(no subject)

[jddunn13]

ANGER
1. Who did you last get angry with? The President, or in my immediate life, probably my mom.
2. What is your weapon of choice? Avoidance. Failing that... sarcasm.
3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? How about of the same sex? Never, unless in dire self-defense. I don't think the sex of the other person should even be very relevant here, either, but then again, I'm a wee, unthreatening little guy.
5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? I can't even remember. I'm not sure if this is because I'm really hard to hate, or because I avoid conflict so fervently. Probably a bit of both.
6. What is your pet peeve? Taking pride in wilfull ignorance. Also, rampant superficiality.
7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? Let them go. It's too stressful for me to maintain a strong emotion like that for very long periods.

SLOTH
1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you haven't done in a long time? Flossing. Eating my fruits and vegetables.
2. What is the latest you've ever woken up? With my sleep habits, this isn't even relevant most of the time.
3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't: My friend C who moved to Chicago. Also numerous wonderful internet people who I should write more often.
4. What is the last lame excuse you made? That I can't go out and run because it's cold. I'm sticking to that one rather well lately.
5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through? Not on purpose. I'm sure one has been on in the background all the way through before.
6. When was the last time you got a good workout in? It's been awhile. See above.
7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today? No alarm clock today. Slept from around 9am till I had to go to work at 2.

GLUTTONY
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice? Don't really have one. Chai tea is the closest I get, and that's rare.
2. Meat eaters: white meat or dark meat? Vegetarians: Vegan or no? White.
3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? 12-15 beers, or 1/3-1/2 bottle of Vodka over the course of a whole night, like from 7pm to 5am. I can't even approach either of those these days.
5. Do you have an issue with your weight? I perpetually need to gain some.
6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? Probably salty, though I have an intermittent jones for sweets.
7. Have you ever looked at a small housepet or child and thought, "LUNCH!"? I would have deleted this like the other stupid questions, but this is maybe the most nonsensical survey question ever... and that's really saying something.

LUST
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)? Many, in the context of locker rooms, streakers, random drunk people, etc. Quite fewer in the more intimate sense.
2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting physicians/family)? See above, it's pretty much the same, unless I am being unwittingly voyeurized somehow.
3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation? Of course. I try not too, but, hey, I'm a guy, so it still happens occasionally.
4. Have you "done it"? Done what? "It" is a rather indefinite article. Why, it could be almost anything! Kayaking? Drinking my own urine? Torturing small animals? Yes and no. I forget.
5. What is your favourite body part on a person of your gender of choice? I like many of them in different ways on different people(that sounds so objectifying, but I hope it's not... it's more of an abstract aesthetics thing, and I've found that what's attractive visually is not always what feels best to the touch. Hell, the question is objectifying, so we're doomed from the start here.) I'd say backs and clavicles would be the quirkier ones, as opposed to the old standby legs/breasts. This whole recent midriff trend is way overrated. People seem to say hands a lot, which I don't really get, and I'm not big on eyes, though mostly because eye contact is often so scary for me and all.
6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? No.
7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy? No.

GREED
1. How many credit cards do you own? One. Emergencies and travel only.
2. What's your guilty pleasure store? Used to be records, now I buy almost nothing, since I'm in saving-for-move mode.
3. If you had $1 million, what would you do with it? Travel, support worthy art and politics, buy more music and books, but save the bulk of it. Live off of it to avoid work and be able to read/write/converse all day.
4. Would you rather be rich, or famous? Neither, unless on my own terms, which is unlikely in either case.
5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? Maybe if it were brief and would translate into a few years to travel and write and learn without money worries. Depends on whether what I would be doing would be ethically icky or not... but it most likely would be if it met those conditions, so probably not.
6. Have you ever stolen anything? Not really. I've found and kept lots of (presumably)discarded stuff. And there's the whole piracy thing, but I'm not sure that equals hard theft, especially since I try to buy anything I really enjoy.
7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive? 4000+ Most from records I own or intend to buy as soon as I have disposable income again.

