A Bear Went Across The River To See Who He Could Court

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

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There’s a WHAT? WHERE?  

MOM!!!    

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They tell us that this rarely happens.  That’s what they say.

I mean, I’ve lived in southern Ohio for 25+ years and it’s a first.

Rather like the nighttime burglars who scared us into turning our lights on & speaking with one another.

Shocking, really.

Of course, the human miscreants have been nabbed.  Put in the hoosegow.  Sent away for bothering us here in suburbia.

• • •

But this fellow…

is getting away with anything and everything that he can…

because the authorities don’t want to mess with him…

and because he’s cute.

Never underestimate cute.  Remember Smokey? And Yogi? And Fozzie?

But you have to wonder, did they manage to have 2 Twitter accounts: @ClermontCtyBear & @MiamiTwpBear?

• • •

Just observe him, they say.

He’s only looking for a mate. 

Bears are good swimmers, they tell us.

Isn’t it wonderful how he made it this far north into Ohio?

If you encounter him, they suggest that you do this:

“Speak in a firm voice and if necessary, raise your arms above your head and clap.”

• • •

Taking a differing point of view than the authorities, I am.

Waiting each day to learn that an 85 lbs male black bear has caught a ferry back to Kentucky and is looking for love in all the right places.

Hoping to go outside at night without fear.  Too much to ask?

Don’t care if it is.  Asking for it anyway.

June 2014 NaBloPoMo: I Posted, I Commented, I Made A List & Now I’m Finished

/ Ally Bean / 35 Comments

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The final writing prompt for June 2014 NaBloPoMo is:

“Leave your readers this month with commentary about their comments.”

My commentary is: 

You, my gentle readers, are the best.  I’m grateful for your kind interest, thought-filled comments and support.  I realize that you arrived here from all over the place:

I appreciate you making your way here, and as a way of saying thank you I’ve compiled the following list of everyone with a blog who commented on The Spectacled Bean during this month.

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My List Of Blogs Written By People Who Know How To Comment

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Doesn’t Everyone Have A Sofa In The Middle Of Their Kitchen?

/ Ally Bean / 27 Comments

I’ve gotten away from talking about our home redecoration projects here on The Spectacled Bean. I don’t know why, because they continue on behind the scenes and influence my life every day.

Often because the project is in the middle of everything.

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That being said, now that I’m in the final days of NaBloPoMo June 2014 and I need something to write about, I’ll revert to my blogging roots and tell you what we’re up to around Chez Bean.

In July or August when furniture goes on sale, we are going to buy a new sofa and chair for the TV room.  This is why the current sofa got itself moved into the kitchen.  I needed to get an idea of what the TV room would look like without a large blue object influencing me.

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Now having seen the TV room, sans blue, with my makeshift ottoman-esque example of what a khaki-gold sofa might look like against the wall, I think that a neutral-colored, nubby-textured sofa and chair will look great in this room.  With lots of colorful pillows, of course.

So that, my gentle readers, is what’s going on here… right now… in the middle of our kitchen.

Even Though The Hallmark Movie Channel Has Betrayed Me, I Have Learned A Lesson

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

WHILE I HESITATE TO ADMIT that I’m aware of anything as sappy as The Hallmark Movie Channel, I feel that I must share with you, my gentle readers, how they have betrayed my forgiving nature.

This is a straightforward story in which I was willing to overlook their sentimental twaddle basic programming because every afternoon they were showing The Good Wife, an award-winning TV show that I’ve always wanted to see. 

In fact, I had even begun to arrange my day in such a way as to make certain that I caught at least one episode of The Good Wife, a modern-day TV show that features a strong female lead in difficult situations that she handles without Prince Charming rescuing her.

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Above is the Hallmark Movie Channel schedule for The Good Wife in which we see that the Hallmark Movie Channel just stopped showing The Good Wife.  * bippity boppity boo*  It’s gone.  Wave bye-bye.

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FURTHER, I’LL EVEN ADMIT THAT last Friday afternoon when I viewed what has now become my last episode of The Good Wife, a well-paced finely nuanced TV show, I was so thrilled by the cliff hanger plot line that I spent moments of my weekend looking forward to seeing the next episode on Monday afternoon.

But it was not to be.  No, when I sat down on Monday afternoon to watch The Good Wife, a smart TV show filled with legal issues and moral quandaries, it was not there.  Instead, The Hallmark Movie Channel was airing…  [ready for this?]… Diagnosis Murder, an old-time TV show, starring Dick Van Dyke, that I vaguely remember as something my mother used to watch way back when.

I’m hurt by this betrayal;  I won’t lie.  But mostly it confirms my suspicions that cable TV’s death is closer than we think it is.  Thanks to The Hallmark Movie Channel I’ve now learned for certain that web-based programming, like Netflix or Hulu, is the way to watch TV shows when your life is busy– and you can’t dork around with cable channels.