Happy People – THE SPECTACLED BEAN

Just The Facts: The Results Of My ‘How Am I Doing?’ Survey

Thanks to everyone who took my How Am I Doing? survey [now closed].

You’re the best and overwhelmed me with your kind answers. I wasn’t fishing for compliments with this survey; I was challenging myself to see if I could write one. Then on a whim I decided to share it here for the fun of it.

At one point in my life I worked in marketing research so I’m familiar with the process of collecting data from respondents. Below I’ve categorized it into three parts.

I also know that once you collect the data, interpretation is a whole ‘nother thing. Spin it the way you want. So with that in mind, and me being me, I’m spinning this funny, because honestly some of your answers were a hoot.

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PART 1

What I learned about you:

90% of you write a blog
50% of you like to goof off on social media in the blogosphere; followed by YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
60% of you were very likely to recommend this blog to friends and family
90% of you thought the survey was cool beans

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PART 2

How you answered two specific questions regarding this blog:

These responses were straightforward and clear to interpret. No further explanation required.

This is where things got complicated because over half of you used “Other” when responding to the question. Some of you said that there was nothing you disliked so you were using “Other” to tell me this. Some of you who clicked on “Other” made suggestions about my writing style and graphic design. And one respondent said that using “Other” was the only way to show that all the choices were applicable to this blog.

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PART 3

Here are some of your responses when asked what comes to mind when you think about this blog:

Ohio
A red kidney bean dressed like Elton John
Ooh, what will Ally Bean say today?
Engaging, enjoyable blog. Funny without trying too hard.
oh, shit, I haven’t read that spectacled blog in awhile. I better go catch up!
Beans 🙂
Lovely variety of slice of life topics.
A string bean wearing glasses. But also humorous posts and genuine connection with others.
My bloggy friend for years now
Flapdoodle

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In Honor Of St. Isidore Of Seville, Linky Love For Eggheads Intent On Self-Improvement

TODAY IS THE FEAST DAY of St. Isidore of Seville. Sometimes referred to as the last scholar of the ancient world, he lived from 560 to 636 in Spain and was an Archbishop in his day. [More here]

He is the Patron Saint of Electronics and the Internet, having been named such by the Roman Catholic Church in 1999. [More here]

Today the Order of Saint Isidore of Seville works toward Christian chivalry on the internet. Their motto in Latin is Bono Vince Malum which in English means: “Overcome Evil with Good.”

SO WITH THE FOREGOING IN mind I’m typing away like a good little blogger this morning, one who’d like to share with you the following good articles that I’ve been thinking about this past week.

I’m conscious of what I allow to fill my brain, knowing that for me it’s easy to get lost in the sauce [emotion] of what I’m reading. Thus I tend to restrict my casual online reading away from hate and vitriol toward what I call good psychology.

Below are links to five articles, with a bit of commentary provided by moi. ‘Cause this is a personal blog and that’s what I’m supposed to do. Babble a bit, share a bit, provide joy & insight to my readers.

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Are you an evil genius? How dishonesty can make you more creative

[well, there’s a truth to this]

The Surprising Benefits of Creating a ‘Failure Resume’

[did this, somehow don’t feel better about myself]

Don’t Know What To Do With Your Life? This Exercise Can Make Things Clear

[good idea, I need a manifesto]

Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. Take One That Isn’t.

[quickly confirms that I know who I am]

Why A “Complaint Cleanse” May Be Exactly What You Need For A Happier Week

[clever idea that makes sense to me]

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One Martini & I’m Rebelling Against My Own Arbitrary Rule

Busy week, fast story…

You know how you say you’ll never do something for one reason or another, then one day you do that which you said you’d never do and nothing bad happens to you.

And you begin to wonder why you had the self-imposed rule to begin with and you become ~~somewhat distraught~~ mildly perturbed because you cannot remember why it seemed important to you to not do that which you just did.

That’s what I’m talking about here. All of that.

So what did I do that I said I’d never do?

Ah yes, good question. Thank you for asking.

You see the fastest way to explain what I did is to refer you to the photo at the top of this post. Saturday night I took that photo of a Pear Martini, my new favorite cocktail, while we were sitting at a table in an upscale restaurant. The drink tasted & looked so good that I pushed aside all hesitation and pulled out my cell phone to take a picture of it.

And that is something I said I’d never do.

Early on when I got a smart phone I declared, oh yes I did, that I would never be one of those people who takes pictures of food and drink while in a public place. Yet, as the above photo proves, I am now one of the collective.

Like a Borg, but only for Instagram. Resistance is futile.

Which brings me to an epiphany about who I am now.

While you may think that I’m going to wax on about my wonderful Pear Martini, I’m going to tell you that whilst sipping it and musing upon my arbitrary rule to never snap a food or drink picture in public, it dawned on me that I was caught up in some sort of generational way of thinking that no longer served me.

Who cares if I take a fast photo of a drink? Absolutely no one, myself included.

I caused no harm, I had some fun, and I realized that, with a hat tip to Bob Dylan: “I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

The One About Birdbaths, The Path You Choose, & A Survey About My Blog

Over the weekend we went to a garden decor center to look at birdbaths for my butterfly habitat. There is no end to the exciting things we do here. In fact I sometimes hesitate telling you, my gentle readers, what we’re up to because I don’t want to make anyone jealous.

We didn’t find a birdbath that’ll work for us because it’s early in the outdoor season here so the selection was minimal– and because the ones available required electricity which we don’t have where I want to put a birdbath.

