personality, schmersonality

I took this personality test, recommended by Erica. Here was my (not frightening, but perhaps disheartening) result.

The agreeable nature and quiet personality of INFJs makes them particularly vulnerable to hurt feelings. Distress within close relationships can shatter the INFJ. Like all NFs under stress, INFJs feel fragmented and lost — as if they are acting out a part rather than simply being themselves. This disassociation can be related to physical symptoms for the INFJ, whether real or imagined. Feeling split off from their physical natures, INFJs may become virtually immobilized by repressed feelings.

Although INFJs may feel like remaining still and stationary until the chaos and confusion of a stressful situation dissipates, it would be best for them to actively sort out their needs from others. Being excessively cooperative and agreeable, the INFJ has a tendency to adopt values and beliefs of others as their own. When external conflicts grow, so does the INFJ's sense of personal disharmony. Disassociating themselves from others takes a great deal of effort for the INFJ.

I actually felt kind of sad after reading that. It's like way too many of my faults laid out by an impersonal test.

the skipper too...

This is Skip, the lovely cat who alternately cuddles and terrorizes me.

one small step

Also, I just read something that made me kind of inexplicably happy. The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, which has a womon-born-womon (or maybe womyn-born-womyn or whatever) attendance policy that excludes transwomen and has triggered the formation of Camp Trans, a trans-friendly space outside the festival walls, has apparently ended this policy. From what I read, a transwoman paid for a ticket and was allowed into the festival, and next year that's going to be how it goes. It's kind of a small thing, I guess, but it makes me happy to hear that at least some things are changing.

homecoming

Anna and I are headed, unexpectedly and last minute-like, to Arizona next week! We'll be in Flagstaff from about the night of the 27th to partway through the 29th, and then Tucson from the night of the 29th through partway through the 1st. I wish it was longer, but duty (in the form of the Civic orchestra) calls me back to Chicago on the 2nd. Anyway, anybody who's going to be around, give me a ring :-)

oh my

"Okay, now this is just wrong, y’all. It’s not the kid’s fault his parents accessorize him in the latest from Pimps ‘R’ Us. The September issue of Esquire has named little Sean Preston Federline the “Worst Dressed Man in the World” on its annual Best and Worst Dressed Men lists.
"Regarding Britney Spears‘ less than stellar wardrobe choices for her son the magazine says that “being the offspring of a hyper fertile backup dancer and prematurely wilted flower is no excuse, but being 12 months almost is…As soon as you gain some dexterity, straighten out your hat.”"
-from US magazine's website

It does seem a little harsh to attach that to somebody who really has no control over his own outfits, but it's still kinda funny. I especially like what appears to be a furry coat paired with a Newsies hat.

charge!

We have a cat living at my new apartment, a cute and spastic guy named Skip. He likes to run up and down the hallway skidding into things on the hardwood floor. Today, he did this to me as I rounded a corner carrying a glass of oj and a large bowl of popcorn. Since I startle so damn easy, I promptly lost the bowl, scattering popcorn from hell to breakfast (isn't that a wonderful expression?) and losing a little bit of juice along with it. Oy.
In more literary news, I just finished Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "The General in his Labyrinth", a fictional account of the last seven months of Simon Bolivar's life. It follows Bolivar on his last voyage down the river Magdalena after his expulsion from office and widespread vilification, and it's a beautiful and terrible picture of political and bodily decay as well as a fascinating partial history of South American independance and of Bolivar's life. I like Marquez because it often seems that plot is not the main goal; I appreciate what I see as a dedication to story. It's fiction so I'm not taking it as the gospel or anything, but I very much enjoyed the portrait of Bolivar and South America that Marquez gave me.
And now, I've moved on to my next book. (Lauren, thanks for the comment about reading and understanding a lot of books, but in truth I think I read too fast. Lately I've even been reading things twice in a row if I think I'll get more out of it the second time because I feel like I miss so much.) Next up is "Weight" by Jeanette Winterson. It's a re-writing of the myth of Atlas and Heracles. (There's also another book in this series by Margaret Atwood called "The Penelopiad" that sounds interesting.) I just started, but I'd like to end with this great quote from the introduction concerning truth and fact.
"Autobiography is not important. Authenticity is important. The writer must fire herself through the text, be the molten stuff that welds together disparate elements. I believe there is always exposure, vulnerability, in the writing process, which is not to say it is either confessional or memoir. Simply, it is real."

say again?

"Vice President Dick Cheney called Lieberman’s loss “an unfortunate development” and said it would possibly encourage “Al Qaeda types.”"
Excuse me? What does that even mean? I read this several times and never made much sense of it. Whenever I just don't understand something, it makes me feel like I'm just missing or something that would make it at least logical, if not correct. If anyone can enlighten me, I'd be interested in hearing it. Does he mean that Al Qaeda is keeping track of... public dislike of the war? Or something?

my morning

A view of Belmont harbor. I went on perhaps my last super-early bike ride today and intended to take pictures, but it was foggy and my camera runs out of batteries almost as soon as I turn it on so this was all I got.




A creepy stone face sticking out of a wall behind my house.

out with the old

I successfully quit my shitty job, and this afternoon I interviewed for a teaching position at this independant teaching studio in a suburb. The interview went well, I think; the director and I have similar views about accessibility to music and about creative, flexible approaches to teaching. The thing that might do me in is that I haven't had a lot of experience, and particularly not a lot of experience teaching young students or total beginners. But I still felt really positive about it, and I should find out tomorrow whether or not I got it.
I've read a lot of good books lately. After "Sixpence House" I read Zadie Smith's "White Teeth", then re-read the chapter on cyber-relations and textual subjectivity from Juana Maria Rodriguez's "Queer Latinidad", which still just rocks. Oh, and also I read "Persepolis", Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel account of her childhood living through Iran's Islamic Revolution. Wow. It was so powerful, it almost brought me to tears on the bus and did make me cry later that day in my room. Anna is currently reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" which I as far as I remember is about the same time period, but told from an adult perspective and through the lens of classic english-language novels. I remember reading that book and just not getting the historical aspect of it; I only vaguely understood what she was talking about, and it lessened the power of the book. I want to read it again now. "Persepolis" really made me think about the graphic novel format, and how it has the potential to clearly and viscerally make things understandable that are maybe harder to get in a purely textual format. It has the potential to be such a concrete and interesting genre, and I hadn't seen that as much before as I did yesterday.

my new digs

The view from my bedroom window. This is Clark street, just south of Foster.



My new living room. Look at all the light!