Don't worry!

Sorry for the radio silence - work is kicking my bum right now and I can't think of anything creative to write.

Personality Defect Test

Just for shits and giggles...

Your result for The Personality Defect Test...

Smartass

You are 57% Rational, 57% Extroverted, 71% Brutal, and 86% Arrogant.

You are the Smartass! You are rational, extroverted, brutal, and arrogant. In fact, you could very well be the anti-Christ, as you are almost the exact opposite of everything Jesus was supposed to be. While Jesus says love your enemy, you say love beating the crap out of your enemy. While Jesus raises the dead, you raise hell. While Jesus walks on water, you tend to sink. You probably consider people who are emotional and gentle to be big pussies who are obviously in lesser stature than you. You have many flaws, despite your seeming intelligence and cool-headedness. For instance, you aren't very nice. In fact, you're probably an asshole. And you are conceited and self-centered. Not only that, but you are very loud and vocal about all this, seeing as how you are extroverted. There is no better way to describe you than as a "smartass", I'm afraid. Perhaps just "ass" would do, too. But that's a little less literary and descriptive. At any rate, your main personality defect is the fact that you are self-centered, mean, uncaring, and brutally logical.

To put it less negatively:

1. You are more RATIONAL than intuitive.

2. You are more EXTROVERTED than introverted.

3. You are more BRUTAL than gentle.

4. You are more ARROGANT than humble.

Compatibility:

Your exact opposite is the Emo Kid.

Other personalities you would probably get along with are the Capitalist Pig, the Braggart, and the Sociopath.

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If you scored near fifty percent for a certain trait (42%-58%), you could very well go either way. For example, someone with 42% Extroversion is slightly leaning towards being an introvert, but is close enough to being an extrovert to be classified that way as well. Below is a list of the other personality types so that you can determine which other possible categories you may fill if you scored near fifty percent for certain traits.

The other personality types:

The Emo Kid: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Starving Artist: Intuitive, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Bitch-Slap: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Brute: Intuitive, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hippie: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Televangelist: Intuitive, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Schoolyard Bully: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Class Clown: Intuitive, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Robot: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Haughty Intellectual: Rational, Introverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Spiteful Loner: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Sociopath: Rational, Introverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

The Hand-Raiser: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Humble.

The Braggart: Rational, Extroverted, Gentle, Arrogant.

The Capitalist Pig: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Humble.

The Smartass: Rational, Extroverted, Brutal, Arrogant.

Be sure to take my Sublime Philosophical Crap Test if you are interested in taking a slightly more intellectual test that has just as many insane ramblings as this one does!

About Saint_Gasoline

I am a self-proclaimed pseudo-intellectual who loves dashes. I enjoy science, philosophy, and fart jokes and water balloons, not necessarily in that order. I spend 95% of my time online, and the other 5% of my time in the bathroom, longing to get back on the computer. If, God forbid, you somehow find me amusing instead of crass and annoying, be sure to check out my blog and my webcomic at SaintGasoline.com.

Take The Personality Defect Test at HelloQuizzy

Happy Inauguration Day

I find it very ironic that the Canadian mother in the class is the one making the Inauguration Day party cupcakes...

Chapter 42: In Which Jo Comes In From The Cold

Holy Frack! It was 19'F / -7'C today in the sun!

This is what I was wearing today:

• Long Underwear
• Wool Sweater
• Wool Hat
• Mittens
• Down Parka designed for -30'F
• Smartwool Socks

And if I was moving, I was okay - at times I even felt warm enough to unzip my jacket and take off my hat... but if we were on the shady side of the street, Jack Frost was nipping at everything! I've been home for nearly two hours now and my fingers still feel a little stiff and cold. I see a long hot shower in my future.

Why did I expose myself to these extreme temperatures? For a yarn crawl, of course! My knitting group has been talking for a while about taking a trip into Philly to check out the yarn stores, and we sure picked a doozy of a weekend. Not only was it below freezing, but President-Elect Obama was taking our local train line for his Whistle Stop tour - so the police started shutting down all the local train stops for security. I think we were smart (and lucky) to get a train before 9am or or plans may have been derailed (haha! Pun intended!)

Once we got into Philly, our first stop was Rosie's Yarn Cellar, where I bought this lovely Claudia Handpaints Short Sport in 'Watermelon':



And these unidentified mill ends, which were a bit more expensive that I was guestimating. I'm planning to make handwarmers out of both of them.



