Now I didn’t write the terrible headline, or sub-headline. Not my style, and they did it without warning, speaking of nerve.
But when I was cleaning the den yesterday, making room for offspring #1’s return from Newfoundland for my birthday, I found a hard copy of the only thing, other than letters to the editor about shocking and appalling things, I have had published. It is also the only thing other than letters to the editor that I have ever submitted to anyone to have published. I figure if you are batting 1000, why continue?
And now, with the wonder [or horror, ed.] of the internet, I can be my own publisher! So cheating on a Saturday morning, rehashing my one moment of paper fame, but those were the days. These still are the days, but those really were the days … tomorrow will also be a day, but you get my drift, as the snow-bank said to the plow …
So here it is, a glimpse into the real beginnings of the loss of my IQ, 15 years ago … and I made it bigger below, so if your eyes have also betrayed you in later life, it is still ineluctable.
It really was like that … all these things did happen, except for the laundry in the suitcase … and the new spaceship was a used 93 Transport 3800, that Han Solo piloted for 10 happy years.
Very nice, Xty. As a stay home dad I can appreciate all of that. Personally I would have added something about the dog tracking poop into the house, or throwing up, right in the middle of some other activity, and being so harried that cleanup would have to wait. 😕
And even though I was the stay home parent, and a decent cook, I can honestly only say I’m only about a C-minus as a housekeeper. And fairly lazy at home and yard maintenance as well. I know these assessments to be correct because my wife says so.
I use way too many commas in my writing, don’t I? I blame it on my “conversational” writing style, but fail to see the fault. This seems to be my morning for self reflection, though I don’t intend to change anything anytime soon. Or ever.
Another cuppa tea…
The writing tips your English teacher forgot to give you…
How To Master Conversational Writing Style In 5 Easy Steps
I like commas too and I am also a terrible housekeeper. It takes too much time to keep the place shiny, and it isn’t interesting. We did slide into a mess, though in all honesty in the last few years, and I have been digging us back out. I have control over all the corners in the living room and dining room and kitchen and main hall, and have to partly thank my evil oldest brother, and only evil because he has so much useful will-power. He has got me throwing out one thing a day (or giving it to St Vincent’s) and now has introduced the concept of being paper negative, every day. That is having a remarkable effect. He has had to, or chose to (and boy do I thank him) go through all the papers from my parents’ house. 50 years of two academics who were also not very good housekeepers, but kept most things. And now we both look around at all the stuff we don’t think someone else should have to throw out once we are dead. Kind of morbid, but very helpful when wondering if a piece of paper is worth keeping.
I am also very hopeful that with the new accountant and financial advisor the important papers will be more understandable and organized. In the midst of all our exciting life dramas, we have incorporated finally but it is work compared to just being Johnny Lunch Bucket. I am the secretary/treasurer, and as I keep having to remind my hubby, those are both things I have never shown the slightest interest in. The money yes, but accounting for its disappearance?
The process had added stress to our lives, but it is finally almost all in place and the stress is evaporating to a large extent. But I made an ill-considered statement to our returning daughter that she could sleep in the den, which has contained a mountain of unsorted paper that I had really begun to tame but now must finish as she is the person we are all scared of in the family, when you get right down to it.
Oh and Wolf, the dog we had back when I was Han Solo, was a barfer. He was so loyal and so stupid we now realise, but he would eat the garbage if he felt ignored and he had some bronchial trouble all his unfortunately short life. He was just a puppy then – after Mikey we felt it would be dangerous to have more kids, so we got a dog again, having lost Bucky when Lisa was one. The first thing we would hear most mornings was Andrew running down the hall shouting no no no, because Wolf was an instinctive herder and heel nipper. But kibble barf is special.
thanks a lot EO. i just reread my posts from yesterday, feeling self-conscious after reading your post. i’m somewhat relieved as it appears that my posts generally read conversationally, even more so as the day progresses, i have no idea why, though i also use way too many commas, and often submit the last post of the day, which concerns me.
all that said, my first post today is a struggle, as is usually the case. coffee does not help my writing whatsoever.
i have no kids, but too many pets. from observation (friends), and from experience, i have found that kids and pets can beat the clean gene out of even the most OC and germaphobic people. despite the lowering of my own standards, i am still the cleanest inhabitant of our household, which roughly translated means that i do 99% of the cleaning. it is one of those “natural laws” you know. a college roommate explained it well. he said, and i quote, “you know, you are the one that likes it so clean, so all i have to do is wait and i know eventually you won’t be able to stand it anymore.”
thank you for the word of the day Xty. i used the word to describe George Bush Jr. once, but later realized i was wrong (at least twice) in the words meaning and also my intended meaning.
