Jeffster Illustrates the Artisan Temperament

[Jeffster]

This will probably be another one of the thousands of things I start but never finish, but I am starting it anyway, coo coo cachoo.

I have noticed a bunch of topics on this forum, in the four plus months I have been reading it, where people indicate they don't know any SPs, or if they do, have not gotten to know them at all. The first seems unlikely for most people who actually leave their home, because we're EVERYWHERE. But the second is definitely entirely possible. And my hope is that, through this thread, members (and guests) can perhaps become better educated about what makes us tick, and maybe better able to recognize these traits and behaviors in their friends and relatives, or other people they encounter, either in person or even over the internet.

Also, some members here have voiced the opinion that they have an interest in more topics that actually discuss personality type stuff and less just social gabbing, so I'm hoping this can be a thread they can benefit from, and maybe participate in, if they have anything to add.

I chose to post it here in this section, rather than the SP Arthouse, because I have noticed that there are more people viewing this section (especially guests) than any other, and I hope to make this information available to the greatest number of people, and not just those who are searching every nook and cranny of the forum. Plus, proteanmix said to put it where my heart told me to.

My intent is to go through the description of the SP Artisan in David Keirsey's "Please Understand Me II" and possibly other online descriptions, and illustrate the traits presented with stories from my own life. In many cases, I will paste in stuff I have already posted in various other topics or my blog because they were just so perfect in their relevance that I must make the awesomeness repeat itself here. Other times, I will add in my new thoughts as they have come to me about a particular subject within the main topic.

And for anyone who might think so, no, I have not had this project planned since I joined the forum. It has not been some grand social experiment to do research and then present a report. I think that would be more of an NT thing to do. This idea came to me no more than a couple weeks ago at the most, and was a spontaneous burst of inspiration like most things I come up with, and not any kind of master plan. I kept meaning to get going on it in the brief time since it came to me, but other things tended to come up.

Questions and comments are welcome, but note that the intention of this thread is not to debate the validity of Keirsey's theories. I'm pretty sure if you want to start a thread on that, it would be welcomed, but please do it in a separate thread.

At times, I may interject info that has more to do with the functions/cognitive processes, even though Keirsey doesn't see a use for them. I do, and they will likely come up, especially the topic of "Extraverted Sensing" since it is the function that all SPs have as one of their first two.

Now, some of you may be saying, "Jeffster, who are you to think you can educate people on this? You're no expert, you're just some spazz from Texas." Well, you've got a point, Invisible Straw Man Within My Post. But, the only authority I claim is that of a guy who has lived for over 32 years, had an abundance of life experiences, social interactions with people, been a son, a brother, a student, an employee, a boss, a mate, a father, a coach, a participant in many forums of discussion, and an observer of many people from many different places, in many different contexts. I don't claim to represent all ISFPs, certainly not all SPs. But I believe that if my unique perspective can benefit anyone, in any way, then in some sense it will have been worth it to try. I don't know how long it will take for me to make it through the main part of my presentation, but I already have quite a bit of material arranged into the relevant parts of my outline-type-thingy, so even if no one else posts anything, I've got plenty to go on for awhile.

So here we go...

[Jeffster]

According to Keirsey,

"Artisans are concrete in speech/words, and utilitarian in using tools. They are interested in learning about arts and crafts, are preoccupied with technique, and work well with equipment. In orientation, they tend to be hedonistic, optimisitic, cynical, and focused on the here and now. They want to be seen as artistic, audacious, and adaptable. Often excited, they trust their impulses, yearn for impact, seek stimulation, prize generosity, and aspire to virtuosity. Intellectually, they are prone to practice tactics far more than logistics, strategy, and especially diplomacy."

Concrete Word Usage

"The communication of Artisans can be said to be concrete in that they are apt to talk mostly of what is going on at the moment and what is immediately at hand. Most SPs spend little time considering things that cannot be observed or handled. This means that they are likely to take things literally rather than figuratively and, when making comparisons, to use similes more often than metaphors. Their everyday speech is typically filled with details and devoid of planning, and they are more inclined to be specific rather than to generalize. Also, they speak less of categories or classes of things and more of actual , individual things themselves, and in general they tend to be more experiential than theoretical in thought and speech. Indeed, the abstract commands little of their attention, content as they are to do without definitions, explanations, fantasies, principles, hypotheses and the like. They usually consider such topics a waste of time, interesting to others perhaps, but not to them."

Here's how I introduced myself to this forum:

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Allow myself to introduce...myself...

