I’m Cackling Here About Nothing In Particular Just Because I Can

October 7, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiBifLJNXZM

One of the realities of keeping a blog is the expectation that I will have something to say every week when I get here. This expectation emanates both from within me + from you, my gentle readers.

I said that I’d be here, so I’ll be here.

That being explained, I can now confide in you that I don’t always have much to say here. After a decade of bouncing around the blogosphere, I don’t consider this to be a problem. I know that I’m a laid back communicator with an easygoing style who can turn just about anything into a blog post.

Yep, I got skillz.

So it won’t surprise you to know that the retro Kroger egg commercial that I shared above is all that I have to talk about today. To wit, I found the simple b&w animation charming and the honest message entertaining.

“Isn’t the chicken lucky that eggs are the shape that they are?”

And now, having fulfilled my self-imposed obligation to post something ~~of great value~~ on this blog today, I’m going to wander off into the real world where I hope to have positive adventures and to gain deep insights into human nature so that I may share them with you, my gentle readers, next week. Until then:

Be safe. Be happy. Be.

QOTD: And What Mysteries Keep You From Going Stale?

September 4, 2014August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

{A Different Sort of Throwback Thursday Post}

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“Kings and statesmen, business men and professional men read mystery stories for relaxation, for fun, and to sharpen their wits for the daily battle of life.

Don’t let yourself go stale. These books are better than a radio drama and cheaper than a good movie for the family and keep you alert. Have your bookseller send you the books listed below and save over 65% from the former $2.00 price.”

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SO I FOUND THIS Sun Dial Mysteries 1930s [?] bookmark in an old book that happens to be in a large stack of old books that happen to be in our basement. I was charmed by the sexist copy on the bookmark, and I was intrigued by the titles of the books listed on it.

I knew that Leslie Charteris wrote The Saint books, but I’ve never read one. And I knew that Georgette Heyer was a contemporary of Agatha Christie, but I’ve never read one of her books either. The rest of the authors were new to me.

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I HAVE NO IDEA who these oldtime mystery writers might be. I can’t even keep up with the current mystery writers, which is why I thought that I’d ask you, my gentle readers: which mystery writers do you enjoy the most? Or, if you don’t read mysteries, what do you read that I should be reading, too?

Heaven knows, I must remain alert and not go stale!

Move Over Proust, Aromatic Advertisements Are The New Madeleines

August 7, 2014May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 25 Comments

I DON’T KNOW THAT I can adequately answer the question posed below, but I can tell you about what happened to me yesterday when one of those aromatic advertisements fell out of an Ulta mailing and landed on my lap.

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I WAS SITTING ON THE screened-in porch, glancing through the mailing, when an aromatic advertisement for Donna Karan’s newest fragrance, DKNY MYNY, plopped itself down on me.

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I DIDN’T THINK A THING about it. I grabbed the aromatic advertisement intending to put it on the table beside me, but I stopped mid-movement when the scent immediately reminded me of being a little girl.

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I WAS PULLED BACK TO decades ago when my family lived in an urban apartment above my father’s medical practice. At that time, my mother always wore one particular perfume, Ma Griffe, which– oddly enough— I remember as smelling like this new Donna Karan fragrance.

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SO I BEGAN TO WONDER what was in the new perfume that reminded me of my mother’s perfume. A quick check of the two fragrances at basenotes gave me my answer: both scents have Galbanum top notes [a fresh, natural “green” scent]; Jasmine middle notes [a sweet, intense “calming” scent]; and Vanilla base notes [a warm, boozy “comforting” scent]. Now how trippy is that? Hmmm?