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Who Am I?

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One job finding strategy for the unemployed in the 21st century involves a process of looking inside to figure out what sort of person you are. This is especially useful for the fortunate ones who do not have to take the very first paying job that comes along and would like to delay putting on shoes and socks for as long as possible.

If I were Congress, I would create a bi-partisan commission to study my joblessness with the aim of issuing a 2,000 page report detailing my options sometime before Christmas. The report would probably tell me I don’t have the resources to support so much dithering, but by the time I read it, we’ll be at the holiday recess, and things don’t really ramp up again until sometime in February.

But I’m not Congress, so for me the next best thing is to spend some time sitting in a beach chair in the August sunshine, poring over a list of multiple-choice questions that will eventually tell me who I am and what kind of job might make me happy. Easy work, and there’s no harm in it as long as I stay under the daily limit for pina colada consumption.

Of course, this relaxed approach assumes there are millions of attractive, available jobs that prospective employers are anxious to fill, and the only problem is deciding which of the ripe, succulent fruit to pick! Nice fantasy! I already feel the drinks kicking in.

So, what sort of person am I, and what would I like to do?

I am the sort of person who does not like self-examination. What I would really like to do is have someone else tell me the answer this question.

One thing I learned about personality assessments is that asking a question only once is for losers. You have to ask the same question a dozen different ways to try to get around people’s strange compulsion to be consistent. As a result, the test feels like having a conversation with someone who is really not listening to you.

I am still waiting for the results, but I have already figured out all on my own that I am the sort of person who would enjoy writing Personality Assessment Tests.

Choose the answer that feels right. Don’t spend too much time thinking about it.

Are you the sort of person who …
Likes to think things through?
Goes with your first instinct.

Do you like to …
Plan things down to the minute?
Make it up as you go.

When you socialize with others do you …
Like to have it on the calendar well in advance?
Organize a party on the spur of the moment.

If you have a major project to complete at work do you …
Make a list of all the steps before you begin?
Start immediately and think later.

Palate cleanser! In each of the following pairs of random words, which is more appealing to you?

Hairspray
Mousse

Grapefruit
Chandelier

Pigweed
Limousine

Regimented
Free

Obvious
Deceptive

Back to the ‘don’t-think-too-much-about-these’ questions!

Are your favorite kinds of questions …
Repetitive?
The same over and over.

When you try to answer repetitive questions do you strive to be …
Consistent?
Quick.

How much thinking is too much?
A lot?
Any amount.

How much did you think about that last question?
Not at all.
More, now that you bring it up.

Placenames! Pick only one! Don’t judge them on how they sound or look, only on how they make you feel!

Death Row.
Copacabana.

Vatican City.
Antarctica.

Beaver Cleaver’s House.
The Bates Motel.

The Rock of Gibraltar.
The Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame.

The Naval Academy.
Disneyland.

Last round! I’ll have another one of whatever it is I’ve already had!

Would you rather have people say you are …
Afraid of change.
Afraid of routine.

When you take a trip do you …
Plan every moment in advance.
Grab a wad of cash and walk out the door.

You would like to have lunch with …
Lindsay Lohan.
Mussolini.

Reaching the last question on the assessment makes you feel …
Like I should re-check my answers for consistency.
Like having another pina colada.

Thanks for completing the assessment. If you’ve thoughtfully answered every question, you are the sort of person who has a lot of time and patience and does what they are told to do as a courtesy to others and possibly out of some weird compulsion to complete every task, no matter how meaningless.

If you skipped past all the above nonsense to get here, you are a free spirit and a line-budger who just wants to get it over with and move on to the next thing.

Really, that’s who you are. Unless you have some other idea?

107 thoughts on “Who Am I?”

