As I am new to the Blogger World, I would like to take this opportunity to share a little bit about myself.  I am a married, mother of two who works part time in a preschool.  I’m a soccer mom who is involved in the PTA, and my daughter’s Girl Scout troop.  I am a huge fan of the Outlander book series and television show.  I just wanted to provide some insight as you read further into this post.

The first time I saw Sam Heughan was on my television screen August 9, 2014 in the starring role of Jamie Fraser in the television adaption of Diana Gabaldon’s book Outlander.  I read the book three years ago, and therefore had a picture in my head.  My first impression was that he is perfectly cast in the role, and he does in fact match the picture I have in my head.  It was his acting prowess that first caught my attention.

I watched the show every week, and enjoyed every minute as the story unfolded.  As each show aired in the U.S., Sam started popping up on my Facebook newsfeed, Twitter, and Pinterest account.  When he appeared as a Pop Culture reference in a book I was reading on my Kindle as “Sam Heughan”, curiosity killed the cat so to speak.  The book is not related to Diana’s books in any way, and he is described in a most complementary fashion.

Naturally, I started following him on Twitter.  This begins the period I refer to as “the week I lost to the Twitterverse and the World Wide Web”.  When I Googled “Sam Heughan”, 516,000 results came up in 20 seconds. I spent more time on Twitter that week than all the combined time spent since I joined three years ago.  I was sucked into the Outlander fandom.  In my humble opinion, he is a social media genius.  I especially love the witty conversations between Sam Heughan and Diana Galbaldon.  Diana describes his fans on Twitter as, “taking the bait, hook, line, and sinker.”  We do.  I’ve only tweeted him once though.

 Outlander Inspired ‏@OutlanderI   Oct 29

@sirensassenach @samheughan 1967 Corvette Stringray convertible #cars4Sam I drove one in dark blue once. pic.twitter.com/HqjdBU1W8B

As I repost, I am utterly mortified to find a typo…*Sting Ray…I guess that’s what I get for tweeting while I may or may not have been at school.  My colleagues weren’t fooled though.  My excuse that I was checking the weather app prior to playground time was pretty flimsy.  Confirmation came Friday afternoon when one teacher said, “Goodbye Tweet, have a good weekend!”

I am not proud to admit I neglected my own husband and children.  My reality check moment occurred when my son leaned over my shoulder as I was watching a certain LA pool antics vine on my phone.  Sorry, I can’t bring myself to repost it.

My son:  Who is that?

Me: No one you know.

My son: Can you please turn that off, it’s loud, and I can’t hear my show on TV.

I was so engrossed in reading the comments; I didn’t even realize the sound was on.  Feeling sufficiently chastised, I did turn it off, and placed myself on Twitter Restriction which lasted all of 40 minutes.  Surreal indeed!    I couldn’t help but think, “I hope he’s O.K.”.

I have since pulled my head out of the Scottish mist, but from the standpoint of anyone involved with Outlander, my week wasn’t totally unproductive.   I talked to all who would listen about the books and the show.  I even spread the word to Irish viewers.  I have a friend that still has family in Ireland, and we commiserate over the fact that they are now watching the new season of Downton Abbey while we have to wait.  I told her to tell them they could also watch Outlander on RTE2 starting October 21^st.

I also expanded my world view.  Here are some things I’ve learned from following Sam Heughan on Twitter:

1.  I now know what a #TweetConvo is, as well as a #TweetFest/#TweetFeast.

I didn’t know you could read the replies posted under a tweet. Imagine my surprise when I accidentally clicked on one of his tweets.  As I write this blog, this is the juncture where I lose the ability to form a coherent sentence.  WOW! Just WOW! I can’t even…the responses to his tweets range from very sweet to things that made this blogger blush.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand the appeal, but I’m still…speechless…the sheer volume of responses is staggering.

2.  I can now speak intelligently with Publix employees about a Tesla.

One Sunday afternoon, a very outgoing young man was helping me and my children out to my car with the groceries.  Here is our conversation as we walk to the car:

C: Is yours the Suburban?

Me: No, but can I tell my husband you think I should have one, trying to convince him I need a new car.  Mine’s the Toyota.

C: You know what kind of car you need?

Me: What kind?

C: A Tesla.

Me: … laughing… Really? Do you think so? (Immediately my mind flashes to this image)

C: … his eyes light up … You know what one is?

Me: Yes, it’s a smart car, right?

C: And what is cool is that it is like a Prius, but it doesn’t look like a Prius.  Have you seen one? (Opinions expressed by C do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this Blogger)

Me:  Just pictures.

C: Really? I’ve seen one in this parking lot.

Me: Good to know. (It is good to know that Florida’s First Coast is on trend.)

C: Do you know if the Jaguars have scored?

Me: No, I didn’t check Twitter while I shopped.

I Googled “Tesla”, and found a Tesla Service Center in St. Augustine, Florida.  I didn’t find a dealership, but found an article on Jacksonville.com complete with slideshow.  “Smart Car” is definitely an understatement on my part.

3.  San Francisco has a MLB team, the San Francisco Giants.

At a recent Thursday trivia night at Culhane’s Irish Pub, I contributed two answers to this bonus question: Name the 4 teams still in the MLB Playoffs.

Me: San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles

My co-workers (team building trivia) look at me with shocked expressions on their faces, “How did you know that?”

Me: Twitter (Not that I would be totally clueless in a conversation about sports, my husband and son watch ESPN 24/7, mainly focusing on American football.)

I also correctly answered this question, who sang the song, “Ghostbusters” from the 1984 movie of the same title?

Me: Ray Parker Jr. (This was pre Sam pic with Ecto-1 however.)

4.  I can go see Mr. Heughan in the film “Emulsion” on Monday, November 17^th

7:30PM – 9:22PM at AMC Orange Park 24    1910 Wells Road, Orange Park, FL, US, 32073    $11.00 General

For more information, go to www.tugg.com/events. The deadline for ticket purchase is November 10, 2014.

5.  Sam’s fans are very creative, clever, committed, entertaining, funny, industrious, loving, and loyal.

6.  I am only six years older than Sam.

Now that we have 21 weeks before the second half of the season 1 airs, I could advise you to spend some time on Twitter to ease the Outlander Withdrawal.  I must caution you before you follow said advice.  If I had started following Sam this month, I might be passing out pizza on paper plates for Thanksgiving dinner.  I will post a list of fun Twitter accounts I have found to follow on this site.

As always, I look forward to your comments, but if I don’t hear from you this week, I will understand.  I’m off to go look out the window for the mailman, my Bear Strength order shipped!

Maybe it was a little longer than a week lost?

J Mc

@jennymcinspired

inspiredbyoutlander@gmail.com