That IS Me When I Am Stressed

Noah posted an article that details how different personality types respond to stress, and what to do to help. I am an ESTJ so seeing that I am currently quite stressed I thought it would be an interesting to see if it matched things. Turns out my type was the first one listed.

------- from Facebook

What stresses out an ESTJ: 
– Being in an environment that is in disarray
– Frequent disruptions
– Irrational behavior
– Being surrounded by (or guilty of) incompetence
– Unexpected changes
– Lack of control
– Laziness in others
– Not having their strongly held values validated
– Guilt over being critical towards others
– Dealing too long with abstract or theoretical concepts
– Being in a highly-charged emotional environment for too long

When overwhelmed by stress, ESTJ’s often feel isolated from others. They feel as if they are misunderstood and undervalued, and that their efforts are taken for granted. When under stress, they have a hard time putting their feelings into words and communicating them to others. If they are under frequent, chronic stress, they may fall into the grip of their inferior function; introverted feeling. When this happens, they can develop a “martyr complex”. The ESTJ will be uncharacteristically emotional, withdraw from others, become hypersensitive about their relationships, and misinterpret tiny, insignificant details into personal attacks.

Thoughts
Yes! That feels very accurate. In fact Heather also commented on the post that the article matched for her personality type too.

Seriously The Comments Guys

I guess it is the time of the year that I put out a pleading post for more comments. My mom has given a couple lately, and Heather comment on my last post, but in general it has been pretty silent.

And I have had some good posts lately:
- A trip to the emergency room
- First little look at our wedding photos
- Stuff about my Dad
- A Funny video
- Two's awesome Instagram
- A fun internet quiz, normally people would share their results in the comments.

Congratulations Heather

Heather has been awarded a Graduate Professional Certificate in Cultural Heritage Studies from the University of Victoria.

The program provides advanced learning for emerging and mid-career individuals involved with a range of cultural heritage fields. Heather already has an MA in Greek and Roman Archaeology from the University of Newcastle in England. She has been working in her field (museums) for as long as I have known her. It feels like just yesterday she was talking about starting the online program from U of Vic. She did it on a part-time basis, one course per term, so she could still work full-time. It can't have been easy, I am so proud of her.

Bracketing Thirty

Happy Birthday to two of the greatest friends I could ever ask for!

I am back from a quick trip to Ottawa. Jason and I drove up for the weekend. We got to celebrate two birthdays and see a lot of people. I miss my friends from there so much and it never feels like enough time: brunch with Heather, a quick hug from Justin, Erin AH stops by for a party. It was also great to stay with Jenn and Jon, in their new home they purchased this past summer.

It was a prime weekend to catch people on their birthdays! We didn't choose specifically to go up for that reason; we hadn't been in a while and it was a weekend that worked. Anna turned 29 on Friday and I left work early to ensure we could make it in time for a bit of the party she was having (got a quick catch up with Wes too which was nice.) Steph is turns 31 today, though we mainly celebrated last night with games, nachos, pizza, and pie. A quick visit with her and Dave this afternoon to toast some cupcakes before the drive back to Toronto meant that I did get to see her on her actual birthday too.

A Week To Reflect

A week ago today I was shocked and scared by the news from Ottawa. A man had shot a soldier standing guard at National War Memorial and proceeded to enter parliament (where he was killed by the Sergeant-at-Arms). For much of the day, downtown Ottawa was on lock-down with police looking for a possible second suspect. These events have be weighing heavily on my mind and I figured it was time to write down my thoughts.

The Soldier

The young man shot at the Memorial died. The news was heart breaking. Every death of a soldier is tragic, every one of the thousands of Canadian soldiers who have died in our nation's 150 year history is devastating. This death captivated the nation and photographs of him still appear in the news. He reminds me of my brother in his early military days - young, similar skin tone, shaved bald head, deep 5 o'clock shadow, and the same big smile.

My Brother

As my brother prepares to take a more covert role in the Canadian Military, he becomes more secretive. At one level he has changed his name on social media and on another he sometimes leaves for extended periods of time and is unable to tell us where he is/will be. I wanted to be assured of his safety last Wednesday as images of police and military rushing around Ottawa dominated the news. Aimee assured me that they were both home safe, in Edmonton. I then proceeded to have the following text conversation with Mike:

Me: Why are you in such a scary profession?!
Mike: I would be bored doing other stuff. I wish I was at the hill right now.

