Define Yourself

Apparently A Bean Brain Is A Balanced One

/ Ally Bean / 19 Comments

balanced brain

I took The 30-Second Brain Test to determine which side of my brain I favored.  The results showed that I use both sides of my brain [what the results described as] equally.

I’m 59%:

  • strategy
  • rationality
  • logic
  • rules
  • language
  • details

I’m 41%:

  • creativity
  • intuition
  • chaos
  • curiosity
  • images
  • fantasy

What I liked the best about this test was that after I received my results there was an option to learn why the test evaluated my answer to each question the way that it did.  In other words, I learned something about how all people see the world in the process of understanding myself.  Neat-o, I say.

While I hesitate to draw any overarching conclusions about who I am from this test, I’m willing to say that it was fun to take.  And considering that my word of the year this year is BALANCE, I’m pleased with my results.

If any of you, my gentle readers, decide to take the test, I’d love to know your results.  I mean, exactly how whacked are you all?  My comment section awaits you.

Tattoos, Doodles & Unfinished Projects

/ Ally Bean / 15 Comments

file6941266100445-1A most peculiar week, this one.  Blue moon and all.  Must have had something to do with it.

~ • ~

A friend is thinking about getting a tat.  3 of her 4 children have at least one tattoo, and she feels like an old fogey without one.  She wants something meaningful with a bit of color, but not gaudy.  Nothing wordy.  Wordy ones, we agree, are too much like work.  Who wants to read themselves?

I’m of the tats need to be organic and flowing school of thought.  She’s of the tats need to include all family members, somehow, school of thought.  Will let you know what she decides on… if she ever does.

~ • ~

Besides contemplating theoretical body art, this week I’ve watched Dr. Who.  Did you know that I was a Whovian?  Well, now you do.

I’m on the 10th Doctor with Donna Noble as his companion.  I’ve read that she comes to some lousy end, so I’m finding this season to be rather bittersweet.  She’s one of my favorite companions;  I do so love her attitude and spunk.  Noisy woman with a heart.  Doesn’t travel light, that one.

Oddly enough, watching Dr. Who this week has me doodling.  I don’t know why, but every time I sit down to watch an episode, I pick up pen/pencil + paper and commence doodling.  Lots of swirls and flowers– and boxy faces composed of rectangles, triangles, stars.

Perhaps I’m creating a tattoo for myself and don’t even know it?  Or maybe I’m more lost in thought than usual.  Regardless, I’m happy listening to/glancing at the Doctor and Donna.  And doodling.  Must. Draw. Doodles.

~ • ~

Sometimes I’m amazed by how I decide to do something productive [like paint the bottom pedestal part of our kitchen table] and how the weather decides to be uncooperative [like hazy/rainy/stormy/humid all fricking week].

This is a project, if it is to be done properly, that requires lots of sunlight and low humidity and a very happy me.  Yet not one day this blue moon week have I been able to work on my project.  Do we not all believe that effort should be rewarded?  Am I not trying here?  

They tell us that the weather isn’t personal, but this week it has seemed personal.  That I’m being thwarted for no good reason whatsoever.  That all my plans have fallen to dust and I’ve been left alone to work around the mess that unfulfilled plans create.

But as we all know: you live, you learn.  Which, from what I can tell, means that some weeks you live with a huge unfinished project smack dab in the middle of your kitchen.  And you learn to not whine about it.

Answering Your Questions, I Am [Part 2 of 2]

/ Ally Bean / 11 Comments

•  From Lori P who just happens to be my SIL… If you had to do it all again, specifically targeting the choices you made for yourself, would you change anything?

I think the one thing that I’d change is I would have stood my ground about taking a year off between high school and college.  For various reasons, I was emotionally exhausted and mentally unclear about my future when I graduated from high school.  I knew that I needed a break from academics so that I could figure out what to do next, but my mother wouldn’t hear of it.  She forced me to go on to college straightaway.

Had I followed my own instincts, I would have been more mature, rested and focused when I arrived on campus as a freshman.  I suspect that I would have gone to a larger university that had a more diverse student population and offered a wider variety of majors– one of which would have prepared me for a career in something or other.

•  From Kristen Plumer at Kristen Loves Design… What would you describe as your decorating style? Does it match who you really are?  And a related question, if you could decorate however you wanted (money being no object), what would you do?

Our decorating style is relaxed traditional with family antiques, hints of mid-century modern & splashes of spirited color.  It’s eclectic, but to keep it from looking too jumbled the walls are in shades of warm neutrals like khaki gold, creamy white or warm gray– with white trim everywhere.  The style matches who we are to a tee– cheerfully mixed-up with the ability to pull it together when need be.

