I Tried, But The Joyful Bee Would Not Cooperate

/ Ally Bean / 8 Comments

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds.  A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”

~ William James

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If there’s one lesson that life has taught me, don’t take yourself too seriously.  For instance, when you grab your camera and go out into your front yard to take a photo of the cute flag thingie that hangs from the tree, and the wind keeps blowing the cute flag thingie the wrong way, you do not get upset.

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Instead, you do your best to take a photo that captures the cute flag thingie in action.  Giving it a whirl, so to speak.  That is what you do.

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And then if after about 40 pics of the cute flag thingie your photo shoot has not gone as planned, you find a way to turn your experience into a charming life lesson blog post.

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Happy May Everyone.  We made it through April.  I do believe that it’s time to be joyful & twirl in the breeze.  Care to join me?

I Love You, But You’re A Fruit Loop

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

This made me laugh at myself.  File it under: Make No Assumptions.  Ever.

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Sometime last year I met a woman at a business function and we talked about social media.  She knew that her job responsibilities were changing and that soon she’d be expected to contribute to her company’s blog and Twitter account.

She also knew that I had a blog so I gave her my blog’s card thinking that she might want to see what I do and how I do it.  She seemed appreciative.

Or at least that is the way I chose to interpret her actions.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when I happened to run into this woman again.  She mentioned my blog and I thought: How wonderful!  Someone who I met in real life is reading my sweet little bloggy. 

But my assumption about this woman’s behavior could not have been any farther from the truth. 

She happily admitted that she’d never read my blog.  Then she went on to tell me that she could make my blog popular because she knew how to do that now.

According to her, what I wrote was not important because a blog’s popularity had nothing to do with content– and everything to do with salesmanship.  Specifically, her salesmanship.

And with that she babbled onto another topic of conversation, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she’d insulted me.

This left me wondering: who is the fruit loop here?  Is it her for being unaware and self-absorbed?  Or [more likely] is it me for even listening to her to begin with?

All I know for sure is that there’s another fruit loop to add to the bowl.  😉

Links For Eggheads: Health & Beauty Edition

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

… because information is FUN dammit.

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[But before I begin, an aside:

When I find something interesting online I try to keep the link.  I do this because I adore it when I go to someone else’s blog and find that he or she has taken the time to curate a list of links, so once in a while I try to do the same thing here.

Although now that I think about it, I feel a bit like Sheldon Cooper presenting his lame video podcast series, Fun With Flags.  But I have no Amy Farrah Fowler here to help me, so this is all different from that.

Right?!!]

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√  to look your best in photographs (and you know that you want to), go here.  USEFUL.

√  to get a better grip on your own sanity, go here.  PROFOUND.

√  to change your arms from lunch lady to gym rat, go here.  INSPIRING.

√  to style curly hair so that you don’t look like a poodle gone wild, go here.  HOPEFUL.

√  to understand why you trip up when you attempt to make changes, go here.  INSIGHTFUL.

√  to have a toned tummy while living a crunch-free life, go here.  DOABLE.

√  to keep your happy heart healthy (which we all know is a good thing), go here.  IMPORTANT.

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Wherein I Tell The IRS Story My Way

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

Here’s a glimpse into what my life is like.  

Three lawyers [husband, friend and acquaintance] all listened to me tell this story and all three of them told me I had it wrong.  

Yet I maintain that this is what happened to us, so I’m going to tell this story my way because this is my blog and I’m a pragmatist who says that:

if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck.  

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Curious about what happened to us?  Well, here’s how I see it:

  • We received a letter from the IRS telling us they needed information re: one piece of one tax return.
  • We [and by “we” I mean Z-D, obviously] found this piece of information and sent it to the IRS.
  • We received another letter from the IRS saying that they had received the information and that they’d be in touch to tell us what was going to happen next.    

Now people, I am not new to the IRS and their ways.  This is how it all started years ago when we were audited by the IRS.

So I think that you’ll agree with me, A NON-LAWYER, when I say that: we’re being audited by the IRS.  I say this because the definition for the word “audit” is: “an official inspection of accounts.”  [Look it up, boys.]

And what exactly is the IRS asking of us?  Why my goodness gracious,  they want to inspect our account.  Ergo, I say that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then. it’s. a. duck.

* quack, quack *

We’re being audited.