But we had a nice time walking around the property in the sunshine. YAY SPRING! 😎

+ • + • + • +

In the parking lot of this garden decor center is a sign that directs you one way or the other. You can either meander down the Scenic Route that wraps around the front of the property where there are displays of ponds + fountains + birdbaths to give you an idea of what you might want to do in your yard. This path is kind of artsy fartsy.

Or you can use the Main Entrance and go directly to the merchandise in the back of the property where it’s organized in large quadrants of similar items. This is where the helpful sales people are ready to get you all squared away. This path is fast and practical.

Scenic route or main entrance? Those are your choices at the garden decor center. And it seems to me, an English major who can find meaning in anything, those are often your choices in life. Which begs the question:

WHICH WAY IS YOUR USUAL CHOSEN PATH: MEANDER OR DIRECT? Hmmm…? 🤔

+ • + • + • +

On a whim yesterday afternoon I created a free survey about this blog using SurveyMonkey. Having never done anything like this before, I followed their suggestions about the questions to include.

There are seven questions that according to them will take you 1 minute to answer. Trust me when I say that it took me longer than 1 minute to make this survey– learning curve, kind of steep.

I have my *fingers crossed* that this is going to work. Also, you’ll be anonymous. There are no demographic questions and I won’t know your IP address.

Click on HOW AM I DOING? to be magically transported to my survey, should you care to take a minute of your time and answer my questions. Thank you in advance for your kind participation in my first online survey. 🤓

SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED.

In Which I Prattle On About Ivy, Donating Furniture To Charity, And Tuesday

I’m feeling lighthearted and warm today.

Hence I shall show you the above photo of two pots of ivy immediately after they had a shower in the kitchen sink. One is silver bells ivy, the other is jubilee ivy.

I can’t tell you which is which but I like ivy, and I especially like these two varieties because they have great names and are easy to grow.

That, my friends, is a win-win.

May you heart be like holly and your words be like ivy.

[An Irish blessing, not sure if I got it quite right, but you get the idea.]

Anyhoo, the real reason I’m in a great mood today is that once again I’m waiting for St. Vincent de Paul to get here to pick-up some furniture that we’re donating to them.

Everything but the kitchen sink.

[A nice idiom that lends itself to this post.]

Slowly, ever so slowly, we are divesting ourselves of that which we don’t need but someone else can use.

Another win-win, I believe.

Thus I’ll end this jotting-style post in which I prove that I can and will show up on Tuesdays. Because unlike most of the peoples I know, I like Tuesdays.

Having been born on one.

Tuesday’s child is full of grace.

[A childhood poem, one line remembered.]

So be it with me. What’s up with you?

Thou Shalt Not Doubt: Overheard While Picking Up Chinese Carry-out

Zen-Den overheard this conversation and it was funny so naturally I have to share it here.

• 🥡 •

Our local Chinese restaurant does a decent carry-out. The food is hot, fresh, and vaguely Chinese. Z-D sometimes stops there to get us dinner.

The owner of this restaurant is Chinese and is not one to mince words. He has a business to run, and his grasp of the English language is exactly what he needs to know so that he can communicate directly and loudly with his suburban patrons.

In other words, no chit-chat.

In fact, when you call in your order instead of the traditional time-consuming “hello” that you might expect to hear, the owner answers the phone with a snappy: “WHAT YOU WANT?”

At this point you, the caller, tell him your order. He then shouts at you what time your order will be ready for pick-up and hangs up the phone.

There are no further social pleasantries like “good-bye” or “thank you.” The call is over, your order is in process. And now it’s up to you to show up on time and get it.

So last night Z-D was waiting in line to pick up our order when he overheard this conversation between the restaurant owner and the guy in front of Z-D in line who was there to pick up his family’s dinner. It went like this:

Restaurant Owner: “HERE YOUR FOOD.”

Guy Picking Up Dinner: “That’s mine?”

Restaurant Owner: “YES.”

Guy Picking Up Dinner: “Are you sure? My wife ordered all that?”

Restaurant Owner: “SHE TALK. I WRITE. THAT HOW IT WORK.”

Guy Picking Up Dinner: “Hmmm… seems like a lot… I dunno…”

Restaurant Owner: “NOW YOU PAY.”

Guy Picking Up Dinner: “Well, ‘ya, that sounds about right. How much?”

• 🥡 •

Question of the Day

What’s the best | funniest | weirdest thing you’ve overheard someone say? Everyone has overheard something so ‘Fess up in the comments below.

• 🥡 •

An Old Joke Repurposed: A Squirrel Named Chaz Walks Into A Bar…

What is this, you ask? This is my entry into evilsquirrel13’s annual Contest of Whatever. Details here. You, too, can join in the fun until February 28, 2019.

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Chaz the Squirrel, our mutual friend, was sitting outside on the deck staring into the woods, pondering what to do next.

Behind him was a bleak house, empty at the moment because since Christmas, Carol, the owner, had been away.

In fact, truth be known, Chaz was a little sad, having fallen on hard times.

With nothing much to do Chaz decided to go to a bar that was a much of the old curiosity shop as it was a place to get a fine cocktail.

~ • ~

He didn’t have great expectations as he walked into the bar, but was delighted when he saw his favorite bartender, a petite woman, some would say little, Dorrit.

Upon seeing Chaz, Dorrit exclaimed, “Hey there you little dickens! What’ll you have?”

To which Chaz replied, “A martini, if you please.”

“Sure enough,” she said. “Will that be with an olive ‘r twist?”

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THE END