Fitting a Round Turtle in a Square Hole

I mentioned the other day that I bought — okay, E.g. bought for me — two books on careers. I’ve more or less read through both of them. And Turtle has arrived at the usual conclusion she comes to whenever she reads a career book: Head for the mud.

Well okay, it’s not quite that bleak. And by this age, I’ve pretty much climbed those tortuous paths of Despair, and reached the serene plateau of Resignation. I do, however, occasionally trip into puddles of Puzzlement.

So here’s a question: From what you’ve read in this blog, which of the following descriptions sounds most like Turtle? Don’t worry, there are no wrong answers. The descriptions are from the New Guide for Occupational Exploration. It has sixteen Interest Areas, twelve of which didn’t seem to apply to me at all. The remaining four, in alphabetical order, are:

• Arts and Communication: “An interest in creatively expressing feelings or ideas, in communicating news or information, or in performing.”
• Education and Training: “An interest in helping people learn.”
• Hospitality, Tourism, and Recreation: “An interest in catering to the personal wishes and needs of others so that they can enjoy a clean environment, good food and drink, comfortable lodging away from home, and recreation.”
• Human Service: “An interest in improving people’s social, mental, emotional, or spiritual well-being.”

And naturally, of five occupations I thought I could handle, three of them belong in a different Interest Area altogether. So as I said, there don’t seem to be any wrong answers. 

I’m really curious to see what kind of vibe this blog has been giving off. And while you’re at it, you’re most welcome to say which of the above descriptions best fits you!

A Saturday Survey

E.G. has borrowed Robert’s career transition guidebook and is working her way through the self-knowledge exercises. I haven’t looked through the book yet. Having the suckiest job history on the planet, I don’t like to unnecessarily subject myself to depressing questionnaires. So today I will just start with the following meme that I stole from Dennis the Vizsla, to whit:

The Seven-By-Seven Questionnaire

…except that I’m leaving off #7, which is to tag other bloggers, and so it’s really:

The Seven-By-Six Questionnaire

…except that I can’t think of a seventh item for any of the lists, so I guess it’s…

The Six-By-Six Questionnaire

 

I. Six things I plan to do before I die.

1. move to Saint John New Brunswick
2. own a backyard with attached house
3. have neighbours over for Celtic-style jam sessions
4. visit the other Atlantic provinces
5. learn another language (Gaelic? Latin? a First Nations tongue?)
6. write a book of short stories (that’s “dream of”, not “plan to”)

II. Six things I do now.

1. discard our useless stuff, and pack our useful stuff
2. keep on top of the housework
3. practise the recorder
4. listen to music from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland
5. read French fluently
6. write a daily blog entry

III. Six things I can’t do.

1. move tomorrow; have to wait for E.g. to get a job first
2. make enough money to get a house myself
3. play my recorder without lots of mistakes
4. drive
5. complete a spoken sentence in my own language without pausing to search for its key word
6. write short stories (they require bothersome bits such as character development and plot)

IV. Six things that attract me to the attractive sex.

1. self-confidence
2. sincerity
3. kindness
4. intelligence
5. enjoyment of day trips
6. thinking my jokes are funny
7. not thinking my serious moments are funny
8. love of animals
9. musical ability
10. ability to doodle cute little singing, skiing, or swinging worms on the envelopes of my birthday cards… oh, wait — that’s ten already.

V. Six things I say most often.

1. I
2. really
3. do
4. prefer
5. to
6. write 

VI. Six celebrities I admire.

1. Cher
2. Johnny Depp
3. Sir Ian McKellan
4. Dame Judy Dench
5. Dame Maggie Smith
6. Patrick Stewart

Done-diddly-dundundun-DONE! Have a good weekend everybody!

Seer Nonsense (a quiz)

Yesterday I posted a (somewhat heavy) entry on fortune telling. My views on it, and those of two commenters, emphasize slightly different things. I see fortune telling as a kind of Rorschach test: What do I personally see, or prefer to see, in this inkblot? Goodbear sees in it a hand extended in hope: There is a future, Virginia, now just set your right foot on that outcropping, there’s only a metre more till the plateau. Eyegillian, on the other hand, snuffs warily at the fortune teller’s robes, seeing her as a dream-reading, dictatorial career counsellor. Our views are different, but none of them are indifferent.

