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Subject:Real Update Soon Cause Times are Changin'
Time:08:45 am
How to Write


Ah...the truth comes out.
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Subject:Russell Crowe to play Bill Hicks?
Time:08:40 am
No. No. No no no. No. NO!
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Subject:Dog Days of Summer Meme-age
Time:02:43 am
Current Mood:[mood icon] content

Your result for The LONG Scientific Personality Test...

INFP - the Healer

You scored 27% I to E, 8% N to S, 33% F to T, and 79% J to P!

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more feeling based than thinking based, and you prefer to go with the flow rather than having a plan. Your type can best be summarized by the word "Healer", which belongs to the larger group of idealists. You have a capacity for caring that is deeper than most. You strive for unity, are fascinated by the battles between good and evil, and can be something of an idealist. Only 1% of the population shares your type.

As a romantic partner, you are usually supprtive and nuturing, however, you have a high need for individuality. Harmony is extremely important to you as you are very affected by conflict and tension, which also makes you resist confronting your partner directly about problems. When you get angry, you usually blame yourself, rather than your partner. You can also be stubborn and unyielding when you feel you are being criticized or mistreated. You feel the most appreciated when your partner listens to you carefully. You need to be understood. You need to hear your partner express their feelings, the more often, the better.
Your group summary: idealists (NF)

Your type summary: INFP

Take The LONG Scientific Personality Test at HelloQuizzy

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Subject:Hello Quizzy
Time:02:12 am
Current Mood:[mood icon] surprised

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NBPC - The Daydreamer

Nature, Background, Big Picture, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.








The Perception Personality Types:


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Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

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Subject:Stupid Immune Tricks
Time:01:48 am
Current Mood:[mood icon] blah
 
For most of the spring and summer I had active sores on my arms which are from a follicular infection that has been traveling along nerve paths since 2005.  These had been managed for the past three years and watched.  Since chemo etc., they've become a little worse, so I went to the wound care clinic for help in wrangling these little pustules into remission.
 
Because some very compassionate people oversee wound care, my experience with them has always been positive.  Today's experience began positively, but took a turn for the worse when the doctor came in.  After looking me over, the physician felt it would be in my best interest to see the infectious disease specialist in order to check for unresponsive or staph infections.
 
I've done the infectious disease dance prior to this, so I'm not too concerned or worried about the medical problem itself.  But, I really dislike the physician -- he is arrogant, ill tempered, and refuses to dismiss his pupils when asked.  Yes, it is a teaching hospital, but I find 15 pairs of eyes scrutinizing me a little unnerving.  And, this doctor and I have had conflict in the past which will color our interaction in the present.  I dread this encounter and just want it completed.  Please, let 28.08.08 come quickly.
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Subject:twitters.
Time:12:02 am
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Subject:I call this one, "Me bishing about Facebook apps, death"
Time:11:32 pm
Current Mood:[mood icon] sore
How come I can't see these simple-ass words when I play Scramble or Word Twist lately? And how come when I play Scramble with ANYONE, they beat me? Do I need to start playing with retards? My own mother got 117 points in one round, leaving me in the dust with my measly 20-something points. My word IQ has actually gone DOWN, from 104 to 101. You know what my fucking stats are? 1 win, 20 losses.

I just recently started Word Twist, thinking it would help me in Scramble. So far all it's doing is making me realize how many fucking words I miss.

Despite all of these frustrations, it's so addictive, I can't stop. Better than watching TV, right?

In other news, I feel like I've been re-connecting with friends in a big way. Old ones and newer ones. It amazes me how much time has passed since... everything. Luce typed to me today, "Life=so precious", in regard to people passing away recently. Suddenly these thoughts flashed through my head of everyone I know (knew?) who has died. Would you want to be able to watch how people reacted to your death, á la The Lovely Bones?

I went back to Chicago over the weekend for my friend's wedding, and looking back I'm realizing that there were quite few death-related things that I experienced...

D1: First of all, I was basically in mourning the entire time because of the death of my relationship.

D2: I went to see my grandmother, who had recently suffered an injury to her back that has finally put her out of work. She's 73 and has worked as a rehab nurse in the same hospital since before I was born. She told me some family history, mainly about her mom's side of the family who was from Palermo, Sicily. My grandmother's aunt was apparently murdered by her drunken raging husband, and her grandfather once pulled out a gun at a poker game, and later used the same gun to off himself.

D3: My mom's friend is a certified Reiki master, and was at my house on Sunday night along with a good portion of my family. She was talking to me privately about a bunch of stuff, and then she brought up reiki, and was like, "I know you think I'm a total fucking nutjob with the reiki shit...", which made me laugh. I like to think I keep an open mind about things, so I asked her to "do some reiki on me". She sat me down and did her thing and the entire time, my 10 year old cousin watched. Afterward I was talking to him about it—he thought it was bullshit but I told him I felt something while she did it... I also thought some weird things too. I told him that just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not there (see D4), and he replied that he believed in spirits but not ghosts. I asked him what the difference was, and he said, basically, that ghosts were things that haunted people, but spirits were things that just pass through our lives, formed by our memories of things that have left us and our fears about the present and the future. My 10 year old cousin!

