Learning

Sometimes These Quizzes Are Accurate, Says The Ranch House

/ Ally Bean / 16 Comments

•  I took the What’s Your Architectural Personality? quiz.  My results said:

You’re solid as a Ranch house!

Simple and suburban by nature, you exude a cozy warmth that lets people know you don’t mind if they leave their shoes on in the house — it’s only carpet, after all! Family and friends are important to you, and you love having them stop by. While not overly fussy or vain, you care about your looks — but honestly, you’re happiest in sweatpants. To you, life isn’t measured in the goods you’ve acquired, but in time well spent.

•  My results linked to a webpage that explained that I am more than likely to be a… [mighty, mighty] brick house:

“Ranch homes tend to be easy to maintain because they’re often made of brick, which requires little fuss, and they’re sparsely adorned.”

•  Oddly accurate, don’t you think?  [Even more interesting when you consider that the last question on the quiz asked which dog I preferred: a basset hound or a golden retriever?  I chose basset hound.  If I had chosen golden retriever, then my architectural personality would have been Greek Revival— which doesn’t seem like me at all even though I like golden retrievers.]

The Naming Of Crickets Is An Easy Matter

/ Ally Bean / 14 Comments

[This is a random post if there ever was one.  H/T to T. S. Eliot for the inspiration for the title.]

When I think of crickets, I think of three things.

1.  The Big Bang Theory.  There’s a cricket in our basement.  The cricket in our basement is noisy.  At about 10:00 p.m. each evening our little cricket friend ramps up his chirping.  I think that he is a he– and that he is trying to attract any lady crickets who might be around.

Of course I could be wrong about our little cricket friend’s motive because I learned most of what I know about crickets from an episode of The Big Bang Theory.  That’s how I got edumacated on this subject.

• • •

2.  Jiminy Cricket.  Once I realized that our little cricket friend was living with us inside our house, I named him for Disney’s famous cartoon cricket, Jiminy Cricket.  Then I set out to find a video with Jiminy.

The video I found features Jiminy as host and is about “How To Have Fun Safely.”  I remember seeing this cartoon when I was a kid.  Jiminy wants me to live to be 83.  And to not be a fool.  And other assorted things that I may or may not have done throughout my lifetime.

Somehow, after viewing this video, I get the feeling that Jiminy would not be the sort of cricket who, now that I’m an adult, would meet me for a cocktail.  He seems a bit judgmental and uptight to me.  Just a little bit too know-it-all-y.

• • •

3.  Buddy Holly and the Crickets.  I remember once upon a time, in the early years of our marriage, we received a housewarming gift that was a good luck brass cricket for our hearth.  I felt that the cricket was a cute, whimsical gift with wonderful symbolism;  I majored in English Lit.  Zen-Den, an Econ/Business major, thought it was dumb.

I don’t remember who gave us that gift because it was a long time ago.  Although not as long ago as when there were “Rock and Roll Specialists” singing about a girl named Peggy Sue.  Which, now that I think about it, is the name that I’d give the cricket in the basement if I thought he was a she.

• • •

 

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.

So, Can You Do This?

/ Ally Bean / 17 Comments

When I read the article that included The 20 Most Commonly Used Words, I knew what was required of me.  [5]

Obviously, it was a challenge to use these words in one succinct blog post– just for the fun of it.  [6]

He who wrote this article might not have envisioned my response, but those of you who know and love me will understand immediately.  [6]

This is one of those activities that anyone, with a bit of gumption, can do on his or her blog;  so I did it.  [3]

[Source of inspiration for this little foray into nerdy silliness is an interesting article: “Your Use of Pronouns Reveals Your Personality” by James W. Pennebaker in the Harvard Business Review, December, 2011.  Click here.]