Ottawa Friends

I felt an overwhelming need to reach out to my friends in Ottawa to check that they were okay and to tell them how important they are to me. I tried to reach, via text and email, Steph, Dave, Anna, Jenn, Erin AH, Heather, and Marc. News that some were in lock down was worrisome and delayed responses more so. I love them all so much and am relieved that everyone is well.

My University City

I lived in Ottawa from 2003 to 2010 and I love the city. What shook me up first and foremost was my connection to the area. Talking to my mom on the phone, my voice caught when I said, "But it is Ottawa, I lived there." I am connected to many cities but while horrific events like these should never happen anywhere, my impression of Brantford or Toronto or lots of other Canadian cities is a bit different. Ottawa, like my experience growing up in Paris, represents peace and perfection. This felt like a gross violation of the place itself.

Hockey

I can not get over how important of a role Hockey played in the aftermath and even during the event itself. The Toronto Maple Leafs were in the capital to play the Senators and I heard some some news outlets that they had heard gun shots from their hotel. (I suspect they were staying The Chateau Laurier which would have been right in the middle of it all.) At about mid-afternoon the NHL announced that the game that evening was cancelled. There were tons of tweets about it, almost as though that announcement really solidified what was happening and the gravity of it. It takes a lot to cancel a hockey game. That evening the hockey game played in Pittsburgh between two American teams, Penguins and Flyers, sang the Canadian national anthem in support. The following morning on the bus, I overheard a gruff construction worker say to his friend that the gesture was beautiful, "it brought a tear to my eye." Then a few days later, Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday opened with a beautiful joint ceremony joining three rinks across the country giving solemn tribute. I found the entire event especially well done and very appropriate. I even appreciated Don Cherry's discussion on the matter.

Our Values

I want our country to learn from this incident and respect what it means. I have spent many conversations lately discussing the idea and claim of terrorism, my thoughts on which I will share in a different post. However, I don't want this event to change us to the point that we loose our values as a nation. Justin Trudeau gave a speech on the evening of the attack and I feel that it is a solid expression of my thoughts. You can read the transcript on the Maclean's website. Here are some of my favorite parts.

Criminals cannot and will not dictate to us how we act as a nation, how we govern ourselves or how we treat each other. They cannot and will not dictate our values. And they do not get to decide how we use our shared public spaces.

To our friends and fellow citizens in the Muslim community, Canadians know acts such as these committed in the name of Islam are an aberration of your faith. Continued mutual cooperation and respect will help prevent the influence of distorted ideological propaganda posing as religion. We will walk forward together, not apart.

In the days that follow, there will be questions, anger and perhaps confusion. This is natural, but we cannot let it get the better of us. Losing ourselves to fear and speculation is the intention of those who commit these heinous acts.

My Solace In The Instant

Being far away with confustion surrounding the situation, I found comfort from two things last Wednesday:

The Breaking News Consumer's Handbook

By Alex Goldman

and the often reference quote by Mr. Rogers:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, 

my mother would say to me, 

"Look for the helpers. 

You will always find people who are helping.” 

-- Fred Rogers

Yes, I Have Asked Before

Earlier this week I did a post asking for more people to comment on Always Standing. It didn't really deliver the desired effect but it did coax Heather out of viewing my posts on her RSS feed to come say something. She wrote the best line, "The first rule about comments is don't talk about comments." This was basically my mom's reaction too, "How often do you do these begging for comments posts? I have read them before." So I looked into it.

Here are all the times that I have written a specific post complaining about the lack of comments and requesting that my readership step up and start leaving more responses:
- Feb 1, 2013 : Not Fair
So it has been over a year since I last mentioned it!
- Jan 18, 2012 : The Correlation Between Hiding And Comments
This only briefly complains and is mainly about the fact that I had joined eHarmony.
- Aug 7, 2011 : Comments? 
I got 4 comments out of making this request.
- Apr 30, 2010 : A Pull For Comments
Found out that the 'pinkness' of Always Standing wasn't very well loved. Though 4 years later and the blog is still very pink.
- Jul 2, 2007 : Fishing
I love how short and to the point this post is.

So, in conclusion, it doesn't look like I did this type of post much the first 4 years of Always Standing, from 2006 to 2010. However, starting in 2010, I ask about once a year that readers comment more. I also want to note that it doesn't really work, so I should probably find a different tactic.

Need A Graphic Designer?

Congratulations to Sarah, otherwise know as Fae, a close friend of Heather and regular reader (and commenter) on Always Standing. Sarah has just finished her Bachelor of Science Degree in Graphic Design at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She is a very talented artist! Now that she has completed her program, her website and new graphic design company is up and running at full tilt. I wish her much future success!

