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August 2011 Member of the Month "Stephen" Interview

12K views 67 replies 60 participants last post by  Cool Breeze 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Yoyoyo,

What is up PerCers! Haven't spoken to you in a while. Lots of events going in my life for the past couple months. Luckily this thread is not about me so I get a pass for having to explain my inactivity! :kitteh:


Anyways, get this - August 2011 MOTM is a member who believes Santa Claus is real! Can you believe that? BAHAHA.:laughing: I mean it's ok if you believe in Magical Ponies, because we all know they are real. I've seen them with my own two eyes and have actually ridden one. Santa Claus? Not so much. Though, we shouldn't judge him based on this "out of this world" belief.


Stephen, an ISTJ father, is one of the most passionate PerC users around. You can usually see him in all corners of the forums contributing to threads and providing assistance to fellow members. In fact, he is so helpful and well liked by the community that he was nominated to be both the MOTM and Moderator! It wasn't a difficult decision to offer him both positions.

Here now is an interview with Stephen...


==================================================



Motto: "I don't have a motto, but if you grab any random quote by Lao Tzu or Alan Watts, it's probably been in my signature."






Is your real name Stephen? or do you want to be named Stephen?:crazy:
Yes, and yes.




How old are you?
35.




Which country are you situated in?
Amurrica. *spits chaw*





How would you describe yourself in one word?
Atypical.





Single, Dating, Married, or all three?
A and B. Formerly C.





Any kids?
No thanks, already have one.





How did you initially find Personality Cafe?
Quite confusing. Over time I got the hang of it. :dry:





What made you join us?
As humans are wont to do, I had a colossal failure of a romantic relationship. On the way out the door she "accused" me of being an unhealthy enneagram two, instead of my understood type of six with a five wing. I don't mind being wrong, so I looked into it, and found this place and signed up. She was wrong.





What is it like moderating the PerC Community?
It's a lot like being a regular member, except when someone does something wrong, or typos in a thread title, I get to fix it. So, it's great.





If you had to choose your favorite forum on PerC, which would it be?
Bans and Infractions.





How did you get involved with Personality Typing?
In the early 1990s a friend went to a conference that was held by (I believe) Don Richard Riso. He came back with a huge pinfed printout with an enneagram test on it. I took the test and came up 6w5, did a bunch of reading in that year's edition of the Personality Types book, and then kind of put it out of my mind for a while.





What is your Myers Briggs Personality Type?
ISTJ.





So what's it like being an ISTJ "The Dootie Fulfiller"?
*duty

I deal with a lot of prejudice, actually. People think I'm boring, so I carry around a clipboard with a meticulously organized list of reasons that I'm not boring. I've practiced the delivery on it to make sure I can keep an even pace throughout and deliver the whole speech in exactly 32.7 minutes. When I'm done with that, I sort and fold laundry, then tell very dry jokes that people laugh at almost entirely out of shock. Also, I know lots of things.





Do you prefer to associate yourself with certain MB types? If so which?
Not on purpose. However, I somehow keep ending up with INFJ girlfriends.





Do you use "Personality Typing" in the real world?
There's a real world? *squints at the sun coming through the curtains*

I do, yes. I have made guesses on some of my coworkers. I also guessed my sister's type correctly recently after an earlier incorrect guess, but before she typed herself. She's an INFP.





What is your Enneagram Type?
6w7





Which personality theory do you find most helpful and accurate?
I like the enneagram. It feels more organic and personal than the MB system, and easier to understand for those who are new to typing. I also find the enneagram types better describe many individuals than the MB types, because it's more general. I think enneagram types can be more easily observed in people I know well than MB can, but I understand enneagram better I think.





Do you think the different personality theories give an accurate description of you?
They describe the stock "me" pretty well. I've done a lot of work on what I see as the "weaknesses" of the ISTJ profile and the type six profile. I keep in mind where these problem areas are while I'm dealing with everyday situations so I can adapt, and even use my strengths against my weaknesses. ISTJs and sixes are often effective problem solvers, so I've turned that inward. That has helped me learn to leverage my inferior Ne to become more flexible.





Has personality typing helped you in any way?
Yes.

In addition to what I mentioned above, it helped me piece together who I was in the aftermath of that relationship, and it helped me understand what went wrong with my marriage last year. That's mostly about how I reacted to what my ex-wife was doing as things started to fall apart. I did things wrong that I can do right in the future.

I was actually able to restart the failed relationship using what I'd learned. It turns out I wasn't the only problem in that relationship. Who knew.





So what do you believe is your greatest accomplishment at this point?
I learned to drop my instinct to fix everything, and instead be a good listener.





What is your greatest weakness?
Flashes of vanity. I hate it.





What is your greatest strength?
I think it may be that I have a very good sense of my weaknesses.





