[MENTION=4945]EJCC[/MENTION]
1. Do you like being outside or inside better?
If I'm home along without a lot to do, I usually find myself inside lounging around. That said, I do feel a fairly strong connection to nature and probably prefer being there.
2. How important is God in your life?
I attend church every week because I always have and I have social connections and activities that I enjoy there, but I don't really have any religious beliefs. In sum, God isn't really a part of my life.
3. Do you enjoy sports?
I'm physically disabled, so that limits a lot of sports activity. I do enjoy walking outside when I can, even if it's just down the street. Yes, I can pull 8-hour lazy sessions in front of the computer, but if I'm not vegging out and being totally lazy, I need to move around.
4. Do you enjoy life or do you let it pass you by?
I do try to engage good times and opportunities as they come up. That said, due to learning and physical disabilities, there are a lot of things that I would love to be able to do that simply are not viable options. This frequently makes me feel bitter, and, despite the fact that I can't think of any significant ones right now, I'd be surprised if there haven't been quite a few opportunities I've let pass me by due to a lack of enthusiasm or motivation, or due to falsely holding out hope that better opportunities will come along, and so not fully investing myself in whatever my current course of action is.
5. Do you drink?
Yes, both to get drunk and for enjoying what I'm drinking, though moreso the latter. I love darker beers and liquors (bourbon, scotch, etc), though I have a growing appreciation for India Pale Ales.
6. What is one word that you hear all the time when people are describing your personality?
'Emotionally distant unless you're angry or upset, 'bitter', 'sarcastic' (though I'd argue more for sardonic and tongue-in-cheek, but that's probably splitting hairs), boring or dull.
7. Are you just itching to get out of your hometown?
Hell yes. Yes yes yes yes yes and again yes. But there's no point, because I'll almost certainly never be able to afford to live where I want to anyway.
8. Where would you like to live one day?
A city bigger than the one near here- at least a couple hundred-thousand people. Not a run-down rustbelt city with crumbling infrastructure and off-the-charts crime and social problems either. And in a good area with plenty of well-educated folks. Ideally this place would also have fairly progressive values and few if any right-wing religious 'fundamentalists'*.
*take this term as you will, I'm not posting this to debate sociopolitical terminology.
9. Speak any foreign languages?
No; I did take three semesters of Spanish in high school and one in college, though I did poorly in the latter and haven't retained very much.
10. What is the age limit when it comes to dating someone?
I'm 23. The ideal scenario for me would be dating someone within two years or so on either side of that, though I'd be quite willing to date someone if they were a bit older. I might be a bit picky in that regard, but to me it would feel odd, being out in the working world for three years before my SO is even old enough to get a degree.
11. What do you do when you're nervous?
It depends; if there's conflict brewing, ie screaming, shouting, slamming doors, I'll withdraw. If it's something else, pace, drink a lot of water and fidget, pace, freak out, pace some more, etc.
What made you unsure of your type?
I haven never really strongly identified with any of the types, MBTI or enneagram.
1. What do you yearn for in life? Why?
Success, and to not be overwhelmed with stress and misfortune. For my desired living situation, please see the above post. Also, success- to be respected, admired, and even envied by others- simply feels good.
2. Think about a time where you felt like you were at your finest. Tell us what made you feel that way.
Any time that I look back on in a classroom where I was one of the most informed students, I can't help but feel proud of where I was at that point in time. It's nice to feel superior to so many people, yet realize that you can learn much more from some others. Also, chances are that if I know that much more than average about something, I enjoy learning about it to begin with. Enjoyment, learning, and feeling successful all in one- it's a great feeling, but one that I don't feel nearly enough anymore.
3. What makes you feel inferior?
Lots of things. Not knowing enough to contribute to intellectual conversations even if I wanted to- especially if I want to- at a particular moment. Realizing that I likely won't make a lot of money in the future- not enough to get where I want to in life. It really makes me inferior when I realize that in order to do so, I'd basically have to make my learning/ physical disabilities (or at least one or the other) disappear. Oddly enough, unless I receive fairly harsh reprimands and a lasting change in others' perception toward me, what others tend to think of me outside of my intellectual ability doesn't really bother me. Yes, a lot of people that know me well enough to get past the quiet, perhaps slightly distant and gruff exterior do in fact describe me as nice and having a good character, but I would not say that that has ever been a particular focus. Approval has been a bit more of a focus, at least from my parents, but it would be pretty rare for someone to have decent parents and not give a damn what they think.