  1. OK, so I am a plodder, but a rebellious one. If the job demands I do something routine, I’ll be bored, but fine.

    I kick when I am told the task is perfectly routine, but the parameters keep shifting. “Just keep doing the same thing-except on Tuesdays, or when the first quarter of the moon falls on a Monday-or when Wednesday comes on the 22-then ignore that Tuesday exception and move it to Wednesday, but NOT the 22nd-oh, and I’ll be out next Tuesday, so move the exception to the 3rd Thursday. See, very routine, no need for you to actually have a clue what is going on, just follow the routine”.

    Maybe this is why I like to work on my own?

    Sad about missing book club yesterday, sounded fun. I was having a “when world’s collide” moment, in which working on my own had gotten preempted by routine, working for someone else. Project got done around 5pm, at which point I did the dishes and then crashed.

    That pina colada is going to sound pretty good this afternoon-right now, it is all about the coffee.

    OT(sort of)-tim, I am experimenting with how to turn the leftover vodka-soaked fruit from Jacque’s recipe into a vodka slush. I’m a lightweight, so this may take some time. Doing the first test round tonight (if I can stay up long enough).

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    1. madisland and tim:

      My husband eats the raspberries on ice cream and mixes them into the ice cream. tim, I am willing to share them if I can get them to you.

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      1. i can be available for vodka soaked raspberries. im in town until wednesday. i can dream up the ideal applications and report back in form the kc tournament. the boys won the legion baseball tournament sunday afternoon up in hibbing. perfect 4 day tournament now off to kc for the next round and if they win that one its off to spokane. my son is having a dale question of the day issue. he want to play baseball but he has football on his calendar and the 2 a days start 2 days before the baseball in spokane ends. i am telling him to ask the football coach for the time off and he says the coach will say yes but because the football coach hates baseball he will lose his starting safety opportunity.

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    2. Congratulations tim on the baseball team! And boy, tough choices for your son…

      I don’t have much experience taking these tests but the ‘Black or White’ answers always bug me; I wouldn’t make that choice– where’s the gray area choice??(Same applies to politics, eh?) We had one from our minister during our pre-marital classes… and I guess it was fairy accurate regarding how we would get along but we still had to figure that out on our own anyway…

      We have more experience with our special needs daughter getting tested several times / year. And it really annoys my wife that the school district feels the need to put her in some certain ‘Category’ and therefore teach her from that standard. (We understand they have to start somewhere but we don’t always agree with their diagnoses…)

      She’ll be starting 9th grade this year so different school and different teachers and it will take us a while to get them all sorted out. Two and a half of her three years in middle school were great. That other half year was a different adviser and para and … well, they just didn’t seem to want to play the game like our daughter did! How come the tests never show how strong willed she is??

      Looks to be a rainy day here…

      Take care!

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      1. there is not catagory on the test that says “never mind who you think i am. i’m going to keep on being the best version of that person i can be whether it suits your test results needs or not”
        good luck with the new school. the counselor makes the difference sometimes. can you go ask one of the good ones at the middle school to help you work with the new one or warn you in advance if you need to make a request for a change. i find making the change before the problem is obviously going to occur is a lot easier than confronting the problem person after the issue is a reality. might be worth looking into and the good ones definitely know who is good and who stinks at the high school.

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      2. Ben,
        Special Ed is a pain. I was a whole lot less frustrated after I learned the school is legally bound to classify kids. I read the definitions that they had to choose from and was able to handle things better. If you need references, I can share.

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  2. I fear I am a line-budger.

    I still think looking back over what I’ve enjoyed doing (where I lose track of time)–and what of that work made a difference for someone else–is the best indicator of both who I am and what I should do next.

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    1. welcome kirkistan. we need more line budgers in this group. and one who wants to figure out how to do something they enjoy and has merit. perfect!! cmon in.

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  3. Oh, Dale, I don’t envy you for what you are going through. I actually like self examination and find these tests amusing (but totally unhelpful when it comes to job applications). Years ago I lost a job and felt I was drifting, so I sought out a professional in the field of advising people what jobs they should take. She put me through the Myers-Briggs test. At the time I turned out to be an INFP, which I think translates as “slightly shy guy who cries at chick flicks.” It didn’t help me get a job.