I'm Jeff. I'm 31 years old - going on 16, Christian, Texan, single dad, lover of The Simpsons, cheeseburgers, cute girls, driving in the country, music, radio, politics, and wasting countless hours on the internet doing things like reading about personality types.

I don't drink alcohol, I do pop pills, but only the ones that keep my blood pressure and heart rate from skyrocketing. I voted for George W. Bush and I would do it again!

Well, I think that about says it all. I look forward to being showered with praise as my ISFP type craves, and if not look forward to sulking in the corner secretly plotting to destroy you all in some very creative way.

And as I continued to post, so did I continue to demonstrate the concrete use of words...

That's me, right there. I'm a single dad, most of my life revolves around my son and his activities. So I have that and work..oh i do go out some, usually to the movies or stuff like bowling or to sporting events not involving my son. Every once in awhile I even go to church.

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Well, after having the MOST POPULAR INTRODUCTION THREAD IN THE HISTORY OF EVER (yeah dont argue with me), and learning what the hell this section was for (sort of), I decided I should create the BEST PERSONAL THREAD IN THE HISTORY OF TIME. So, here it is.

First up, that was evil pulling the forum away from me for more than a day, I had only been here a week but was already in full-on addiction mode, so I experienced withdrawal symptoms galore which caused me to play hours of internet blackjack and read Tim Russert tributes which made me cry like a baby.

I've got like 3000 posts in the last couple years on the Doctor Who Forum, and when I discovered this place, DWF was like that plate of scrambled eggs that's been sitting out for an hour and is all cold. Such is my life as SP-man. Sometimes it annoys me, but other times it's fun, some people cling to grudges and depressions for way too long, so I avoid all that stuff most of the time by always having something I'm into. The only time in my adult life that I ever was at a point where I had nothing I wanted to do I was the most depressed. I wasn't suicidal because I wasn't into suicide either. That was pretty scary (happened back in 1997) but thankfully I rose out of that by rediscovering my love of highways. As a kid, I spent hours looking at maps and thinking about routes we could take in the car on the highways of Texas (very few times did my dad actually let me determine the route we followed, he was a "get there in the shortest amount of time possible, we're not here to enjoy the trip" kind of guy - I'm thinking INTJ was probly his type but I dunno for sure - but those few times he let me it was so thrilling, even though I would end up being sad because my dad would miss a turn and get pissed off.) But as an adult with a car - DUDE, I was in heaven, I drove all over East Texas almost every weekend (couldn't do that today with the gas prices, yeesh) and sometimes journaled my adventures, and came up with movie ideas, and sometimes imagined I picked up a hot blonde hitchhiker who sang along with me and the radio jacked up real loud, stopped at whatever fast food grease factory was closest when i needed some grub, but always made it back home before I was too asleep to drive because I couldnt afford motels.

I'm in San Antonio until tomorrow - my son Morgan is staying down here for Bible school starting Monday and hanging out with Grandma. I'll be going back to College Station tomorrow, and back to work on Monday (payroll day-ugh.) We're about to leave to go shopping and then I get treated for dinner at this awesome Chinese place that i forget how to spell but it's pronounced Shoo You! So, bye bye till next time, but remember to leave all your questions and comments on my fantabulously entertaining ramblings here and I'll come back and read them and laugh later, and update it with more superrific stuff again sometime soon!

Originally Posted by Jeffster

I have arrived in San An.

Went through a few patches of showers along the way, listened to American Top 40's 4th of July Special from 1991, got midtrip snack at Dairy Queen in Lockhart, so pretty smooth trip. Now I'm on my mom's computer with the funky mouse so it's harder to get it to click on what I want to click on..slooows me dowwwwn. It's almost like she does it on purpose.

Originally Posted by Jeffster

He sings about real stuff. Sounds, sights, smells, feelings, people and all the craziness that makes up people, getting away and taking in the breeze and the smells of food, nature, love, cities, hope and dreams, memories, pain and anguish in a not-depressing way but a therapeutic way.

And he does it all in a soft-yet-intense-super-wisdom-coolie-fun voice.

That's the best I can describe it. If I were better at describing that stuff, I could BE James Taylor, instead of just listening to him.

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Sunday, October 16, 1989

Dear Diary,

What I thought would be the most exciting day of my life turned out to be just that, but not for the reason I thought. Here we were, my dad and I, in San Fransisco to see the World Series. It was only the second time I'd ever been to a baseball game, and I'd never been at one this important. The Oakland A's had a 2-0 game lead over the Giants and I was looking forward to a Giants comeback.