Visit her WEBSITE to see her amazing work in illustration, branding, photography, etc.

Life's In The Way

Both my parents and Heather have reached out to chat and catch up, and I haven't been able to return their calls. I have been so busy lately that I feel like I am falling out of touch with everyone. I have been able to see a bunch of my friends over this past week but the visits feel rushed and I am often late or have to change/cancel plans. I have a contract with CSOL working on some Event Management things that I work on in the early evenings after I am done at the BIA and there seems to be lots of other little chores and life details that are getting in the way. I feel a bit overwhelmed. I miss having free time, I miss talking on the phone with my friends and parents, I miss reading, and I miss posting regularly on Always Standing.

Apologies To My Dedicated Daily Readers

So, I assume that most people check into Always Standing every couple of days, but I do have a few daily readers. Mainly this means Taylor and Lochlan. So apologies to them, and anyone else who has stopped by to read a new post and not found an update since Tuesday. It has been a busy week at work and I have been doing things over my lunch hour, which is a time I sometimes spend writing posts. On Wednesday I went to The Home Show with Monica and Heather is visiting so last night was spent catching up with her and Kristen, this means that basically my nights have been full too, which is the other time I use to write up posts.

SC - A Private Health Club

We stole this idea from Heather, but had been tossing around similar concepts for a while - The WOTS girls and I have created a 'Salad Club'. Each one of us takes a day and we make a large salad to serve at lunch for everyone. It is such a fun and healthy idea. (I have Thursdays, starting next week. I need to start thinking of fun salad ideas.)

This is also going to be the start of a new feature on Always Standing - each Thursday I will post the recipe for the salad that I make for SC (Salad Club). Stay tuned!

Much Overdue Congratulations

-Aimee is in Afghanistan
-Aimee and Mike bought a house
-Anna finished her masters
-Anna got into an amazing intership program
-Erin AH went back to school
-ERin and Matt moved to Ottawa
-ERin started the pastry program at Cordon Bleu
-Heather moved into a new apartment
-Heather got a wicked museum job
-Kristen got hired full-time after her internship
-Kristen became Marking and Special Events Coordinator
-Noah started his Social Services Worker program
-Steph & Dave bought a house
-Steph & Dave are engaged
-Taylor and Mark got married
-Taylor and Mark went to Scotland
-Taylor got a Social Work job
-Teri got her B.Ed
-Teri rocked her first year of teaching High School
-Teri became a sixth of a teacher
-Yen bought a house

CONGRATULATIONS to all ! ! !

More details on all of the above to follow, at some point.
I promise.

Almost Moved In

My New Chair!

Sitting In Bed - Looking At My New Chair

My parents visited me in Toronto recently and helped me continue to set up my bedroom here. (Yes, I moved in over a year ago.) While they were here I bought a chair to go in my room, I love it. The purple pattern along the back and bottom is actually a scarf that Heather bought for me in England; I will miss wearing it this winter since it looked really good with my wool coat - but I looks great on the chair. You may also notice an awesome bookshelf behind it filled with leather bound books, more on those another time.

Schola

This is from a school primer, it puts the English beside Latin to help students learn. I am not going to type out the Latin part since only Heather and a select few others would be able to read it. I have a hard time reading the English, which I am going to say is probably Middle English - 1600s or 1700s. I have turned the strange letter they use into the "s" that it is now. This is the punctuation that is there though, it really hasn't changed much. I can't remember how old the professor said this was, but it is old!

A School is a shop, in which Young Wits are fashtion'o to vertue, and it is distinguished into Forms. The Master, sitteth in a Chair; the Scholars, in Forms; he teacheth, they learn. Some things are writ down before them with Chalk on a Table. Some sit at a Table and write: he mendeth their Faults. Some stand and rehearse things committed to memory. Some talk together, and behave themselves wantonly, and carelessly; these are ravished with a Ferula and a Rod.

On one side of the page is the title "Schola." followed by a picture (wood engraving) of the inside of a school, followed by the English title "A School." The opposite page is split in two with the above passage appearing as the left column and the Latin next to it on the right. Next to some of the words or lines are numbers and these match little numbers included in the image. For example. beside the bad kids is a little "10" and the same number appears next to the part of the text that refers to them. The talkative children section is cute, but it is a toss up for my favourite line, either "he teacheth, they learn" or "he mendeth their Faults."

