if I subscribe to newsletters but never read them.
if I eat dessert first.
if I field test clothes with tags on them even after I decide to keep them.
if I order two appetizers and an entree for lunch.
if I obsess over checking in on Yelp.
if I practice my signature for potential autographing needs as an author.
if I am super particular about how I add pictures to FB (it’s a 12-step process).
if I forget to share pics for months (mostly because of my complicated FB posting process).
if I test the limits of my memory space (and I forgot why I wrote this).
if I drop my phone three times a day.
if I keep way too many lists.
if I prance around barefoot when possible.
if I notice your little ticks (and it kind of bothers me).
if I don’t care for pop culture.
if I drink hot water even in the summer.
if I eat all I want and don’t gain weight.
if I am always the exception.
if I sometimes resent my cat for not snuggling with me.
if I check the mail always hoping for a package even when I’m not expecting something.
if I can’t seem to rid my life of clutter.
Posts Tagged ‘personality’
So what
The worrisome type (& a story about a golf club)
I grew up rather carefree, with just a normal amount of teenage angst and self-doubt. My personality has always been the type to “smile first, figure it out later” – or sometimes I just laugh it off. While I am stubborn and can have a temper, I’m usually grinning or chuckling at something. I guess I take after my dad, who may not smile as much, but is pretty easygoing about things and not really one to worry too much. Meanwhile, my mother and boyfriend are completely different!
The golf club.
Let me give you an example: recently, I found an offer for a free “Boccieri Secret Grip” for a golf club. I had no idea what that means, but my dad’s really into golf so I thought he might want it. Since he was busy, my mom and I went to Dick’s to redeem the offer. The coupon instructed us to bring a 7 Iron or driver in tow – we grabbed the 7 Iron because it’s lighter :-P. So we get into the store and are sent to the guy in the golf section, who takes the club behind the counter. My mom and I check out the two giant spaces they have for testing golf clubs, one which includes a projection of a videogame-like golf course.
Then we look back at the guy.
My dad’s golf club had been stripped into a sad-looking pole! Gone was the TaylorMade grip. The handle was exposed and he vigorously tore off some leftover tape still sticking to it. At this point, my mother and I are in shock. Ok, so call us clueless, but we had no idea that a free grip meant removing the one we had! We watched as he stuck this double-sided sticky paper to the pole, then wet the exposed surface and the interior of the new grip. This allowed the grip to slide on.
RIP, old grip.
He handed it back to us as we stared, dazed. What just happened?? In a trash bin, on top of a pile of papers, lay the original grip. Sad, forlorn, floppy. We asked for it back. We were surprised to find that it had been sliced straight down the middle, but I guess that’s how you remove them. The guy explained to us that the Boccieri Secret Grip has a metal weight in it so the relative weight of the club head is lighter. Apparently that’s supposed to help with your golf game. He also showed us the TaylorMade grips they had in store, which we could always re-grip the club with. The patterning wasn’t the same as ours, but it was the same brand.
And so we left the store, my mom clinging to the ruined grip. We had some grocery shopping to do and throughout the entire time, she kept sighing and sort of melodramatically “wailing” in despair. She was sad, upset, even angry that the guy had so heartlessly cut up the old grip. To her, TaylorMade was a brand name and Boccieri was… not. And so she felt like the club had been downgraded. Plus, she wasn’t happy that the set no longer matched.
I, on the other hand, while certainly shocked at first, quickly recovered. Maybe it really is better and maybe it will help my dad’s golf swing or precision or something. Also, just because we hadn’t heard of the name didn’t mean that it wasn’t a brand name in itself. Who knows. But more important than the brand is the performance! And that’s pretty much exactly what my dad said when we got home. I don’t think he was thrilled that the grip was replaced, but he was open-minded and willing to give it a try. He also wasn’t so concerned about a perfectly matching set or any brand name.
Even then, my mom had a hard time letting it go. It was still a big deal to her! That’s just the type of person she is. I guess some people just get much more worked up over things. To me, they cause themselves a whole lot of unnecessary stress. But hey, that’s their prerogative! Are you the worrisome type too?