    And in fact, the one bit of advice she gave me was devastating to my prospects for employment. After studying my psyche (as defined by tests) she said that under no circumstances should I take a job that I didn’t believe in with my whole heart. She said it would be disastrous for me to take employment doing work that didn’t seem ethical and responsible.

    Well, great. My one chance of getting a job was probably to hold my nose and take some job where I could argue I was not destroying the planet or victimizing the feeble-minded any more than most people. I’m still looking for that job that would let me wear a mask and cape and do wonderful things that would make my heart sing.

    The Blevins group met yesterday and had a thoroughly pleasant afternoon discussing the frustrations of experiencing a complex world through the eyes of sheep.

    Good luck, Dale. And could you kindly pass a pina colada?

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  4. Rise and Shine Babooners:

    At first when I read the title, I thought we were headed for riddles; now I find it is time for self-reflection at 7:00 a.m. Dale, have you been off to the employment counselor? Now you want some company in self-definition and repackaging, huh.

    I’m a people person — love ’em 85% of the time. But once I am offended or dislike them. Done. My dad was like this, too. Not our finest quality, but there you are. Unfortunately the first person that I came to dislike was my mother. That led to some problems much loved by psychoanalysts! Otherwise I’m loyal, patient until I’ve had it — then again, done; and I love growing things. The Myers-Briggs says I’m an Ambivert (that perfect balance of extro and introvert). My friends tell me I am basically an artist, which I think is true; but then again I have this super practical, pragmatic streak. Which means I love to create things, but I won’t risk living off the proceeds–I give it away.

    So that’s enough for now–don’t want to get stuck naval gazing at this early hour. Plus I have to go vacuum my art studio so I can start creating again (or at least finishing my UFO’s–unfinished objects). THat room seems to have an infestation of spiders. I’m willing to share, but it has gone too far when insects invade the artwork.

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      2. I got to do a M-B as a work group activity – not great fun for an introvert, let me tell you. The only thing I remember is that I was was on the dividing line between feeling and thinking, which some say indicates balance but which I chose to interpret as having neither … A pina colada might have helped.

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      4. I also remember taking the Myers-Briggs and getting almost the same scores as my mother (there were a few conversations about acorns and oaks…). Also whatever it is that is on the opposite side of “J” is, that’s more likely what I am. My score came back with a J (is it F?) – but I questioned that and was told by the test giver that based on the way I phrased the question I probably wasn’t a J (Mom isn’t one either).

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      5. T is the opposite of F, J is the opposite of P. Thinking/Feeling, Judging/Perceiving.
        Put me down as yet another INFP.

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      6. The weird thing about the NFP and this blog, is that it is 2% of the population and a majority of these participants. HMMMM. And yes, I am one, too. It’s called the “spirit” profile. Populated by artists and Social Workers. And I am not kidding.

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      8. INFJ here. And yes, I think it is very telling that 2-3% of the population is gathering here, but not that surprising.

        Given the nature of the current employment climate, I’d say even when the unemployment thing passes (and I have to believe it will), employment counsellors would be serving their clients better if they teach them how to subsume their humanity and better inclinations and get through what is a typical workday in this society. I think we all know we want work we can believe in, I think we all know that our economic structure works against that.

        I guess that is why I try so hard to figure my wealth in terms other than money. I know I will never convince the outside world of it, but our household is extremely well-off.

        Steve, when you land the job, I will make you the cape. I no longer do leotards, so you are on your own for that one.

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      9. I agree… it’s interesting. I’ve taken Meyers-Briggs twice and the results were INFP both times. I also heard that less than 3% of the population are INFP. What’s up with that? A friend of mine is INTP. Why do people with similar personality traits seem to congregate in the same places? How can I know so many of 3% of the population? It must be the pina coladas.

