I stalk on Facebook. 

I know, you are probably thinking BIG DEAL.  That’s the whole point, isn’t it?  Even Betty White knows this. 

My version of stalking is a bit different.  I love to look at the background environments in the photos people post.  Especially when they are of people and places I know nothing about.  (If one of my friends is tagged in a photo, if I press the right or left arrow key I can see the whole photo album, even if I am not friends with the person who uploaded the group of pictures.)

It’s the interiors in the photos that intrigue me.  Are they messy?  Usually.  Does it look like the room was created with intention?  Sometimes.  Are there regional differences?  YES.

Last week my husband worked a job fair in Pittsburgh.  On the day he returned, the first words out of his mouth were, “People in Pittsburgh are different!  They have  strange accents and I never realized how style [of dress] can change with only a few hundred miles.”  He has been talking about this the last few days, which made me notice more what I have always been just slightly aware of.  Interior decorating styles can be regional, too. 

Out of my 500 or so Facebook friends, the majority fall into two categories.  The largest group is local:  my friends and business associates who live and work where I do, in metropolitan Washington DC.  The second largest group is from my hometown in Ohio.  The rest are from everywhere, even some who live out the US.

Ohio people  like it…gaudy.  Lots of oversized floral arrangements, gilded candlesticks and long fringe.  They are still faux painting there.  DC people are all trying to streamline.  Tassels were shoved into hiding two years ago. 

Am I biased?