Foodie identity
Ever since this term “foodie” entered my vocabulary, I’d wondered about it. I saw the people who loved to go out and eat at nice places, with small portions and beautiful presentation styles and weird ingredients. You know, those who get dubbed experts in this and that and usually end up becoming food critics, whether professionally or as a hobby. There were food shows abound, from the traditional cooking shows to the reality/competition shows. I’d watch as they consumed all manner of things that I was not interested in trying, and wonder if that’s what made a foodie. You’d eat just about anything so you wouldn’t miss out on the amazing variety available. Oh, and of course everyone was a sucker for a wine or cheese tasting.
Then “foodie” things on the internet caught my attention, like Yelp and Foodspotting. So then I thought, “Ok, maybe being a foodie means you try all kinds of places and review them and/or post up pictures (preferably artistic) of the food you ate.” Maybe foodies were a middle-class food critic of sorts. Sometimes hitting the high-end places, but usually going to accessible restaurants and reflecting on the taste of the dishes ordered and the level of service provided. Or maybe it’s the people who almost seem to enjoy turning an image of the food into artwork more than eating the food itself. Oh! OR, could it be that it was those people who would find that one gem in the strangest of places, that has the best [fill in food type] in the area.
Yeah, I was pretty confused by this so-called identity of being a foodie, since I love food, eat a lot of it, and have a pretty diverse palette. But I just didn’t connect with what it seemed “being a foodie” entailed. My friends would probably consider me to be a foodie, but what does it really mean? I never really cared for being like those other people – the ones who paired wines with their meals and got dishes barely big enough for one bite. I also didn’t feel like the type to sit around over-analyzing the food or turn it into a creative thing. Was a a different class of foodie? Was I even in the category of foodie?
So, I decided it was time to look it up. Unfortunately, much like the term “hipster,” I’m still struggling to really grasp what people mean by the term. On Wikipedia, I found a helpful blurb to let me know that the fancy schmancy people I was thinking of are considered “gourmets.” At least I can rule out my first impression of what foodie could mean.
“…foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news…” ~Wikipedia
I am an amateur and I love food for consumption. However, I don’t really study it or prepare it, or study the preparation of it. Apparently foodies can really get into restaurant openings, cooking classes, and (surprise) wine tastings or beer samplings. I’m not really into those things, though I would consider trying them at some point. You know what, I’ve figured it out. I’m just a plain old food lover. I don’t get crazy about the details of food; I basically like to enjoy tastes. Still, I like sites like Yelp and Foodspotting, since they allow me to discover great places to eat at, so maybe there’s a little foodie in me.
The Maven
Oh what a marvelous thing has happened! It has been years since I started developing and talking about my business philosophy, one of the key components of which is a business partner. Finally, I have stumbled across the first viable lead and I am thrilled! I’ll call him Maven, since that’s what he is as per Malcolm Gladwell’s book The Tipping Point. Maven and I both have a strong interest in business and our conversation recently led us to budding partnership. He has a fantastic idea for a business and I have all the eagerness and complementary skills that he could ask for.
I feel like it’s been a long time coming, so it’s really rewarding to find someone who has a vast number of skills that I don’t, and who needs the very skills that I do have. At the same time, we share many values and both believe in the synergy that can be created to make a partnership more than just 1 +1. It’s just enough overlap to agree on the important things, and plenty of complementary abilities to pack a powerful punch. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect scenario! If nothing else, 2011 will go down in history as the year I met Maven. A very fortunate experience indeed!
Whether or not we are able to get this idea off the ground (and I am confident that we can and will), I have a great feeling about just knowing Maven. There’s a lot to learn from him and he is a fantastic conversationalist! I’d been craving the kinds of discussions we’ve been having – about business, personal philosophies, psychology, and so many other topics. We’re both very curious, inquisitive folks who think a lot, ask a lot, wonder a lot. I’ve never had someone ask me so many “whys” about my beliefs and it really helps me understand myself better.
