Blogging

Five Links For Eggheads And Other Goofs

/ Ally Bean / 5 Comments

… because information is FUN dammit.

√ to see what your blog looks like on different types of devices, go here.  USEFUL.

√  to determine if you’d be smart enough to get into a gifted kindergarten program, go here.  SURPRISING.

√  to make your own plaid pattern to use on your webpage or computer desktop wallpaper, go here.  ADDICTIVE.

√  to give yourself a push when you don’t know what to write about, go here.  INSPIRING.

√  to learn how to make yarn ball bookmarks, go here.  RETRO.

[I’ve collected these links over the last few months while surfing the web.  I’m not the most organized about such things, so I don’t know where I found them.  If I have inadvertently not credited you with a H/T link, please let me know and I’ll update this post.]

On The Occasion Of My 200th Post To This Blog

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

~ ~ • ~ ~

I like this colorful little zinnia.

Cheerful and happy in its terra-cotta pot.

Pretty.

It’s the perfect photo to commemorate my 200th post.

On a blog that I thought I’d do for a few months.

For fun.

But instead of moving on I decided to keep posting here.

Creating a quiet little spot where thoughts & friendships can grow.

Gracefully.

Rather like a colorful little zinnia.

Cheerful and happy in its terra-cotta pot.

Thriving.

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Five Senses Friday

/ Ally Bean / 10 Comments

~ ~ • ~ ~

Feeling:

exhausted.  i’ve really been putting my all into my blog lately.  writing.  commenting on other blogs.  updating my template/pages.  it takes focus & commitment to keep a blog going– and there are weeks when i wonder if it’s worth it.

Hearing:

the hum of my old computer, which i still use on occasion, that sits next to my current quiet computer.

Tasting:

dark chocolate “balanced with crunchy hazelnuts and dried currants.”

Seeing:

outside: a gray day.  inside: a gray wall behind the computer that needs some decoration.

Smelling: 

sandalwood spice, a “blend of orange blossoms, sandalwood, and kashmir vanilla,” from the candle in the next room over.

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{This wonderful idea is from abby try again.   If you wish, you may play along in the comments below or on your own blog.}

My Summer Of Blogging Lightly

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

 √  I did things differently on The Spectacled Bean this summer.    

  • I only posted to this blog once a week.
  • I talked about things in a general way.  Rarely personal.  Everything light.
  • I shared more photos than I have in the past.

But doing the foregoing turned out to be more difficult than I’d anticipated.  What I did not take into consideration was that I’m in the habit of always being on the lookout for something to talk about here on The Spectacled Bean.  I’ve been doing this a long time, you know?  So it felt kind of weird to not tell you the details about what was going on around here.   

√  Be that as it may, here are my conclusions about my ~ It’s Summertime ~ idea:

  • I like posting on Tuesday.
  • I enjoy doing a few lightweight posts, but not all the time.
  • I miss writing in the moment about the crazy situations that make up much of my life.
  • I feel like my writing skills atrophy when I restrict myself to short & infrequent posts.
  • I don’t mind adding photos to my posts… which means that I need to take more photos. 

√  And on that note, I officially declare this summer experiment in blogging to be over.  I plan on returning to my 2 or 3 times per week posting schedule.  Because this is an old-school style personal journal type of blog I have no idea what I’ll be talking about next,  but I hope that you’ll check back daily from time-to-time to see what flapdoodle & twaddle vitally compelling & important topic I’m dithering on about discussing here at The Spectacled Bean.  You know you want to.