Today, on the other hand, is laundry day, so it’s time for something a little lighter. I thought we might continue the fortune telling/personality sussing/career advising theme with a quiz. I am making it up as I go along. There will be no “If you said yes to questions 3, 7, and 15, you are an INFP” sort of evaluation at the end of it. It’s just a random set of questions to help you reflect, ponder, smile, dream… Ask your partner what they think your answers add up to.  Try it on a co-worker. Predict your friends’ answers, then see how good a fortune teller you are. Imagine how your pet would answer them. But please, no squabbling; they’re supposed to be light-hearted.

 

The Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are Quiz

1. Fill in the blank. “Congratulations! You’ve just won a weekend in ________________!”

2. You have won your choice of three 10-day trips. Which would you choose?

• a) A luxury cruise through Scandinavia
• b) An eco-tour expedition in Costa Rica
• c) A hotel suite in a city hosting the World Cup

3. This autumn, your boss is offering to pay tuition for any evening course you want to take. You’ll sign up for _____________________.

4. Your workplace plays commercial-free satellite radio. You prefer listening to:

• a) the pop hits of your teens
• b) classical music favourites
• c) jazz greats
• d) show tunes

5. You’ve just come from an exhibition of Canadian art. Your favourite works were the ones by:

• a) Paul Peel
• b) Emily Carr
• c) David Milne

6. The fire alarm in your building has gone off for the second time this week. You’re alone in your apartment. You:

• a) curse, and exit the building
• b) don’t curse, and exit the building
• c) curse, and don’t exit the building
• d) don’t curse, and don’t exit the building

7. You’ve just had the most amazing first date! First, your suitor picked you up in a:

• a) fully reconditioned 1975 Corvette Stingray
• b) half-ton pickup truck
• c) partially solar-powered Volvo

8. You went for supper at:

• a) your favourite local
• b) the new vegan eatery that’s been getting those rave reviews
• c) a fabulous French restaurant

9. Then it was off to the cinema to watch an excellent:

• a) romantic comedy
• b) documentary
• c) historical drama
• d) futuristic thriller

10. Afterwards, you went to a watering hole (where you both drank responsibly) and you chatted for hours. You relaxed as your date ordered:

• a) coffee
• b) tea
• c) beer
• d) scotch

11. Your discussion of the film centred on:

• a) this and other films by the same director
• b) the motives and behaviour of the characters
• c) the visuals: setting, costuming, special effects
• d) a comparison of the film’s portrayal and your knowledge of the subject or the book that the film based itself on

12. Your date dropped you off at your door with a warm hug, and the statement that it’s his/her policy never to do more than that on a first date. You think:

• a) What a sweet, old-fashioned kind of respect!
• b) What a weirdo!
• c) What are you doing tomorrow night?

13. You have room in your heart, home, and budget for a new pet. You’ll get a ______________.

14. The TV animal of which you have fondest memories are:

• a) the Littlest Hobo
• b) Skippy, the bush kangaroo
• c) Flipper
• d) Cheeta

15. Your favourite cartoon animal is:

• a) Spongebob Squarepants
• b) Lisa Simpson’s cat Snowball
• c) Yogi Bear
• d) Clifford, the big red dog

16. Your favourite comic-strip animal is:

• a) Snoopy
• b) Garfield
• c) Mutts
• d) Grimm

17. You would take the time to learn a language little spoken in your area, because:

• a) it’s the language of your ancestors
• b) it’s the language of your partner’s relatives
• c) knowledge of it will help you get a raise
• d) it’s an important language in a field that interests you

18. Which adjective best describes you?

• a) tickly
• b) prickly
• c) wriggly
• d) squiggly

19. Would you rather be a sparrow or a snail?

20. Name three things for which you are thankful today. ______________; ____________________; ____________________.

And I thank YOU for stopping by!

Do feel free to comment on anything that really grabbed you. Happy Laundry Day!