Introspection

My Summer Of Blogging Lightly

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

 √  I did things differently on The Spectacled Bean this summer.    

  • I only posted to this blog once a week.
  • I talked about things in a general way.  Rarely personal.  Everything light.
  • I shared more photos than I have in the past.

But doing the foregoing turned out to be more difficult than I’d anticipated.  What I did not take into consideration was that I’m in the habit of always being on the lookout for something to talk about here on The Spectacled Bean.  I’ve been doing this a long time, you know?  So it felt kind of weird to not tell you the details about what was going on around here.   

√  Be that as it may, here are my conclusions about my ~ It’s Summertime ~ idea:

  • I like posting on Tuesday.
  • I enjoy doing a few lightweight posts, but not all the time.
  • I miss writing in the moment about the crazy situations that make up much of my life.
  • I feel like my writing skills atrophy when I restrict myself to short & infrequent posts.
  • I don’t mind adding photos to my posts… which means that I need to take more photos. 

√  And on that note, I officially declare this summer experiment in blogging to be over.  I plan on returning to my 2 or 3 times per week posting schedule.  Because this is an old-school style personal journal type of blog I have no idea what I’ll be talking about next,  but I hope that you’ll check back daily from time-to-time to see what flapdoodle & twaddle vitally compelling & important topic I’m dithering on about discussing here at The Spectacled Bean.  You know you want to.

Answering The Quaker Questions

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

FYI, THE 2019 UPDATE TO THIS POST IS HERE: Revisiting The Quaker Questions: Say What? Naked Who?

[Please note: I updated this post August 2015 to include additional links that did not show up on my original Google search when I wrote the post in June 2012.]

•  Once upon a time Zen-Den and I joined a Presbyterian Church.  At one of the New Members Meetings we answered The Quaker Questions.  Here are the three questions:

  1. Where were you born?
  2. When you were 7 years old how did your family heat your home?
  3. What person in your real life growing up influenced you in a way that makes you who you are today?

•  Curious as always, I did a Google search on The Quaker Questions.  I figured that they were probably rather standard;  but I was wrong.  I found the following links– none of which duplicate what I’d call The Quaker Questions.

•  As you probably know I’m a firm believer in the idea that: if something works, stick with it.  Therefore I’ll be answering THE [PRESBYTERIAN-ESQUE] QUAKER QUESTIONS that were asked of me years ago.  So without further nattering, I give you my answers:

1.  Ohio

2.  Our home was an old house that consisted of two apartments, with a modern addition at the back of it.  We lived in the upstairs apartment.  The original part of the house was 100 years old and heated by a huge old clunky gas furnace in the basement that sent warmth to large hissy radiators in the rooms upstairs.

The newer part of the house, at the back of the building, had a coal-burning fireplace with a gas starter [that used a really cute little metal key that my 7 y.o. self adored & wanted for her very own.]

3.  My 10th grade English teacher had a big influence on who I am today.  She believed that everyone could write well.  She was a cheerful soul who gave me the courage to express myself on paper;  she taught me how to enjoy whatever life had to offer, knowing that later I could write it down to share with other people.

•  Care to play along?  Do so in the comments below OR on your own blog.

Five Senses Friday

/ Ally Bean / 7 Comments

~ ~ • ~ ~

Feeling:

 tired

~  this has been an emotionally draining week filled with drama [so not me] + sadness [accept it] + introspection [must understand self better]

Hearing:

birds chirping loudly

~  a noisy cute little brown birdie couple have built a nest exactly where they can annoy me when I sit on the screened-in porch & when I’m in the kitchen

Tasting:

freshly brewed black coffee

~  as I insist on doing this meme in the morning I don’t know that they’ll ever be any other answer to this prompt

Seeing:

new buffalo check drapes hanging in the bay window in the kitchen

~ this is a project in process so no photos yet

Smelling: 

 the aroma of  juiced lemons

~  I’m about to make lemon curd for the first time – wish me luck

~ ~ • ~ ~

{This wonderful idea is from abby try again.  If you wish, you may play along in the comments below or on your own blog.}