PRIDE
1. What one thing have you done that you're most proud of? I like my 800 verbal SAT score too, but probably getting through college relatively unscathed despite all the depression-related badness. On a more abstract level... having managed to thoughtfully develop my own values and identity and beliefs and what have you at a time and place where this is an increasingly difficult proposition.
2. What one thing have you done that your parents are most proud of? College degree I'm sure.
3. What thing would you like to accomplish in your life? Write a book, sustain great lifelong friendships, love and be loved, see the world, and (hopefully) leave it a better place.
4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Depends on context. At any rate, I am more competitive and achievement-oriented than I like to let on, even to myself. I blame the good old college-prep meritocracy pipeline.
5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? Not that I know of. I'm not much better than everyone in any given area... I tend to be able to acquit myself well in many, but I'm rarely ever the best in show.
6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yes. Only, more like in order to avoid a failing score. This was in the panic of my second semester of college, when I nearly flunked out. Not proud of it, but it allowed many greater goods later on, so I can live with it.
7. What did you do today that you're proud of? Was nice to the customers at work, and didn't even feel like I was faking it for once.

ENVY
1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own? I can't think of anything. I'm not a big object-coveter. I'm more about the ideas/experiences and whatnot.
3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be? Some weird admixture of my grandma, Carl Sagan, Ian Mackaye, Fred Rogers, and Paul Wellstone. I have no idea how that would work out, but those are public figures who I really admire in both their work and integrity, and would like to emulate somehow, in my own way of course.
4. Have you ever been cheated on? Once, high school stuff, wasn't exactly a serious relationship anyway, no big deal in the end.
5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? Yeah, at times, I wish I was more magnetic/attractive in general. Charisma? That's not exactly a physical feature, but I think it's my main lack. I tend to background-blend too much. Also, my ears are big, but that's not the end of the world or anything.
6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? Self-discipline. Also, socially appropriate emotional responses... or just social graces in general.

Finally, what is your favourite deadly sin? Pride is probably the one I indulge in the most, sloth the one I enjoy the most, and lust the one that I feel is least morally repugnant, within limits.

Seven Heavenly Virtues

FAITH
1. What religion do you follow? None. If I have faith in anything, it's in humanity. I call it faith because it seems like it's not always rationally justified, but I choose to act as if it is as much as I can.
2. What religion were you raised as? Halfassed Presbyterian.
3. Do you believe that forgiveness is a religious property, or a human property? Human, though it can definitely be facilitated by religious belief.
4. Do you believe in magic? No. But yes, things can seem/feel magical, and that's a very good thing.
5. What was the last promise you broke? I break little ones, like to show up at a certain time at social gatherings where my absence won't hold anything up or to call/email people back and what have you fairly often. Not good, but not as bad as I could be. As consolation, I take pains to never break the really important ones.
6. Have you ever said the words to a prayer and not meant it? Yes, every time I've said a prayer since grade school. I try to avoid it at all costs, since it's intellecutally dishonest, and it feels degrading to their faith to cynically sham what other people truly believe, but it's sometimes even worse to make them feel bad or worry for you by abstaining. It's a thorny issue. Usually I just mumble along and think solemn thoughts.
7. Do you believe that anyone could be perfect? No. Good thing, too.

HOPE
1. Did you get everything you wanted over the last holiday season? I guess so. I've never had big expectations of the holidays, so I'm rarely disappointed.
2. Regarding your future, what is the best thing you could hope for? If all that stuff I said above about my goals works out, that would pretty much qualify.
3. Do you let yourself get your hopes up for something even if you know that there is a large chance of failure? I tend to vacillate between wild hope and cynical depair, depending on the situation and my mood.
4. Do you believe in Murphy's Law? I think it can often seem true, though it's probably just a matter of what you're looking for. Self-selecting samples and so on.
5. Have you ever bought a lottery ticket? Yes. I play scratchoffs very occasionally at work, never expecting to win anything. Never have, either.
6. Do you gamble? If so, what game or activity? No, I've never much understood the attraction of gambling. I've played poker for nickles or quarters before, but that's not really about the gambling per se.
7. Have you ever had something called off on account of bad weather, but then gone ahead and done it anyway? Several different sporting events over the years.

