Define Yourself

Share Your World | Butterfly Hide And Seek

/ Ally Bean / 40 Comments

Nothing to see here. No butterfly hiding behind purple salvia. Nope, that’s not what’s going on here. Move along, move along.

• Would you want $200,000 right now or $250,000 in a year? It’s safe to assume all money is tax free.

Considering our recent remodeling wild ride, if it’s all the same to you, I’d like the $200,000 now, please.

• Is it more important to love or be loved?

Off the top of my head I’d say that it’s more important to love than to be loved.  Love, an action verb about giving, resonates with me more than the idea of just receiving love, that to me suggests a passive approach to life.

[Good question. This answer subject to change upon further reflection.]

But wait, it is a butterfly doing its butterfly thing, seeking nectar from the flower, and looking good while doing it.

• List things that represent abundance to you.

  1. flowers in crystal vases surrounded by lighted beeswax candles
  2. rag wool scarves and mittens
  3. a fully stocked refrigerator filled with fruits, vegetables, cheese, and wine
  4. a three-car garage
  5. ingredients on hand to make cookies
  6. diamonds, rubies, sapphires– and garnets, even if they’re only semi-precious
  7. comfortable furniture that coordinates nicely, but doesn’t look all matchy-matchy
  8. lazy Sunday afternoons

• What inspired you this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.

I find everyday observational humor inspiring because it makes me laugh, not cry, at reality.  So when I stumbled upon the following Shopping Cart Alignment Chart by Rob Beschizza at boingboing, and couldn’t stop laughing, I was inspired.

And because I’m a forthright blogger, I will freely tell you who I am according to this chart.  I’m never LAWFUL GOOD, but instead vacillate between CHAOTIC GOOD [which gives me more joy than it should] and CHAOTIC NEUTRAL.

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Catch up with everyone else who is answering Cee’s Share Your World Questions this week by clicking HERE.

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Let The Remodeling Wild Ride Begin, Part 1 Of 2

/ Ally Bean / 44 Comments

WHEN I STARTED THIS blog years ago my intention was to write 80% about how we were updating our house + garden, then 20% about topics I was researching.  I thought this would be more of a design + information blog, rather than a lifestyle journal-ish blog.

Well, that idea fell apart, didn’t it?

Early on I discovered that:

  1. Even though I’m passionate about design, I don’t like writing about the involved decision-making process that goes on within all decorating +  remodeling projects.  I feel clunky and stressed when I try to write about design.
  2. Even though I enjoy photographing nature and signs and building exteriors, I end up swearing at my camera when I attempt to take pics of inside rooms.  I don’t have an eye for design photography, and my poor camera takes the brunt of my frustration.
  3. Even though I had some fun blog followers who were interested in our ongoing home improvement stories, they, to a one, stopped keeping blogs and drifted away from  the blogosphere.  I now have more wordy followers who groove on topics other than design.

So I had a little sit down chit-chat with myself to reassess what I was doing here, realizing that my most popular fun-to-write blog posts were personal, often about my observations regarding the wack-o-ness of people OR about small glimpses into the ordinariness of my daily life.

And then, I pretty much stopped writing about or photographing what we’re doing around the house.  No one cared, and I didn’t mind not writing about the angsty-ness and minutiae of design projects.

However…

[Part 2 will be tomorrow.]

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Be The Light: Five Links That Sparked My Interest

/ Ally Bean / 59 Comments
INTRODUCTION

As you may remember I’ve joined a yearlong monthly event called We Are The World Blogfest.  

The purpose of this event is to highlight positive news stories, presenting them on your blog on the last Friday of the month.

This being the last Friday of May, I have a story, or five, to share with you, my gentle readers.

THE NEWS STORIES  

• A lonely snail almost gets the girlfriend of his dreams. If only.

• Newly discovered shade of blue is getting a name. Cool.

• Saving 7th century architectural history in a 20th century modern way. Smart.

• A baby otter has a lucky rescue. Cuteness.

• Mom gets honorary MBA doing what Mom’s do best. Huzzah!

MY COMMENTARY

I had a difficult time this month finding one positive news story, with a bit of depth, that fits the criteria set out for this event. With The Donald hogging the news cycle 24/7, non-political + inspirational stories disappeared.

Did you notice that, too?

Re-thinking how I could keep true to the spirit of We Are The World Blogfest, I decided to bend the rules and share the foregoing list of some fun news stories that are positive– in their own small ways.

Because, I believe, every little bit of light helps.

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{ If you’re on Facebook, there’s a Blogfest Community – We Are The World page there with connections to other people who are writing posts for this event.  I don’t do FB, but thought you, my gentle readers who like FB, and enjoy positivity, might be interested in knowing this. }

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Share Your World | Power To The Purple Pansy

/ Ally Bean / 67 Comments

Last week while answering Cee’s questions I told you, my gentle readers, that I was looking forward to planting some pansies in a pot. Here is a photo of said pansies in said pot. Aren’t they pretty?

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• Does your first or middle name have any significance (or were you named after another family member)?

This is a tricky question for me to answer because I write this blog under a nom de plume.  Yes, Ally Bean is my nickname.  It evolved from the old saying: “Know what I mean, Jelly Bean?”  Back when I started blogging in 2004 no one used his or her real name when writing online, so I went with Ally Bean.  As for this name’s significance, all I can suggest is that it might mean, FRIEND LEGUME.  I guess.

• Music or silence while working?

Almost always silence when working.  Quiet focuses me.  And a focused me is a productive me.

• If you had a special place for your three most special possessions (not including photos, electronics, people or animals), what would they be?

Not sure if this question is asking me what are my three most special possessions OR what is my special place for them?  No matter.  I’ll answer the latter question by saying my most special possessions, of which there are many more than three, are in our house.  Ergo our house must be a special place, right?

• The Never List: What are things you know you never will do?

I will never do cardiac surgery, ride on a Segway again, write a textbook on quantum physics, collect dolls, imbibe any rum-based drink again, travel by submarine, buy a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps, teach a class about car repair, OR needlepoint a pillow cover.

• Optional Bonus Question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Last week’s gratitude award goes to Season 3 of Grace and Frankie, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.  I’m grateful for anything that makes me laugh and this TV series does that.  Over the weekend I watched half of Season 3, released on Friday, and I’m still smiling about the characters, the plot, the settings, the humor.  So funny + smart.

This week’s looking forward to something goes to an Ikea chest of drawers, now in three large heavy flat boxes leaning against the wall in the upstairs hallway.  Next weekend Zen-Den and I hope to remain married while we build this chest of drawers that, when assembled, will give me one place to put all of my foldable clothes.

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This post is part of Cee’s Share Your World Weekly Writing Challenge.

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