We were staying in a nice hotel, very close to the stadium. My dad had been surprised that we'd been able to get so close considering all the people who were in town for the game. We rode the stadium bus to Candlestick Park and got there just before five o' clock. We found our seats, eighteen rows up on the second deck, on the third base line side. The stadium was packed. Thousands of fans from both sides were there. My dad and I were psyched up for the game as five o' clock hit. We were just about to hear the announcement of the starting lineups when it happened.

Suddenly, everything began to shake. And I mean everything. It felt as if we were on a a rickety roller coaster. Then it got worse! I tried to hold on to my seat but I fell out and landed on two people in front of me. I lost track of my dad then. People were screaming and pushing and shoving, and I couldn't see. Finally, the shaking stopped. The P.A. announcer tried to keep everyone calm as the stadium security tried to help everyone get out in an orderly fashion. I got up slowly, aching, and quickly found my dad. He hugged me and said everything would be alright, but I was a little bit shaken up. My first thought was actually if the players were okay.

We were filing out of the stadium and listened to the comments of the people around us. A lot of kids were crying. Some people just kept saying "Oh my God." Other said it was the most amazing and frightening thing they'd ever experienced. One A's fan said it was a typical thing to happen in San Fransisco. Some people said they were dizzy. Others just worried about getting a refund for their ticket. The news cameras were everywhere. They interviewed my dad and he said it was something he'd never forget for the rest of his life. As we rode the bus back to the hotel, I knew I never would either.
-------------------

The preceding story is fictional, but it's historical fiction Some elements of it are true, and I wrote it for an English assignment my senior year of high school. I posted it because when I read it earlier today, it struck me as a good example of the way I write/talk, it's full of specific details about the sights and sounds of the experience, as well as the feelings that go through my head in situations. I figured I'd share it here and let anybody else comment on what they notice about my 17-year-old writing style, if anybody wants too. Otherwise, it will just sit here chillin'.

[Jeffster]

"Much of everyday Artisan speech is lively, filled with vivid, unorthodox terms, though not much abstract. SPs like to use colorful phrases and current slang in their speech, and they pick up hip phrases quickly.... When they reach for images, they tend to use quick, sensory adjectives or they say what things are like, using rather striking similes."

Originally Posted by Jeffster

DUDE!

Dude.

Dude!

Du-ude.

Dude.

DUDE!

Originally Posted by Jeffster

My world is always rockin', I just ride the wave.

ROCKIN FUN COOLIE

Originally Posted by Jeffster

See? The awesomeness is spreading. There is nowhere safe from the Jeffsterrificness that is slowly invading the planet. Just remember to hold on tight and ride the wave.

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Just got back from Arlington, here's your trip report...

Friday -

woke up late as usual, after setting out, realized I forgot my meds at the office the day before so had to go back for those because I wanted to enjoy the weekend and not turn into the Hulk.

Drive up there was pretty uneventful, sky was overcast most of the way but no rain. Stopped at Braum's in Hillsboro for lunch. Had a burger, Morgan had what he called the "burgerized chili cheese dog" (they call it chili cheese frankfurter, it's a hot dog sliced in a way they can fit it on a hamburger bun, then chili and cheese dumped on it, yeeeaaahhr!) Morgan said it was the best tasting thing ever, but the next time we are headed up there, he'll probly forget that again and say there's nothing he likes there. This is his pattern, you see. Then he wanted ice cream and I told him, here's 3 bucks, if you can get two of something, do that, otherwise get one of something i like so I can have a few bites. He came back with two chocolate cones and a little bit of change even, so cool.

Went to Rangers Ballpark first once we got to Arlington, to trade Morgan's Junior Rangers voucher in for his ticket and get my accompanying 6 dollar ticket, in our usual place, upper deck behind home plate. There's really only one section with a better view, and those are like 70 bucks a ticket or something, so forget that!

Then we went to the hotel to check in, Wingate Inn, Trip advisor's #1 ranked hotel in Arlington. It's not the cheapest, but it's nowhere near the most expensive either, and it suits our needs just fine. We got our trolley passes, dropped our stuff off, applied large amounts of sunscreen (if you've seen the meetup pic, then you know I still missed a few spots. ), and went out to catch the trolley for Six Flags. halfway there I realize I forgot the Six Flags coupon and I'm like "Crap. Crap Crap Crap." But after we got there, we found out Morgan doesn't count as a child anymore anyway because he's over 48 inches! So the coupon would have only saved us 10 bucks anyway, so I didn't feel too bad.

