¡Ay, Caramba! 7 Random Things To Tell You On A Tuesday

May 9, 2023August 6, 2024 / Ally Bean / 208 Comments

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1. I am nuts. I woke up thinking: we could change the name of Alexa to Annabelle. Where the heck did that ridiculous idea come from? It’s not like we use Alexa often enough that we need our own special name for her.

2. I am laughing. I follow a few comic strips on Instagram [that I believe are also available on other social media]. The two comics that make me the happiest are: Foxes in Love AND Underpants and Overbites. Never say I don’t share the best with you, my bloggy friends.

3. I am delighted. I read this interview with Diane Keaton and realized that her approach to life is inspiring. At 77 she exudes enthusiasm with a kind of determination to live in the moment, to not get bogged down, that rings true with me. She’s her own quirky person, doing her own thing… her way.

4. I am befuddled. I bought the wrong marigolds. While shopping for annuals at the garden nursery I forgot how much I didn’t like the garish orange marigolds I bought last year– and then what did I do? I went on to repeat my mistake, buying the orange ones again instead of the groovy mellow yellow marigolds I prefer.

5. I am considering. For years I’ve read about the value of creating a Commitment Inventory. You write down all that you’ve said that you’d do; then you evaluate what you’re doing with your time and how to prioritize your commitments. I can’t decide if this is busy work for a free spirit like me– or might actually have some value.

6. I am drinking. We watched a documentary Neat: The Story of Bourbon. It was compelling, informative, and features Steve Zahn as comic relief. Prompted by our newfound knowledge, we marched out to the liquor store and bought some Woodford Reserve Double Oaked to serve neat, of course.

7. I am charmed. I saw a bumpersticker on a car that said: Think about Honking if you like Conceptual Art. Just goes to show that there are some absurdly delightful people running around out there. God bless them one and all.

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So, what random things have you been up to, mi amigos? Tell all in the comments below, but for the love of Bart don’t overthink it!

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A Crack In Everything: Talking With A Friend About Aging Gracefully + Announcing A Change To My Blog Schedule

April 25, 2023 / Ally Bean / 251 Comments

A WHILE BACK I WAS TALKING with a Friend about a decision she needed to make. Not a huge one, but a smaller annoying one that comes down to deciding who she is comfortable being now.

Friend, much to her consternation, has to alter her way of thinking about something.

While the details of Friend’s decision are specific to her particular situation, there’s a bigger picture to contemplate, especially as you get older. And a little bit cracked by life.

As we all do.

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HERE’S THE DEALIO: Friend is in her early 50s and has been running almost every day since she starred on her high school cross country team. As an adult she runs marathons, not ultramarathons or half marathons, but MARATHONS.

She’s very clear on this point.

Friend is known for, and is externally validated by, running marathons. She proudly & consistently defines herself as a marathoner, and up until this last year she’s ALWAYS been the fastest, or second fastest, in her age group. She has ruled in every marathon she’s ever run, until now.

This does not please her.

Friend knows she’s getting slower, the numbers prove it, but she still wants to keep running because she likes to run. However from her point of view there’s a decision to be made, one that is more ego-based than anything else.

Should she:

A) Continue to run in marathons like she has her entire life while reluctantly accepting that there’s a good chance she’ll not be the best in her age group anymore which makes her sad?

B) Start to run in half marathons, something she considers second-class to a *real* marathon, but wherein she believes she’d be the fastest in her age group which makes her happy?

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I’LL TELL YOU FRIEND’S DECISION in the comments below so that you, my little sparks of joy, can take a few seconds to contemplate how you’d handle a situation that involves your ego struggling with itself to gracefully accept the fact that you’re aging.

That is, are you more inclined to lean into doing the same thing as always, but in what you’d describe as a less successful way? Or are you more inclined to do something new that you consider inferior, but do it in a brilliant way?

To put this quandary in a more chit-chatty pithy way: do you keep on keeping on [focus on perseverance] OR do you accept that life’s tough and get a helmet [focus on modification]?

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PLEASE NOTE:

In order to allow more light to get into my life, The Spectacled Bean will be on SPRING/SUMMER HOURS until further notice.

I shall forget my perfect weekly offerings and instead post every couple of weeks, reply to comments here, and check-in with you on your blogs every so often.

Take it easy, everyone. Ring those bells!

Do good. Play nice. Be happy.

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The End Of The World? I Asked ChatGPT To Tell Me A Story (And I Feel Fine)

April 18, 2023May 5, 2025 / Ally Bean / 263 Comments

INTRODUCTION

Pride goeth before the fall, as my mother used to say.

To see what would happen I asked ChatGPT to tell me a story about a starfish, a kohlrabi, and a dragon. It did so quickly crafting a 338 word story. Then I went to pixabay to look for suitable free photos/images to enhance the story.

This little adventure in putting together a blog post took me [maybe] 15 minutes. In truth I spent most of that time searching through pixabay pictures and not waiting for AI to compose a story.

Admittedly as someone who writes a personal blog I’ve always known that I was optional, but I do take pride in doing my best here. Nonetheless with ChatGPT and its ilk creating good stories, maybe even better ones than what I write, I wonder if my optionality is just the first step to insignificance.

However, be that as it may or may not be, I invite you to read the following story and decide for yourself if there’s anything for me, for any blogger, for any writer, to worry about.

