For The Fun Of It

5 Truths & A Lie

/ Ally Bean / 21 Comments

[I got the idea for this post from Rara at Rarasaur;  her answers are here.  She got the idea for her post from Jen at Sips of Jen and Tonic;  her answers are here.  Go visit them both.  You’ll like ’em.]

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Here’s what I’m doing.  It’s a bit of a game.  I’m going to tell you a few things about me: 5 things will be truthful, 1 thing will be a lie.  Depending on how closely you’ve been paying attention to me all these years you’ll know the lie immediately.  Or not.

Whoever correctly figures out which statement is a lie, will win the opportunity to either: 1) be a guest poster on this blog;  or 2) have me write a haiku about you that’ll be posted on this blog.  Your choice.

Ready?  Here goes.

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1.  THE HUBSTER proposed to me in the parking lot of a bakery.  He had no ring with him.  All he said was: “so when do you want to get married?”  And that was that.

2.  I PLAYED the violin when I was a girl.  I learned in a Suzuki method class [which means by ear, not by written music].  While I never excelled at playing the violin I did make it to state regional orchestra level one year.  I was the last seat.  And I hated the experience.

3.  WE LIVE in a hilly area in a home built on a wooded ravine lot.  Once upon a time we purchased 200 tons of dirt so that we could create a backyard.  It was a messy project, but now we have a lower level terrace instead of the forest primeval.

4.  I DRIVE a gray SUV.  I named him Bullwinkle because of his color [which Lexus says is blue, but they’re wrong].  He’s not a new vehicle,  but he gets me where I need to go.

5.  I’M NOT a fan of the traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner.  I’ve made my share of them over the years and they were delicious, but I’d rather have a good steak with a baked potato for dinner than turkey + all that carbohydrate crap.

6.  I HAVE narrow feet, as in women’s AA shoes.  This is more of a problem than you might initially imagine because there are very, very, very few AA shoes available.  The result of this is that I keep my shoes forever and am usually forced to wear a pair of “so out of date you have no idea what decade they came from” shoes.          

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Apparently A Bean Brain Is A Balanced One

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

balanced brain

I took The 30-Second Brain Test to determine which side of my brain I favored.  The results showed that I use both sides of my brain [what the results described as] equally.

I’m 59%:

  • strategy
  • rationality
  • logic
  • rules
  • language
  • details

I’m 41%:

  • creativity
  • intuition
  • chaos
  • curiosity
  • images
  • fantasy

What I liked the best about this test was that after I received my results there was an option to learn why the test evaluated my answer to each question the way that it did.  In other words, I learned something about how all people see the world in the process of understanding myself.  Neat-o, I say.

While I hesitate to draw any overarching conclusions about who I am from this test, I’m willing to say that it was fun to take.  And considering that my word of the year this year is BALANCE, I’m pleased with my results.

If any of you, my gentle readers, decide to take the test, I’d love to know your results.  I mean, exactly how whacked are you all?  My comment section awaits you.

Making A Good Pie: Ingenuity, Good Judgement & Great Care

/ Ally Bean / 25 Comments

My mother collected cookbooks and I still have some of them.  They provide fascinating glimpses into times gone by.  I never know what I’m going to find when I start looking through one.     

I saw the following recipe while I was glancing through The Marion County Historical Society Heritage Cookbook published [I believe] in 1975.  The Heritage Cookbook had reprinted it from an earlier cookbook.      

This recipe, with its moralizing introduction and decided lack of measurements, was originally published in 1901 in a cookbook called, Recipes Tried and True by the Ladies’ Aid Society of the First Presbyterian Church.    

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“WHO DARES DENY THE TRUTH THERE IS POETRY IN PIE”

~ Longfellow

There are plenty of women capable of choosing good husbands, or if not good when chosen, or [sic] of making them good.  Yet these same women may be ignorant on the subject of making a good pie.

Ingenuity, good judgement, and great care should be used in making all kinds of pastry.  Use very cold water and just as little as possible.  Roll thin, and ALWAYS AWAY FROM YOU.  Prick the bottom with a fork, then brush with white of egg, and sprinkle with white sugar.  This will give you a firm rich crust.

For all fruit pies, prepare as above.  Stew the fruit, sweeten to taste;  if juicy, put a layer of cornstarch on top before putting on the top crust.

Be sure there are plenty of incisions in the top crust.  Then pinch the edges.

Sprinkle white sugar on top, and bake in a moderate oven.

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[After a bit of research I found this: Recipes Tried and True. On Kindle. For free.]

In Which I Staycate & You Questionate

/ Ally Bean / 11 Comments

This week Zen-Den and I are taking a staycation.

We are planning on doing projects around the house [paint stair railings + bannister] and around the yard [replace perennials that didn’t survive the winter].  Plus we hope to go out to eat a few times… maybe go to the zoo… perhaps check-out the deals at an outlet mall… see a movie.

You know, do stuff.

So this week instead of writing about anything in particular, I thought that like Carol Burnett I’d turn up the house lights and take questions from the audience.  Then next week, on a subsequent post, I’ll answer your questions making sure to let the world know who asked me each question.

Deal?  Okay then, let’s get things started in here.

Just remember that the success or failure of my next post rests on you, my gentle readers.  I’m counting on you to questionate like a pro!  Please leave your questions in the comments below.  And thank you in advance for your kind attention to this matter.

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Updated late in the afternoon to include…

HEY! Look at this:

“Carol Burnett, who became famous for playing a variety of characters in sketch comedy routines on her namesake television show, was named the winner of the nation’s top humor prize on Tuesday.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said Burnett will receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor on Oct. 20 in Washington. “

AND WHO POSTED ABOUT CAROL BURNETT TODAY BEFORE THIS PRIZE WAS ANNOUNCED?  Could it be me?  Why yes it was.  Is that a trippy coincidence or what?

[Source article here.]