After going to Disney World last year, I have to say I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to theme parks, as many Six Flags rides seem like pale ripoffs of Disney rides. Morgan had the most fun on The Sombrero and the tea cup one, and I couldn't help but think I could have found some roadside fair that had those and saved the 100 bucks on admission. The "Runaway Mountain" rollercoaster sucked, it was all in the dark and made me start to feel sick without any real thrill out of it. The log flume ride thing was better but again, seemed like a low-budget Splash Mountain. We rode the Yosemite Sam one twice, and Morgan did the teacups like a bazillion times, we ate some overpriced pizza, walked past a bunch of carnival games in the Looney Tunes area where you have to pay extra for them (they say in all their brochure type stuff about how you pay one admission price and then get to do everything and its a total lie because everywhere you turn theyre asking for more money. Six Flags can suck it.)

Sorry if it sounds like I'm bitching, we really did have plenty of fun, but you know I've been enough places now I start to get some actual standards for stuff, ya know? Maybe I'm just too old, but it definitely didn't seem as thrilling as it did when I was a kid. But Morgan had fun and that's the important part. Would it be too much to ask for the signs with the arrows everywhere to say what the fastest way to the frickin exit is, though?? I mean, our feet were already tired as crap when we're just trying to find the way out and catch the trolley and we were circling around like dweebs with our heads cut off. One really good thing I'll say is that they have a lot of those water fan things around the park which in Texas heat is pretty darn essential if you don't want masses of people passing out on the sidewalk right there in your theme park. We took a detour in the air conditioned arcade once, and I sucked at Deal or No Deal, I should have taken the first deal, it just went downhill from there.

Anyway, we waited for the trolley, Morgan pretended he was Batman and was placing trackers on people. He even encouraged me to become a stalker, telling me "if you see a girl you like, you can put a tracker on her and see where she goes."

Back to the hotel to pass out, and that's it for Friday. I'll do Day Two a little later. Stay tuned!

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Yeah, I started a trip report and didn't finish it. How unlike me!

So anyway..

Saturday -

Much more relaxing day after the hardcore Friday. We slept in a bit, got some free hotel breakfast, then went to the pool. Really tiny shallow pool but nobody else was in besides me and Morgan, so it was fine. The only problem was Morgan has grown taller lately but no bigger, so he's a bit on the skinny side, and prone to getting cold too easily. So even though we had fun in the pool, he kept complaining it was cold in the pool and he wanted to go to the hot tub (which was down the hallway a bit from the door to the pool.) of course I dind't really want to, because it's like, we finally got a break from the heat, it's only in the 80's on a day in August! And he wants to get in a hot tub! SHeesh! But I eventually relented, and we went to the hot tub, and it did feel pretty good, but I couldn't stay in there for too long.

After we got dried off, we hung out in the room and watched some tv, read something, until it was time to go to lunch and meet up with Scanty and Tallulah. It was a bit of a drive, I turned around twice because I thought I must have missed the restaurant because I didn't think it was that far. But turns out it really was that far, and the others took a bit to find the place too, so by the time we all got there, we were STARVING. Luckily, it was a Tex-Mex place which means chips and salsa, and they don't skimp on the portions. This place even had free queso dip with the chips, so all the more prop-worthy. The combo plate thing was good, and they have some BRIGHT cheese. The place was decorated coolly with stuff all over the place and a working little train that runs all around the place. Good stuff. Scanty and Tallulah are really friendly, not to mention HOT, and we found enough things to talk about between scarfing down the grub. Morgan spent more time playing gameboy than anything else, and Brady had fun just taking it all in. Good times.

After lunch, we chillaxed in the hotel room a bit longer before going out to catch the trolley to Rangers Ballpark. I told Morgan while we were still in the room that Ian Kinsler would hit a home run for the Rangers that night, and sure enough, he lead off the bottom of the first with a homer. I totally called that shizzle.

Not a whole lot of other offense, but great pitching from both sides, especially Matt Harrison for the Rangers who gave up no runs and only 4 hits. Rangers won 3-0, and the game was over by 9:45, allowing plenty of time for the "world's fastest golfer" Ogie (sp?) to hit 90 golfballs in 70 seconds (or something like that) on the field, and then a totally awesome fireworks display set to Elvis songs that rocked the house.

Then it was fight the crowd to try to get to the trolley time, and we couldn't get on the first one, got standing room on the 2nd one, but after the first stop got seats, and our stop came really soon, so we got our exhausted butts back to the hotel room and passed out from our hardcore fandom.

Up Sunday morning to eat one more free breakfast before heading back on the road home, stopped at Braum's again for another burger, burgerized chili dog and ice cream cones, cranked up the 102.5 The Bear and took the party back home to CS. Went to the grocery store to get some cheap food for this week (don't get paid til Friday) and hit the hay to try to prepare for the work week.

