Totally Random, Yet Profound Thoughts On Plentitude, Harvest, And Napoleon

For some reason my blog editor changed and I lost all my options.

I am currently chatting on Facebook with one of my best friends from my mission, Speed.

I am wearing green corduroy pants and a baby blue polo.

My feet are propped up on the desk. It's comfortable.

I am abusing this Thanksgiving break with excessive amounts of sleep.

My family is all out on a walk but I stayed home.

Monty Python & the Holy Grail is a very quotable movie.

I have a bad habit of twirling my hair and I'm doing it right now.

I am a hairy man, but sometimes in the gym locker room I see guys that put me to shame.

The drawers to my dresser squeak when I open them.

The hair treatment I spoke of a few entries ago? Totally using it. Is it working? I don't think so.

Sometimes I also bite my fingernails. It's another bad habit.

In Computer Science class I learned you could never really write a code that could produce a totally random number.

Most of my family just came for my sister's wedding so they aren't here for Thanksgiving.

If you want to subscribe to my blog, you can do that at the end of the page with an RSS feed in conjunction with a blog reader like Google Reader.

I like to read things about Napoleon Bonaparte. He was a fascinating man.

There is a park in Prague called Letna that has a huge pendulum looking thing that swings back and forth.

Some mornings I feel I will wake up to find myself transformed into a giant insect.

The new Indiana Jones movie and the new Star Wars movies prove that George Lucas totally had no idea what made his earlier movies so magical.

The first letter of each word of the title of this post spells out a chemical frequently digested on Turkey Day.

Sometimes I wonder if everything that happens to me not only is a big joke that everyone is in on, but that the joke is not a really funny joke but just something lame like a knock-knock joke or a "why did the chicken cross the road" joke.

If in some far off corner of the universe a doppelganger of myself is also sitting at his computer writing a blog post on Thanksgiving, I think it is a really big coincidence that they would have Thanksgiving on an alien planet.

Could I create a rock that even I couldn't move?

I had cold pizza and carrots for breakfast.

...wherein our hero Joel reviews his week

 

1. Wednesday--I went on a day hike with two friends, found an Italian restaurant in Troutdale, bought fake lottery tickets for a birthday party, lost my wallet, found my wallet, went to the gym, changed into my church clothes at the gym, went to a birthday dinner, the lottery ticket prank backfired, left midway through the dinner to catch the latter half of my temple recommend interview, went back to the dinner and ate my food, went to pick up my date for the remainder of the night, went to the airport to pick up my sister, changed out of my church clothes, then went to the birthday party, then dropped my date off.
2. Thursday--my sister took out her endowments and my family starting coming for the big wedding.
3. Friday--Played Trivial Pursuit and watched a Czech movie.  Avoided wedding preparations.
4. Saturday--My little sister Jessica got married!  I went to my first ever temple wedding, which was very special.  Then we stood around in the cold and had our pictures taken in the cold Portland rain.  There was a lavish luncheon at the Governor's Hotel downtown, where we served hors d'ouerves and filet mignon.  I assembled and DJ'd the music for the luncheon, and I am proud to say it went off without a hitch.  It was mostly old standards like Sinatra and Bennet--not really my style--but my sister digs it.  I was a little nervous that I would not get the right songs for when the newlyweds dance, but providence smiled upon me and I did not get a disapproving stare.  Of course, in true fashion I left my mp3 player at the hotel.  I skedaddled out of the luncheon and over to a Bed, Bath and Beyond to get my sister a gift and also my mom for her birthday.  Hey, I procrasinate...is that a crime?  Then I went to my house for the reception.  I felt antisocial, but I made my sister a nice card.  Everybody wants me to get married.  Congratulations Jessica.
5. Sunday--My Mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Mom!  I went to church, and someone convinced me to leave after sacrament with the promise that they would never talk me into that again. 

I, for one, still listen to the radio

Everyday I listen to the radio.  Not really because I choose to, but because it's my only choice. There's no CD player or even tapedeck, so I am regulated to the airwaves of old.  For a while I was rocking an adaptor for my MP3 player, which was really quite awesome.  But then one day it was gone--I think someone stole it just to force me to listen to the radio again.