What is your greatest fear?
Failing those I am accountable to.





What motivates you?
Stereotypically enough... order. I love when everything's where it's supposed to be, figuratively and literally.





What is your philosophy?
I'll give you Chiune Sugihara's, instead. "Do what is right because it is right, and leave it alone." There was a man who did the best he could with the power he was given and accomplished something amazing for generations to come.





What are you passionate about?
Human rights. Fair trade. Bringing the anti-woman tilt of most world societies to the attention of those who seem to have no idea.





Past Jobs/Current?
I do printing and mailing now. I do some freelance graphic design, I used to do that more. I've worked with animals in the past, too. I've been writing and blogging about video games and technology for more than ten years now. I've done a lot of different things. Feeds the Si.





What are your pet peeves?
I don't like it when people slap their opinions down like they're facts. I'm also bugged a bit by typographical errors and things that are disorganized. *straightens sock drawer*





Any phobias?
No actual psychological phobias, no.





Who do you look up to if any?
John Brown is one of my heroes. I also really like Bill Murray and Optimus Prime.





What is your favorite place to travel to?
Home.





When did you find out that Santa Claus was "REAL"?
When I became him, the first time I set out gifts for my daughter.





Your favorite favorite color and weather.
Gray. Not the case for either, but it's the only word I can think of that covers both.





What are your favorite books, movies, tv shows, food, beverages?
I enjoyed The Wheel of Time Series. Dracula is a favorite, Stoker of course. Stephen King's The Eyes of the Dragon. Redwall by Robert Jacques. Clive Barker's Weaveworld. For movies, Wings of Desire, Ikiru, Everything Is Illuminated, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dear Zachary, Groundhog Day, Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride. TV: Firefly, Mad Men, Futurama, American Pickers, In Treatment. I like Italian food, but I enjoy everything from Thai to Greek to Indian as well. I mostly drink tea and water.





What can I find in your fridge?
Not much. It's a clean, largely empty place. Shelves. Drawers, too.





Favorite animal?
Sea dragons are cool. I like tropical fish. Otters are sweet.





Any pets?
I have a cat and some fish.





What type of music genre do you listen to?
Rock more than anything else, but I listen to most anything.





Any favorite singers or band?
Coldplay, Linkin Park, Maroon Five, Mumford and Sons, MUSE, Barenaked Ladies, The Killers, Van Halen, Def Leppard, Tori Amos, Delerium, They Might Be Giants, Leonard Cohen.





Your favorite websites to visit?
PersonalityCafe, GMail, Facebook, Amazon, Goozex, Cyanide and Happiness, Penny Arcade, Questionable Content, PostSecret.





What do you do for fun and relaxation?
I do trivia night roughly once a month. Sometimes I go to see my friends' bands play live. I enjoy singing and playing with my daughter. More than that though, I'm on PerC and chatting with my friends online.





What do you know now that you wish you'd known 5 years ago?
The marriage was going to collapse in a couple of years. I don't know if I would have tried to stop the collapse, or just ended it sooner.





Tell us something about yourself that we don't already know.
I'm a tall, heterosexual, and somewhat hirsute man who just happens to love Abba, especially the song Under Attack.





What do you like most about PersonalityCafe?
Nearly all of my closest friends are here.





What do you dislike most about PersonalityCafe?
That there's always somebody trying to shit in somebody else's Cheerios.





Has PerC taught you anything?
Yes.





Do you have any advice for the community of PerC?
Don't trust the personality test results, they're often wrong. You can't grow with this information unless you make sure it's correct. Read a lot. There's a ton about the theories you don't know. Keep in mind most of the people here are learning. That means you need to double-check what you read, but it also means you need to be patient. It's a forum, not a textbook.

Also, textbooks are biased and inaccurate. Double- or triple-check your sources.





So what is next for you? What are your plans and goals for the future?
I want to keep improving myself, do a good job raising my daughter, and if I'm lucky, find someone special to be with.





Give us your parting words.
*best Robocop voice* Stay out of trouble.
 
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#12 ·
Thanks, guy. :) Reading this left me with a big smile on my face.
(I'll let you guess whether it's because I thought you were funny/cool, I noticed that your socks were mismatched, or I saw that you have pancakes sitting on your head.)
 
#24 ·
Congratulations.
 
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#27 ·
Stephen - I appreciate all of your contributions to PerC...especially your banning poetry :)
 
#28 ·
@Stephen, I'm really glad that someone else voted for you to be interviewed, because I thought about it last week but was too lazy to do it (sorry) but I wanted to see what you would write.
Turns out you are freakin funny (I LMAO at some of your jokes) and I can relate to your thoughts having been raised by an ISTJ dad myself. You seem like someone I could get along very well with IRL.
Thanks for the interesting read.:happy:
 
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