No Stories Here, Only The Remains Of My Inspiration File

/ Ally Bean

It’s spring and you are on a tear to clean out your inspiration file. You have a vague idea about writing something about four cute images but you can’t get your head together to write anything.   

WHAT’S A BLOGGER TO DO?

Well, kids, may I suggest that you put together a post about the stories that you couldn’t figure out how to write, add the cute images– and call it a Tuesday. 

~ • ~

One

I took this quiz and got 11 out of 12.  

NO STORY HERE… just something fun that you, too, might want to do if you’re curious about how much you remember about baseball in the TV shows you watched as a kid.

~ • ~

Two

This is the color that Zen-Den painted our home office walls– and ceiling.

NO STORY HERE… other than to say that this a lovely warm gray color that when natural light reflects off the golden oak floor the walls look gray with a slight aqua cast to them.  Me likey.

~ • ~

Three

I did a screen save of the emojis that I use the most.

NO STORY HERE… except that it seems like there should be a story here in which my inner-most self is revealed through my use of emojis.  But, alas and alack, my inner-most self remains a mystery.

~ • ~

Four

This is a tweet in which I shared how to kill a scorpion.

NO STORY HERE… because I’ve only seen a scorpion in the zoo– and even though the zoo sells alcoholic beverages, those zoo people are fussy about visitors not murdering the zoo residents.  Go figure.

68 thoughts on “No Stories Here, Only The Remains Of My Inspiration File”

  1. Fleur de Sel is a nice color – like it a lot. The other gray we painted upstairs may be my slight favorite – cannot remember the name though. So interesting how the slightest shades make sure a difference.

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    • Zen-Den, we’ve learned about picking the “right” colors for our rooms! I agree that the slightest differences make or break a room. I think the upstairs gray is SW7050 Useful Gray. I may like it better, too. But all the rooms can’t be the same! That’d just be sad.

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  5. I was intrigued by the fact that you use the Apple Emoji a lot. Then I looked at my own Frequently Used section, and I found a lineup of characters I’ve only used once, but recently.

    Love the name Useful Grey. It sounds like it could be a member of a Puritan family! You know, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Grey and their children, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, and Useful. 😉

    Liked by 3 people

    • nance, I can’t explain the rationale behind why certain emojis are on the list while other ones, that I’ve used more frequently or recently, are not. The face ones seem to never leave the list, but the object ones come and go willy-nilly.

      You win the comment of the day with your Puritan family names. And what a great bunch of kids they are!

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    • Jill, I missed the question about the game between the Logicians and the Niners. I knew about the uniforms, though. If nothing else, this quiz reminds you how different TV used to be.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. You did better than I on the quiz. Guess I don’t watch enough TV (or remember what I’m watching). I use the emoji with the woman (lets call her “Mom”) hitting her forehead with her hand a lot…but then I have kids and a husband who do crazy things. Also on my list is the shrugging shoulders – again, look who I’m talking to. As to the paint, grays are very easy colors to work with because you can add a lot of colorful accents. I much prefer them to tans or creams. Looking forward to your next inspiration dump.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janet, checking out my emojis gave me pause. I use the thinking one and the woman shrugging, but am not so clued into the more complicated ones. I can understand how the Mom one you mentioned is perfect for you. Lucky you!

      We’re finding that the grays are soothing, and like you said allow you to use colorful accents in a way that you notice the colorful accents. I don’t think we’ll redo the whole house, many rooms of which are in shades of khaki, but the few gray rooms we have are a refreshing change.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Tuesday it is – job well done Ally. I have to say you entered one of my happy places with your paint chips. I also heartily support the “say nope to taupe” campaign. I do think I would quite enjoy being a color namer, although I bow in appreciation to Nance’s Puritan family. I suppose it’s not very Puritan-like of me, but now I want to paint all manner of things in Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Grey and their children, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, and Useful.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Deborah, we had all taupe walls in this house at one point. ☹️ I did it on the advice of an interior decorator [not a designer– big difference] who lead us astray. So… years ago we started the long, expensive, time-consuming process of de-tauping the house. It is now complete.

      I adore Nance’s names, too. She had me laughing out loud with her idea– which I can only hope Sherwin-Wiliams uses in the future. Wouldn’t that be fun?

      Liked by 1 person

    • Exactly! And who’s to say that a list of random things isn’t a blog post worthy of note? Many people make such lists a feature on their blogs.

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      • I meant more like a blog post that doesn’t feel like your own typical blog post. I have written many a list post, but they aren’t my typical post… if that makes sense?

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        • Got it. Makes sense to me. I’m all about trying different things on a personal blog. Sometimes the ideas fly, other times they flop… but oh well, life goes on.

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  11. I love grey (or, is it gray… I never know) too, in fact I have a lot of it hanging in my closet… maybe too much. To me, it’s a neutral that makes other colors pop. I don’t use emojis much, but that little upside down guy is my favorite 🙃.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janis, I’m wearing more gray every year. Black is too dark for me now, so gray is my new basic. I’ve gotten more comfortable with emojis, but only use a few– always fearful that I might not know the exact meaning of what I’m saying when I use a new-to-me emoji. 😟

      Liked by 1 person

    • Marty, thank you. I produced something here… not sure what… but it’s nice. I guessed on a few of the questions, too. But some of them I remembered. It’s a goofy little quiz, but fun.

