In Which Ms. Bean Does Not Give In To Curmudgeonliness

September 30, 2014May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 21 Comments

“Everybody makes their own fun. If you don’t make it yourself, it isn’t fun. It’s entertainment.”

~ David Mamet, State and Main

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I WAS DRIVING BY A HIGH SCHOOL when I noticed that the kid in the car that had just pulled out in front of me, while obeying all appropriate rules of the road, had something written on his back window. So when we got to a stoplight, I made sure that I was behind the car to see what it said.

It said: “Honk. I’m a Senior.”

I didn’t honk. My first thought was that it seemed a tad premature to ask for external validation before you actually accomplish something like– oh, I don’t know— graduate from high school. Earn a college degree or two. Get a job. Buy a house. Fund your 401K.

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BUT THEN AS I DROVE ALONG I had an unexpected change of heart when I realized what an old fogey I’d become. I’m sure that when I was a kid in high school I would have thought that a message like the one on the car was clever + fun.

And it was harmless.

Of course by the time that I came to this conclusion, the kid in the car had turned onto a different road, so my opportunity to honk at him was gone. But I have to thank him for reminding me that everybody needs a bit of moral support from time-to-time, and that asking for it is a good way to make your own fun.

Simply Wonderful: Fall Is Here

September 23, 2014September 23, 2014 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

I tend to overthink things. I don’t know if that comes to me naturally or if it was instilled in me as a child through well-meaning adults. Doesn’t matter. What is, is.

{ source }

I’d been pondering my tendency to overthink when I happened to see this Cary Grant quote. It seemed like the perfect mantra to adopt during my favorite season of the year. Why not think less? Keep life simple. Occupy myself more with doing.

{ source }

Later while surfing the net, I stumbled upon this Paulo Coelho quote, which reinforced my newfound desire to live simply. I mean, who doesn’t want to find the extraordinary things? I can do that. I’ll be wise.

So it is with the foregoing in mind that I’ve decided to groove on simplicity for the next few months. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I figure if the Universe has gone out of its way to make sure that I get this “simplify” message, then the message is important. Hallelujah, eh? Make it so.

When The Writing Is Not Easy Because You Care Too Much

September 18, 2014April 17, 2024 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

“You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone’s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift.”

~ Erin Morgenstern, Night Circus

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Bloggers often talk about burnout, being unable to think of something to write about. But for me, this week, has been something different from that.

My brain has been in 5th gear all week, going way too fast.

I’ve thought of many things to say here– and even gone so far as to compose a few posts. In fact, I’ve written three lengthy ones that when completed I decided didn’t have the right subject matter or tone for this blog.

So I deleted them.

This has left me feeling mildly panicked about who I am and what to post here today. Odd isn’t it? Too much thinking, too much caring and I end up here today with nothing to say– as if I was burned out.

THE LESSON: Some weeks all roads lead to nothing. And that’s okay.

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{ Source: Dilbert by Scott Adams }

Move Over Proust, Aromatic Advertisements Are The New Madeleines

August 7, 2014May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 25 Comments

I DON’T KNOW THAT I can adequately answer the question posed below, but I can tell you about what happened to me yesterday when one of those aromatic advertisements fell out of an Ulta mailing and landed on my lap.

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I WAS SITTING ON THE screened-in porch, glancing through the mailing, when an aromatic advertisement for Donna Karan’s newest fragrance, DKNY MYNY, plopped itself down on me.

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I DIDN’T THINK A THING about it. I grabbed the aromatic advertisement intending to put it on the table beside me, but I stopped mid-movement when the scent immediately reminded me of being a little girl.

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I WAS PULLED BACK TO decades ago when my family lived in an urban apartment above my father’s medical practice. At that time, my mother always wore one particular perfume, Ma Griffe, which– oddly enough— I remember as smelling like this new Donna Karan fragrance.

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SO I BEGAN TO WONDER what was in the new perfume that reminded me of my mother’s perfume. A quick check of the two fragrances at basenotes gave me my answer: both scents have Galbanum top notes [a fresh, natural “green” scent]; Jasmine middle notes [a sweet, intense “calming” scent]; and Vanilla base notes [a warm, boozy “comforting” scent]. Now how trippy is that? Hmmm?