Laugh out loud humorous. Rest up now for the second round. As a retiree, I get to experience the joy of childcare all over again by being the backup-emergency plan, which seems to happen as often and as soon as my patience from the last round is restored. I have found the trick to be not to bring them here, but to go there and let them make gloriously huge messes that I don’t have to clean up. I admit to a perverse pleasure in going home with their house turned upside down.
Now, on the subject of commas- I love them equally as much, if, in fact, not more, guys. And Xty, you really should have had one after “too” in the first sentence of your first comment. 😉
Anybody seen Pete? Loose the hounds!
i cringed at the site of perfectly good bangers being tossed on the ground to distract a dog. i’m surprised he did not use the chili powder trick instead…
Dude’s tire saga yesterday reminded me of this scene, but not until this morning…
Off to see the new Hobbit movie. If I’m not back by dawn, call the president. Or that dog.
i know how to direct dial m44. play some Steely, and throw in a little Doobage as a back up.
Perhaps a Monkey Chant will bring him out of his paracosm. (This song popped into my head yesterday and I’ve been looking for a way to work it in. {In addition to commas, I am a shameless user of parenthetics.})
I love it ! That was good stuff Xty.
Bad housekeepers-the second letter of your Myers-Briggs personality profile is probably “N”.
Good housekeepers- “S”. (S or N being the only two options for the second category- “perception”)
_ N _ _ types perceive things iNtuitively
_ S _ _ types perceive things Sensory’ly’
For example, let’s say you have 2 people, one an ‘N’, the other an ‘S’, and both of them like to make parade floats. The ‘N’ person will like the thinking of how the clever parts of the float are consistent with the theme of the float, and how it will all fit into the parade. They like ‘seeing’ it come together etc.
The ‘S’ person likes the physical building of the float. Eyes on/Hands on, get ‘er done, and get ‘er done right. Hammering, welding, pushing, pulling, fun fun fun.
bad housekeepers, almost always “N” perceivers. They i’N’tuitively see housecleaning as futile, as it will likely just get messy again.
Xty, = N (INFJ i’m 99% sure)
DP = S (? S ??)
“S” people like to do stuff.
There is no better or worse, it’s just the either/or natural ‘Perception’
preference each individual has. Like being right handed or left handed.
Xty, you tested INTJ, but I’m 99% sure you are INFJ. The T/F was close, and INFJ adults will mistest ‘T’ as they have had operate off-handed so to speak in dealing with kids and such.
DP, I’m guessing ISFP, or… ISFJ… no ISFP…. hmmm, don’t know. Let me ask you this- If you knew you had to clean out a closet and then run 2 errands before a 3 o’clock appointment.
Would you empty the closet in an orderly fashion, then put the things back into the closet where they are supposed to go.. and then go run the 2 errands?
Or would you start emptying the closet, then find something that you wanted to go fix, and while you were doing that you could run one of those errands, etc etc..and then end up having to rush through the closet job at the last minute before almost being late for the 3 o’clock appointment?
Which would you say mostly sounds like you?
btw- If you ‘S’ see this as pointless, incorrect, etc.. I understand. But stuff like this is what we (ENTPs) do… I can’t help it !!! lol
i’m around. back later this evening…hi all.
i tested out as an INTJ also. i forgot what it all means so i probably should retake the test. if i had not written it down, i would have forgotten my letters.
i took another test once and it turns out that i’m equally right and left brained. i do remember being surprised by the results of that Myers Briggs test, and i think that is why. i think that may also contribute to my jack of all tradedness. (and master of all) 🙂 hey, if Dude can use words like “paracosm”…
hey m44… another chick band covering Bob.
