Words & Questions

A Poem In Which We Once Again Talk About Fuzzy The Squirrel

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments

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The morning was beautiful, the sky was blue,

I glanced out the window for something to do.

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Neighbor Kitty, most calm, asleep in the leaves,

While above him there plotted three sciurine thieves.

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Their leader, a dickens, named Fuzzy by me,

Stared down upon Kitty, while perched in a tree.

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I feared for them all should trouble arise,

But Kitty kept sleeping, there was no surprise.

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The squirrels soon tired of barking at cat,

And decided to use the limb for a chat.

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The photo you see makes it look oh so dreamlike,

But I swear to you here, it truly was scheme-like.

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This post is now over, my rhyme will be ending,

But with Fuzzy’s approval, this poem I’m sending.

Spunk, Moxie Or Gumption? You Decide.

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

DSCN5615Because sometimes the light that shines within me gets curious about things, I researched the following three words after I thought of them while watching a certain video.

Thinking that these three word meant the same thing, I can now tell you that I was right according to the dictionary these three words mean different things.

Sort of.  [I guess.]  In a very nuanced way.

~ ~ • ~ ~

SPUNK = courage and determination

MOXIE = force of character or nerve

GUMPTION = shrewd or spirited initiative and resourcefulness

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The following video of Monkey the Cat, who just happens to look like one of my dearly departed pussy gatos, demonstrates for us the above concepts.

It shows that…

Monkey’s gumption helps him have the spunk to use moxie to get the kibble.

Or to put it another way…

Monkey’s spunk combined with his moxie gives him the gumption to play the game that gets the kibble.

Or perhaps it tells us that…

Monkey’s moxie influences his gumption so that he has the spunk to find the ball to get the kibble.

WHATEVER. 

Instead of focusing on the syntax of a perfectly crafted sentence, like I have here, I suggest that you, gentle readers, watch the video and learn, as Monkey the Cat shows us what spunk or moxie or gumption is all about.

You will be amazed.

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Pedicures & Color Possibilities: A Husband Weighs In

/ Ally Bean / 30 Comments

I only asked him as a courtesy.  I didn’t think that he’d have opinion, but he did.

And it surprised me.

I’d sorted through my bottles of nail polish, throwing out shades that I hated or bottles with lids that no longer opened.  I was left with 5 shades:

  • Houston We Have Purple by OPI [dark dramatic shiny purple]
  • From A To Zurich by OPI [dark maroon]
  • Strawberry Margarita by OPI [bright bold pink]
  • Incognito by Dior [neutral beige-y medium pink]
  • Nail Glow by Dior [sheer pinkish purple that makes nail tips look white like a French manicure]

So there I sat, on the screened-in porch, trying to decide which of the above colors I was going to put on my little piggies.  About 90% of the time I wear the Dior Incognito because it’s classy and goes with everything.

I repeat, everything.

But Zen-Den was out there on the porch with me, too.  So I asked him which color he thought that I should wear.  And the color he picked was…

Link Love: Women With Smarts Edition

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

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•  Ducks and sponges.

“For ducks, other people’s emotions roll right off them…  Not so for sponges.  Highly intuitive types often soak up other people’s feelings…” ~ Anne at Modern Mrs. Darcy

•  What Your Favorite Summer Cocktail Says About You

“No matter where you go, you have an uncanny knack for getting everyone to tell you their life story.”  

•  10 Words Every Girl Should Learn

“After I wrote about the gender confidence gap recently, of the 10 items on a list, the one that resonated the most was the issue of whose speech is considered important.” ~ Soraya Chemaly

•  Ship Your Enemies Glitter

“Prank your Friends and Enemies. Let us send them some stupid glitter that is guaranteed to go everywhere. You don’t have to move a muscle.”

•  Why You Should Kick Your Bucket List

“Well I propose that if you truly want to up your happiness factor, you need to kick that bucket list and make a f@ck it list.” ~ Elena at Fabulously 50 & Living With Batman

•  Everything Was New And Pretty Wondrous

“A long time ago (last week) in a city far, far away (Baltimore), Alice Bowman guided the most ambitious space mission in a generation. Here, she explains what it’s like to glimpse the edge of the solar system.” ~ Rachel Morris

•  The Cake Is A Lie

“The Cake is a Lie is a catchphrase… and is often used to convey the message that a promised gift is being used to motivate without any intent of delivering.”