P.S. A Column On Things

Start of March 28 Column

My Stones Will Hold Your Warmth

What I wouldn’t give to have known this quote in November of 1977. Martin Mull’s version, “I am every woman I’ve ever loved, all rolled into one,” is a similar sentiment, albeit not as lyrical.

“What is true? The note I wrote on a slip of paper and put in the drawer of my bedside table after we broke it off that final time: ‘Long after you are gone, my stones will hold your warmth.’”

--Rosemary Howe Camozzi, New York Times Modern Love, March 18, 2022

Myers-Briggs and Me

Of course, everyone―by which I mean employers and job counselors and matchmakers―would like it if a simple written test allowed us all to be sorted into bins that reliably predicted the best route for our personal and professional lives. Until that day arrives, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment (based on the work of Jung) is a first-order approximation of that desired tool.

My first exposure to it was unwitting. In April 1979 I moved to California for a job with CMP Publications, which I expected would last six months, tops (it lasted 20 years). David Dietz, business editor of the San Francisco Examiner  told me in June, he had the courtesy to call and tell me management had filled the post with someone else.

In the meantime, I had met the business editor of the San Jose Mercury-News, Jim Mitchell―who chided me for years over the time I took a call from him in my hot tub. Like all applicants at that time, the paper had me take the MBTI, after which Jim offered me a job, which I declined as my now-wife had accepted my marriage proposal and declined a move 50 miles south.

I don’t know what my profile was then, but this year, it’s ESFJ (of whom, according to Reddit, 25% are gay). Those of you who know me will not be surprised that my strongest vector is extroversion (very likely), with a likely S, a somewhat likely F, and a likely J. MBTI research says the best match for journalists is ENFJ, so close.

Fast forward to 1991, when, at a staff meeting of Windows Magazine, we all took the professional, paid-for version of the MBTI (there are lots of less-rigorous free versions on the Internet). The biggest surprise: more than half our staff were introverts. Admittedly, most were more technology people than writers, but still…

The most useful thing I learned was that the way I was managing my direct report, Tom Lasusa, could be improved based on his profile and mine. I adjusted my management style based on this advice.

The MBTI also offers marital advice, via a large table that matches up spousal profiles which puts my wife and I in “uh-oh” territory. The much-less-well-researched alternative sorting mechanism, astrology, helped me meet her: she was looking for a Virgo when we met.

So, our rock-solid 44-year-long relationship seems to indicate that science isn’t everything when it comes to matters of love.

Finally, a little MBTI humor

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. Turns out that reading and writing poetry is good for both your physical health (it tunes up your immune system) and your mental  health (it can reduce depression and anxiety).

I have thoroughly enjoyed my two-year poetry journey, as you may have noticed, since I post a link to one of my poems every week.

I believe Robert Frost was right: “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”

Paul’s Poetry Corner: Listening and Learning

Link to: Listening and Learning
Which begins:
As I set out this poem to write,
I awoke in the early light.
Should it rhyme or should it not?
Aren’t rhymes just for tots?

Right Column Redux:.CSN House Ad featuring Paul

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder

See how I looked in a Computer Systems News house ad in 1979

Life Path

I always thought of this process as closing doors, but I found this graphic (from Anamika Nathani) that perfectly illustrates my feelings about our life choices:

This and That

Zodiac Chart for Babies
New Yorker Humor
…
My Radio History
Looking for something else, ran into my radio history from 13 years ago. Still cute.
…
Touch
The Importance Of Touching By Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe.

Kent Peterman, RIP

My dear friend of three decades, Kent Peterman, has passed away. Like me, he wrote his own obituary.

With luck, you won’t be seeing mine for a while.

End of March 28 Column (No. 818)