Aug 13 2008
∞
Get ready to lose.
Aug 10 2008
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The L.A. Flake
There’s a practice here in California’s most populated locale that always disgruntles the earnest newcomer. In the area most well-known for the glits and glam, talk is cheaper than you realize.
If you’ve got some chisel in your build or an hourglass to your figure, chances are you’ll spend time in Los Angeles’ exciting social circuit. It’s the places where pairs of silicon roam, the cool guys spend a fortune to look like they just woke up, and who you’re doing outweighes what you’re doing. You’ll never talk to the same person for more than 15 minutes. And no matter how great of a connection you think you’ve made, “we should hang out some time” means much to nothing.
The L.A. flake is the broken promise of meeting again. It doesn’t matter if you believe you’ve made a connection. It doesn’t even matter if you were once old friends. Everyone says that they will call you the next day. It’s just an LA euphemism for “if nothing better comes up…” (i.e. let’s be friends if I’m not busy washing my cat or folding socks).
I hope you’re not believing that L.A. is shallow and superficial. The primped and pimped patrons of silicon chesticles are simply too busy with the hustle and bustle to discover a person’s morals and values. Time is money. That’s why everyone here looks at each other’s outside to find what’s inside.
You’re a nobody if you don’t look like a somebody. You can be a bible study teacher or a devout champion of social injustices, but life will be lonely if you don’t look like a million bucks. Seriously, what do you expect? L.A. is a city where a missed opportunity to score with a hottie on a Saturday night at the bar can still lead to a chance of meeting each other again during Sunday afternoon worship at church.
Just don’t get your hopes up. Everyone here is too cool for school. Live in L.A. long enough and you’ll start caring about not caring. Max out your credit cards to dress like you just don’t give a shit…just make sure your sunglasses cover half your face. The best and brightest of L.A. walk around looking as if they had the wildest night of no-strings-attached threesomes that would make Charlie Sheen look like a catholic school virgin.
If offering empty promises and backing out of pre-arranged appointments doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, here’s the secret to getting Los Angelians to keep to their word. Money (or at least the assurance of more). Make sure that there’s a sweet incentive for someone to hold their promise for meeting again. Don’t be afraid to wheel and deal in this town. Some say that a guarantee is only as good as the person that makes it, but the truth is that you’re only worth your last pay. You’ve gotta give to get. So a second date has gotta come with a bigger pay-off than the first.
…I just call it as I see it. I dare you to live here for a few years and believe otherwise.
by TheBlueTick
Aug 02 2008
∞
How the gods created the INTJ
by Brian Stansberry
…the gods labored day and night to create all the people in the world, and when they got down to the last few individuals, god-god shouted, “Damn! We’re out of hearts! Just a few more to go, and we have ran out of hearts! What can be done?”
The gods all looked at each other, puzzled, and then looked at smart-god, who shrugged, and then said:
“Well, we could get some of that frozen, black goo and mold it into hearts…maybe no one will notice!”
“Yes…people will notice,” mushy-god replied, “I assure you…people will notice.”
“That’s too bad,” god-god replied, “these last few people will just have to be outcasts. Although…we still might be able to conpensate for this weak heart. Sex-god…do you have any ideas?”
“Yeah,” sex-god replied, “I know something that will more than compensate. All we have to do is give them—”
And just then, Erro-the-Cat wandered into the room where the creation of all Man was taking place, and threw a snooty glare at the gods.
“Why its Erro, the Shrewd and Reclusive cat!” god-god said. “Tell us Erro, we created you with a weak heart and placed you in a world of warm-hearted dogs, how is it that you survived?”
“Ah, you old fool,” Erro quipped, “I have the world’s most powerful mind. That’s all I need.”
“Ooooooo…a kitty…” mushy-god said, as he tried to pick Erro up. Erro turned and ran out of the room, looking forward to the hours he would spend sitting in a high spot with his arms and legs tucked under his body, and staring, eyes half-shut, into nothing.
“An excellent idea!” god-god shouted, “We’ll give these last few individuals powerful minds to compensate for their poor hearts. Soon our task will be complete, and then we can drink heartily and sleep.”
“But wait,” mushy-god cried, “that won’t just make them equal to the others, it will make them—”
“Enough!” god-god shouted, “I said we will give them powerful minds, and that’s final! Now, let us finish, so we can be gone!”
And so the gods laboured through the night, and finished creating Man. Then they slept softly and when they awoke, thier creations had come to life. The gods looked at their creations with satisfaction, one-by-one, until they came to the last few they had created…the ones they had given weak hearts and powerful minds…and their expressions segued into a mixture of amazement and horror.
“Fascinating!” smart-god said, “Absolutely fascinating!”
“Just as I thought,” mushy-god cried, “I knew this world happen!”
“Why,” god-god exclaimed, ” we have done what no god or gods ever thought possible…amazing! Look at them! They’re incredible! The weak heart! The powerful mind! A might combination, indeed! No, my fellow deities, ‘tis not Man, ‘tis not even God, ‘tis the—
INTJ
All Hail the Mastermind!