If money were no object and I could find the right interior designer, I’d like to have a home that has more of what I’d call a California relaxed vibe to it.  Mostly neutrals inside the house because the outdoors is colorful.  Open, sliding doorways from inside living areas to the outside.  Black trim around the windows.  Lots of amazing original artwork.  And perhaps some stucco, arches, Mexican tiles, too.

•  From Zazzy at Zazamataz… What are your favorite foods – to make? to eat? What’s comfort for you? What can you absolutely not stand? 

My favorite foods to make are fruit-based deserts like strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream or bread pudding with raisins or applesauce spice cake with caramel icing.  I also like to make stews and soups in the winter.  All that chopping and blending of ingredients makes me happy.

My favorite foods to eat are fresh fruits and vegetables.  Plus grilled fish + chicken.  I like sourdough bread, and pasta or rice done very simply with a bit of olive oil/butter, onions, herbs.  Also, I am a nut for unsalted nuts.  I really like eating healthy, but do not always have the time & energy to do so.  Which is a bummer, but a reality at this point in my life.

As for comfort food, I occasionally eat a bakery white [or yellow] cake cupcake with vanilla icing– for medicinal purposes, mind you. And the one food that I cannot stand is green or yellow or red peppers.  Yuck.  Won’t eat them at all.

[Yesterday, Part 1]

Answering Your Questions, I Am [Part 1 of 2]

/ Ally Bean / 20 Comments

•  From Kate at Views and Mews by Coffee Cat… Describe your dream vacation and besides Zen-Den, is there someone you would like to share it with?

My dream vacation would be going to Australia, New Zealand & Viet Nam.  In Australia, I’d like to see a few major cities, the ocean reef and some of the outback.  In New Zealand, I’d like to see the villages, the sheep and Christ Church, which years ago I remember being dubbed as the friendliest city on earth.  And as for Viet Nam, friends have been there and thought it was amazing to see and to experience and to give perspective on the 1960s.

Along with Z-D, I’d share this vacation with friends of ours, J & E.  They are easy to travel with and enjoy tangents.  Plus they make me laugh like no one’s business so no matter what happened, we’d have a good time.

•  From Beth who I’ve known since 7th grade… What is one great childhood memory of yours? 

I remember hot, humid summers with no air conditioning.  At night, my Mom and Dad and I would hang out on the cool concrete patio at the back of the house.  It was the only place with a bit of breeze and a few lawn chairs.  While they’d be drinking an adult beverage (or two) I’d be playing on my swing set in the yard or coloring with chalk on the patio.  Or, if it was past dark, I’d be catching fireflies to put into an empty glass jar– as my parents cheered me on from their chairs.

Time stood still on those nights.  Nowhere to go.  No wish to be inside the house watching TV.  No rush to get to bed because it wasn’t a school night.  Just hanging out because we wanted to be together.

•  From Margaret at Stargazer… Why do you live where you live and what do you like best/least about it?

The simple answer is we live here because this is where Z-D found a job.  The more intriguing answer is that, although neither one of us ever wanted to live here, fate intervened.  You see, 16 years ago Z-D & I both were unhappy with our jobs, so we both quit them and lived off our savings for a year.  When we started our year off, we figured that after it we’d be moving away from here.  So during our year off we travelled around the USA looking at places we’d like to live–  keeping notes, making contacts, checking out real estate, planning our future.

However, when Z-D started sending out resumes looking for employment, the most amazing thing happened.  A company here offered him the chance to start a department, from scratch, in his favorite area of expertise.  So despite not liking the conservative, non-friendly nature of this area, we stayed.  And that’s how we ended up living here.

•  From Cheri at Naples Girl Blog… If you won the lotto, what would you do with the money? Would your lifestyle change?

If I won the lotto, I imagine that my personality wouldn’t change.  I mean that in the sense of what I’d buy or how I’d go about doing things or how I’d relate to people or what I’d give to the world.

I think that the biggest change would be in my lifestyle.  That is, I’d buy a few pieces of property around the USA.  Like a condo in downtown Chicago, perhaps.  Or a small cottage near a lake or an ocean.  Maybe an apartment in Santa Fe.  Then when suburban life bored me to tears I’d head to one of my other places to live for a few weeks or months.  I’d have lots of homes, not just one– but live the same way that I do now in each of them.

[Tomorrow, Part 2]