What's Your Personality Type?

Your #1 Match: INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

Your #2 Match: ENFP

The Inspirer You love being around people, and you are deeply committed to your friends.You are also unconventional, irreverant, and unimpressed by authority and rules.Incredibly perceptive, you can usually sense if someone has hidden motives.You use lots of colorful language and expressions. You're qutie the storyteller! You would make an excellent entrepreneur, politician, or journalist.

Your #3 Match: INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

Your #4 Match: INTP

The Thinker You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can.Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge.Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat.A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it. You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

Your #5 Match: ISFP

The Artist You are a gifted artist or musician (though your talents may be dormant right now).You enjoy spending your free time in nature, and you are good with animals and children.Simply put, you enjoy bueaty in all its forms and live for the simple pleasures in life.Gentle, sensitive, and compassionate - you are good at recognizing people's unspoken needs. You would make a good veterinarian, pediatrician, or composer.

Your Taste in Music:

Progressive Rock: High Influence

90's Alternative: Medium Influence

90's Pop: Medium Influence

Punk: Medium Influence

80's Alternative: Low Influence

Adult Alternative: Low Influence

Alternative Rock: Low Influence

Classic Rock: Low Influence

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

25% Yankee

10% Upper Midwestern

5% Dixie

0% Midwestern

You Are 65% Normal (Really Normal)

Otherwise known as the normal amount of normal You're like most people most of the time But you've got those quirks that make you endearing You're unique, yes... but not frighteningly so!

Your Seduction Style: The Charismatic

You're beyond seductive, you're downright magnetic!You life live and approach seduction on a grand scale.You have an inner self confidence and energy that most people lackIt's these talents that make you seem extraordinary - and you truly are!

Your Political Profile

Overall: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Social Issues: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 25% Conservative, 75% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Ethics: 0% Conservative, 100% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

 
Long time no see...

Don't get too excited. There, I knew you wouldn't. Blogging because I was fooling around with online quizzes and this one was particualrly entertaining, and I wanted to save the reference, so why not slap it here? Dump my refuse in the cybertrashcan known as Frog instead of my already-overclogged hard drive. Have a Merry Christmas/Holidays/New Year everyone!


You are a MASTERMIND BADASS!

You are resourceful and talented. You get your job
done completely and quickly, with a silky-
smoothness that benefits whatever side you
choose to be on. Your overseers appreciate the
great advantages you bring to their
organization and they probably like you (unless
you don't want them to), and they will continue
to do so until you've stolen their seats of
power out from under them.


What Type of Badass Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

 
Hi everyone!! I mean, anyone?? I know, I know - this is no way to run any publication. In my defense, the hours are poor and the pay is lousy. Right now I'm banking on the "picture worth a thousand words" theory because I have made a picture tour of my time at the Iowa State Fair, and at over 60 pix, that's 60,000 words, so that makes up for any time missed plus interest (and I probably will cash that in as I vanish again for a bit. What can I say, it's fantastic outside! Such is life during summer without a laptop.) I'm honored that you stopped by to check the page again, you misguided loyalist, so I'll send you to your reward (or is it punishment??), just click HERE!

 
Did I say June?? That was a typo - it should have read 'August.' Thanks to all who have expectantly (and inexplicably) dropped by this month to see what's afoot. Frog is not only being lab-tested, but also on summer vacation. Crunch me later!

 
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Frog shall be crunch-free for approximately the next 2 weeks. Maybe less, maybe more; I don't think anyone will get too broken up about it. Tune back in June, OK?

 
Back to the bleak. If anyone's been keeping tabs on the weather box, you'll have noticed the temperature (and climate) fluctuations bouncing around like the DOW industrial average. Threats, which sometimes follows through with reality, of hail and tornadoes have kept me inside and I've been doing quite a bit of reading. And during this recent spurt of page crawling, I just reverted to an old tendency I had sluffed off for about a decade: reading more than one book at a time. I got into a bad habit of reading (or trying to) several novels at the same time, necessitating buying bookmarks in bulk. After losing track of events halfway through and then having to REREAD parts to get caught up, thereby getting half as much completed in double the time, or sometimes losing track of the tome altogether, I summarily put a stop to it. One at a time, then I could devote full focus and would probably better remember it anyway. My other quirk is that I have to finish everything I start. I mean, I HAVE to. The one book I can consciously remember quitting, making an active decision saying "I've had enough!" was Joseph Heller's 'Something Happened,' around page 110. Why? Because NOTHING happened! Talk about your false advertising. Such a shame too because my rote answer to what's your favorite book, not that anyone ever asks, but my knee-jerk answer whether still true or not has long been 'Catch-22' so I was greatly disappointed in the followup. I *still* have great difficulty quitting a movie in progress ('Hey, maybe it'll get better, I'll just watch another 15 minutes...' are some common telegraphed thoughts) and the first one of those on tape I simply turned off (whereas ones on TV are much easier to bypass with the wonders of infrared remote channel-changing technology) was the lame Tarantino-wannabe 'The Big Hit.'