        I skipped past most of the questions to get to Dale’s question of the day – line budger me! Except I had to laugh at having lunch with Lindsey Lohan or Mussolini…

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      10. If I remember correctly I am an ENTJ. That was some years ago and perhaps the outcome would be different this time around. We don’t give the MB at my agency.

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  5. I once had a friend who had to fill out an MMPI (can’t remember what that stands for…Minnesota M… Personality Inventory?) when applying to adopt a child. He asked his friends to answer the questions. I don’t remember if I complied, but eventually he and his wife did succeed in getting the child. We called him Weird Harold. His son is now the UPS man who delivers at the office…he seems to have survived his father quite nicely.

    Yes, I would like someone else to answer the questions for me as well.

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  6. Minnesota Multi-phasic Personality Inventory.

    Maybe someone in the field can tell us if that test is still respected. As I remember it, there were questions that might have reflected a more conservative mindset, something from an earlier time. Or if you hear voices, is that a timeless symptom?

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    1. It is still used, although I think it took a dive in usefulness when it was revised. They are revising the revisions and it seems more useful now. I tend to like the Rorschach myself.

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    2. I transfered to the “U” in 1965. They decided to re-zero the MMPI, anf check for consistency, they said, and thus why so many times. They picked out some number of new enrollees. We had to take the test 9 times in three years. If you just filled in circles, they could tell and you had to do it again. When I objected repeatedly, I got letters which cajoled and threatened. So, does that make any results valid that I, and I suspect several others, went in with a very negative attitude? The last time I took the test when I handed the test to the woman at the front, I said, “You talked me into it; I hate my mother.” She was not amused. But, they thought I was a feshman and got upset with me that I was not there for a fourth year. But I was FREE FREE FREE and refused tro come back and take it three more times.

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      1. When I was in grad school I worked for the U’s dept of psych doing data entry (then called key punch) with the old data cards for thousands of the MMPI’s that they administered and that others sent in for interpretation. It always bothered me that I was very fast but not that accurate. We verified all the work, but still… And then the ever present problem of cards out of order — if you dropped a tray you were then presented with the task of putting them back in order. I always wondered what happened if just one was in the wrong order–how did that effect the interpretation? Days later we received the print-out and had to connect the dots with a red pen and send it off to the psychologist.

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    3. I took the MMPI once, and did a little research about it, being rather dubious about the results. The original test made some statements like “Jesus turned the water into wine,” and invited you to agree or disagree; if you disagreed, that was considered the “deviant” answer and elevated your “L” scale, which meant you were depressed. I guess they assumed Jewish people and agnostics were all depressed.
      I think the test was supposed to be revised to remove religious bias, but there was a lot of other nonsense in it, too.

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  7. Oh dear. I interpret personality tests for a living, and your questions sound much more fun than the ones I have to deal with. I am envious about the book club meeting and wish I could have been there. I went fishing on Lake Sakakawea on Saturday, and I caught a 1.5 lb walleye and a 1 lb white bass. My husband got the tackle all set up for me and my friend’s wife baited the hook for me and I just dropped my hook over the side, caught fish, and someone else removed the fish from the line. I can just imagine what that says about me. My friend told me that I only marginally hooked the fish and really secured them on the line by somehow wrapping the line around them, almost as though I lassoed them, so just call me a fish wrangler.

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    1. So how do you really FEEL about leeches? There is an interpretive question!

      I don’t have a favorite test–don’t think I was meant for testing. I like the “in the trenches” stuff. But I will say that Rorschach or HTP are much more fun than MMPI. When I want to send a client for testing for various reasons, I want somebody I trust with the testing and not a computer print out. There have been several times when testing picked up something really important. So I am ever grateful for someone who likes to do it and is good at it.

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      1. My husband is an absolute ace at personality test interpretation. I like doing cognitive evals for brain dysfunction more so than personality assessment. You are right about computer generated interpretations being inadequate on their own. I takes a skilled person to tease out the nuance to make testing useful.

