Author: Ally Bean

A Glimpse Into My Heart: Books I’ve Reread + Reader Comments About Randomness

/ Ally Bean / 202 Comments

The quote above is attributed to Francois Mauriac, French author and winner of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature. I didn’t know a thing about this man until I researched him, btw.

If we are to believe in Mauriac’s idea, one that I have never thought about before, then it follows that by sharing which novels I’ve reread I’m letting you know who I am.

Heart-wise, that is.

However before I tell you which books I’ve reread I’m going to insert 3 provisos, lest I be misunderstood:

✅ I know that some people never reread anything, but I do reread novels. Never non-fiction though, except that I reread cookbooks which are technically non-fiction so maybe I don’t know what I’m saying here.

✅ I know that some people who read novels then see a movie based on the novel consider that like reading a book for a second time. I am not one of those people: books are books, movies are movies. They are different animals.

✅ I know that technically rereading children’s stories to a child is rereading, but I believe that doing that is not in the spirit of this exercise so I haven’t included any of those books here.

Thus, without further ado, presented in alphabetical order, here are 9 books I’ve reread as an adult:

Alice in Wonderland* by Lewis Carroll

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

I Capture the Castle* by Dodie Smith

Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Brontë

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Screwtape Letters* by C.S. Lewis

Winnie-the-Pooh* by A.A. Milne

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance* by Robert M. Pirsig

* Books on my list with an asterisk are ones included in Books Really Worth Re-Reading, a Goodreads list of 753 books.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

Do you ever reread books? Why or why not?

Now that I’ve revealed which books I’ve read more than once, do you feel like you’ve gotten a glimpse into my heart? OR do you think Mauriac’s idea is dubious at best?

What say you about “lame one-liner reviews” currently popular on the back covers of novels?

What book are you currently reading? Is this the first time you read it OR are you rereading it?

AND FINALLY FOUR READER COMMENTS…

About something RANDOM in your daily life:

“… there is plenty of ‘random’ in my life…. looking for things because no one ever puts anything back where it goes. (How can so many pairs of scissors possibly disappear?!?)… I’ll spend next Tuesday morning hanging small bars of soap in young peach trees to serves as deer repellent.”

~ Linda Lou

“I stopped for iced coffee from Bad Ass Coffee today. They use coffee to make their ice cubes, which tastes good, of course, but makes me happy beyond practical reasoning!”

~ Christie Hawkes

“Currently, I am on peony watch – looking out the back window all day. The older peony has already flowered and dropped all it’s petals. The newer peony (which is my favorite; don’t tell the other one) is so close to blooming that I can’t stand it.”

~ Gigi Rambles

“As for random thoughts, I was thinking of how clean my kitchen will be once my kids move out. LOL!”

~ joyroses13

The One About Phonies And Alter Egos And Solving Problems, Maybe

/ Ally Bean / 241 Comments

I AM A REALIST. I am who I am regardless of where I am.

As such, being a naturally inquisitive person, I find people who are phonies, that is people who pretend to be someone they’re not, endlessly interesting.

Thought-provoking, in fact.

[E.g., Elizabeth Holmes or George Santos or Rachel Dolezal.]

They are my opposites and tweak my curiosity about the line between reality and fantasy, between harmless daydreaming and unhealthy delusion.

Allow me to explain.

Thinking back over my years of blogging I’m reminded of one blogger in particular who wrote her blog as if she wasn’t who she was. This wasn’t flash fiction nor was it catfishing, mind you, but saying upfront this is a fantasy of who I wish I was, a different personality, so I’ll write all my posts as this alternate version of me.

She lived in a small midwestern town but pretended she was living in a large southern city.  She thought of herself as a resident of that large city and she’d describe her days doing the same things she did now [working, shopping, dining] AS IF she lived there.

The thing was that for me after reading her posts I couldn’t decide if this phony persona was just kind of a fun thing, a light-hearted goof; OR if there was something seriously wrong in her life that prompted her to become someone else, albeit briefly.

In truth I was never sure how to comment on what she wrote, so I politely wandered away from her blog and I cannot even tell you if she’s still around.

I doubt it, though.

• • •

SO WHY AM I talking about this topic today?

Not because I idealize or hold any animosity toward this former blogger, but because of something I read a few months ago and have pondered on since. This something got me thinking and wondering– and reminded me of her.

Believe it or not.

What I read was advice written by someone who claimed to be a mental health therapist. This seemingly legit advice was about how to solve what may appear to you to be an intractable problem.

The advice suggested that you create an alter ego of yourself [not a super hero] that you use to contemplate your problem; an alter ego was defined simply as a different version of you. The advice said that by mentally running the details of your problem through your mind as your alter ego, you’d gain clarity.

Now I have problems, who doesn’t? And I do try to solve them, but never have I ever thought about creating an alter ego of myself, for any reason. I may be too pragmatic, or unimaginative, for such.