Holy Smokes.
What personality type are we?
http://www.personalitypathways.com/type_inventory.html
No lengthy tests, just a description of the 4 categories, you pick which one is you!
4 clicks (toward bottom of page)
EO, curious to see if you are an N or S as we sound similar in our motivation toward house/yard maintenance.
45 w/sunshine here today,
is already wanting to participate…and good morning!
whoops, forgot to resize. Here is Mouse’s view:
INTJ, based on a quick read of the brief outlines on the link.
The first and last, I and J, were slam dunks of epic proportions. The middle two I had to think about for a while. Upon further study they could go either way.
So, how about some further study? (what does that say about me?
)
I took a much more in-depth Myers Briggs decades ago, and amazingly I knew where to find the booklet and my scoresheet and results. (what does that say about me?
)
That time I came out as ISTJ, with the S/N choice as being the closest call. E/I was a blowout.
I wonder what the research might suggest as to how these scores change with time and age? And how many people happen to have detailed assessment records decades apart?
I suppose I could do further reading on the S/N question from the booklet and tie it down once and for all. Or not. I’m preoccupied with tying down a detailed investment and estate plan that will tell my spouse and kids and their kids what to do with their money for the next 50 years or so after I’m gone. What does that say about me?
If I were going to keep having some fun with it, I’d go into an analysis of how the test and scoresheet in my booklet arrived at the S/N answer. Really crunch the numbers and arrive at the critical question. What does that say about me?
I’m more interested in finding out which was the critical question than I am in the result. Hmmm, what does that say about me?
I think Mr. Green and I are going to go and make some breakfast. We are thinking breakfast sausages…
EO, just a general observation, looks like you have spent a fair amount of time w/
this morning….i approve…carry on.
I just tried this one, and came out INTJ. But again, I’m more interested in finding out which questions tipped the scales than I am in the result. That was essentially question #51 on the list, for which I answered Yes. Following up on that sort of question would probably tell me a lot.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to nail down some hard, quantitative, proven answers. How to win in the markets. How to win at blackjack. How to win at chess. But I find that I really am driven by the process. Researching, testing, trialing, modeling, remodeling, new ideas, old ideas, side by side, neck and neck, gather data, crunch the numbers, codify a theory, test it again, find a flaw, try a new wrinkle, and on and on. Sheer joy. If you actually arrive at a firm conclusion…well then it’s game over. That’s sad, even though that was supposedly the goal. Even if I think I have an answer, I’m more likely to punch holes in it, toss it out, and start over again than I am to just sit back and implement. Where’s the fun in that?
Pete, what was that you were saying about “overthinking”???
yep, damn…my brain might actually feel like a vacation to you.
the rest of the u.s. gets to watch pats vs fins and i’m expected to watch the sorry-ass skins, nfw. tuneage for the gal.
A vacation would be awesome. I could use the time to start on a whole new project. Which is stronger? Trend is your friend, or reversion to the mean? And over what timeframe? And can you make money on it? How about an integrated model that will optimize results from both? Hmmm…. 😆
well EO “you can’t go back and you can’t stand still”….gonna have Jerry break it down for you.
Could be an E, could be an I, could be a T, could be an F. Guess I’m a muddled (old fashion, anyone?) N and P.
I prefer Sagittarius Rat. I am definitely nothing else signwise. Example: my best friend is a 53 y. o. woman who just also happens to be a SagRat. Coincidence?
Then there’s this- I have an early birthday which puts me in the same sign as the h.s. class before me. I have many friends in that class, few from mine. Again, coincidence?
I recall a Psych class where we all took a personality test. We handed in our answers with an assigned number pertaining to our alphabetical seating chart. Trouble was that another guy and I sometimes switched seats depending on whoever got there first. So when the results came back, neither he or I could remember if we were number 30 or 31. We just guessed and opened our profiles. “Oh this is definitely me” we both said after reading them. Prof asked if everyone was satisfied that the results accurately described them. After a unison of yeas and nary a nay, he informed us that we all had been given the exact same wording.
Really helped me understand how/why I do well at the No-Limit Hold ’em table doing things my (ENTP) way vs. what a lot of the books say.