Well that got off track...but it would be pointless to edit it when trying to give clear indicators of my personality, and I don't feel like it, so...*continues*
4. Describe us a time where you had a lot of fun. How is your memory of it?
Just one? Pfft, yeah, not going to happen.
There are annual conferences held in major cities around the country held each year for people with my disability. Shared learning and exploring a big city I've never been to before was always an awesome experience.
Birdwatching is always a great activity, and I've seen numerous amazing sights over the few years I've been involved with this activity.
As far as more routine activities go, I've read some great books that I believe I'll always remember quite fondly. That's one of the wonderful things about books- you never know, the next one you read might be one you'll remember for years afterward, for any number of reasons.
5. When you want to learn something new, what feels more natural for you? (Are you more prone to be hands on, to theorize, to memorize, etc)
It depends on what I'm learning. I find that I enjoy professors talking about theories or terms and then giving real-life examples of them. Sometimes having someone recount fascinating personal experience is a great way to learn as well. Some things are best learned hands on, too. It would be impossible to pick just one overall, but my fondest learning experiences, apart from being out in nature, have typically been either in front of someone lecturing well or with my nose in a book. Granted I tend to associate hands-on learning with trades, shop class, and the like, and I have essentially no talent in those areas, so I may or may not be biased. I also have some good memories of social work field work- working alongside someone with a degree, or having them show me how to do something and then doing it- indeed, it is probably the fastest and most effective way to learn, but there wasn't anything exceptional about it.
In sum, I would say that while I have fonder memories of classroom learning, hands-on learning is probably more efficient for me, and these combined make for a draw as far as preference.
6. How organized do you to think of yourself as?
Not very, but I'm sure as shit more organized than my sister.
7. How do you judge new ideas? You try to understand the principles behind it to see if they make sense or do you look for information that supports it?
Info, info, info. While Fi, in whatever capacity I have it, does create an incentive to just accept what I want to and disregard other things, I often find myself collecting info from whatever side of the issue I can. Every so often, I'll read an editorial in the paper, and then proceed to read the most damning op-eds that disagree with that stance (the first one is always the one I agree with) just to try to stay informed. It feels revolting at first, but after ruminating over the issue at hand and perhaps a google search or two, I usually feel much more informed and have sometimes even gained a level of knowledge that neither article would offer. Hey, at least Michelle Malkin's existence is good for something!
8. Are you the kind that thinks before speaking or do you speak before thinking? Do you prefer one-on-one communication or group discussions?
Think first. Often the thinking isn't followed by speaking, especially if I'm in a sizeable group.
9. 13) Do you jump into action right away or do you like to know where are you jumping before leaping? Does action speaks more than words?
Know first, then act. Action tends to speak as loud as words, if not louder, simply due to impact, though I would argue that verbally standing by oft-repeated words is in itself an action. Brief words can be said and then regretted, but if you say something ten times over five years, your words are as illuminating as any action.
10. It's Saturday. You're at home, and your favorite show is about to start. Your friends call you for a night out. What will you do?
Hit record and have a fun night out.
11. How do you act when you're stressed out?
Either I withdraw, as is the case with conflict, or I lash out at others and sometimes myself. I blame and criticize. Whether I'm blaming or criticizing myself or others varies, though both usually get at least a small bit of criticism.
12. What makes you dislike the personalities of some people?
Quickly judging others, and not believing facts. If you're disagreeing with proven fact because of 'how you feel' about something, how can you expect to be useful to the rest of humanity? Stop dragging the rest of us down already, and stop voting, stop debating, stop arguing, and maybe read a book?
13. What kind of things do you pay the least attention to in your life?
There are certain things that I have a harder time picking up on than others (body language, conversational cues), but as far as what I pay attention to, I don't think there's anything I really neglect disproportionately.
14. How do your friends perceive you? What is wrong about their perception? ? What would your friends never say about your personality ?
Even-keeled emotionally, but that's because my venting either happens in front of my parents or on Vent (though I rarely ever have intense fits of yelling, screaming etc. and I virtually never cry), rather socially awkward if not inept, yet someone ready to listen and give advice if needed. Offbeat. Someone that might be one of those people that doesn't become an alcoholic overnight or soon, but ends up entering rehab at 65 after a life of steadily increased drinking (I'm going out on a limb on that one, after making a few awkward drunken appearances and my love of discussing alcohol.)