Or snarky. Perhaps I’m too snarky.

But I digress.

So tell me, kids, does the idea of creating an alter ego of yourself, something I’d describe as a phony version of yourself, seem like a way to gain real insight into your problems? Have you ever done this? And if so, how’d it go for you?

I’m curious to know what you think about this approach to solving problems. Do you feel it is sound or is it wackadoodle?

Please discuss below.

¡Ay, Caramba! 7 Random Things To Tell You On A Tuesday

/ Ally Bean / 208 Comments

~ • ~

1. I am nuts.  I woke up thinking: we could change the name of Alexa to Annabelle. Where the heck did that ridiculous idea come from? It’s not like we use Alexa often enough that we need our own special name for her.

2. I am laughing.  I follow a few comic strips on Instagram [that I believe are also available on other social media]. The two comics that make me the happiest are: Foxes in Love AND Underpants and Overbites. Never say I don’t share the best with you, my bloggy friends.

3. I am delighted.  I read this interview with Diane Keaton and realized that her approach to life is inspiring. At 77 she exudes enthusiasm with a kind of determination to live in the moment, to not get bogged down, that rings true with me. She’s her own quirky person, doing her own thing… her way.

4. I am befuddled.  I bought the wrong marigolds. While shopping for annuals at the garden nursery I forgot how much I didn’t like the garish orange marigolds I bought last year– and then what did I do? I went on to repeat my mistake, buying the orange ones again instead of the groovy mellow yellow marigolds I prefer.

5. I am considering.  For years I’ve read about the value of creating a Commitment Inventory. You write down all that you’ve said that you’d do;  then you evaluate what you’re doing with your time and how to prioritize your commitments. I can’t decide if this is busy work for a free spirit like me– or might actually have some value.

6. I am drinking.  We watched a documentary Neat: The Story of Bourbon. It was compelling, informative, and features Steve Zahn as comic relief. Prompted by our newfound knowledge, we marched out to the liquor store and bought some Woodford Reserve Double Oaked to serve neat, of course.

7.  I am charmed.  I saw a bumpersticker on a car that said: Think about Honking if you like Conceptual Art. Just goes to show that there are some absurdly delightful people running around out there. God bless them one and all.

~ • ~
So, what random things have you been up to, mi amigos? Tell all in the comments below, but for the love of Bart don’t overthink it!
~ ~ • ~ ~

A Crack In Everything: Talking With A Friend About Aging Gracefully + Announcing A Change To My Blog Schedule

/ Ally Bean / 251 Comments

A WHILE BACK I WAS TALKING with a Friend about a decision she needed to make. Not a huge one, but a smaller annoying one that comes down to deciding who she is comfortable being now.

Friend, much to her consternation, has to alter her way of thinking about something.

While the details of Friend’s decision are specific to her particular situation, there’s a bigger picture to contemplate, especially as you get older.  And a little bit cracked by life.

As we all do.

~ • ~

HERE’S THE DEALIO: Friend is in her early 50s and has been running almost every day since she starred on her high school cross country team. As an adult she runs marathons, not ultramarathons or half marathons, but MARATHONS.

She’s very clear on this point.

Friend is known for, and is externally validated by, running marathons. She proudly & consistently defines herself as a marathoner, and up until this last year she’s ALWAYS been the fastest, or second fastest, in her age group.  She has ruled in every marathon she’s ever run, until now.

This does not please her.

Friend knows she’s getting slower, the numbers prove it, but she still wants to keep running because she likes to run. However from her point of view there’s a decision to be made, one that is more ego-based than anything else.

Should she:

A) Continue to run in marathons like she has her entire life while reluctantly accepting that there’s a good chance she’ll not be the best in her age group anymore which makes her sad?

OR

B) Start to run in half marathons, something she considers second-class to a *real* marathon, but wherein she believes she’d be the fastest in her age group which makes her happy?

~ • ~

I’LL TELL YOU FRIEND’S DECISION in the comments below so that you, my little sparks of joy, can take a few seconds to contemplate how you’d handle a situation that involves your ego struggling with itself to gracefully accept the fact that you’re aging.

That is, are you more inclined to lean into doing the same thing as always, but in what you’d describe as a less successful way? Or are you more inclined to do something new that you consider inferior, but do it in a brilliant way?

To put this quandary in a more chit-chatty pithy way: do you keep on keeping on [focus on perseverance] OR do you accept that life’s tough and get a helmet [focus on modification]?

• • ☀️ • •

PLEASE NOTE:

In order to allow more light to get into my life, The Spectacled Bean will be on SPRING/SUMMER HOURS until further notice.

I shall forget my perfect weekly offerings and instead post every couple of weeks, reply to comments here, and check-in with you on your blogs every so often.

Take it easy, everyone. Ring those bells!

Do good. Play nice. Be happy.

• • 😎 • •