I have 12 presets for the FM dial, which I punch through rapidly, 1-12, probably 50 times each day, searching for the elusive good song.  They are organized from lowest frequency to highest:

1. 92.3 This is the first of my presets and therefore has alot more of an oppurtunity to be listened to than the ones further down the list.  They have a 25-song classic rock set, which is far and away the longest set of any Portland station.  I don't usually listen until 10 AM, when the morning talk is over.  Tuesday is "Twofer Tuesday", where they play two songs for each artist.  Grade: A
2. 94.7 This is an alternative rock station that I actually never listened to like a year ago but now that it is my second preset it gets alot of play.  At 8 AM I'm not listening to much else so I often listen to the "8 at 8", where they play eight songs in a row which share a common theme.  They gets bonus points for playing music in the early morning when most stations have crappy morning talk shows.  Grade: B+
3. 95.5  This is a sports talk station that I listen to nearly everyday.  The early morning sports show (why do they still call programs on the radio "shows"?) is local and I listen to it often, despite the annoying hosts.  At 9, the "Jim Rome Show" starts, which I have been listening to for years.  I usually base the next three hours of radio listening around this show.  My love for this program is a whole 'nother story.  Grade: A-
4. 97.1 Random radio.  Used to hate it because it replaced the oldies station, then I warmed up to it, now I love it!  Grade:  A-
5. 101.1 This is another station that I never used to listen to.  They play heavier rock, and the songs I get into are usually the older ones anyway.  Points taken away for a very late start to their music library--like around 11 or so.  Grade: C+
6. 101.9 KINK plays artsy-fartsy music, which is so hit-and-miss.  Often enough it's good, but you usually don't recognize it, which makes it hard to get into.  They also play music in the early morning.  Grade:  B
7. 103.3  Ok, I admit it:  I have a soft spot for soft rock.  They would have a higher grade, except for this week they already switched to their all-Christmas rotation.  Tsk tsk.  Grade: B
8. 105.1 I only like about 20% of the songs on this station, so often I skip past this preset (along with 103.3 now that they are playing Christmas music).  It is just a filler station, needed to fill up 12 presets.  Grade: D+
9. 105.9 As good as a substitute of the old KISN station as you can find.  I also have a softer spot for oldies, and they play them long and often.  They also play a fairly decent amount in the early morning.  Grade: A
10. 106.3  I barely even get this station--I think it's based in Corvallis.  Sometimes it comes in pretty good, and they often play some cool classic rock.  Just because of the bad reception, I often skip it, and that also unfortunately knocks down its grade.  Grade: B-
11. 106.7 I still don't really know what this station is all about--but they say they play songs from the 60s and 70s.  So they are in-betweeners.  Usually good stuff.  Grade: A-
12. 107.5  This is the ultimate filler station.  I needed a 12th preset, and once I heard one song playing that I think I kinda liked.  So I skip this preset every time.  Grade: F+

I know, I know.  There's Z100, country stations, or whatever.  No thanks.  I am open to switchng up my presets, but I never know about new stations because I never go off the beaten path.

AM, you ask?  Why yes, thank you.  I often listen to 970 in the early morning wasteland for the "Dennis Miller Show", which is often quite funny.  Then there's a big drop off, but occasionally I dabble in 1080, another sports talker, and then also 1190 for Rush and Dr. Laura.  All the other conservative political shows I've listened to, but I'm usually 95% of the time not in the mood for it.  

I've pretty much listened to every morning talker and all the other talk shows too, just to give them a chance.  One day I listened to Christian radio (not the music but the preachers).  Today I decided to listen to classical (that was the first time ever).  

About once every three weeks I just turn the radio off and I let my mind fill up the void.  That's pretty scary, huh?  Someday I'll post all the topics that recycle through my head on the radio-free days.

I decided to review my week with a fresh, cheesy sonnet...

Monday—my  mood hangs low and blue;

Unused keys spill on the table.

‘til Tuesday and a friend still true

Buoys me up and makes me able.

                                               

Wither Wednesday— the keys are lost,

Locked, dangling, and out of reach.

Thankfully Thursday in the wind tossed,

Blew, shaking a moment to teach.

 

Frigid Friday— keys firm in pocket;

Magic waning and heart explaining…

Latter-day Saturday lights a rocket;

Hope waxing and dreams restraining…

                                               

Sleepily Sunday I put in the key—

Keep driving, driving through eternity.

Not only am I Caucasian, I'm also white

This post has been in draft stage for a while because I’ve aborted all previous attempts and wanted to do it right.  According to Dr. Taylor Hartman’s Color Code, I have a “white” personality. There is no other pop-psych theory that so guides and influences my life. It has an unfairly disproportionate place in my thoughts and skews my perceptions of people, including myself. I first learned of it during my mission—my mission president was an ardent believer in the color code. He would assign companionships based upon the interactions between the colors.  As a result of my “whiteness,” I was assigned to be with a lot of “reds.” When I was put in a threesome with two other “whites,” my mission president told me that it was a source of concern for him.

