My Take On Valentine’s Day: A Contrarian’s Point Of View

February 14, 2013February 14, 2013 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

I won’t lie. I think that for adults Valentine’s Day is a big ‘ole waste of time & money. Too contrived.

I like hearts. I like chocolate. I like flowers. I like dinner. I like jewelry.

But need we do them all on one day? Would we not be better served if we distributed these little treats of life over the course of a year?

I think that we would be. And as I adhere to the philosophy that one should be the change one wants to see, I can assure you that the extent of my Valentine’s Day celebration will be this post… with the cute little heart on it.

The rest of you, please carry on in a way that makes sense to you. I know that you will regardless of what I write here. Have a good time. Please. Do.

But as for me, I think that I’ll follow the wise words of Dharma from Dharma & Greg: “A big part of being open is to embrace things you know are stupid.”

Which, for me, is Valentine’s Day. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

[Image from here.]

A Mid-Winter Sunday Morning In The Park

February 10, 2013July 1, 2025 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

“Many people don’t realize that it’s in what you think are the limitations of a certain form that you can often find your own rhythm and space.”

~ Isabelle Huppert

Sunday was one of those monotone, nondescript days that was neither lovely nor lousy. Not too cold. Not too wet. Not too bleak.

I had almost no energy. Whether it was because of the weather or because we ran around all day on Saturday, I don’t know. Doesn’t matter because I had no pep.

But I thought that we really should do something, so I talked the hubster into going to a city park that we hadn’t been to in years. I remembered that it was flat, paved and had decent parking.

At first I wasn’t going to take my camera with me thinking that without vibrant color outside there’d be nothing to take a picture of. But then I realized that taking photos on a winter day that offered neither sunshine nor snow would be a fun challenge, so the camera came with us. Just in case I saw something I wanted to photograph.

Here’s what I saw…

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Early Morning Light

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013 / Ally Bean / 12 Comments

“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.”

~ Hafiz of Shiraz

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Early the other morning a weird warm weather front came through our area. It brought strong winds and unusual light with it.

When I took this photo I was trying to capture the almost full moon that was still visible in the early morning sky, but the rapidly moving clouds kept me from doing that.

Instead, I ended up with a photo of bare branches + purplish sky. Not what I was trying to do, but beautiful nonetheless.

And perhaps a lesson to me: do your best, see where it goes & take joy in whatever you get!

Sure, You Can Do That

January 15, 2013January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 19 Comments

“In vino veritas est.” ~ Pliny the Elder

“God bless the honest, for they shall make my days more entertaining.” ~ Ally Bean

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As I have mentioned here before I am a good listener. I am also the “go to” person in my social group for how to start a blog. And, as you have probably already figured out, I get tickled by the darnedest things. To wit, the following real life vignette.

An acquaintance, who I see about once every 3 years or so, asked me about how to start a blog. We were at a fancy reception and there was much wine being served.

I told her my standard response* to her question. She seemed intrigued and started asking a bunch more questions about blogging. In the flow of the conversation I told her that I thought that she’d be good at blogging because she is smart and articulate. [Which all bloggers are, right?]

Of course, I wanted to know what she thought that she might be blogging about, so I asked her. Knowing a little bit about her I figured that she’d say something like: my kids, my love of interior design, tips on antiquing, tips on cooking, my conservative political opinions. Subjects that I know she cares about.

But what I did not expect her to say is the most unanticipated, yet delightful, reason for blogging that anyone has told me to date. She told me that she didn’t care what subject she wrote about. That didn’t matter to her at all. No, what she wanted to do in her blog was to: Tell people what to do. Her way. So that they wouldn’t bug her with their stupidness any more.

Now this is an approach to blogging and a point of view, which you have to admit, is both authentic and could be fun to read about, subjects be damned. Plus, I suspect, that in our heart of hearts there isn’t one blogger [or person] out there who hasn’t thought the same thing, but just never had ~~the amount of wine necessary~~ the gumption to say it. So clearly. And so loudly.

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* When you start a blog you need to consider three basic questions.

Do you have something to say? Can you say it in a way that other people will understand? Hmm?
Where will you put your blog? That is, when you decide on your platform will you pay money for it or will it be free?
Will you commit to showing up to your blog on a regular basis? If not, you’ll tick off your friends and readers. And you don’t want that, do you?