In addition, I got a kick out of the fascination we both seem to have with personality tests and what can be gleaned from them. I love reading personality profiles! I feel like I learned a lot about him when I read the description of his “type,” whether or not all of it was accurate. At least it gave me a good basis for understanding the type of person he is. The more I get to know, the better it all seems. With our work ethics, determination, and combined efforts, I wouldn’t put anything past us. You just wait!
Strangely motivated
Last week, I was innocently checking in to various listings on Yelp as I always do, keeping unofficial tabs on where I’ve been. When it came to the 405 freeway, I found to my dismay that someone had ousted me from the Duchess spot (you become the Duke or Duchess if you have the most check-ins)! This got me all riled up. I refused to have someone beat me out like that, so I started a check-in war.
To better understand the context of this, let me lay down some of the rules we have to follow:
- You can check in to any given listing no more than once every 4 hours.
- You can only check in when you are within 1 mile of the listed address of the listing (with some exceptions).
- You can check in no more than 25 times in a given day.
So, immediately I started checking in every 4 hours or so. Of course, life would get in the way and it wouldn’t happen that much, but I did log multiple check-ins a day. I reasoned that I’ve driven up and down the 405 hundreds of times (if not over a thousand by now), so all these excess check-ins are making up for previous visits. Thankfully, I live and work in an area within a mile of the freeway, so I can check in throughout the day without having to move. I also don’t check in to places arbitrarily – I like for my check-ins to actually reflect my visitation to whichever listing, so I rarely ever get up to 25 check-ins in a day. That’s a lot of places to visit!
Well, unfortunately it appeared that little Ms. Piggy saw that I was catching up to her, so she started checking in full force as well. I call her that because she doesn’t have a real profile picture, but just a cartoon pigging saying something about pigging out. Every time I’d check in after a few hours, I’d find that she was also checking in to keep her lead. This went on for about three days and I was getting just one or two check-ins behind, but then came the weekend and my trip to NorCal. While I was away, I wasn’t able to keep the pressure on her, but it appears that she eased up as well. Maybe she thought I had backed down and let her guard down.
As soon as I came back from my weekend trip, I was checking in again at maximum capacity and today I’ve managed to tie her at times and be one check-in behind at others. By tomorrow, I think I can take her down and reclaim my title as Duchess of the 405 freeway. Once that happens, I plan on continuing until I have a healthy lead that reflects the hundreds of times that I have driven the 405. It’s a silly little thing, really, but this really brought out some of the competitive edge in me. I am not going to give up on this mission! Why it means so much may be beyond most people, but it’s a fun challenge for me.
For the sake of it
photo credit: puttputtproductions.com
I was born in the Year of the Ox and the month of the Capricorn. Both are known to be stubborn creatures, which is something that I’ve most definitely inherited, for better or for worse. Many of the things I chose to do in my life have been out of pure stubbornness – first to be able to say that I did it and second just to be different. Of course, the more people try to get me to change my behavior, the more determined I get to stick to my principles, morals, and priorities. I think I like the satisfaction of claiming that I don’t do this or that or that I have done something for this long. Especially when it’s something most of the population would like to claim as well, I feel all the better about being able to stake my claim.
The three most prominent examples of this are what I will or will not ingest, my frequency of relocations and moves, and my persistence with my journal. For each, though it may not always make sense for me to stick to my guns so strictly, I do so to preserve the idea that it’s always been that way. I don’t like to compromise in any of these areas and it’s quite rare for me to do so, though I’ve been working on that lately, since some of what I do is truly unfounded or limiting. At the same time, certain aspects I don’t plan on ever changing and that can be seen as a good or bad thing. Ok, let me clarify what I mean by each of these examples then.
Lychee flavor!
First off are my peculiar food and drink preferences. As many know, I do not drink alcohol, coffee, or energy drinks. I also refuse to eat rubbery things like calamari, squid, and other such odd creatures. I stay away from burgers, steak, lobster, and caviar. I am especially strict with alcohol, also avoiding food cooked in it, chocolates with liqueur, and the like. Even fermented food is a big no-no in my books, though some of these things have been unavoidably tasted at least once. The more people try to pressure me to drink, the more resistant I am, even if it’s just a taste or small portion of wine. I often get the “you know that it can actually be good for you, right?” and pay no heed – the costs far outweigh the benefits in my eyes. I do, however, like to collect a few mini bottles here and there because they’re rather cute (plus, why would you ever drink it? They’re too pretty!).