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    2. Renee, in my comment below I said that I would skip the assessment questions and personality evaluations, but I think there are some times when they are needed to evaluate people and might even help some people do self evaluation.

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  8. Good Morning to All and Who Ever You Are,

    I am both a slow moving person and a person who skips over the assessment questions. So I am way out in the medow some place. However, on some rare occaisions that is the right place to be, but don’t count on that. For me it is best to skip the self assessment and just do what ever I can to get my self moving. All that self assessment may help some people, but I think the people who set the best example for me are those that “take the bull by the horns” and get right out there doing what needs to be done. This is the advice I would give myself, but I have a lot of trouble following my own advice.

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      1. right you are. i can envision grapefruit vodka but it is a whole different thing from raspberry vodka. a whole different thing.

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  12. i think this is where the opposites attract thing comes in. the difference between me and everyone else on the planet is that i do it my way. no one else would ever dream of doing it the way i see it and they tell me this regularly and i allow them to hold their opinion.
    there is planning involved but it is artistically flexible planning without too many rigid guidelines to confine the fly by the seat of the pants aspect of the deal. i don’t often get to use it on vacation or other venues that bespeak organazation but i did go to europe with my daughter from italy to the budapest, prauge, germany switzerland, back into italy route that was made really wonderful by the fact that we were not stuck on a program. it was very liberating to get to have the choice to spend an hour or a day doing whatever came up that had an appeal.
    one of the dads had an interesting approach to hibbing. he went to the barber shop, the mens clothes store on main street, the cigar store and one more stop to get the floyd the barber view on the town. he came back with the great athletes from the past that have come form the range. the things worthwhile to do there, ideas for the boys and the correct golf course to spend our saturday morning on (club rentals $3, cart $1, 9 holes $12, golf the rest of the day $6 more) kind of winging it with a lot of cross referencing. this is actually what i do but not in quite such and organized approach so maybe thats the answer. ad lib in an organized fashion so you don’t miss the opportunity to cover all your bases. i’m sticking with that as my answer….unless i hear another i like better as the day goes on

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    1. Tim – I like your style of traveling. Just enough organization so it’s not chaos, with lots of freedom to just “be” and enjoy where you are.

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  13. Dale: could you move this to Kitchen Congress please? We enjoyed this dish at the Blevins meeting.

    Steve’s Wild Summer Salad

    1/3 c white wine tarragon vinegar
    3 tbsp Dijon mustard
    1 tbsp sugar
    1 tsp salt
    1 tsp minced garlic
    1 tsp dried tarragon crumbled
    1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
    2/3 c safflower oil
    5 c cooked wild rice
    3 c cooked, diced chicken
    1 c sliced celery
    1/2 c chopped parsley
    1/2 c sliced green onion
    1/2 lb pea pods
    1/2 c slivered almonds, toasted

    Cook rice as directed on packaging (30 minutes of simmering will do it).

    Cut chicken into small nuggets and poach 12 minutes in barely boiling water, then cover and let sit 15 minutes.

    Combine first 8 ingredients to make dressing. Whisk oil slowly into vinegar mix; set aside. In large bowl, combine wild rice, chicken, celery, parsley and green onions. Pour dressing over wild rice mix; toss to coat. Refrigerate covered several hours or overnight.

    Remove ends and strings from pea pods. Blanch in boiling water 30 sec, plunge into ice water; drain. Pat dry with paper towels and cut diagonally into 1″ pieces. Refrigerate covered.

    Toast slivered almonds by spreading them on a cookie sheet and baking at 325 for about 10 minutes; keep checking to see when they begin turning golden brown. To serve: toss salad with pea pods and almonds.

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  14. Supper last night:

    Cashew Chicken Serves 4-6

    3 T soy sauce
    3 T peanut butter
    3 T honey
    Mix this together in a 1 cup glass measuring cup. Heat in the microwave for one minute on high. Stir until peanut butter is mostly melted. Set aside.

