Thinking About

Three Things That Gripe My Grits

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

“Unfortunately, there are assholes and psychos mixed in with regular people everywhere you go, and they’re not labeled as such, so you can’t identify them by sight.”

~ When I Blink [author’s name], If the Fashion Industry Gave a Commencement Speech

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1)  Let’s review the basics.

Q: What must we do?

A: Be proactive and not use the word should. 

Explanation: When applied to oneself the word “should” speaks to wishful thinking and lazy follow-thru.  By using it one denies his or her own power to make things happen– which is not good, kind of pathetic and will get you a Gibbs head slap from me.

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2)  Let’s talk about friendship.

Q: Who do we have the best relationships with?

A: People who behave the same way as we do.

Explanation: That is to say, chronological age is not necessarily what keeps friends together.  Shared values and subsequent actions are what keep people close, so do not tell me to limit my friendships to people within my age group.  That’s nuts.

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3)  Let’s talk about manners.

Q: What must everyone do after receiving a gift?

A: Write a thank you note and send it.

[Also acceptable answers depending on age &/or physical condition: Draw a thank you picture and have Mom or Dad send it.  Phone a thank you message.]

Explanation: Lack of gratitude is epidemic in our world.  Do not be part of this problem;  instead, be classy and say “thank you” in a meaningful, time-honored way.  Be part of that proud thank-you-note-sending tradition.

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As Per NaBloPoMo: Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

/ Ally Bean / 22 Comments

I.  I’ve enjoyed June 2014 NaBloPoMo [done my way].  The theme of this month’s challenge is: COMMENTS.  There are daily prompts associated with this challenge, but I haven’t answered any of them.  I’ve been lazy, but admit to feeling guilty about my behavior.

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II.  To make up for my slothiness re: answering specific prompts, I thought that right here, right now I’d share MY GENERAL PHILOSOPHY ON PERSONAL BLOG COMMENTS.

  1. I like them.  I leave them.  And so should you.
  2. My blog, my rules.  Therefore, if I consider a commenter to be a troll, flying monkey or spammer, I’ll delete what he/she/it says without comment.  [Yes, that’s a bit of irony.]
  3. Blogs have comment sections.  I won’t return to a personal blog without a comment section because a blog without comments is just another webpage.

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III.  Today’s prompt is: “Write on Someone Else’s Blog Day: instead of writing a post on your own blog, go leave five comments. It still counts as writing!”  Here are the 5 NaBloPoMo bloggers who did as instructed [or other first time commenters who came here] to LEAVE A COMMENT FOR ME.  I’ll fill this in later because today I’ll be out leaving comments on other NaBloPoMo bloggers’ blogs.  [Obviously.]

  1. Jennie at Jen’s Rambling Thoughts
  2. Maria at FOREST TREE NUT
  3. ?
  4. ?
  5. ?

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IV.  So there you have it, my gentle readers.  A confession.  A summary. A list.  And now, as I end this post, A THANK YOU FOR PAYING ATTENTION to my sweet little bloggy and taking the time to get involved in the conversation.  I appreciate your gift of comments.  Always.

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V.  And as reward for getting this far in a lengthy meta post, I leave you all, new and old bloggy friends, with the funniest video I’ve seen in ages.  WORDS OF WISDOM, gentle readers.  Words of wisdom.

“You can’t hit people because you want pancakes.”

Sunshine, Paperweights & The Magic Of Perspective

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

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I noticed that in the late afternoon the sun shines into our dining room through the French doors.  I have a paperweight collection on a table that happens to be in the path of the sunshine.

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When the light passes through the paperweights it makes beautiful patterns on the wall.  The patterns are easy to see, weirdly shaped and fun to capture with my camera.

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On a whim I adjusted my camera focus to distort the sunshine as it went through the paperweights and I found something different to see.  Something vaguely familiar, yet unique.  Proving once again, that what you see is all in how you go about looking at things.

I’m Doing June 2014 NaBloPoMo, My Way

/ Ally Bean / 17 Comments

I’ve been in need of a blogging challenge. 

Just showing up here a few days per week isn’t cutting it for me anymore.  I need a goal to re-ignite my blogging passion.  A reason to get up each morning and share my tales, thoughts, photos, links with the world while achieving something special for myself.

And what better way to do that than to join BlogHer‘s NaBloPoMo for the month?

That being said, I know my limits. 

So I’ve decided that I’ll join in June 2014 NaBloPoMo on my own terms.  To wit, I’m going to do 20 days of the challenge instead of the entire 30 days.

In other words, I’m doing 2/3 of that which is asked of me because, to quote Margaret’s daughter’s friend: “A decent something is better than a perfect nothing.”

Is this not so?

See you tomorrow, kids.

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