Humor

Goofing Off On A Friday Afternoon, I Ponder A Pretty Sign

/ Ally Bean / 214 Comments

Lean in closely, my gentle readers, while I tell you a secret: sometimes I hesitate to tell you what we’ve been up to.

The thing is, and isn’t there always one, I wouldn’t want you to be jealous of our exciting suburban lives. That would never do. I’m not here to gloat over anything, I’m here to share the nitty gritty flapdoodle and twaddle of our daily lives.

Considering we’re all friends here, I’m sure that once you learn what Z-D and I did last Friday afternoon, you’ll understand how we roll. You’ll get a clue into our psyches and how we make our own fun.

You see, after traipsing around Ikea for an hour or more, buying an $8 dish drainer for the kitchen sink, we were high on the joy that comes from a successful shopping adventure. So as we were driving home, on a whim, for a change of pace, we decided to stop at a large unique garden decor center to see what was going on there.

And to get in a few more steps.

Unlike the modern indoor international Ikea vibe, this old-fashioned outdoor locally-owned garden decor center is funky. It sits on acres of land with an old farmhouse at the front of the property and seemingly endless merchandise behind it.

In fact at this time of year everywhere you look there are displays of pots and fountains and stepping stones and birdbaths and gazing globes and pond supplies.

When we pulled into the parking lot we parked in front of the sign you see in the large photo at the top of this post. This sign directs you, the customer, to go one way or the other way around the house.

Unlike Ikea there aren’t multiple ways to walk through this place. Here you must decide between two options about which way you’ll go.

That is, you can meander along the Scenic Route that wraps around the front of the property where there is inspiration, like fountains and ponds, paths and statuary, but nothing for sale.

OR

You can go the opposite way that leads directly to the Main Entrance [ironically behind the house] where you find what you need, pay for it, then have it loaded into your vehicle.

I’m not going to tell you which path we chose, but I’m going to say that my heart skipped a beat & I did a little happy dance when I realized that the sign in the parking lot was a “blogging question of the day” found in the wild!

And considering I had nothing planned to write about this week, how fortuitous is that? 😊

Questions of the Day

• When’s the last time you decided to spontaneously go somewhere for no other reason than you were driving or walking by?

• If you shop in brick and mortar big box stores, do you visit with a specific purpose, OR do you go for reconnaissance, OR do you go there to walk & window shop, OR for some other reason?

• If you shop in locally-owned businesses near you, what’s your favorite one? And why?

• Thinking in an introspective way about what makes you tick: do you usually prefer to meander [scenic route] or to be direct [main entrance]?

~ ~ 🤔 ~ ~ 

Beep Beep! Roadrunner, The Coyote’s After You! 7 Random Things To Tell You On A Wednesday

/ Ally Bean / 203 Comments

~ • ~

1. I am agreeing. Social connectedness can take on many forms. I read THIS article about lively front yards that include any items like, but not limited to, garden gnomes, porch swings, plastic flamingoes, little free libraries, and assorted other decorative stuff. The conclusion was that: “residents who expressed themselves with items in front of their house reported feeling a greater sense of place.” 

2. I am enthusiastic. What beach reading books are to summer, ‘Bunny Rabbit’ TV Shows are to your mental health. Bunny Rabbit TV shows aren’t literally about rabbits, they are shows that give you a lift, not requiring more from you than your willingness to be distracted in a lighthearted way from your woes. I grok this term, enjoyed the article and the comments that followed, and haven’t stop thinking about which TV shows to put on my list since I read about this idea.

3. I am ditzy. In my ongoing attempts at being mindful of water usage, I pour the end of our glasses of drinking water onto the houseplants. Welp, in a moment of *duh* I poured the remains of a flavored club soda [San Pellegrino Dark Morello Cherry & Pomegranate to be exact] onto a large pothos. And within days the plant turned yellow-ish and began dropping leaves. Yes, I murdered a plant.

4. I am laughing. According to my results from the Pottery Barn Style Finder Quiz my decorating style is Farmhouse: “rustic woods, hardworking metals, and sprinkles of barnyard whimsy.”  Me thinks not. While the metals around here may be hardworking [not sure what that even means] the wood is refined and there is NO barnyard whimsy here. As if.

5. I am enthralled. I’ve learned that after soccer, badminton is the most popular sport in the world. Who knew? As such there is scientific research about which shuttlecocks, also known as birdies, are best: ones with duck feathers or ones made of nylon. Learn more HERE about findings that “may represent a new arc in the history of the beloved sport.”

6. I am indulging. I decided that I NEEDED something sweet to eat, something devoid of nutritional value. So I scrounged around online and found this Strawberry Rice Krispie Treats recipe that adds freeze-dried strawberries to the classic recipe. Divinely delicious.

7. I am entertained. I stumbled over this website, MovieGrid.io, that offers a daily online challenge about movies. Titles of said. Dates premiered. Stars in movies. You have 9 chances to answer 9 questions correctly which, if you do, creates a completely filled-in grid of 9 movie posters, NOT like what you see immediately below.  