    1/2 C. raw cashews.
    1 T. oil.
    Turn burner on high and heat oil in large frying pan or wok. Ad cashews and stir for one minute until cashews begin to brown. Spoon onto paper towels to drain.

    1 whole chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
    3 c. green onions, washed, topped and cut into inch slices
    1 c. peeled carrots, sliced into thin, one inch pieces
    2. c. broccoli florets, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
    3/4 c. sweet red pepper, washed, seeded, and cut into 1/2 ” pieces
    2-3 c. pea pods
    2 T. oil

    Heat last two tablespoons of oil in pan and add vegetables one kind at a time, at one minute intervals. Add chicken and stir until mixed. Pour sauce over all and stir until stir fry ingredients are coated and sauce is bubbly.

    Serve with rice and sprinkle with cashews.

    I add a hot pepper to this to make it spicy. You can substitute tofu for chicken, almonds or peanuts for cashews, etc.

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  15. I am rapidly being convinced that Minnesota is not a state in the northern midwest United States but an area lying directly across the equator in Brazil. Remember the days when we used to joke about “tropical Minnesota”? In preparation for the upcoming primaries and to take full advantage of the weather, I’m preparing to grow a large crop of huge, mutated Venus Fly Traps along my front sidewalk. Climate change? Naaaaaah…Let me just stick my head in the refrigerator, close the door until the light goes out, and sing, “La-la-la-la-la-la-la….”

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  16. Greetings! When I was at Pillsbury, they had a lot of training available for team-building, self-assessment, career planning, etc. Like Steve, I am an INFP on Myers-Briggs scale (or ENFP depending on day and mood), so I feel your pain. Read “Who Moved My Cheese” and a couple other books like that many years ago.

    A quote from John Barth comes to mind — “Self knowledge is seldom good news.” You do all these tests, self-evaluations, ask others what they think of you, figure out what I’m good at and what I enjoy and craft your perfect job … and realize that job probably doesn’t exist in this reality. And I lack the confidence and chutzpah to “make it happen” like they tell you in these books. You find out you’re an OK-ish, good person with some human failings, probably not going to change the world, but like to feel as though I’m making a difference, blah, blah, blah. I’m not always sure what to do with all this information.

    You could keep digging, learn even more about how fascinating you are, try to tell others how wonderful and fascinating you are … to what end? It can be an ego trip. Those corporate jobs I was so hot to get, just don’t interest me at all anymore. I’m looking for the simple life: an easy, fulfilling job with endless pina coladas, time to blog, do karate and a chance to read and learn. Is that too much to ask? ooops — is that another question to answer?

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  17. Vignette of the day: Rode in this morning through MSU-M campus and thus through Vikings training camp. Saw this sign by a parking lot: “MEDIA EXCESS PARKING.”

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  19. It seems to be more fashionable and fun to be a line-budger and a free spirit, but I’m not. I would fill out all the questions in a personality test conscientiously and honestly, although I would know where they were leading before I got to the end. Responsible, introverted, attentive to detail and conscientious (see above). I itch to correct tim’s punctuation and spelling (in a nice way, of course), and because attention to detail always comes in handy in baking, I could envision those vodka-soaked raspberries as a phenomenal filling for a white cake with buttercream icing.

    Someone like Dale needn’t figure out who he is and what he’s good at. He already knows and put it at the top of his blog: a writer and a broadcaster. And he should add: the best DJ ever!

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    1. Catherine – you’re funny and have expressed what I’ve felt myself. As a long-time secretary, I have also repressed the urge to correct everyone’s spelling, punctuation and grammar — also in a nice way, with smiley faces, hearts and balloons.

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  20. Mike P. What a lovely collection of songs this a.m. for feeling adrift. Glad you did not resurrect the snake song from Friday. For tomorrow how about some inspiration: Every Long Journey by Ann Reed.

