A Sunday With Purple Zombies And Deceitful Politicians

January 26, 2015February 3, 2015 / Ally Bean / 18 Comments

This morning is the first time this month that it has looked like winter outside. There’s a dusting of white snow but it isn’t deep enough to cover the tops of the green grass blades.

I’m not surprised to see the snow this morning. All day yesterday the TV weather forecasters were babbling about Monday’s SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

You know how they get.

So yesterday, while anticipating this snowy Monday morning, we decided to spend the day at home getting the bounce back in our pounce. Which is to say that we, two adults without children, played a board game and binge-watched a TV show.

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We purchased our game on Saturday while shopping at an outlet mall. We wandered into a toy and game store where I found a board game version of RISK. Subtitled: THE GAME OF SUBURBAN DOMINATION. Further sub-titled: PLANTS VS. ZOMBIES.

How cute is that?

So we bought the game and decided to make it our Sunday goal to learn how to play one of the three games available within the box. We went with the easiest game in the box that I’d describe as a mixture of Chess, Jumanji, You Sunk My Battle Ship, Backgammon and Football. It’s not all that Risk-like, but oh is it entertaining to play!

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In-between learning how to play (or in my case lose) our new game, we watched House of Cards [American version]. I am totally smitten with this show, that I’d ignored until a few weeks ago when Kevin Spacey won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a TV Drama.

Now, having watched 6 episodes of House of Cards, I’m fascinated by Francis and Claire. They are amazing sociopathic characters. I cannot imagine what deceitful, immoral, unethical, sneaky, conniving, manipulative, under-handed thing either of them will do next.

With a unpredictable plot line and a narrative arc like no other, this show is fun to watch; especially, if you happen to have had any experiences, unfortunate or otherwise, with people like Francis and Claire.

Just saying.

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So what did you, my gentle readers, do this past weekend?

Were you productive? Were you healthful? Or, were you homebodies, like us, who played games and watched TV?

Spill the beans in the comments below.

I’m Polar Vortexing Here

January 28, 2014January 28, 2014 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

AS YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW… this part of the USA, the midwest, is experiencing arctic temperatures. Records are being broken. Schools are being closed. Furnaces are being taxed. Prayers are being said. Et cetera, et cetera.

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BECAUSE I’VE DECIDED TO STAY AT HOME DURING THIS WEATHER EVENT… I am now in charge of:

running water through all sink/shower/tub faucets so that the pipes don’t freeze;
opening and closing blinds/curtains to allow sunshine + warmth, when available, to come into the house; and
monitoring the thermostat, so that I can fret over the furnace’s every clink and whoosh and thunk as it continues to heat the house.

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NOW THAT I HAVE A BIT OF UNEXPECTED TIME ON MY HANDS… I’ve started reading three books:

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance, by Edmund de Waal. After inheriting from an uncle a collection of Japanese netsuke, the author researches his ancestors and their involvement with these objects. Fascinating.
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus. Using a few pieces of real history, the author creates a novel about a white pioneer woman who, courtesy of the U. S. government, goes to live among the Cheyenne, with the express purpose of helping the Cheyenne assimilate into white culture. Compelling.
Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life, by Shauna Niequist. By examining the details of her days, the author writes a charming personal memoir filled with gentle guidance for living a better life. Uplifting.

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OF COURSE LIFE ISN’T JUST SERIOUS PURSUITS… which means that I’m playing Candy Crush Saga as often as the game will let me play. By using this cheat, I reigned victorious over a particularly difficult level 77 in Easter Bunny Hills, but now I’m unable to progress past level 80, waiting to complete my 3 quests so that I can move across the lake to level 81 and the next episode. Stuck in the game, stuck in the house. 😉

5 Truths & A Lie

November 22, 2013February 27, 2015 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

[I got the idea for this post from Rara at Rarasaur; her answers are here. She got the idea for her post from Jen at Sips of Jen and Tonic; her answers are here. Go visit them both. You’ll like ’em.]

• • •

Here’s what I’m doing. It’s a bit of a game. I’m going to tell you a few things about me: 5 things will be truthful, 1 thing will be a lie. Depending on how closely you’ve been paying attention to me all these years you’ll know the lie immediately. Or not.

Whoever correctly figures out which statement is a lie, will win the opportunity to either: 1) be a guest poster on this blog; or 2) have me write a haiku about you that’ll be posted on this blog. Your choice.

Ready? Here goes.

• • •

1. THE HUBSTER proposed to me in the parking lot of a bakery. He had no ring with him. All he said was: “so when do you want to get married?” And that was that.

2. I PLAYED the violin when I was a girl. I learned in a Suzuki method class [which means by ear, not by written music]. While I never excelled at playing the violin I did make it to state regional orchestra level one year. I was the last seat. And I hated the experience.

3. WE LIVE in a hilly area in a home built on a wooded ravine lot. Once upon a time we purchased 200 tons of dirt so that we could create a backyard. It was a messy project, but now we have a lower level terrace instead of the forest primeval.

4. I DRIVE a gray SUV. I named him Bullwinkle because of his color [which Lexus says is blue, but they’re wrong]. He’s not a new vehicle, but he gets me where I need to go.

5. I’M NOT a fan of the traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner. I’ve made my share of them over the years and they were delicious, but I’d rather have a good steak with a baked potato for dinner than turkey + all that carbohydrate crap.

6. I HAVE narrow feet, as in women’s AA shoes. This is more of a problem than you might initially imagine because there are very, very, very few AA shoes available. The result of this is that I keep my shoes forever and am usually forced to wear a pair of “so out of date you have no idea what decade they came from” shoes.

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Faith, Trust & Puzzle Dust

February 9, 2013March 23, 2020 / Ally Bean / 14 Comments

WHILE working on a jigsaw puzzle with her husband, she was asked whether or not she had got all the puzzle pieces with blue on them together into one pile.

She replied: Yes.

WHEN it was pointed out to her that there were about 20 more puzzle pieces with blue on them that she had not put into the pile, she thought hard about this.

Then she said: Some is like All, only Less– and Easier.

AND then, having faith that she had explained herself clearly, she walked away from the dining room table, trusting that she had done her bit for this project. Needing to put distance between herself and those 1000 dusty puzzle pieces. Wondering why she said that she’d help with this stupid puzzle to begin with.

[Images of puzzle from Jig Zone. This particular puzzle is here.]