However, last year I did become curious and exasperated enough to try some beer (at age 22) and it was just as nasty as I thought it’d be, plus some. So that experience only solidified my resolve to avoid alcohol. I’m sure people will now focus on how I didn’t try wine or something lighter, fruitier, or whatever. Perhaps one day I will sip some wine just to get them to leave me alone, but as of now I’ll just ignore their pleads that it can be good for my health. In fact, I cherish an article I read recently about how the link that people draw between moderate drinking and good health may not be a causal effect, but actually be discounting many other possible factors that affect people’s drinking. Even if there was solid proof, I’m not about to just follow suit. I can eat blueberries and pomegranates for antioxidants and have fish oil and avocados for cardiovascular health. No alcohol needed.
I avoid coffee and energy drinks for the caffeine, which I don’t want or need, plus coffee smells disgusting to me. I like to do things naturally and without artificial aids whenever possible, so if I’m tired I take a nap. If I’m pulling an all-nighter, I drink lots of water or tea. I don’t need these extreme stimulants to affect my body in strange ways.
As for rubbery things, I’m not a fan of having to overwork my jaw or swallow large chunks of food. The texture doesn’t appeal to me, so I stick to crab, shrimp, and scallops, which is seafood that I do like to eat. This is not for health reasons, so I did try these “dong dong” shells in Singapore, since it’s a local thing. Now, I’m not quite sure why I don’t like burgers – I think it stems from a gross one I saw in the cafeteria in my childhood. I’ve stayed away ever since, though I have broken that to have about five in the past 15 years.
This doesn’t look appetizing to me at all. photo credit: artvoice.com
Steak is just too thick for me and I hate how it usually comes at least somewhat pink. I don’t really like meat that much, unless it’s very thinly sliced. Lobster is something my mom and I have disagreed on for ages – she says I ate it as a kid and I refuse to believe that. The only time I recall having it was in a dip, where the chunks were minimal. I’m not interested in ever eating a full one. And caviar has the same problem that rubbery things have in that I don’t like the texture. I also stubbornly don’t like food that is high class and expensive (though it’s a coincidence that my taste buds prefer cheaper foods).
Secondly, I am persistent in my desire to move around because that’s how my life has always been. I like being able to say I’ve never lived in the same city for more than 3 and 1/2 years consecutively. I like having so many old homes and schools and jobs that I have to keep a list or else I’d forget. I’m not the type of person to stay put and I enjoy that. My friends are never really too surprised to hear of my escapades because I’m on the go far more than they usually are. If for that reason alone, I want to keep moving around and not settle quite yet. Of course, it also has to do with just being used to that lifestyle.
My most recent journal.
Finally, how many people can say they have kept a journal for 14 years? I want to be able to, but I’m at 13 now and a year behind in catching up on entries. Most people I tell say they tried to keep a journal, but that only lasted a week, a month, a year… I’ve yet to meet someone who’s managed for as long as I have. And if only for the sake of being able to say that I have, I want to continue with it, whether or not it may be worth my while. Ultimately I think it’ll be a great thing to draw from later on if I decide to write an autobiography (or if people want to look back on my life, though it’d certainly be a bit tedious – I’m already reaching 50 volumes and that’s A LOT of reading).
So you see, much of my motivations for these areas is because of my stubbornness to continue to do it like I always have (or at least since my childhood). Generally, people respect my choices and think it’s good that I don’t drink and don’t rely on coffee or energy drinks for a boost. They also think it’s crazy that I move so frequently, but respect my ability to do that as well. And of course, everyone wishes they were able to keep the journal they always meant to have. I like being the one who does. The one who is able to stay away from alcohol, coffee, and energy drinks. The one who doesn’t need or want to spend exorbitant amounts on steak, lobster, and caviar. The one who has lived everywhere. The one who has kept a journal for years. The one who can, who has, and who will.