    A great book that reflects the songs this a.m. is Transitions by William Bridges. It is a mythology trek through life changes. Over the course of 25 years it has been the second most stolen book from my office. I replace it every time at 1/2 price books. I used it myself during a tough time.

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  21. I am also a conscientious filler-outer-of-forms. Which means I get to fill out all forms for Darling Daughter (e.g., school registrations, health forms, etc.) as Darling Husband hates all forms.

    That said I often get conflicting results from standardized personality tests – like the time I took the Strong Interest Inventory many moons ago and it came back that I was most like a military officer (though I was most unlike an enlisted person), tax auditor (or whoever it is that does the research-y bits), mechanic, or social worker. Clearly someone who needs to direct, research, build, and make things all better. Not sure how working in the web content field has anything to do with much of any of that…

    Good to see folks yesterday at the park! Hope more can join us next time.

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  22. A discussion which intermixes personality inventories and choices and uses of fruit is, well, sort of right on track.
    I have taken the MB several times, used to work in the area of learning styles and teaching. I can never remember all of the options in MB. We used the Gregoric. It was easier for our purposes to have only four categories (really 6) to talk about. We found over the years, as others did, that about 60% of teachers were Concrete-Sequential (anal-rententive would be an extreme example) but about 15% of students were. No Child Left Behind is by definition a very sequential approach to education. And thus the random students, more than 50%, are again twisting in the pegagogic winds. Our top students in academics are not the top succeeders in life. But then the real purpose of American education is to sort out kids, to figure out who will be the valedictorian and who wil be the lowest. The tough question would be, if we cared, how much you teach to a student’s learning style and how much you should push them into the opposite. My daughter figured out very early that the purpose of school is to please the person in front; she owned every teacher she ever had. My son never quite understood there were other people in the classroom.

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    1. That’s an incisive comment, Clyde. Somehow in my head I’m hearing strains of “I Did It Their Way!” Interesting about your two kids and how they fit into school.

      I remember pulling my daughter aside after a disastrous report card. Told her, “You are a smart kid, as we all know. So concentrate on this question. Which approach will serve you better? Fighting your teachers or charming them?” Her grades shot up after that.

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    2. the nice thing about this style of teaching is that anyone who wants it can get it anytime. if you are ready to bite the bullet and learn the correct answer the internet has the answers any time. if you want to start a discussion and discover the optional versions of the answer and the other ways of thinking about it there are areas where only a group noodling around with ideas will get it done. education is for those who rely on the fruits of their education for a successful job placement. my dad informed me that the deal with a new business is that the 1st year you make nothing the second year you make 1/2 enough and the third year you make a profit but have to deal with going into hawk the first year and 1/2. it has turned out to be true in my observations. dale lets figure out a way to get you back in the saddle and start up the trial baboon membership group where the themed music runs and the skits we all love can flourish once again. shall we set up a business plan and see what it takes? a studio in the basement, a process where the cd’s start flowing in and the fans that don’t chart but will unlurk in the process are big questions but i’ll bet the faithful would be a start and with sponsership etc it may be enough to get you to the point where you are the blogger of the land, known and loved by all with more money than carter has pills. c’mon dale whatdoya say

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      1. Thanks for the encouragement tim.
        I will have to wait for the results of my test to see if I am the sort of person who would take such a risk!
        Of course, the sort of person who has to wait for the test results to know if he will take such a risk probably isn’t.

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  23. I generally come up ISFJ every time I take the MB, but I’ve definitely moved more toward an extrovert profile – probably comes from living alone. I’m right there with Steve – need to be working in a place whose mission matches my values, otherwise I’m sunk. When I was in third grade, I wrote in my autobiography (!) that I wanted to be a waitress in a cafe. Pretty sure Madeline Albright didn’t write that in hers.

    Dale, let us know what you find out about yourself! I do know that I miss your soothing voice and gentle humor on the air.

    Sorry I missed the book group yesterday. Too much this weekend and the heat is not my friend.