D4: Related to D1, one morning I was in an extremely sour mood, alone in my bedroom. My dog Zoey came upstairs (according to my mom, the first time she has done that since my other dog Shiva died about 2 years ago). Zoey jumped on the bed and licked my face and nuzzled me... it was obvious to me that she was trying to comfort me. What the fuck is a dog's inner world like? Sensing my pain from downstairs? Does she smell it? Hear it? Sense it in some weird dog sense I can't even comprehend? Anyway, all of a sudden she sits on the bed, her ears erect, and looks *right* at the spot where Shiva used to sleep every night. She starts whining. Then (not joking) her head starts tracking around my bed, like she was following Shiva's movements. I got this completely preternatural vibe, and I put my hand out where her eyes were gazing, and I said, "Shiva?" Then I looked at Zoey and said, "Do you see Shiva? Is she here?"... and Zoey barked "Ruff! Yes! Shiva is here now to comfort you!!" No j/k. But everything up to that last sentence was true. It was fucked up. And then I cried some more because I still miss Shiva a lot.

D5: Not as figurative, but the bride/groom figurines on the wedding cake were skeletons.



You could look at that 2 ways: one, obviously, would be that marriage is a type of death. The other way, the way explained to me by the bride, is that the figurines are supposed to symbolize the marriage of 2 souls forever, beyond death and into the spirit world.

I forgot where I was going with this. The point is, die die deathface.
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Subject:I sometimes wonder ...
Time:10:54 pm
To whom are these various "leadership" books marketed? I suppose that by results (i.e., I've bought and read a few), that would be me, but I somehow suspect that this isn't exactly the case. The main reason that I've been picking these up is that, after working alone for 13 years (plus another 2 with just The Wife), I find myself in a situation where I'm actually faced with managing people, and feel a bit rusty on that level.

The question kept coming to mind while reading J. Donald Walters' The Art of Leadership: A Practical Guide for People in Positions of Responsibility, as, one one level at least, this tends to be something of the equivalent of a diet book that did nothing but patiently explain that to "eat less and exercise more" was going to get you to your weight loss goals ... no great revelations, but setting out the common sense realities of dealing with a leadership role.

Now, I made VP within a year of graduating college, so I've pretty much always been an executive, and perhaps my perspective is different from somebody who, say, worked their way up to be an assistant manager at a McDonalds and suddenly found themselves dealing with an unfamiliar dynamic with those around them ... are those folks the target of these books? Somehow the tone of the material does not seem to be on that level, but for more advanced roles, this seems to be a bit akin to the slave whose function (according to Tertullian) was to whisper to victorious generals in Rome, while in the midst of the Triumph parade: "Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento!" ("Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!") or some such.

This is a very brief book, covering a dozen topics (ranging from checking one's ego, to being flexible, lending support, etc.), which, as noted, are pretty much "common sense" based. The most unique part of this is the "encapsulation" that follows each chapter with a numbered list of the main points (4-9, depending on the section). It struck me that these would make handy index cards to have at hand for those times when one was feeling like one was going to be acting, uh, "counterproductively" in a management situation!

As I've mentioned previously, I've never been much of a reader of "business books" until just the past couple of years, so my "ear" is perhaps not the best for what is good writing or not, but I found this very easy going, without any undue "playing office" obfuscationism, so found it much more of an interesting read than something by somebody trying to prove that they paid real close attention in their MBA classes!

I'm not sure if The Art of Leadership still in print (Amazon just has it listed via the new/used vendors, but bn.com has it at it's whopping cover price of $6.95), but you can get a "like new" copy for as little as 15¢ (plus shipping, of course). Again, despite my caveats, it's a good book, with solid advice if you're looking for coaching in the "Leadership" area, so pick it up if it's something that would be on your radar!


Visit the BTRIPP home page!



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Subject:True dat ...
Time:10:07 pm
One of those eternal truisms ...



... thought I'd share!


Visit the BTRIPP home page!



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Subject:More memage ...
Time:09:43 pm
Snagged from [info]windswept's journal ...

Who'da thunk that I was weirder than 97% of other LJers?! Heh ...

So, btripp, your LiveJournal reveals...



You are... 30% unique (blame, for example, your interest in unicity_network) and 0% herdlike. When it comes to friends you are popular. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is intellectual.

Your overall weirdness is: 81

(The average level of weirdness is: 27.
You are weirder than 97% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!