~ • ~

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

What gives you a sense of place? Is having one important to you?

What’s on your Bunny Rabbit TV Shows list?

If you take the PB style quiz, what style do they say you are? Do you agree with the results?

When you want something sweet to eat that is devoid of nutritional value, what do you turn to? Are you on Team Rice Krispie Treats with me?

~ ~ • ~ ~

Blogging Bomb Diggity: 20 Beguiling Years, 5 Basic Guidelines, & 3 Breezy Questions

/ Ally Bean / 283 Comments

Steve!!!

🔹🔷🔹

Sometimes I feel cuckoo banana pants about long I’ve been around blogland. I started my first personal blog 20 years ago this spring never imagining I’d write one for more than a year or two.

However my life took a few unexpected turns and I kept going, changing weblogs, refining my focus, learning how to write in a chatty way. Carrying on, in what I’d describe as a Steve-like fashion, despite my doubts and mistakes.

At this point I’m glad I was tenacious. I’ve come to realize that writing this blog keeps my brain clicking and my heart open. Also, my no-fuss approach to blogging means it is, for the most part, fun.

Occasionally someone will ask me, a blogging dinosaur, what I’ve learned about how to keep a personal blog. Over the years my answers have varied, evolved, but can be summarized in the following 5 guidelines.

I base my straightforward guidelines on the premise that a personal blog is about sharing stories/information, creating understanding, and being respectful toward other people.

As with everything in life, your mileage may vary.

🔹🔷🔹

5 basic GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A PERSONAL BLOG

Be specific. Life is in the details so share some. Have an opinion or point of view. Do some research. Ambiguity doesn’t make for compelling blog posts.

Be authentic. Have a personality and have the gumption to use it. Avoid anything that might come across as fake or spurious, readers respond to the real deal.

Be meticulous. Your goal is clear communication, so define your terms, use mostly proper grammar and sentence structure, add a little wordy razzle dazzle to keep it fresh. Reply in a timely fashion to comments left on your blog posts.

Be creative. Add something visual to your posts. Find a meme or snap a pic or use colorful fonts. Jazz it up, folks, don’t settle for blah.

Be kind. Once upon a time I wouldn’t have added this last guideline, assuming it was a given. However people can be tetchy now, so be discerning about what you say and mindful about how you say it.

🔹🔷🔹

Clearly I underestimated how long I’d be at this blogging thing.

I cannot say THANK YOU often enough or loudly enough to everyone who follows along and comments here on The Spectacled Bean. You, my little otters of bloggy friendship, give me the lift I need to keep going in blogland.

YOU ARE THE BEST!

🔹🔷🔹

Questions of the Day

Thinking about personal blogs in general, how’d did you get hooked on them?

If you write a personal blog, what has surprised you the most in a positive way about being a blogger? And what has surprised you the most in a negative way?

If you write a personal blog, when the time comes to end it how will you do that?

🔹• 🔷 • 🔹

Glimpses Into A 1980s Presbyterian Community Cookbook & A Peek At Angelic Little Me

/ Ally Bean / 232 Comments
And now for something completely different…

My mother collected cookbooks. The following is a church community cookbook, a fundraiser, from the 1980s. She didn’t contribute anything to it, but dutifully bought one. I’ve shared a few glimpses into it along with a group photo of little Presbyterian angels that included me.

~ • ~

• On the front of the cheerful yellow custom cookbook is a lovely drawing of a generic, one presumes Presbyterian, church.

• My mother used to make this recipe for Crunchy Scalloped Turkey. It was tasty in a mushroom-soup-cracker-crumb sort of way. You understand, different times.

• This is a recipe for Blueberry Salad that I can swear on a stack of Bibles my mother never made. No way would she have put pie filling, sour cream, and [Jell-O brand?] gelatin together. Nor would I. Would you?

• Here is a Worth Remembering page featuring advice about how to clean house. My favorite idea is: “Wash old powder puffs in soapy water, rinse well and dry thoroughly. Then use them for polishing silverware, copper and brass.” Truth bomb, I have no powder puffs BUT if I did by cracky, I’d do this.

• Above is a Poetic Contribution to the cookbook. What would a church cookbook be without a hint of sanctimonious snark*? After Esther’s first rhyming stanza she shifts into a rhyme-less warning about bad breeding.

• Here is a close-up of my thick cute cat-eye glasses that measure 4.75″ wide x 1.25″ high. The little curves on the bows held the glasses securely around my ears thus keeping the glasses attached to my wiggly little self.

• And finally here is a photo of the First Presbyterian Cherub Choir in which you can see me over to the left in the front row wearing said cute little glasses.

~ QUESTIONS OF THE DAY ~

Do you have any community cookbooks? If so, did you buy the book, receive it as a gift, or inherit it?

Thinking about how you approach recipes in general, do you follow the instructions religiously or do you wing it adjusting the recipe as you go along?

Did you wear eyeglasses [aka spectacles] as a child? And how did that make you feel? Do you wear them now?

~ • ~

* Another delightful example of snark from an 1890s Presbyterian cookbook found here.