In the past few months, this theory of personality cropped up again in my personal relationships.  It soon dominated my thoughts where it had once gradually receded.  I began to color people into a certain personality and expect them to act a certain way and I likewise rationalized my own behavior.  I have friends that also buy into the color code, and we would discuss at length the different permutations and practical applications of the “code.”  One of these friends, whom I thought I had a great relationship with, decided that based upon this predetermined pattern our personalities were too incompatible.

Now, I have to confess that I have never read this book from cover to cover. However, I am confident that I have discussed it often enough and read enough snippets that I think I am not missing the point on any of it, and I daresay that none of what I will mention misconstrues the book in any way.  In these discussions I have learned that people of my personality type, “white,” are never very big believers in the color code, and if you haven’t guessed it already, I follow blindly in lockstep.

That being said, I have been in awe at how well the code describes in a seemingly accurate way the behavioral patterns of different people.  When you hear the descriptions of blues, yellows, whites, and reds, you feel like you know people like this.  I feel like after a few exposures/interactions with a new person, I generally know where they would fit in the color code.  I even find myself catering to their personality, since I determine whether they are motivated by power or fun or intimacy or peace.

I will now attempt to list off the top of my head the specifications of whites, intermingled with my own thoughts.

1.      Motivated by peace.  Whites are peacemakers. For me, I would just say, that it’s hard to pinpoint any one thing as motivation.  Not because there’s so much motivation, but rather because nothing really motivates me.  If you asked me to list all of my motivations without knowing about the color code, I doubt that I would even think of writing “peace.” Not that I don’t like peace, but I just don’t think I would think of it. 

2.      Introverted.  I think that generally whites are the most introverted of the colors.  This is definitely true in my case; I have no problems with this stereotyping.  There have been plenty of times in my life where I have been downright scared of people—mostly those power-hungry reds.

3.      Adaptable.  I also agree that whites have to change the most from their natural personality to even survive in this world. Staying white will get you killed.  I pride myself when people are aware of the color code and guess that I am a different color than white.  It makes me think that I am doing a good job as a chameleon. 

4.      Easy to fall in love.  Yes, I find this true in my life.  I usually fall in love with girls and am ready to be loyal to them long before they feel the same.  This usually leads to a whole lotta heartache.

5.      Value quality over quantity.  I don’t need a million friends; I just want a few real friends.  I don’t want to have a long to-do list; I just want to have a good, happy day.  I don’t want to get things done; I want them to be done right.

6.      Anti-groups.  Yeah, I don’t like groups.  I am not a natural leader, and I don’t feel like I can participate in a conversation where there are more than 3-4 people.  No one ever hears me. I don’t feel like yelling. Everyone else in the group is a jerk because they won’t listen to me.  You can forget trying to organize any activity—no one will come.  I like the thought that I have heard expressed: “Whites rarely speak up in groups, but they usually have the most thought-out opinions.”

7.      Private with feelings.  I have been astounded at how personal some people are in their Facebook statuses and blogs, because I usually want to put my best face out in public and don’t want people to know when I’ve had bad things happen to me or when I’m depressed.  Admittedly, I’ve dabbled in it a bit myself, but I attribute that to my adaptability and my “other color”-envy.  I suspect that blues are the most responsible for spilling their icky feelings online.

8.      Passive-Aggressive.  I take a bit of exception to this one, because I feel like it is a buzz word that whites are hit with, when no one has the same definition of this term and everyone draws people in before attacking them—not just whites.  Besides, it’s a dang good strategy.

Now, there are probably more things, maybe even major things that I am forgetting.  There is also the huge issues of secondary colors and how I mesh with the other colors.  But I think I have painted a picture.  And yes, for the most part I do agree that these attributes describe me fairly adequately.

My personal take on the whole color code is again influenced by my mission president.  I learned from him that any two people (or more for that matter) can make any relationship work if they are both actively trying to make it work, regardless of the colors.  I learned that all of the colors have strengths and weaknesses and that we should focus on the strengths.  We shouldn’t use the weaknesses as excuses.  We should value everyone with all different personalities.  Beyond that, I believe there are subtleties and exceptions that make each person unique and uncategorizable. 

I hope you all have enjoyed this intense evaluation of my personality.  Please feel free to sock it to me, if you’ve got something to spout off about.