So there ya go. A little bit later but I finished, dangit, who says the SP can't finish something. Now, time to go pee.

Originally Posted by Jeffster

Lookin was right. I can hang with the N conversations pretty well. For a certain period of time. And then...

GAHHHHHH!! MBTIC = HYPOTHETICAL QUESTION FORUM GRAWWWWWHHHHH!

WOULD YOU PAY FOR SEX WITH A SUPERSTITIOUS MULTIPLE-FAKE-ORGASMING ATHEIST ISTJ PROSTITUTE? YOU KNOW, SOMEHOW I DON'T THINK IT'S EVER GONNA COME UP!

THE ABSTRACTION...IT BURNSSSSSSS!

*ahem*

Yeah, it's a bye week for my beloved Red Raiders. Plenty of other good games on but still can't shake that "having to find something to do" feeling. Which is stupid, because I've got tons of work to do both here and at my office...I just don't wanna.

There are obviously many more examples of this I could post, but I feel like that ought to be plenty to illustrate the main stuff. You can see definite examples of the primary characteristics Keirsey points out in this section within those stories I told, several of which I posted before I had even read PUMII, so the act of telling those was not any attempt to demonstrate these things at the time. It was simply the natural way in which I relate things when it comes to words.

[Jeffster]

"It might be added that, more than the other types, Artisans are comfortable in their bodies, and they frequently use their hands to help their speech along, almost always accompanying their spoken words with distinct hand gestures. The most common gesture is a pawing motion, with palm down and slightly bent, the thumb held loosely next to the fingers. More agressive gestures include the closed fist used to pound home one's point, the index finger used to jab one's point across, and the index finger apposed mid-joint by the thumb, used to peck at an opponent."

Obviously I can't show you hand gestures here in print, but it's funny because although I was plenty aware that I use hand gestures when speaking on a regular basis, I had never spent much time thinking about the kinds of gestures I was using, and after reading this, I caught myself doing the "pawing motion" while talking at work, and instantly started getting self-concious about my hands, almost trying to force myself to stop using them so I wasn't just acting out a stereotype.

Next time, we'll talk about tools and stuff. Stay tuned!

[Jeffster]

Originally Posted by sarah

Can I just quick butt in here and say rock on, dude!

Yes. Yes you can.

Mind you, we're completely different people as far as our lifestyles, interests, and political affiliations are concerned, but I do think you've correctly typed yourself. A lot of your posts do a good job of indirectly illustrating what it means to prefer sensing yet not rely solely on it for making decisions. I think you're doing a great job here.

Thanks. And yes, I realize there's a whole ton of diversity within any personality type (I mean, even the ones that are only one percent of the population, that's still a lot of people.) Lifestyles, interests, and political affiliations can certainly vary, but I hope to, as Keirsey did, focus on the areas that set us apart from other people. I use my specific examples about my life, not only because being specific in itself illustrates an SP trait, heheh, but to try to establish real-world examples of the patterns of behavior that people of all types and flavors can pick up.

ps: I do the pawing motion a lot. Never thought anything of it until after I read the Keirsey book, and it shocked me to notice how often I do it. I know this thread is supposed to be about you, but I thought I'd just throw in that a big point of pride for me is my physical gracefulness.

I had never realized how much I do it either. After I told my co-worker Sasha about it, I sometimes growl when I catch myself doing it. You know, that "rowr" thing..you'd have to be there.

pps: If this thread supposed to be just you talking, let me know and I'll delete this comment. I don't want to be a nuisance.

Nah, I welcome feedback. In fact, it will probably help inspire me to actually keep working on this, if I know people are actually reading it and want more. I doubt you could ever be a nuisance. You're awesome.

[SolitaryPenguin]

Did she delete her post, or are you talking to yourself?


I read the whole thing, but I am a tad freaked out right now.

[Jeffster]

Originally Posted by SolitaryPenguin

Did she delete her post, or are you talking to yourself?

Both of course.

I read the whole thing, but I am a tad freaked out right now.

It's okay. Just take a deep breath and think of cheeseburgers.

[nightning]

Awesome examples Jeff... Very direct and to the point. I especially like the dude example. Rock on!

[xNTP]

Moved from MBTI. It makes more sense here, and the forum is pretty empty. If you want to leave it in MBTI for the traffic, I can move it back, but you have to rep me. Rep me hard.

[Colors]

(I'm a little scared too.)...(Possibly all those emoticons in one place. )

And once you've exemplified yourself as the perfect Kiersian SP, how are the rest of us going to live up to that?

Cool learning about your total Doctor Who geekdom.