French According To Chris

If anyone has spoken French with me then they know, my French is beyond terrible. It has been described as cringe-worthy at times. What I lack in pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary (which is a lot) I definitely make up for in effort - I have no shame when it comes to speaking in my terrible French. Occasionally though I feel like I come up with some excellent translations of English words into French, usually this is for words that don't get translated and should just be said in their original English. This is like if you are ever at a checkout and listening to the cashier and customer talk in fast and perfect French only to throw in something like "Mastercard" in the centre, though sometimes I have heard, "Master-carte".

Here are some of my awesome creations...

Facebook - Livre du visage
Hotmail - Chaud-poste
Heather - Eather

Guest Writer - A Swan On Saturday - Part III - Heather

I had been wanting to post about the Greek myth 'Leda and the Swan' for a long time. I was a little weirded out by the idea of a women having sex with a swan. Then I realised, why should I write it when I'm friends with an expert on the subject!?! I asked Heather, fresh back from completing her MA in Greek and Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University in England, to write up a post. Please enjoy this final post in a three part series.

From Heather:

A Swan On Saturday - Part III - The Bestiality Sexuality

Greek gods were anthropomorphic, meaning that they looked like humans. But the Mediterranean was full of zoomorphic (animal-like) gods at the time, and so Greek cultural and artistic traditions, closely tied to those of Mesopotamia and Egypt, were familiar with portraying an animal in a human pose. Take Egypt for example. Most of their gods were animals or at least half animals, and yet they were often seen standing on two legs or seated on a throne like a Pharaoh.So the idea that a swan could mate with a woman wasn’t so far fetched. And sculpting a lewd statue of a woman who is, literally, parting her legs so a swan can enter her is nothing to the society who painted scenes of orgies and prostitutes on their drinking cups. When you look at all the examples out there, da Vinci’s is actually rather tame. Yes, Leda is naked and Zeus the Swan is cupping her butt with his wing. But at least he’s reaching for her face with his beak, instead of her nipple, like here:
Modern artists are still inspired by this story, and they don’t seem to shy away from the bestiality either, like this 2008 painting by Steven Kenny:
I think the most shocking thing is that Renaissance artists would portraying the coupling of a woman and beast, but sex between a man and woman was too risqué.

Guest Writer - A Swan On Saturday - Part II - Heather

I had been wanting to post about the Greek myth 'Leda and the Swan' for a long time. I wanted to look into the strange story of why there would be sex with a swan, what is this myth? Then I realised, why should I write it when I'm friends with an expert on the subject!?! I asked Heather, fresh back from completing her MA in Greek and Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University in England, to write up a post. Please enjoy this second instalment in the three part series.

From Heather:

A Swan On Saturday - Part II - The Myth

Leda was the beautiful Queen of Sparta who unwittingly attracted the attention of the ever-horny, womanizing top Olympian, Zeus. Zeus decided to seduce her. To do so, he turned himself into a swan. For some reason. Maybe it was a secret fantasy of his, and what good is being the head of a pantheon of gods if you can’t pursue all your secret fantasies? In his disguise, pretending to be pursued by an eagle, Zeus fell into Leda’s lap for protection. Of course, Leda took one look at this most beautiful specimen of swanliness and simply had to have him. Or let him have her. Whichever way that works (though really, it doesn’t with a swan).

Leda and the Swan shared a magical night, the kind where time slows down and feathers float through the air, though in this case they were Zeus’ and not from a pillow torn in the heat of passion. Zeus flew off into the night, and Leda returned to her husband’s bed for more carnal exploits. Apparently, for all his swanliness, Zeus hadn’t quite satisfied Leda.

Months later, as these things go, Leda gave birth to two eggs. Yes, eggs. The eggs cracked open to reveal two sets of twins, one sired by each man, one divine and one mortal. They were Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Polydeuces. Helen became Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ships and a ten-year war. Clytemnestra became the wife of Agamemnon, leader of the Greek forces in Troy, who she promptly killed to be with his cousin. Castor and Polydeuces have their own story of heroism and brotherly love, and eventually became a constellation and the astrological sign Gemini.

Funny thing is that this isn’t the only instance of bestiality in Greek mythology. Pasiphae fell in love with a bull, jumped into a handy cow costume, and soon gave birth to the Minotaur. Zeus turned his lover Io into a cow to hide her from his wife, Hera. He also turned into an eagle to carry off Ganymede, and a bull to carry off Europa. The Satyrs, who had sex with anything that moved, were half goat, and the Centaurs, who raped many a maiden, were half horse. Oh, those crazy Greeks.