Jul 21 2008
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Username and Camp
I dunno if I just get tired of usernames too early or I just haven’t found the right one yet, but I want to have a different username when I renew my MobileMe account. I was thinking of something California-ish, or tropical, because it puts a good image/feeling in my head. “Calamari” is a good sounding word (word tasting through intuition). Maybe I’ll base it off of that. Maybe I’ll make a username with the same concept as our sister camp’s name: Wohelo. Wohelo stands for Work, Health, and Love, so maybe I can try something like that. What do I stand for…
- Iconoclastic thinking
- Idiomatic lifestyle
- Performance in everything
- Unbounded aspirations
Jul 13 2008
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Life Changing Resources for an INTJ
I haven’t really read into this a lot yet, but it looks very useful.
Jul 09 2008
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2012: Self-Fulfilling?
I have seen a lot recently about the supposed apocalypse coming up in 2012. Nostradamus and the Mayans apparently had it in for us. Should we be frightened?
I think it is a load of baloney. But before you start planning your early Christmas party, consider that the fact that it is baloney might make no difference.
This sort of thing could end up depending not on apocalyptic events like cosmic collisions or Plinian eruptions, but on human initiative. If enough people believe that an apocalypse will happen at the same time, it will. It has the potential to be self-fulfilling. A small-scale example of the disastrous effects of a population believing that the world is ending can be found in the cargo cult mentioned in The God Delusion. Now imagine what a population would do if it truly believed the world was going to end in a few days. Worse, imagine what might happen if that population had a supply of nuclear weapons. Also imagine what might happen to a government that was not dealing with such a panicked population, but was aware of the possible increased threat from neighboring countries. Suddenly everyone is jittery, and itching to strike first.
Thoughts? Doomsday predictions? Plans to flee to Mars?
From TheLastMohican
Jun 27 2008
∞
“ You haven’t met yourself yet. But the advantage to meeting others in the meantime is that one of them may present you to yourself. Examine the nature of everything you observe. For instance, you might find yourself walking through a dream parking lot. And yes, those are dream feet inside of your dream shoes. Part of your dream self. And so, the person that you appear to be in the dream cannot be who you really are. This is an image, a mental model.
— Waking Life
Jun 17 2008
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Finally Some MBTI Humor
The funny thing is, this is actually another great tool for understanding the different types.
—-
Summary: The types, as interpreted by my ESTJ older brother. He said: “I like how these personality tests always make each personality sound good. Like no one reads them and says, ‘Wow, that guy is an a-hole! I’m glad that’s not ME!’ What if they were called something else?”
ISTJ - The Duty Fulfiller turns into Mr. ADHD
ESTJ - The Guardian turns into Mr. Fix-it… Even If It Ain’t Broke
ISFJ - The Nurturer turns into Would You Just Give Me Some SPACE?
ESFJ - The Caregiver turns into The Smotherer
ISTP - The Mechanic turns into Let’s Waste Our Time Taking It Apart To See How It Runs.
ESTP - The Doers turns into Please Just Sit The Hell Down!
ESFP - The Performer turns into Mr. I’ve Gotta Be The Center Of Attention.
ISFP - The Artist turns into Mr. “Look How Wonderful/Talented I Am”
ENTJ - The Executive turns into Mr. Bossy Pants.
INTJ - The Scientist turns into Mr. Can’t Do Anything Because We’re Too Busy Thinking About Doing Something.
ENTP - The Visionary turns into Mr. Look At All The Great Things I’ve Been Thinking About.
INTP - The Thinker turns into Get Off Your Butt And DO IT!
ENFJ - The Giver turns into Where Is My Citizen Of The Year Award? - or - Will Soon Be Needy Because They Can’t Save.
INFJ - The Protector turns into The Miser
ENFP - The Inspirer turns into “Those Who Don’t Do / Won’t Do… TEACH”
INFP - The Idealist turns into Mr. Pipe Dream
Jun 10 2008
∞
:D
Jun 09 2008
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The NT/NF Death Spiral
The general sequence of events is this:
Stage 1: NT meets NF. NF is enamoured of NT, falls head over heels. NT is characteristically cautious, but interested. NFs are fun, after all.
Stage 2: NF appreciates and admires many characteristics of the NT and thus begins to behave more like an NT, perhaps even fooling the NT into thinking s/he is an NT. NT then relaxes, figuring s/he’s with a kindred spirit, gets more comfortable with the relationship, starts acting like normal NT self, expecting to be understood.
Stage 3: NF feels NT cooling off and wonders what s/he is doing wrong. Tries to be more like NT to compensate. This doesn’t feel right. NF gets needy and/or begins to consider is her/his duty to draw the NT out of her/his shell, encouraging the NT to express all those feelings buried deep inside. NT doesn’t get it.
Stage 4: NT feels pressure from NFs emotional demands, needs distance to figure things out. (This might be only INTs. I’m not sure.) NF panics, becomes more needy. NT withdraws more…NF needs more…and so on and so on.
Stage 5: NF suddenly realizes that the reason things aren’t working is that the NT is cold and unfeeling or not nurturing or some other horrible thing. Abandons NT without looking back. (This is especially likely with the NFPs.) NT is confused and (sometimes) relieved.
