If We Were Having Coffee On This May Morning…

May 14, 2016August 28, 2018 / Ally Bean / 55 Comments

THE SETTING:

We’d be sitting in my living room, watching a rabbit watch us through the window.

We’d be drinking espressos that I made with my Nepresso Pixie machine, an indulgent acquisition that I’m really enjoying more than I thought I would.

We’d be listening to SiriusXM 40s Junction because I’ve been in a weird mood lately and have taken a fancy to this old music. It’s fun.

THE CONVERSATION:

√ We’d be chatting… about the grocery bag, filled with canned goods, that you saw by our mailbox post when you drove into the driveway. The bag is for our postwoman to pick-up today as part of the 24th annual Letter Carriers’ Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. I’d be snarking about the half-assed neighbors who don’t give to this cause. I notice, I remember.

√ We’d be sharing… our latest TV obsessions, which in my case is watching The Gilmore Girls from beginning to end, anticipating the revival. I only saw the show occasionally when it ran on TV, so I decided that as a treat throughout Spring and Summer, I’d watch all the episodes in order. So far, so delighted.

√ We’d be talking… about my question: if you have a blog, do you have a page for it on FB? And if so, is it worth the bother? Some friends in real life have suggested I should put The Spectacled Bean on FB to get more traffic. While I like this idea in theory, because more people in real life NEED to be following me, I dunno if I believe it would work. What say ye?

√ We’d be laughing… about how I know who I’m going to vote for in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. I’m voting for myself because I’m the perfect candidate who can make both sides happy. For Republicans, I have no experience in politics. For Democrats, I’m a woman who knows a thing or two. See what I mean? Presidential.

THE CONCLUSION:

We’d linger today because neither one of us has much to do today. Go figure. And it’s a Saturday, even.

However, eventually we’d need to go our separate ways so we’d hug and promise to get together sometime next month, if summer vacations don’t interfere.

And we’d thank each other for listening to & commenting on our joys and woes. Like friends do. Everywhere. Over an espresso.

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Idea for this post came from Diana at Part-Time Monster.

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Z Is For Zwieback, A Good Way To End

April 30, 2016May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 50 Comments

“You can’t dunk your zwieback in your Bosco.”

~ Radar O’Reilly, M*A*S*H

This quote, which is from an episode of M*A*S*H, refers to the uncomfortable feeling you have around someone who is more uptight + judgmental than you are.

Radar said it to Hawkeye in a literal way, referring to Colonel Potter, but over time this quote has come to be an idiom meaning that you’re not relaxed and confident around someone else because you’re afraid that you’ll do something wrong.

And get in trouble or be judged for it.

I’ve heard people in real life say this quote. It’s clever, and it does show you how language + meaning evolve in the most unpredictable ways.

Which, now that I think about it, might the subtext of my FOOD: Talking The Talk theme. That is, all the words I’ve picked here have morphed, for reasons varied, into meaning something more than their literal definitions, which for me, a wordsmith + foodie, is worthy of note.

And it is a perfect thought on which to end this 2016 A To Z Challenge.

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Thanks everyone for stopping by to read and comment. I appreciate you taking the time to be here as I did something I wasn’t sure that I could do. I guess, after all my doubts, my challenge turned out to be better, rather than worse.

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PLEASE NOTE: next week I’ll reflect upon this blogging adventure, using the sayings that didn’t make the cut. You’re going to like it. 😉

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P Is For Parsnips, Most Peculiar

April 19, 2016January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 44 Comments

“Fine words butter no parsnips.”

This is an old English proverb that means empty words or flattery achieve nothing. The idea being that buttering food makes it taste better, but it’s still the same food.

I first remember hearing this proverb on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Olivia d’Abo as Nicole Wallace played an accomplished grifter who was always one step ahead of Vincent D’Onofrio as Detective Robert Goren aka Bobby. She tormented Bobby, the brainiac, like a cat with a mouse, and at one point while he was trying to find a way to put her in jail, she said the above saying.

The saying stuck with me, and is my only “real life” experience with this saying.

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{ SOMETHING TO DO FOR FUN }

If you’re a fan of vegetables and of Walt Disney World, you may remember that during the 1980s & 1990s there was The Kitchen Kabaret show at The Land Pavilion in Epcot.

The show was a hoot, complete silliness– with a memorable theme song. Click HERE to listen to the “Veggie, Veggie, Fruit, Fruit” song. Click HERE to see some photos of the show.

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C Is For Cracker, Just Cuz

April 4, 2016May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 29 Comments

Holy crap on a cracker!

… is one of those things people say when stuff goes wrong in a weird way. I couldn’t tell you when or where I first saw or heard this saying, but I know that I say it from time-to-time.

When I started researching this phrase’s derivation, I discovered that some sources say that “crap on a cracker” is a polite way of re-stating what my FIL, a Korean War vet, would describe as: “sh!t on a shingle.”

I dunno if that’s true, but it makes for a good story.

What I do know to be true about this phrase is that it’s been made popular by Kaley Cuoco’s character Penny on The Big Bang Theory.

And that’s all I can tell you, my gentle readers, about holy crap on a cracker! 😉

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