Guest Writer - A Swan On Saturday - Part I - Heather

I had been wanting to post about the Greek myth 'Leda and the Swan' for a long time. I especially wanted to discuss the amazingly creepy painting by Leonardo da Vinci. (Somehow he is able to make a swan look like a porn star!!) Then I realised, why should I write it when I'm friends with an expert on the subject!?! I asked Heather, fresh back from completing her MA in Greek and Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University in England, to write up a post. Please enjoy this first post in a three part series.

From Heather:

A Swan On Saturday - Part I - Introduction

Chris called me the other day to talk about this painting of Leda and the Swan by da Vinci. I had seen the painting before, and others like it. Leda and the Swan was a popular Greek myth for appropriation by Renaissance artists. Chris was surprised that da Vinci had managed to make the swan look so human, and, let’s face it, overtly sexual in nature.

I was reminded of a statue I saw when I was in Venice in March. It was Leda and the Swan, and the pose was so erotic that my friend and I actually had a lengthy discussion about it:

That statue, from the Venice Archaeological Museum, is actually a Roman copy of a Greek original. So da Vinci was in good tradition. Upon further perusal of Google Images, it has become clear that all Renaissance portrayals of Leda and the Swan are very sexual, in a way that a 21^st century audience can find disturbing because of its implications of bestiality. Clearly, the Greek, Roman and later Renaissance artists had no such qualms. In fact, they portray Leda and the Swan in a far more sexualized way than they were comfortable portraying an actual man and woman.

But wait! Who are Leda and the Swan, you say? Well, that’s the real reason that Chris was asking me about it, and that’s coming up in the next post!

Found It

Item Lost: Key chains with keys
(Including; car key, cottage key, house key, JennB's fuzzy mascot gift from the Olympics, Heather's little Harrod's bear gift from England, and my Sims 3 USB drive.)
Time Lost: Yesterday morning
Last Place I Remember: Throwing them in a white laundry basket
Place Found: Underneath my cowboy hat

Geek Girls Unite Award

Heather gave me another blog forward-chain-award thing. This time it was a Geek Girls Unite Award which she won and then awarded to three people including... The Chris from Always Standing, who plays WOW, among other geeky things... Heather is proud of her geek status, myself not as much so. Mind you, while I hate e-mail forwards, the blog ones are pretty cool, so I'm going to try to befriend my geeky side at the moment.

So Here I Am!

Geek Girls Unite

List ten geeky facts about yourself

Pass this award onto your favorite female geeks

Ten geeky facts about me...

1. WoW - I play World of Warcraft. Come on, world's most-subscribed MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) people! I think it is awesome and so much fun, but definitely geeky.

2. Settlers - I love all games, especially card and boardgames. My favorite being Settlers Of Catan, which is a strategy game similar to Risk. It is a bit complex and very geeky, always hard to find people who will play with me.

3. Trivia - I love trivia, both in question or random fact form. Useless facts are super interesting and fun for me, which I guess is geeky. I also really enjoy Jeopardy.

4. Engineering - While I didn't stay in it, I did start my university career in Mechanical Engineering so I enjoy and have a basic understanding of advanced math and science.

5. Reading - I have always loved to read. I learnt at a very young age and have been reading ever since. This is what lead to English after Engineering fell through. I carry a book in my purse at all time.

6. XCKD - I enjoy a few online comics, my favourite being xkcd. I also regularly read Penny Arcade and Ctrl+Alt+Del.

7. Glasses - I wear glasses. I own contacts but rarely wear them, only putting them in once or twice a month for special occasions.

8. Museums - I absolutely love museums, of any variety. I can stay in a museum from open to close, the only thing slowing me down would be sore feet. I love to read everything in every display. I like to learn.

9. Russia - I have a thing for Russia and will be going on a big trip to visit it. Seeing Russia has been a dream of mine for more than 15 years. This might not be a geeky thing but it is strange.

10. Blog - I blog. Lastly, I figure that blogging is pretty geeky and I have been writing Always Standing for years now, posting regularly.

Pass this award onto your favorite female geeks...

Bloggers

1. Steph writer of The Great Abyss

--Engineer who has way to many personal Excel sheets

2. Anne writer of Four Litre Chocolate Milk

--Geographer who can rock The 80's look

3. Erin writer of Always A Mess

--Neopets Addict who has a thing for Anime

Honourable Mentions

1. Teri

--Who I'm sure does math for fun

2. ERin

--Who is both a geographer and Trekkie

3. JennD

--Who is big into the video games

Who´s The Monkey?

A Baby Gibraltar Barbary Macaque
By Christine Sweeton

Heather and I had a little weekend visit. We stayed in Spain at night but did a day trip to the British territory of Gibralter. They have monkeys!