the process.

Been there – bought the magnet

Of course there is the magnet that I have to buy to prove to myself that I have visited Broadway, Barcelona, Fort Myers, Mallorca…you get the picture? Not content with the memories, photographs, facebook status’ that will cast me back to sitting in a theatre in New York or a secluded cove overlooking sparkling blue water, it appears, looking around me, that I also needed a small rectangular moulded lump of colour to stick on my fridge/filing cabinet (I have obviously run out of space on my fridge) to bring it all back to me.  It’s not all grockle-trash though. Amongst my favourite magnet is a metal one showing a palm tree and the sun with a quote from Thomas Edison etched in it… “There is only one Ft. Myers and 90 million people are going to find it out.” I wonder how many of them bought a magnet when they visited. It always makes me think when I look at that one. About the quote not the fridge magnet buying public.

Relationship Ramblings

I’m pretty sure anyone – or maybe it’s a female ‘thing’ – (There’s a whole new article, right there.) who has been through some emotional upheaval of whatever proportion has a magnet expressing exactly how they were feeling. I do have a collection of witty sayings from, “If we can put a man on the moon, how come we can’t put them all there” , “Chocolate, coffee, men, so much better when they’re rich.” …to my favourite, “It’s better to have loved & lost than to live with the psycho the rest of your life.” I bought that one after a fantastic few days in Edinburgh having had a barrel of laughs at the Festival. I laughed out loud in the shop. That is my usual measure on whether it gets purchased or not. Maybe I should have applied that to my relationships? I hasten to add that while I was dating I used to remove these particular anti relationship ones just in case they went to the fridge to grab another beer and got scared off.

fridge magnets, naomi dufree, kettle mag,

Mother knows best

Being a mum means that fridge magnets give your children no excuse to gift you a present from their holiday. I have ones from Yorkshire (including a heavy-weight sheep that has fallen off the fridge more times than I can remember…and been glued back together because, let’s face it , my daughter gave it to me so I couldn’t just get rid of it.) One from Thailand …that also kept falling off the fridge…alas it did fall into too many pieces to be repaired. It was a group of elephants – what did you expect? They were very heavy. I also have a few that express my thoughts exactly. These range from ‘If Mum’s not happy, nobody’s happy!’ to the ultimate in Mum magnets…  ‘I’M THE MOMMY THAT’S WHY’ And yes it is painted in capitals; although there are some pretty pink roses in the corner to soften the blow.

Wordly wise

It’s not always fun and games though. I also have a special place in my heart (on my fridge) for one I picked up in the Tate. “You don’t need brains to be a painter, just feelings” L S Lowry. That one always makes me feel better. But actually they are mostly fun sayings. ‘Shopping! Only one more shopping day ‘til tomorrow!’ and ‘Of course I don’t look busy…I did it right the first time’. A friend gave me this – so I’m pretty proud of it! And speaking of friends, ‘You can’t have too many friends, or pairs of shoes’. Ah and talking of shoes, apart from the rather classy, sexy one of a black extremely high stiletto heel which just says, Stiletto, I have saved my absolute favourite until the end. “Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them you’re a mile away and you have their shoes’. Perfect.

Fridge magnets. What more needs to be said?

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