THE TALE OF THE OCEAN HEROES

Once upon a time, in a mythical land, there lived a starfish named Stella. Stella was a special starfish as she had the power to talk and communicate with other creatures in the sea. She loved to explore and make new friends.

Stella the starfish

One day, while she was exploring the seabed, she stumbled upon a strange-looking vegetable called kohlrabi. It was not something she had seen before, and she was curious to know more about it. Suddenly, she heard a loud roar, and when she looked up, she saw a dragon flying above her.

The dragon was not like any other dragon. It was small and cute, and its scales were a mix of pink and purple. The dragon landed on the seabed and introduced herself as Daisy. Stella and Daisy became instant friends and decided to explore the sea together.

Daisy the dragon

As they were swimming, they saw a group of fish swimming frantically, and they decided to investigate. The fish were caught in a fishing net, and they needed help. Stella and Daisy knew they had to act fast. They called out to all the sea creatures nearby, including kohlrabi, to help them rescue the fish.

With the kohlrabi’s sharp edges, they cut the fishing net and freed the fish. The sea creatures cheered, and they became friends. Stella, Daisy, and the kohlrabi decided to form a team to help other sea creatures in need. They called themselves “The Ocean Heroes.”

the kohlrabi

From that day on, Stella the starfish, Daisy the dragon, and the kohlrabi went on many adventures together, helping other sea creatures in need. They even helped a lost turtle find its way back home. The Ocean Heroes became well known and loved in the sea, and their friendship and courage inspired many other sea creatures.

And so, Stella the starfish, Daisy the dragon, and the kohlrabi formed an unbreakable bond of friendship, proving that no matter how different we may seem, we can achieve great things when we work together.

MY OPINION & REVIEW OF THE STORY

As you can see ChatGPT wrote a sweet short story. It made me smile and gave me all the warm feels. I suspect that was the point. Even as an adult I recognize that I want to be Stella the starfish. She’s curious, friendly, proactive, and courageous.

A definite role model.

And Daisy the dragon? Beyond being cute she’s a confident bff who helps solve problems. I like her, too.

My only qualm with this story is why didn’t ChatGPT give the kohlrabi a name, like Kenneth the kohlrabi? That seems short-sighted to me.

It’s as if ChatGPT is lacking in understanding about human relationships, unaware that humans tend to name every *person* in a story so that humans might more easily intuitively grasp the message of the story.

But then, what do I know?

I’m just a human.

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

What do you think of the story? Do you want to be Stella the starfish when you grow up?

Could you write a better story? And if so, how long would it take you to write and edit it? Then create artwork for it?

Are you concerned about Artificial Intelligence creeping into the world of writers and displacing humans?

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Pondering A Quandary: Is The Goal Of Setting Goals A Good Goal?

March 21, 2023March 21, 2023 / Ally Bean / 243 Comments

from Gretchen Rubin

Welcome to my quandary of the month.

I took Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies Quiz [HERE] to learn what my personality tendency is. I am a QUESTIONER.

As much as I enjoy irony and want to say I question that result, I don’t. It sounds right to me. And it explains, at least to me, why lately I’ve been having a difficult time deciding what to write about here.

Does this happen to you, too?

It’s not like I’m not writing, totally bereft of words, wondering where Muse is hiding. Nope, I’m writing oodles but I’m never satisfied with what I write. I have an idea, write a post, edit it into perfection, then question whether I want, or need, to talk about whatever I wrote.

Thus I delete many a post and try writing another one, hoping I’ll stumble on a different idea or point of view that seems worthy of publishing here.

Blogging has become one big old game of Ally Try Again.

And the thing is that after all these years of writing a personal blog my hesitation seems odd to me. I’m a free spirit [read my tagline] so wouldn’t it follow that I should just know | intuit | reason what to write about?

In the past that’s been the case.

However lately, much to my consternation, I’ve been floundering confounded by a strange tension in my mind about what to do next. And I don’t like feeling like this, it doesn’t seem like proactive me, yet here we are.

from Witchy Moms

So in an attempt to make sense of my behavior I decided to explore the concept of setting goals. Perhaps I need some? Could that be my issue?

I do tend to fly by the seat of my pants here.

Have you noticed?

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary a GOAL is: “the end toward which effort is directed : AIM.” Going a bit further, the dictionary suggests synonyms include but are not limited to: objective, intent, purpose.

In addition to the basic dictionary definition there’s always that business dude, Peter Drucker, and his old chestnut S.M.A.R.T. This acronym stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound.

It’s trite, but utilizing it could help me reverse my recent descent into indecision, I guess.

The thing is that the goals I’m contemplating, ones that’d resonate with me, wouldn’t be based on numbers because that’d be silly. I don’t need to focus on word count or publishing deadlines or reader engagement stats to feel like I have it going on here.

Instead I’m thinking about goals based on a personal sense of purpose. Something like a manifesto, but not so intense. It’d be a declaration of my raison d’être stated in the simplest way possible, perhaps embodied in a few NUDGE WORDS, maybe from the Growth or Adventure categories as explained HERE?

My mythical set of goals would be something I could use as motivation, a kind of thesis statement meant to keep me on the right track so that I’d not waste time pussyfooting around in my mind trying to decide what to write about.

Or maybe I’m overthinking this? That’s a possibility too. Following that line of reasoning I have to wonder if I should get over myself and simply show up, then write something, anything even.

Perhaps THAT is the goal after all– and I already know it.

Thoughts, anyone?