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  13. I’m just not on the gray-train. Or gray-wagon. Whichever.

    I know it’s the chicest of colors now, and people brighten a space with accents, but…

    Still, it sounds like it’s a very lovely shade and it works well. I’d take the baseball quiz, but it won’t be pretty.

    As for the blogging part of the post, consider it a step toward your MAYkingItWork goals!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Isa-Lee, I didn’t like gray walls AT ALL when I first saw them in a friend’s home. [I kept my opinion to myself, of course.] HOWEVER, I began to realize that I liked shades of gray that were described as “warm” and that the walls I saw were described as “cool.” Therein was the turning point– it’s all about the undertones for me.

      Funny you’d mention MAYkingItWork goals, that’s exactly what I’m doing at the moment. Details to come…

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Hi, Ally – Richard and I should have you and Z-D choose colours for our home. Paint colour selection is definitely not our specialty! 😦

    Liked by 1 person

    • Donna, we’ve made many mistakes over the years, but have finally found shades of khaki golds and whites and warm grays that we like. It has been trial and error, but having the right colors around us is comforting.

      Liked by 1 person

    • L. Marie, I think that 8 is respectable. It’s not that I remember the episodes, it’s that I remember the TV shows from dawdling in front of the TV as a child.

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    • Joanne, thank you! I’ve thought of having a feature of some sort here on The Spectacled Bean, but in truth, any established weekly feature sounds like work to me. There’d be expectations– my own + those of my readers. I dunno, I’m better being a free spirit.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. That last bit was the cherry on top!
    That gray sounds lovely!
    I use a lot of love and laugh emojis. I use brainy and fingers crossed, but it’s almost all hearts and kisses and laughing. Apple intrigues me. I text a kid who eats apples like you would not believe and even she doesn’t use apple emoji…

    Liked by 1 person

    • joey, yes, I liked learning how to kill a scorpion and now feel I’m ready to do so. Should that be necessary & I haven’t drunk all the alcohol.

      I used the apple emoji in the comments on my post about the meaning of kick-ass that I ended with an apple saying. That’s why the apple showed up as one of my favorites. I bet in a few months some other object emoji will take its place.

      Liked by 1 person

  21. I’m just waiting for emojis to become more specific–more nuanced– until they can replace letters altogether and are capable of being used exclusively in instructions on how to assemble a swing set. For example, the Eskimos already have fifty different emojis to represent “snow,” and each one is distinct and unique.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Roy, I hope that doesn’t happen too soon. I can barely understand 20% of the emojis out there right now, so learning the rest of the current ones PLUS new nuanced ones might be too much for my addled brain. I wonder if we’ll see addled brain emojis in the future– fifty different ones, all distinct and unique like snow! 🤓

      Liked by 2 people

  22. I’m kind of curious when emoticons suddenly became emojis. I still call them emoticons because that’s what I was always told they were. In fact, at the message board community I’ve long been involved with, we called them Appacons after a poster named Appa who liked to throw a winky at the end of any line where he was getting a not-so-nice shot in at somebody else… since we all know any statement ending in a winky face is not to be taken seriously.

    Liked by 1 person

    • evil, I don’t have an answer to your question. I remember [sort of] reading the word “emoticon” at some point somewhere, but it’s only after I heard them being called emojis that I started using them. Not too often, but as a way of embellishing my message, I guess. 👩‍💻

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  23. I love that warm gray color. It is close to the color of my bedroom. (barren plain, an ugly name for a paint color) I hesitate to use any but the most obvious emojis since I have difficulty figuring out what some of them mean. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Margaret, I like warm grays, but the name of yours is not inviting. Of course, in the end it’s all about the color itself. I don’t use too many emojis either. I wouldn’t want to send the wrong message. 😳

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  24. Honestly, zoos are just so fussy about keeping their exhibits alive, aren’t they?

    I got 9 out of 12 on the baseball quiz. Guess I don’t care so much if it’s not real.

    I should try this, call it “Odds and Sods” or something…

    Liked by 1 person

    • John, I’d love to confirm that liquor on a scorpion kills it, but without the zoo’s help I can’t do that experiment! I was surprised that I did as well as I did on the quiz. By all means, give this format a go– I like Odds and Sods. Catchy.

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  26. I wonder what my frequently used emojis say about me 🤔 You do have good taste in emojis 😁
    And thanks for the tip about scorpions! Another reason to keep some alcohol on hand (not that there are many scorpions here). Maybe it works for other critters too…

    Liked by 1 person

    • Pistachios, laughing here. I’m sure that your emojis say that you have good taste! How could they not? The scorpion tip is one of the more unexpectedly wacko articles I’ve stumbled upon. No scorpions here, but if there were I’d know what to do.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Elen, I’d saved these images of months and it seemed a shame to toss them out… but for the life of me I had no story for any of them. I love the “Big Fat Zero” as a category. I’ve had many posts that should have gone into that category.

      Liked by 1 person

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