CHARITY
1. What causes do you support? ACLU, EFF, and Amnesty monetarily or voluntarily, and I've written letters to the editor/congressfolk about many different issues. Also, though more in my own behavior, media literacy, responsible consumer habits, environment/conservation, and pacifism.
2. What causes have you given money or time to? See above. Also, religious tolerance as part of a student organization in college.
3. Have you ever worked in a soup kitchen or done another kind of outreach for the homeless? No. I really should. It's something I'm too squeamish about, and should try to get over. The rationale is that I can't even relate to normal people around me very well, so homeless people will be that much harder, and I'll be all self-conscious since I'm so lucky to be not-homeless and have had so many opportunities in my own life and so on. This is self-centered and foolish, and I know it, but I can't get past it very easily.
4. Would you ever consider joining the Peace Corps, Amnesty International, or another travel-inherent worldwide charity group? Maybe, though the cultural presumptuousness and colonialist residues involved in many of these kinds of things does kind of worry me. I know it would probably be a net good regardless, but I still have reservations. And again with the social limitations and the white guilt and so on.
5. Do you give money to the homeless on the street? Do you talk to the homeless on the street? Sometimes, yes. I don't know what to do with giving money, because especially in Chambana we had regulars and we knew they spent it mostly on booze and cigs, and yes it would make them feel better for awhile, which is better than nothing, but in the long term we're just talking greater misery. I'd rather take someone into a store and buy them food, but that's also presumptuous and possibly offensive. I've also given homeless people money just to get them to leave me alone, and that makes me more ashamed than anything, even if I was perhaps within my rights to be scared of them at the time and want to be away from them. I overintellectualize these things, like everything else. *sigh*
6. Have you ever helped out a friend with basic needs, like rent or food? No. Luckily, it's never come up, though I gladly would if it ever did.
7. What's the greatest extent you've gone to help a friend in need? Not sure. I guess just being there for them at hard times, like breakups or deaths in the family or health problems. I'm also generally sought after for advice by my friends, which is a little mystifying considering how not-together my own life often is.

FORTITUDE
1. What are you most afraid of? Failing in life, specifically not taking the opportunities when they come along, out of fear or over-valuation of my freedom. Sins of omission, rather than comission. Also, hurting other people or being hurt by them, which is another contributor to the omission-related-sinning.
2. What did you do today that was really brave? Turned on the news? I'm not all that brave.
3. Who is your favourite superhero, and why? I guess Rabi, since she's the only self-proclaimed one(who conceivably might even be able to get away with such claims) I actually know.
4. Would you put your life in danger to rescue someone? Hopefully. No opportunities so far, and I hope there never are any(since that would mean that another person is in danger and all)
5. If you were to face the Wizard, would you want more courage, more brains, or more heart? Does heart=will power and/or self-discipline? If so, then that.
6. Have you ever gotten stage fright? If so, when? If not, how do you avoid it? I don't think I've ever been in a situation where stage fright might occur, since I lack talent in basically all the performing arts. Closest was the state spelling bee in Jr. High, and that didn't really seem that hard, though it's an interesting story. I finished fifth, and lost because I got cocky. I was a rebel, and hated those prim, pretentious little bastards who always asked for the word in a sentence, the greek root, three repetitions, and so on, so I always just rapid-fire spelled the word back on the first try. This worked fine for a long time, but then I got "passably," but heard "passively." Doh. See above, re: PRIDE.
7. Do you consider yourself to be a leader or a follower? Neither really. I tend to just eschew the group altogether. When I do lead, it's usually reluctantly, by example, and often due to sublimated self-interest.

JUSTICE
1. Have you ever been summoned for jury duty? Were you chosen? Not yet, which is somewhat suprising to me.
2. If they reinstituted the draft (for both genders), would you go, or would find some way out of it? It would really depend. In all likelihood, no. WWII is about the only American War I would have even considered fighting in, and after reading Vonnegut, Heller, Hersey, Zinn and all the other humanitarian literature of that war, even that is thrown into doubt. I'm a humanist, and war is nothing if not destructive to humanity, no matter who "wins" superficially. The only way I could justify killing is to stop or prevent even greater atrocities from happening, and even then it gets very dicey, as many of the awful things we did in the process of stopping Germany in WWII attest to. Even if I did serve, I'm not sure if I could do so in a combat capacity. I just don't think I'm capable of killing, no matter how good the rationalization... and I'd probably either break down or get thrown in jail before the boot-camp conditioning process ever got me that far.
3. Do you support capital punishment (the death penalty)? No. I think it's primarily based on bloodlust, is ineffective as a deterrent, and far too error-prone and even racist in practice to ever be defensible.
4. Which should be guaranteed legal: Freedom of thought, speech, movement, belief/religion, right to privacy, right to self-determination in all matters that don't greatly effect the larger social context. Ideally, right to health care, lifelong education, and basal level economic security.
5. Do you believe that Dubya is rightfully President of the USA? Yes and no. I don't really think we can ever know who won that election, and the constitutionally proper legal channels did decide the race, but I think the decision itself was made with improper motives and biases involved.
6. What was your favourite media circus trial? None of them really, but I suppose the Bobbit trial, for pure lurid absurdity.
7. Have you ever written a letter to a politician? Many, and I have the form-letter responses to prove it!

