"Everyone is trying to accomplish something big, not realizing that life is made up of little things." ~ Frank Clark


Tuesday, April 13, 2010

American Marriage

So I was browsing Facebook last night, mostly to avoid writing a paper that was due today and I found an interesting page with a group making a documentary about... what else? Marriage today in America.
The main tag line of the movie is:
"Pulling back the veil on why we say "I do"

American Marriage
a film by Mike Flanagan & Courtney Bell


"American Marriage" is the first feature length documentary to examine the whole story of marriage itself, from ancient times to the present - from divorce to dowries, prenups to polygamy, veils to Vegas, and everything in between.

**Still in production it is set to be released sometime 2011

With todays debate on the definition of marriage, companionship and the role of government I think that history has a way of putting things in perspective.

Now I know that just about everyone has strong feelings about the issue so I won't go on a crazy rant and rave but I will say this, I think there are lot bigger problems that we as a nation should be addressing more seriously.

One of the interesting points it raised is in another tag line:
"If your brakes failed as often as marriages do, would you ever drive your car?"
After thinking about that question I'm not sure that I would. At my age I am positive that I think more about the brakes of my car than I do about the possibility of me having a successful marriage.
I guess like most Americans I always thought that my first instinct would be a good enough guide to make the 'best' possible dating decisions. And I'm hoping that this film will challenge my 'fairy tale' attitude about love, companionship and marriage.


See the official trailer


One of my favorite phrases of the preview is:

There are only 4 questions of value in life.
1) What is sacred?
2) Of what is sacred?
3)What is worth living for?
4)What is worth dying for?
The answer to each is the same, only love.
~Author unknown

For more information on the documentary, here's the site.
http://www.americanmarriagemovie.com/#


What do you think?
About the issue, the documentary or anything; I'd love to hear from you!
(And as always please be considerate of others, we're all mature adults)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Personality test...

Since graduation is just around the corner I've been thinking about what to do with myself.
I've wanted to go to law school for so many years that I haven't really thought of anything else. But lately I've been contemplating that decision.

So I decided to take the Jung Typology test as a quick way to 'get to know myself' better.
This is similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and follows the 4 pairs of preferences: Extraversion - Introversion, Sensing - iNtuition, Thinking - Feeling, Judgment - Perception.
Here is a quick reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator

If you're interested in taking the test yourself, here is the link:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Your Type is

INFJ
Introverted - Intuitive - Feeling - Judging

Strength of the preferences %
78 - 25 - 12 - 67

A 'Qualitative analysis of your type formula' revealed that I am...
- very expressed introvert
- moderately expressed intuitive personality
- slightly expressed feeling personality
- distinctively expressed judging personality

----

I went a step forward and analyzed the 'best' career options.
They (Jung Career Indicator) suggested...
Social Work - Education - Librarian - Law

in health care...
Early Childhood Education - Psychology/Psychotherapist - Counseling

in art/science...
Design - Science


**Famous people of your particular type
John Bradshaw, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, John Calvin, Nicole Kidman


----

I also took a look at my type description according to Dr. Kiersey.
In this theory there are 4 temperaments: The Guardians, The Idealist, The Artisans, The Rationals.
It is broken down further depending on your Communication (Concrete vs. Abstract) and Action (Utilitarian vs. Cooperative) scores.
For a quick run down, here is the link: http://keirsey.com/handler.aspx?s=keirsey&f=fourtemps&tab=1&c=overview
My results were...

Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.


**Famous people of my particular type
Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).


They even included a lot of extra tips that I'm going to go through but won't list for conserving space (and boring my readers).
But in case you're a INFJ - Counselor (or just curious) I will post the links for your own analysis.

Careers:
Best Job Fit for Idealists
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/wz21.asp
Dealing With Stress at Work: Idealists Out of Balance
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/wz33.asp
3 Surprising Things Idealist Counselor Bosses Do Well
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/wz67.asp

Relationships:
Women and Romance - Idealist Women
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/lz23.asp
Men and Romance - The Idealist Lover
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/lz28.asp
Love the One You're With - Tips for Idealists With Non-Idealist Partners
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/lz88.asp

School:
Idealist Students: Maximizing Your Study Environment
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/cz18.asp
Idealists: Capitalizing on Your Diplomatic Intelligence Style
http://keirsey.com/personalityzone/cz36.asp

----

And for all you INFJ's out there here are a couple of articles that I'll be reading.
The first one is by Joe Butt and the second is by Marina Margaret Heiss.
http://typelogic.com/infj.html



Hmmm... this gives me a lot to think about, the test results are really interesting.
And while they sound pretty accurate I want to be careful not to get swept away with the assumption of that's just 'how I am' without leaving any room to change.
With that I will leave you with these words of wisdom...

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength, mastering yourself is true power."
~ Lao Tzu

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Part of being a 90's kid...

I found this from Rachael (http://rach-marie.blogspot.com/) and wow is this sooo true...
I even marked my favorites

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

* That's enough, Nickelback.

* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

* Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

* There is a great need for sarcasm font.

* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

* How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

* Was learning cursive really necessary?


* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy, bro.

* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart.”

* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent an idiot from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

* Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

* What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

* I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

* Bad decisions make good stories.


* Whenever I'm Facebook-stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

* Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier and sluttier every year?

* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

* Why is it that during an icebreaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.


* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't already told me that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.


* Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

* It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey- but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...


* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?

* It really ticks me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

* I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatty before dinner.