6 Small Thoughts Upon The 6th Anniversary Of This Blog

January 24, 2017August 28, 2018 / Ally Bean / 64 Comments

A glimpse into my personal blogging evolution…

1) I like my writing better now than when I started The Spectacled Bean. I’ve learned how to write in a smooth flowing chatty style that is genuine, not dry & academic. I express myself with more attitude, more gratitude, less awkwardness, and a propensity to use goofy big words that I love.

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2) I write more in-depth now on one event or topic or person, instead of glossing over and combining many things into one post like I used to do. I’m more focused, definitely less ditzy.

3) I think of my blog as a newspaper lifestyle column now in which I share my observations, experiences + research, making sense of these things, so that I can start conversations which, I hope, add a bit of love + learning + laughter into the world. I no longer think of this blog as a diary or a variety show or a scrapbook.

4) My posts look prettier now thanks to the instant availability of font sizes, styles, and colors. Plus it’s so much easier to add images and videos now. I sometimes wonder why any of us read any blog considering how text-based and bland they all looked.

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5) I find myself more engaged with my followers now than ever before. Lots of fascinating articulate people have found The Spectacled Bean, and I have found their blogs. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts, and thank you for making me part of your lives as well.

6) I’m much mellower now about this whole blogging thing. No more angst over what to write about, little worry about how to write it, still some concern that I’ll make a spelling or grammatical error. But overall, I’m chill– and comfortable in my role as a suburban blogger.

Image sources: |1| |2|

In Which I Lie, But Cannot Decide If It Matters

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 / Ally Bean / 63 Comments

A conundrum.

You know how conventional wisdom says that what you do says more about who you are than what you say?

So here’s the story. An acquaintance who I’ve known for well over a decade says to me something like:

“You always wear eyeglasses with plastic frames, don’t you?”

This is while I’m standing in front of her wearing my rimless eyeglasses that I’ve worn forever.

Like before Sarah Palin made them popular.

Like all the time. Every day. On my face.

And I say back to her:

“Yes.”

She continues talking while I wonder which one of just revealed the most about ourselves.

That is, she is obviously clueless about what I look like if she hasn’t noticed that my eyewear has been the same in all the time I’ve known her.

But what does it say about me that I lied when I didn’t correct her? And that I went right along with her pretend attentiveness, intended to make me think she cares about me?

I don’t have an answer to the questions raised during this less-than-delightful little social interaction, but the conversation caused me to wonder: who’s scamming who here?

A Look At Archetypes: Who Are Your Friends?

May 19, 2016May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 57 Comments

Laverne & Shirley: Back in the day one friend was all you needed! { Source }

This is something fun to think about.

I was listening to Sorta Awesome, a podcast I enjoy. The conversation topic of Episode 54 was how every woman needs a variety of friends in her life because each friend serves a different, but necessary, role in your life.

They were talking about archetypes, not specific names of people. This wasn’t gossip.

As the show went on I started thinking about who I need in my life. The women on the program believed they needed 10 friends, but I decided that at this point in my life I need 5 friends.

Call me a minimalist. Or an introvert.

Below you’ll find my list of the five friends who I need to keep me grateful, connected, grounded, hopeful, and happy.

[A digression. Yesterday in The Guardian I read an article: “Why don’t I have any friends?” Not surprisingly, there are a variety of answers to this question. I mention the article here, my gentle readers, for your general edification. Just saying. No disrespect intended.]

~ ~ • ~ ~

The Biographer… is the friend who knows all the nuances + details of your life, meaning that any problem you take to her needs no background story because she knows it, she knows you, and she knows what you need to do.

~ • ~

The Oprah Fan… is the friend who knows what’s on-trend, whether it be spiritual or sartorial, funny or frowned-upon, healthy or home-y, and she is willing to share her knowledge so you’ll be on-trend, too.

~ • ~

The Loyal Opposition… is the friend who, like you, pays attention to the events in the world, but often comes to a different conclusion about what’s going on and why it is happening.

~ • ~

The Cheerleader… is the friend who is on your side, without any need for you to explain or justify, in-depth, what you are up to; she’s your own personal pep squad.

~ • ~

The Snarkologist… is the friend who makes me laugh out loud because she is unfiltered, truthful, and willing to skewer, in a most wonderful way, anything or anyone who deserves to be taken down a peg.

~ ~ • ~ ~

How about you, my gentle readers? Who are your friends?

March Is The Do-Over Month: Happy New Year 2.0

March 1, 2016March 1, 2016 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

• I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE January and February are practice months.

It’s during these months that I flesh out how I’m going to do whatever lofty word I’ve chosen for my one word of the year [this year’s word here]. I make my mistakes in the cold of winter when no one will notice.

Or so I think.

• THEN ON MARCH 1, which happens to be today, I start all over again, relying on the wisdom I’ve gained through ~~fiddle-farting my days away~~ failure, marching toward being a better bean.

If you know what I mean.

• THIS IS HOW MY wack-a-doodle mind works, so when I found the following simple Workplace Thinking Style Graph [details here] that leads me to believe I am not alone in the way I do things, I was thrilled.

Coolness. I love straightforward explanations.

• ACCORDING TO THIS CHART, I am an Optimizer. That is because, no matter what I do, my focus is on process; and, despite wanting to be less of a micro-manager, my orientation is on details.

This describes me perfectly. [Read beginning of this post to confirm.]

So it is with this insight, as I move FORWARD into the rest of 2016, that I leave you, my gentle readers, today. Later kids, I’ve got some New Years celebrating to do. 😉