STATEN ISLAND — Look out, Ashton Kutcher!
While some grandmothers spend their free time knitting or playing bridge, this 80-year-old Staten Islander has a different hobby — getting close to gathering 80,000 followers on Twitter, including an adoring throng of celebrities, the Staten Island Advance reported.
When Josephine Lamberti, a former ballroom dancer from Pleasant Plains, was feeling a little bored with life, she joined the networking site two years ago with the help of her grandson, Donny Brandefine, 24.
"Well, it was getting a little boring, so he came over and we tried to figure out something to keep me busy,” Lamberti told Mashable. “We came up with this idea, and it’s been good.”
They created the handle Josie Dimples, @J_DIMPS, and she's been tweeting ever since with the goal to get " 80K followers (or 1million) before I die," she said on her page.
With the help of media coverage and celebrity Twitter friends, Lamberti is closing in on her goal. As of April 30 she has 72,573 followers.
"Follow Josie Dimples she is 80 years old her only wish is to have 80k followers before she passes away let's help her out please," former baseball player Jose Canseco tweeted in support of Lamberti.
"Yay!! Everybody should follow her," actress Jennifer Love Hewitt reportedly tweeted.
"Our girl @J_DIMPS made it on the news," Rihanna tweeted about Lamberti's mention in People Magazine.
Lamberti also created a list on her Twitter page, "MyAdoptedGrandchildren," of 327 fans and celebrities she has interacted with.
"That's all the big stars she has following her," Brandefine told Mashable. "To me its crazy seeing her just sit there like, 'Yeah, Jose Canseco's reading me, Rihanna's reading me.' She thinks she's a big shot over here!"
Aside from tweets about being "the sexiest 80yr old alive," and asking celebrities for retweets to reach her goal, Lamberti posts Instagram pictures of herself, usually wearing a "J-Dimps" headband. Pictures include her dressed like Lady Gaga, and her down on one knee "Tebowing."
Lamberti told Mashable that she feels like she's 21 instead of 80 and her tastes have changed since she used to ballroom dance at the Palladium concert hall.
“Now I dance to the Rihanna music,” she says. “I don’t do the lindy or things like that no more.”