Then we headed down South Street and found out that Loop didn't open until noon, so we stopped at Pumpkin Cafe for a hot beverage. We continued down South Street (seeing many scantily clad mannequins in the windows. Seriously, I think prostitutes must buy these things.) only to find Nangellini closed as well. Now, before you start saying we hadn't planned this very well, this store was supposed to be open at 11 (we called), but the sign on the door said differently. Again, we continued down South to what was supposed to be our last stop, Sophie's Yarns. They also were not open until noon, but we had fun going into the discount fabric stores on 4th Street while we waited.

I bought this amazingly soft alpaca at Sophie's - and it is intended to be a hat for Andrew. His current hat (made of Malabrigo) is getting a bit worn and pill-y.



We turned back up South Street to drop in at Nangellini again, and despite the fact that it was now around 1pm, the store showed no sign of being open. We hit Loop again, and it was bustling with shoppers and people taking knitting classes. It's a very clean shop, and I liked how they had IKEA bookcases down both long walls full of yarn.

I bought this Silk Garden Lite sock yarn at Loop - and I don't think you will get the true colours unless you click and go to Flickr and see the largest size. The colors made me think of renaissance paintings. I know from reading other people's experiences with this yarn I will have to curb my tendency to knit tightly so as to not break the yarn.



And if you look on the side, there is a bit of purple and grey hiding in there. This is one of the enjoyable things of knitting with Noro - you never know what you are going to get.



We have decided that we have to do this again in the Spring when the weather is nicer - and I can't wait.

Okay - time for that shower!

WiP It Way Late

Mandy the First was finished Tuesday night, but unfortunately my better half has been enjoying his Christmas present rather voraciously and it is limiting my blogging time. I can't begrudge the time, though - as much as he likes these things, he doesn't play them very often.

But back to Mandy - I cast on Friday night and finished 4 days later - I think that is a personal best for me.

Now to cast on for her twin... (eyebrow waggle!)

The Temptress

So, you want to know who I am cheating on my Yarn Pirate Icicle socks with, hmm?

Meet Mandy:



Spunky Eclectic Super DK sock in 'Mandy,' to be exact.

You have to love socks that knit up so fast you are past the gusset in less than 2 days. I wish all sock knitting was like that. I love the Icicle socks, but knitting 78 stitches on size 1s takes so much longer than 56 stitches on size 3s. I get the feeling that this will be a quick and dirty affair, and then the Icicle socks will be back in my arms (okay - my hands) again.

Sock Monogamy

...I don't think I suffer from it.

I accumulated these lovelies over the holidays, and I am so eager to dig into them. I have a pair of socks right now that are about 80% finished... but all I want to do is start a new one!

Unique Sheep Chocolate Kiss Sport Weight Sock Yarn



Chewy Spaghetti Spaghettoni Serendipity Sport Weight Sock Yarn



Okay, technically this next skein is Andrew's. I had bought it before Christmas with the plan of knitting him a pair of socks... but that didn't happen. So, I wrapped up the skein and put it under the tree for him. Needless to say, he was very confused. My Mom thought it was hilarious, though.

Darling Dachs Dach Sox Blue Harvey Sport Weight Sock Yarn



And this last one was a Christmas present to me! My Mom dragged my Dad to a Sheep and Fibre Festival in Duncan, BC earlier this year and they bought this yarn from the Hummingbird Fibre Arts booth.

Hummingbird Fibre Arts Superwash Merino/Tencel Sport Weight Sock Yarn



Oh, the temptation ;)

First Knitting Content of the Year!

Aren't these pretty?



It's odd working in a large office building - no matter how they regulate it, the heat (or air conditioning, for that matter) is never even. I have a heat vent right above my head and I always feel overheated, but my friend Carrie, who sits less than 6 feet away, is always so cold she keeps a fleece blanket on her chair to wrap around herself. Mid-December Carrie tells me not to give her a Christmas present. Um... too late - I already had the yarn and pattern picked out. So, I respected her wishes and didn't give her a Christmas present. I waited until we all came back to work in the new year, gave her a pink-tissue-wrapped package with 'this is not a Christmas present' written on it in black Sharpie.



Details:

Yarn: Manos Del Uruguay Merino Silk Blend in Woodland (3019), 1 skein. I bought two skeins because I wasn't sure how much yarn I would need (explained below), but there is probably still a third left on the original skein.