Excuses and a Weekend in Review

Excuses

1. I need to establish a more consistent daily blogging pattern. I find that at the end of the day I am often tired and uninspired. I need to mix it up. It started to remind me of having to finish a homework assignment that I had procrastinated to the last second--a feeling I did not really miss.
2. Some nights my life got in the way. I think that trumps the blog. Sorry blog.
3. Now I am just reaching. Those are really the only reasons.
4. This will be a weekend review and not the full week because I think my life is not really that exciting especially when compared to others. Someone I know seemed to copy my idea in their blog and their week put my week to shame. Plus my weekend was the most exciting part.

Weekend in Review

1. On Thursday night I went to the most incredibly awesome Blazer game I had ever been to. I am a huge Blazer fan, and have amassed under my belt a large number of games in my career as a fan. But I had never been apart of something like this before:
2. On Friday night I went with a group of people to the Ape Caves. I had been a few times before, but there was a twist this time: we went in the dark. We also went to a different cave that is a little more treacherous and adventurous than your grandpa's Ape Cave. There's nothing like bumbling into people in a dark, wet cave and then drinking copious amounts of pristine (?) cave water.
3. On Saturday night I went and saw a laser-light show at OMSI. It featured the music of one of my favorite bands, Radiohead. The show itself was a bit of a "Let Down," but it was a fun night. Afterwards I strolled along Waterfront Park on a balmy night in beautiful Portland, Oregon.

Basically it was a three-night trifecta. Sunday was hectic again. Today was a horrible day. More later.

Finally, It's Election Day. The Next Election Campaign Starts Tomorrow.

I dropped my ballot off today in the spirit of procrastination.  I know that my vote doesn't count much, seeing as how we don't really live in a "true" democracy as the ancient Greeks did and that we have a screwed up electoral college system.  I'm still waiting for the day when we have a compulsory Internet directly-elected voting system.  But, alas, I live in America, not Joelmerica.

I wish unto Barack Obama congratulations.  Mostly I wish myself congratulations on surviving this torrid political season.

To my newfound brothers in the Constitution Party, I commend you on the well fought battle and say "better luck next time."

Week in Review

I think I can still fit in this week's week in review before midnight, to conform to my goal of having a post everyday, which I also altered to just the weekdays (since I ran out of time this Saturday and Sunday).  Besides, I'm having trouble sleeping, so it's like two birds with one stone.

I don't think this week on the surface will seem as exciting as the week before, but believe you me, it was another rollercoaster for yours truly.  Some of the most poignant experiences I will use my blogger's license and omit. They will be forever lost, and I for one, would like to say "Good Riddance!"

1. Monday, Monday.  Can't stand that day.  Entirely forgettable.
2. I'm also having a stupor of thought for Tuesday, so there must have been nothing noteworthy.  It was the first Blazer game, which I was all pumped for, but then we injured our #1 draft pick who was hurt his whole first year and we lost to our most-hated rivals, the Lakers.  I place a lot of personal satisfaction on events like this which are outside of my control,  and this one was disproportionately disappointing.
3. Ah, Wednesday!  My day off.  I went with my Wednesday posse to the Deseret Industries in Portland and sorted out clothes, making cool sound effects with Mike to pass the time. We met a service missionary who later on in the week would introduce me to a girl.  That's a little foreshadowing for you.  Then I had sushi for the second week in a row, and then caught The Secret Life of Bees, which is a movie based on a book I had read.  It made me feel good.  I like my Wednesday posse.
4. Meh.  Thursday.  I worked, went to institute, and then went home.
5. Friday was of course Halloween.  After the second Blazer game which was a lot better outcome, I dressed up as a Sith Lord and went to a Halloween dance.  I saw many friends, and also many not-friends.  It's not like we're enemies or anything, I just don't know them yet and hence am not friends with them.
6. Saturday I went and helped clean the church, then wussed out on the Guns and Meat activity because it was raining, which opened up the possibility of going to Mike's rugby game, in which he scored thrice and I was the sole supporter amongst his friends, which led to Triple Steak Burritos, which kept me well-fed during the fireside at Lake Oswego, where I met the girl previously discussed in the third point, and then I drove back my Saturday posse to the 'couve, singing along the way with Natalie who was car sick, and then we saw Ghostbusters  and then I got made fun at while playing Scattergories.
7. Sunday was another loooooooooooooooooooooooooong day at Church.  Plus it was fast Sunday.  I made some awesome cookies for BTF made of chooped up Reese's PB cups, which won no prizes but won the silent majority of people's  hearts, minds, and stomachs. After church I finally finished my square T-shirt and then played Scrabble to an unexciting result.

Well, this post is up against the end of the day, so I'm going to publish it before it lapses into my Tuesday post, which I hope I will get to.  Ciao!