I’m Just Saying

As Per NaBloPoMo: Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

/ Ally Bean / 22 Comments

I.  I’ve enjoyed June 2014 NaBloPoMo [done my way].  The theme of this month’s challenge is: COMMENTS.  There are daily prompts associated with this challenge, but I haven’t answered any of them.  I’ve been lazy, but admit to feeling guilty about my behavior.

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II.  To make up for my slothiness re: answering specific prompts, I thought that right here, right now I’d share MY GENERAL PHILOSOPHY ON PERSONAL BLOG COMMENTS.

  1. I like them.  I leave them.  And so should you.
  2. My blog, my rules.  Therefore, if I consider a commenter to be a troll, flying monkey or spammer, I’ll delete what he/she/it says without comment.  [Yes, that’s a bit of irony.]
  3. Blogs have comment sections.  I won’t return to a personal blog without a comment section because a blog without comments is just another webpage.

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III.  Today’s prompt is: “Write on Someone Else’s Blog Day: instead of writing a post on your own blog, go leave five comments. It still counts as writing!”  Here are the 5 NaBloPoMo bloggers who did as instructed [or other first time commenters who came here] to LEAVE A COMMENT FOR ME.  I’ll fill this in later because today I’ll be out leaving comments on other NaBloPoMo bloggers’ blogs.  [Obviously.]

  1. Jennie at Jen’s Rambling Thoughts
  2. Maria at FOREST TREE NUT
  3. ?
  4. ?
  5. ?

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IV.  So there you have it, my gentle readers.  A confession.  A summary. A list.  And now, as I end this post, A THANK YOU FOR PAYING ATTENTION to my sweet little bloggy and taking the time to get involved in the conversation.  I appreciate your gift of comments.  Always.

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V.  And as reward for getting this far in a lengthy meta post, I leave you all, new and old bloggy friends, with the funniest video I’ve seen in ages.  WORDS OF WISDOM, gentle readers.  Words of wisdom.

“You can’t hit people because you want pancakes.”

An Observation On The Unintended Consequences Of The Behavior Of Elderly In-laws Who Watch The Weather Channel

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

Not covering any new ground here, but needs to be said.  Love is a strange thing.

Every time the Weather Channel shows bad weather where we live, my in-laws, who live hours away from here, phone us to make sure that we’re okay.

At age 80+ they do not believe in calling a cell phone number because they believe that talking on the phone while driving a car is dangerous.  And because they do not know if either one of us will be in our car when we answer our cell phones, they leave a message on our landline answering machine.

The messages are all about the same.  First, they say our names, then tell us who is calling.  Then they hang up without telling us why they called.  No good-bye, just click and the line goes dead.

It is from this pattern of behavior that we have come to know when bad weather is headed our way.  The lack of concrete message is the clue.

Because we both are too busy to spend much time in front of the TV this sort of non-message phone message has come to be our own special, personalized form of the Weather Channel.  And we love it.

And them for doing it.

Keep It Simple. Eat A Banana.

/ Ally Bean / 12 Comments

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I awakened this morning with a charley horse in my right calf.  Not the smoothest way to start the day.  But one that got me thinking about a woman who I used to know who had some fascinating ideas about the nature of reality.

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This woman who I’ll call K, was one of the nicest, calmest, most supportive human beings I’ve ever met.  She was a mother of 4, wife of a physician, lived in a charming older home that she filled with pets, overstuffed furniture & amazing meals.

K, who was born in the late 1940s and influenced by the 1960s hippie movement, was a nurturing person who grooved on Dr. Wayne Dyer and healing crystals.  And it was from this perspective that she viewed reality.

For instance, one of K’s beliefs was that when a person awoke with a pain in his or her body, the pain was a result of the sleeper’s body being used by some celestial force in a different plane of existence during the night.  This made sense to her and she shared this idea with anyone who’d listen to her.

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Now I cannot conclusively say that K’s idea is totally wrong.  Who knows, eh?  But I can tell you, my gentle readers, that my father was a small town doctor who had slightly different take on charley horses in the middle of the night.

His simple, straight-to-the-point explanation of why a person had a charley horse was that said person wasn’t eating enough magnesium potassium.  And to remedy this situation he’d just say: “Eat a banana.“

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And so it is as I sit here this morning typing this story that I find myself eating a banana– and reflecting upon the wonderful people who I’ve known in my life.  Some a little more based in my idea of reality, than others.

The “So, Do You Like Me More?” Experiment

/ Ally Bean / 18 Comments

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This is an experiment.  You, my gentle readers, are the control group.  Below I will post a little paragraph for you to read, then you’ll be asked to answer a few easy questions.  Thank you in advance for your participation in this experiment of dubious value that is perfect for a Friday morning blog post.

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The Paragraph:

Here’s what’s happening.  Sir &/or Ma’am, I appreciate that your time is limited so I can’t help but wonder: how can I help?  I ask this because I believe in you.  I’ll find out the answer to this question and then when you thank me, I’ll be able to say the best words ever: you’re welcome.

The Questions:

1) Having read the above do you inexplicably like me more than you did before?

2)  Which specific words in the above paragraph do you believe made you like me more?

3)  Is it possible that by using 19 Words That Will Make People Like You More I have become the most desperate for something to write about most well-loved & respected blogger ever?

Bonus Question – Does anyone else count only 18 words on the 19 word list?  Just wondering.

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I await your answers in the comment section below.