In Which I Decide On A Word Of The Year. Finally.

January 5, 2013February 11, 2016 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

I’ve been a laggard about choosing my one word of the year. This is because I’ve found myself caught up in the hype of picking the perfect word. A word that has a large overarching theme. A word that is unique, yet applicable to all facets of my life. A word that will make me kick ass in 2013.

I don’t know why it is that this year I got thinking like this, but I did. Even talking about it here I have to laugh at myself. I guess all I can tell you is that the gods of external validation invaded my brain and brought various forms of doubt with them. Hence, my inability to pick a word.

However, that is all behind me now. You see, I had a serious chat with myself and managed to decide on a word that I think will satisfy both my pragmatic thinking side and my holistic feeling side. The conversation, which may or may not have been out loud, went something like this:

Pragmatic Ally: It’s just a word, Ms. Bean. Get over yourself and pick one.

Holistic Ally: But I don’t know, for sure, if I’ll pick the best one. I need a sign of some sort so I’ll know that it is the. right. word.

Pragmatic Ally: Just do it. There’s your sign. Nike said so.

Holistic Ally: Okay, fine. Balance. I pick BALANCE. Like in New Balance. Which I like much better than Nike with their stupid swoosh.

Pragmatic Ally: Great choice. Well done. Now get out there and kick some ass!

Holistic Ally: But I don’t know how. How do ‘ya do that?

Pragmatic Ally: *sigh* Do I have to do everything for you? You start where you are right now, do your best and see where it goes. That’s how you do it.

Holistic Ally: Oh yeah. That’d work. Good idea. Thanks.

Pragmatic Ally: No problem.

… And so it came to be that my one word for 2013 will be BALANCE.

An Inconvenient Blogging Truth

January 3, 2013August 28, 2018 / Ally Bean / 16 Comments

When I started keeping a personal blog I realized that I’d have to find the time to write. Mornings work best for me.

And I also knew that I’d have to have the ability to express myself in this medium. Stories, photos [not of people] and links work best for me.

But what did not occur to me was that I’d also have to have something to write about all the time. That is, something would have to happen in my life that I’d want to tell you about. Something interesting, or insightful, or entertaining.

And it is at this point in the process that I find myself today. At a point where there is nothing to talk about.

It’s not as if I’m not doing things. I am. It’s just that I cannot fathom why anyone would care to read about the ho-humness of my daily life. A ho-humness, I hasten to add, that makes me happy.

So, having explained myself thusly, I’ll end this post by leaving you, my gentle readers, with a guarantee that when something of note happens in my life, I’ll share it here.

And I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes that succinctly explains my attitude toward blogging– and life, too, for that matter.

“Give me your heart, Make it real, Or else forget about it.”

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My 2012 Yearlies List

December 29, 2012December 30, 2012 / Ally Bean / 14 Comments

[H/T to Chris at the Rude Cactus for this idea. His list is here.]

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The Yearly Top Gardening Success: Our in-ground sprinkler system for our lawn. It took us years to have one installed, but now that we have one our yard remained green all summer– and I didn’t have to drag a hose + oscillating sprinkler anywhere on the property. Not even once.

The Yearly Top Absurdity of Life: Even though I didn’t go to Canada, I have a traffic violation from that country with a fine to pay. I owe the Canadian Dept of Transportation 37¢ Canadian. You see, Canada has a photo of a vehicle registered to me doing something illegal in their country. The miscreant in this story is Z-D [or maybe one of his lawyer buddies] who went on his [their] annual ~~camping~~ cabin trip and somehow missed paying a toll along the way. Because of this, I’m left holding the traffic violation. And a bottle of maple syrup.

The Yearly Top Duh! Moment: Cutie oranges. Who knew these little clementines were so tasty? Not me. I thought they were only for kids, but thanks to J at Thinking About… I got some for our party, tried them and am now hooked.

The Yearly Top Annoying Term: Guru. If you believe yourself to be one, then you are not one. This term is trite, hackneyed, pointless, stupid– and most of all, overused. Don’t be a business guru; you can do better than that. Aim to add value, not gibberish, to the conversation.

The Yearly Top YouTube Video, Cat Angst Category: Henri 5, The Worst Noël. If you have ever been around a cat, then this series of videos will make you laugh more than you should. Paws down.

The Yearly Top Expression Of Gratitude: From a shy 10ish y.o. Boy Scout who came to the front door and sold me caramel corn + cheese corn. A few weeks later when he delivered the products, he included a typed-out thank you note on a strip of paper, hand signed, which thanked me for helping him achieve his goal. Very thoughtful kid.

The Yearly Top Home Improvement Project: New light fixtures in the kitchen above the island & table. Good-bye large weathered copper light fixtures with dingy uneven glass shades. Hello sleek antique brushed nickel lights with etched white alabaster glass shades that spread the light evenly across the surface. Such an improvement.

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So, what are your yearlies? Care to share?

A Late December Morning: The Definition Of Bleakness

December 26, 2012December 26, 2012 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

There is no sunlight here this morning. And I doubt that there will be any sunlight during the whole day. That’s the way it works around here in the winter.

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It is one of those gray winter mornings that people who leave this part of Ohio, never to return, always mention to me as a deciding variable. They hated the oppressive gloom of cold gray days, so they moved on to places that are sunnier or are decidedly wintry.

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None of this half-assed depressing weather for them.

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I don’t blame them, you know? It is difficult to live here when all you see for days– or for weeks– or, during some horrible years, for months– is an endless amount of bleakness.

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I don’t know how those of us who stay here survive it, but we do. Maybe it has something to do with enjoying the color that we create in our homes. Or maybe it has something to do with being accustomed to this sort of winter; we’ve become desensitized to the gloom. Either way, we stay.

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This is a photo of our backyard taken later in the day.

During the afternoon we got a little bit of not-so-pretty snow which has made everything slushy & even more bleak.