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    1. I missed you, C in M, but I hear you about the heat. Is this the most humid summer on record, perhaps?? I can take heat OR humidity but not both.

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  24. Laughing out loud, Dale! Will read more of these later! In junior high I took some personality inventory and scored “off the page” in the persuasive category. I thought this was extremely funny until my counselor pointed out that persuasiveness would be a very good thing to have in my (at that time) chosen career, teaching. Hmmmm.

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  25. I took the test in high school and all I can remember from it was that I was an introvert, which is still true. I’ve never liked big groups, mostly because it’s very hard to have a real conversation. One of the tests we took in high school was also to determine what we should be, based on questions that we answered. It was kind of pointless, because I already knew what I wanted to be (a Civil Engineer) and therefore I answered all the questions as thus. Of course, when the results came out, it said that I should be an engineer. Go figure.

    A little off topic, a little on – This weekend, after picking lots of wild blueberries (and buying some from the Blueberry festival in Marquette), I made a blueberry sauce to go on top of blueberry pancakes. Yum! I was going to try my hand at blueberry jam, but I just don’t have the time. I bought some instead…from somebody else who made it from freshly picked berries.

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  26. If you people insist i=on talking about raspberries and blueberries i am going t be sick. Only worse food–squash!!

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    2. i don’t think i’ve ever run into an antio berry person. what the heck is that all about clyde? everyone loves berries

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      2. Donna, dear, I am adding that to my blog of quotes. That is the manifesto of many a student I taught, and, no doubt, you.

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      3. Ha ha, Clyde! My mother-in-law had that saying on a little wood plaque that hung above the table in their cabin. It fit her perfectly!

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    3. Really, Clyde? I love ’em, even (especially) squash, which I didn’t know existed till I was 25 or so…

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      1. I know I am swimming upstream in this one, but I added just because I thought saying that I am very odd about berries fit the discussion about mind sets, personality inventories, etc.

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  27. I often attribute it to having been forced to pick wild berries as a child, to which I had, for whatever reason, a very strong aversion. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, pincherries, choke cherries, june berries. But I love all other kinds of fruit, including strawberries, which are the worst to pick in the wild. I did not add the berry picking part of the non-novel that I sent you.
    I guess in the end I do not like the taste of those two fruit and I cannot blame my mother.

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    1. OK, you’re forgiven. The reason I didn’t grow up with vegetable-growing parents was my dad had to week the veggie garden all the time as a little kid…

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  29. Adding to Steve’s mention of a fun book group mtg. yesterday (and thanks for posting that recipe) Anna has posted a full write-up under Blevins Book Club at top of this page.

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  33. I skipped the last few questions — I guess this means I’m a line-budger? Actually I’m not, but I always wish I WERE when I’m standing in a long line!

    I’ve had to take the MMPI several times (including when I was applying for adoption!) and I never liked it. Too black and white. I mean, really, how are you supposed to answer “I like forest rangers.” I don’t KNOW any forest rangers!

    Jacque… thank you for the phrase “I love to create things, but I won’t risk living off the proceeds”. A perfect answer for all the people who asked me why I don’t do cakes or cards or tie-dye or any of my other crafty things, for money!

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  34. I am on drugs. Had knee surgery this morning. I am home but fuzzy. Not a good day for self-examination. I will be home for 2 weeks so will be back on the trail

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    3. Ooh, feel better! I had knee surgery last year, and I can’t believe you’re already on the computer! I was still trying to wake up from the drugs.

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  35. I’m still thinking Mussolini would be waaaaaay more interesting than Lindsay Lohan. Sure, he got the trains to run on time and all that – but he was probably a pretty smart guy once you got past the whole “supreme dictator of all I can conquer” thing (and might be educational to see how a brain like that works…).

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  36. can you say guernica? lindsey is a doorknob mussolini was a slimeball.
    the two shortest books in the world? the irish book of ettiquitte and the italian book of war heros.
    as told to me ( the irish nephew) by my uncle (the italian)

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