OK, I just went on a lot longer than I thought I was going to, so now will postpone Part 2 of this fascinator until next post. With more incoming cataclysm & brimstone on the way, that should mean pretty soon. See you then, or rather, read me later.

 
Finally FINALLY the rains have stopped. Gray skies are not conducive to cheery blogging thoughts, let me tell you. Oh, I could have rambled on this week about the things that get under my skin, but what's the point of bringing you all down with me? It usually seems that we get 2 seasons, summer and winter. I think spring and fall last about 2 weeks each on average. Well, today is a bona fide spring day, good for whatever ails ya.

 
This anecdote actually occurred last night, but thanks to the ineptitude of Blogger, had to wait until today for publication. And an important shout out to Deutschman: "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!!!"

I am *puff puff* just sitting down after *puff puff* running around the 'block' here *puff puff* for the first time in a LONG while. The themometer baited, "It's 64 degrees with starry skies, you should take advantage of it!"

"YES!" I responded without a second's hesitation. "I will!" On with the Nikes (a worn-twice hand-me-over pair from my dad because they didn't fit him but match my feet perfectly, so don't be writing nasty letters of how I'm supporting Asian child labor), they look like some kind of cross-trainers, so I felt safe that the shoe police couldn't cite me for improper use of footgear. The circle covers about a half mile and I took off like my spot on the Olympic team was in jeopardy. And I made the mistake of heading down the gentle slope, meaning the north face of the Matterhorn awaited my return. However, the darkness coupled with spotty footing dictated my direction.

Was striding along pretty well until around the halfway point, when I began having flashbacks to high school days. Each year on the first day of gym class, the instructors (both resmbling the 'Before' pictures of health at more than 50 pounds overweight apiece, but nicely avoiding any gender bias by working as a man & woman team, perhaps the subliminal message coveying, "If you DON'T exercise, this is what you'll look like!") masterminded that the nationally required fitness tests should occur on that day, which included a 600-yard timed run. One year, we had a whole mile run - I don't know how they covered the medical liability. Maybe they figured that, with a huge proportion of students suffering from the hangover of summer vacation malaise, they could get more gov'ment dollar when they sent in the atrocious performance results and the Fitness Brass would say, "Holy crap, that there's one town of lardasses! Quick, send them money for jumpropes or medicine balls!" Upon receipt of check, funds would be disbursed on one of each piece of antique equipment with the rest fueling a year's visitation to the Country Kitchen buffet line for two.

 
Yesterday night I saw an episode from the first or second season of Saturday Night Live with Ron Nessen as host. Who's he? I didn't know either - the White House press secretary for the Gerald Ford administration, same position that Ari Fleischer holds today. SNL and Chevy were notorious for lampooning Ford's bumblings and stumblings, and there they had Chevy & Nessen in a sketch together doing just that. The real zinger I couldn't believe they got away with ended this exchange:

Nessen (as himself): Let's go over your schedule for tomorrow. At 6:15 am, you'll be awakened in the usual manner.
Chase (as Ford): Now Ron, why can't we do it some other way than the usual way when a Secret Service agent yells in my ear? How about an alarm clock?
Nessen: We tried that early on Sir, if you'll remember when the alarm went off you broke your wrist when you fell out of bed trying to answer the telephone. The telephone makes a series of punctuated rings, whereas the alarm produces a constant noisy tone. I'm sorry Sir, I suppose I should have briefed you about that beforehand.
Chase: That's all right, Ron. You're pardoned. (Laughs)

Here we are 25 years later and my, how the tolerance has changed. I can't even imagine Ari appearing on the show today doing similar antics, there's no way in hell this admin would assent to it. Granted, I'm sure they only did it back then for what they hoped would be political gain (show Prez had sense of humor, in touch with young people), but it does show they DID have some sense of humor, or at least an acceptance of differing views. The Bushes have repeatedly issued statements warning about the dangers of dissent, scary you're-with-us-or-against-us type rhetoric. I think THAT'S the kind of talk that's dangerous, especially when coming from people in authority.