TEMPERANCE
1. What do you have the hardest time moderating yourself on? Internet/reading time.
2. Do you collect anything Ideas, books, music, memories small meaningless objects associated with experiences(ticket stubs and the like.)
3. Are you addicted to anything? Caffeine pretty much. Not to the point where I could never quit, but bad enough that I get shaky and cranky w/o it.
4. Have you ever put anything on layaway or used an installment plan? No. Except student loans and car payments and so on.
5. What's your preferred method of paying for things? Cash, then debit card.
6. Tell us one thing you wish you hadn't let yourself do: It's more about what I can't bring myself to do than what I can't stop myself from doing. I can't remember much of the "wish I could take that back" variety. I never let myself get that far in the first place for the most part.
7. Do you feel that you obsess over things? Oh yeah. Just take a look at this freaking survey!

PRUDENCE
1. Who is the wisest person you know? I'm not sure. In some ways, my grandma, in others different friends of mine. In other ways, myself, though I wish I knew more truly wise people so that I could learn from them, since I also usually feel like I know little or nothing in the cosmic scheme of things. It's just that I don't have people yet in my personal life who I can really talk to on my level about lots of things, and make them understand me, though I'm sure they exist. It may just be that I'm not good at expressing myself, especially verbally. I'm much better in writing.
2. Have you ever participated in a vigil? Yes. Post 9/11, and a couple of Take Back the Night / GBLT solidarity kinda things.
3. Do you take advice when it's given? Even if you haven't asked for it? Usually not right away. Again, see above re: PRIDE. Still, the friends I appreciate the most are the ones who are willing to tell me when they think I'm full of shit.
4. What area are you wisest in? The big, systematic ideas, where history, philosophy, sociology, religion, science, and so on start to converge. I'm not sure I'm so wise at any of that yet, but it's what I'm best at thinking and writing about. Also, other, more specialized areas, like baseball, post-1980 underground/indie music, literary and philosophical history, procrastination, internet culture, the simpsons, and so on and so forth.
5. Do you drive defensively? Yes, if I may say so, I'm pretty good. I've probably avoided fifteen possible accidents in my life, and have never hit anything with my vehicle. Of course, several of those were when I was young and dumb and probably got myself into pickles that should have been avoided in the first place.
6. Have you ever had unprotected sex outside of marriage? Nope, though no problems with the latter half of the equation, as long as certain other conditions obtain. As in, I can't really do the whole casual-sex thing. I don't condemn others who do(though for many people, I do think it leads to more badness than goodness)It's just too big, emotional, trusting, and intense a thing for me to be able to take it lightly. I just ain't wired that way.
7. What did you learn today? That spring is on the way. That's what the air felt like this morning, anyway, though it evidently lies a bit, since it's snowing again tonight.

And of course, what is your favourite heavenly virtue? I'll go with hope, though I'm not sure if it's a blessing or a curse. I tend to wonder if the Buddha was right sometimes, but my conviction that the here and now and ourselves is all we have leads me to think that to live in hope and to encourage others to do so is the only way to make life better, even if it might be setting yourself up for a fall.

Comments

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I think you're the only other 800er I know. ;)

[disblfsuspender.livejournal.com]

I swear I remember a couple of other people in our vague weblog circle having 800's. Maybe Gantz or Raza? I'm not sure. My friend Ben from school, who is a freaking genius, is the only other one I know in real life. Not that the SAT is much of a measure of real talent or anything anyway, but, yeah, it's nice to be able to brag about once in awhile I guess ;)