Oh, by the way, the two things there that aren't readable, that's a 0% for "normal" (mais non!), and 0% for "herdlike" ... I'm perfectly happy having an almost even split between "interesting", "unique", and "peculiar"!


Visit the BTRIPP home page!



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Subject:Do you hear it too?
Time:08:43 pm
Does "groupies" sound like "boobies" only when you are watching Pussycat Dolls video When I grow Up....


Or is it just me
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Subject:16 year old quits school to play Guitar Hero
Time:06:09 pm
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Subject:It's a satire, people...
Time:11:48 am


TROPIC THUNDER

WHO'S IN IT?
Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, some other guys

WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
It's about the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude.

ANY GOOD?
I wound up seeing this only because I was late for the Pineapple Express showing. It's loads of fun provided you're not easily offended by...erm, lots of things actually. Robert Downey Jr and Tom Cruise are the real stars of this. That's right, Tom Cruise. Apparently he has a fearless sense of humor about himself. Bonus points if you don't like Jack Black - despite getting third billing, he has very little to do in this film. Heck, the skinny awkward kid from Undeclared has more lines...
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Subject:for the record
Time:09:45 am
I hate FTP. HATE. I've tried many times in the past week or so to work with a well-known publisher to access files of a book (for a student with a disability), which they do via FTP. First time, I got on fine, but I sure didn't see any files for download. Now, I can't even log on, and they've given me conflicting information on what the username and password are. Seriously publisher people--FTP?

Mac people, do you use an FTP client that you like? (Not that it seems to make a difference because I can't do it through a browser, either, because the info they sent me is WRONG.)

I may have to break down and call the Unhelpful Desk.

ETA: The publisher set up a completely new login for me, and this time, it worked. Phew. The book is downloading as I write this.
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Subject:twitters.
Time:12:02 am
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Subject:Sadness
Time:10:44 pm
Current Mood:[mood icon] sad
I may have to totally deactivate my other blog (www.beyondbathandbeauty.com) because, somehow, the database became corrupted, and now I cannot access ANY of the blog management tools.

It's a shame. Although I was not as dilligent as I would have liked to have been with posting in the blog (heh, like this one) it still has 3 months worth of entries that I would have liked to have kept. Oh, sure, I can print out the entries, but it's not the same. I had many, many problems with Movable Type, which is the same publishing platform that LiveJournal uses...(or at least I thought it did). But it doesn't have the same functionalities that LJ has...much to my chagrin and dismay. This is probably why I didn't update as much as I wanted to - the interface was so damn cumbersome.

*sigh*

But we know and love, then love again, I suppose. I can redo the blog and make it better, flashier, and easier to use, but, as a trade off, I'll be losing a few months worth of entries.

*heaves a heavier sigh*
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Subject:For those in the idle quiz mood...
Time:05:08 pm
... I've made a quiz. I've put a little thought into it, so fair play to me. It's not wretchedly complicated or anything, so fair play to everyone else as well. If you'd like to take it, it can be found here: The Queer Slang Test. Much love to those who take it, even more to those who rate it, and additional love to those who rate it well.
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Subject:I need a lazy beach.
Time:02:05 pm
I've decided that if I go on vacation it will be just to sit on some boring old beach somewhere and think about nothing. Emphasis on boring. As boring as possible. I don't want some "Yo MTV Raps on Spring Break in the Real World, Yo" atmosphere. Somewheres quiet and desolate where the biggest inconvenience would be seagulls pooping on your head. 

I'm primarily looking at Florida (and, yes - ha ha - I know currently Florida isn't boring at all thanks to Fay; this vacation will probably be in a month or two), but I'm not adverse to South Carolina or (God help me) Michigan's UP. Georgia's a possibility, but since it's the "default" home state, I'd rather not.

Any ideas?
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Subject:a busy August week
Time:11:23 am
Sometimes, I think I'm the only person who sweats all the time...and sweats a lot. Geez. I hate humidity. I just walked around campus, and I'm soaked.

Back to work! Which brings me to good news: my grandfather got to go home yesterday. He's still pretty weak, but he's so much better. And best news of all: the tumor they removed with part of his pancreas is NOT cancer. :)

I'm happy to have my house back. As much as I may have complained along the way, I do really love my grandmother. Having her with us made me tired, though. Staying up to watch the Olympics hasn't helped, either.

In my own Olympic news, I'm still working on my blanket. I have many, many squares done and hope to be stitching them together starting Wednesday. I have to finish by the closing ceremonies.

We've got about 150-200 students already on campus. Eep! First-years (who aren't already here) move in this weekend, so the fun really is beginning. Friday, I accompany a group of newbies to Boystown for a Chicago Day. Sunday, I get to talk to parents and newbies about services for students with disabilities. Monday--I'm sure--appointments begin.

Farewell summer. Welcome [back] students!
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Subject:twitters.
Time:12:04 am
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