 
Wonderful night for a walk, the stars shining brightly down and the cool spring breeze snaking through the trees, gently jingling their branches producing a leafy rustle. I stood on the back deck and spied a raccoon in the back yard - although the stars were out in force, the moon misplaced its invitation, thereby drastically reducing visibility. I tracked the creature until he disappeared in the shadows, and then soon lost auditory contact. After giving up after another couple minutes, I turned around to see him stalking down the deck towards me about 20 feet away. It paused briefly and then resumed his waddle. I assumed he was interested in the leftover birdseed in the cracks and corners of the deck as several of them routinely paid visits during the winter, but it would be my luck if this spin of the wheel came up with the 5% chance rabid lunatic. I mean, coming TOWARDS me, that looked suspicious, at night, and with intent like he had an old score to settle. None too keen on spending the night in the emergency room receiving a dozen injections from 6-inch needles in the stomach, I slid over to the sliding glass door, gave a tug...and of course it was locked. The rule with raccoons is that you never want to corner one because that's when they get vicious, all claws and teeth. I hoped that was the common teaching amongst their own kind about humans, since that was now the situation. With the killer rabbit sequence from 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' projected at the silver screen serving as the back of my mind, I stomped about a bit and politely announced my presence with, "Somebody's out here, and besides the buffet closed hours ago." Turning the corner down the runway, I found it deserted. Either my tactics had worked or it opted for preparing an ambush, but I reached the door without incident. Raccoons are really cool creatures, but remember, it's not wise to upset a Wookie.

OK, put down your pencils because quiz time is up! Are you ready? Here are the correct pronunciations (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read the previous post first or look in the left yellow box if you want to play along):

1. 'day-tuh
2. 'grat-ess
3. 'kull-uh-ner-ee
4. ko-'cayne
5. 'gahn-duh-luh
6. 'vur-zhun
7. 'im-pee-uss
8. 'sheek
9. kar-uh-'bee-ehn
10. 'vye-kin

I bet the the most missed one is #7, 'impious.' That alone probably sends 99,000 tumbling down the well. Also missed #9, thinking that the way I normally said it (which turns out to be the proper way) was wrong because kar-'ibb-ee-an sounds more exotic.

Speaking of words (and really, it's kinda hard to do it WITHOUT them) and diction, here's an amusing headache-inducer on the subject. If you lose your way near the end, just think "Hogan's Heroes":

English: Official language of the EU The European Commission has announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the EU, rather than German, which was the other contender. Her Majesty’s Government conceded that English spelling had room for improvement and has therefore accepted a five-year phasing in of "Euro-English". In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make sivil servants jump for joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of the "k", which should klear up some konfusion and allow one key less on keyboards. There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year, when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f", making words like "fotograf" 20% shorter. In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horible mes of the silent "e" is disgrasful. By the fourth yer, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v". During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer kombinations of leters. After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubls or difikultis and everivun vil find it ezi to understand ech ozer. ZE DREM VIL FINALI CUM TRU!

 
I enjoy the odd word game from time to time. I have a Crossword-A-Day calendar from the Los Angeles Times (the NY Times? are you crazy??) and have actually been keeping up with it. Started on it 2 weeks before 2003 began to give myself a head start, but that cushion has now vanished so have to be diligent. Here's a good one from Ripley's ofBelieve It Or Not fame. See that box in the lefthand column titled "10 Words You Can't Pronounce Correctly?" Mostly pretty common, at least not unfamiliar, words that he claims only one person in 100,000 can get them all right! I'm not that one person. Are you? Give them a look, roll them over your tongues, and I'll be posting the pronunciations in a couple days. If I were a hotshot programmer I could rig it so you could find out instantly, or I'm sure I could find a script that would do it, but I'm more evil than that anyway. What you CAN'T do is go running to the dictionary or casually asking friends in the meantime. Like they would know!

 
Wow, has it really been a week since my last post? How time flies. And how little of interest to impart it seems. I keep kicking myself for not having a little memo pad in my pocket at all times so I can jot down notes when I think "that'll be good for the Frog" because invariably I think I'll remember them, but when it comes to mano a mano with me staring down the CRT, my mind channels that of a contract Hollywood screenwriter, where no original ideas dwell. I suppose I can say that I did not run off to start a new life in Canada; best of luck to you who have, eh?

TAG: Thanks for that nugget of DM history - that Taco John's shall be missed, a nice last-stop refueling before hitting the interstate. First one in Iowa, huh? I guess that's why it was so small. Still bet the new occupants do their hair rinsing in the former deep-fat fryer.