Most of the books talk about details, and specific ‘things’ to watch ‘S’ for.
But I really run great when I focus on what is playing on television, or music, and just let my Extraverted iNtuition just ‘know’ what everybody has, and play the table.
Andrew “no no no” (Wolf- instinctive heel nipper) many LOLs
eh, fun stuff. good days, good days.
ahh…the wolf….
Well well now. Seems my name is getting quite a workout over at that other place today.
And my account is blocked as well! What a bunch of pathetic losers over there. First, block the account, then start the trashfest. Chickenshit is what it is. Plain and simple.
Let’s take a little inventory shall we? I abandoned miners a year ago. Genius. Miners have been cut in half since then. All in on stocks. Genius again. In the summer I told them to forget about metals for the rest of the year, maybe more. Spot on.
These people don’t give a shit about metals except insomuch as they can occasionally delude themselves into believing that rising prices are confirmation of their hard right ideologies. When metals are not rising, which is much of the time, they cry “manipulation” as their only defense. It must be great to be so sure of yourself all the time. And as your readers get poorer and poorer from your lousy advice it just makes them more receptive to your message of fear and anger. What a wonderful feedback loop for a business model.
Delusional. Pat each other on the back that you are rising above the left-right paradigm, all the while complaining that the only problem is that conservatives haven’t been conservative enough. That’s not “non-partisan”, Turd. That is “hyper-partisan”. That is old wine in new bottles. You guys are puppets on a string for the hard right.
Dance, Turdites! Dance!
Maybe from the same Psych class- projection.
From wiki:
Psychological projection was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud in the 1900s as a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously rejects his or her own unacceptable attributes by ascribing them to objects or persons in the outside world.[1] For example, a person who is rude may accuse other people of being rude.
“retreated into shrillness”? From a Fox News lover? Which is funnier, that or this? I got a good laugh from both.
Posted over there under an amusing subject line, scrubbed here.
unbelievable. what a loser Turd has proven to be. i don’t know what else to say. i am afraid anyone associated with that vile site is going to be marked for life. i regret ever contributing, and i did, content, and money. you know what they say about a fool and his money – yup, hook, line, and sinker Turd. you are a fucking jerk.
i remember when the site policy was no politics on Main. now the guest bloggers themselves discuss nothing but politics, and then try to explain why it’s relevant to the metals, and markets in general as an afterthought. and Turd denying the partisan rhetoric over there is almost pathological. good grief.
but yes, Nixon was a progressive, and all those students gunned down at Kent State were Nazi sympathizers. good grief. oh, and Pope Francis is a Commie Pinko.
i didn’t even bother to check if i was banned. i don’t care.
You should check- I think I coined a new term ( and I am unabashedly proud of it).
Packers need a hero.
i like that word Dude. the sad thing is that most of these “teabaggers” refuse to see the truth. i posted plenty of articles at the old “Fight Club”, and to this day, at least last time i checked, they all had zero hat tips. the articles were factually based, proof provided. big corporate money funds the Tea Party. i believe that the Tea Party was a spontaneous grass roots movement initially. i even remember the Santelli rant that started it all. but the movement was hijacked by month end according to what i have since read. to be fair, the Occupy Wall Street movement was infiltrated just as thoroughly by the same guys, only difference being they were the ones that wear the blue bandanas.
in Spanish there is the insult “cabrón” it means that you are too stupid to know you are being played – specifically it means that your wife is cheating on you, all your friends know it, but you are too stupid to figure it out, or not man enough to admit it.
that is what i think of when i use the word wing-nut. of course, if you have read the articles, many of these internet wing-nuts are shills. still, it’s hard for me not to respect the cabrones even less than the shills. at least the internet posers believe in something, even if their beliefs are immoral.
i believe that not choosing is really a choice – a coward’s choice. that is why i speak up against such things. but i won’t preach.
sorry for rambling.
Eric, what TF did to you is indefensible. i have your back. and then there is that thing called karma.
Not dead yet, Packers!
What he did was heinous, but blocking my account first was spineless.
Site…Must…Die
Go, Pack, Go!
excrement! sounds like a weiner! 🙂 🙂 🙂