Pattern: Men's Wristwarmers by Joelle Hoverson (Rav link) from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Ravelry only shows the women's version, which is quite a bit fussier, so I went with then men's plain version. Carrie has very slender hands and wrists (those are mine above), so I went down from a worsted weight to sport weight, went down a needle size, and didn't worry about gauge (it's all done in 2X2 rib - it's pretty forgiving).

Needles: Susan Boye Size 5 dpns. The pattern calls for 2 8" circulars, but it was just as easy with the dpns.

I really liked these - I had always seen wristwarmers on people's blogs before and thought, "What is the point?" I think I am converted. This was such a simple pattern and the results are gorgeous.

Okay, my Dad may not be as pretty as the wristwarmers, but he is wearing his yearly red hat. To say my Dad has thing for the colour red is an extreme understatement. He has it all from shirts to socks to sweaters... we even looked for red boxers for him for Christmas but couldn't find any in his size. In any case, I knit Dad a new red hat every year, and since he felts it on purpose, I have to knit it a bit on the large size. He's had hats knit from Manos del Uruguay, Malabrigo, Brooks Farm - but his favourite is Indiecita Baby Alpaca Grande.



Pattern: UPS hat (I printed this off someone's store page a long time ago and have never found it again since). It's a basic 2X2 ribbed hat.

Needles: Knitpicks fixed circulars, size 7

Okay, what do I knit next?!?!

100 Book Challenge Results Show!

(cue the fancy music)

Before I let you know who won the contest, I am going to regale you with some fancy statistics from my 100 Book Challenge. I had so much fun maintaining the excel spreadsheet that I have to share its results.

Hardcover Books: 22%
Paperback Books: 78%

Fiction: 98%
Non-fiction: 2% (I'm sure my FIL is cringing with that one!)

And the genre breakdowns - now, this is not as cut and dry as the above categories - because you could have books that might be short stories and mysteries - or fantasy and romance all rolled up in one book. So, if a given book had multiple genre elements, I categorized them that way.

Urban Fantasy: 39%
Romance: 63%
Science Fiction: 7%
Historical Fiction: 5%
Short Stories: 10%
Mysteries: 13%
Fantasy: 11%
Futuristic: 10%
Paranormal: 6%
Werewolf: 7%
Vampire: 19%
Erotica: 13%
Comedy: 13%
Young Adult: 4%
Graphic Novels: 4%

Male Authors: 13%
Female Authors: 87%

Books borrowed from my friend Teri: 11%
Books borrowed from my local library: 57%

(This statistic is made sadder by the fact that our local libraries have cut 1.5 days from their open schedule and have frozen all new book buying as cost-cutting measures.)

And the drumroll, please...

In 2008, I read 112 books!

The winner of my little contest is my younger sister, Jaime, who was so close with a guess of 113. Email me and let me know how you want your $20 in book funds, and I will send it up to you.

Some more fun statistics -

Total Pages Read: 36,656 pages
Average book length: 327 pages
Most prolific month: October (I'm not sure why, however) with 14 books
Least prolific month: April (due to work and tax season) with 6 books

Most books read by one author (This ended up being a tie.)

• J. R. Ward - 6 books
• Lora Leigh - 6 books

Other authors with more than two books on the list

• Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb - 5 books
• Sherrilyn Kenyon - 4 books
• MaryJanice Davidson - 4 books
• Erin McCarthy - 3 books
• Patricia Briggs - 3 books
• Gena Showalter - 3 books

My Favourite Books from 2008

• Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
• From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer
• Tribute by Nora Roberts
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• The Scourge of God by S.M. Stirling
• The Stone Gods by Jeannette Winterson

Books That Disappointed Me in 2008

• Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris
• Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop
• Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
• Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• Lucinda, Darkly by Sunny

The Book That Made Me Cry the Most

• Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner (way to rip my heart out of my chest, Ms. Weiner!)
  

Shortest Novel I Read

• The Field Guide (Spiderwick Chronicles Book 1) by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi at 107 pages

Longest Novel I Read

• Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon at 728 pages

There you go! I hope you have had as much fun with this as I have. Oh, and I should mention that of these 112 books, other than the Spiderwick Chronicles book, none of them are books that I read to Willow - if that was the case, this list would be two or three times longer. Willow herself has read over 200 books since school started in August - not bad for a first grader! If anyone would like a complete list of the books I read in 2008, please leave me a comment with an email address and I will send you the list.

I have since learned that there is a blog, J. Kaye's Book Blog, that is organizing a group challenge for 2009, and I encourage you all to try. I won't say reading 100 books in a year was an easy process - it was a challenge, after all - but think of all those books you have always wanted to read that you could catch up on!