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On a break from layout...
Jan. 16th, 2006 04:37 amI'm approaching eleven straight hours working on layout and it looks like I'm going for the full twelve. I'm taking a short break to repost (with permission) a response ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sundancetango wrote about me. She asked me what I thought of her once...and I told her straight up. Of course it was ridiculous what I came up with because I hardly knew her. And yet I haven't alienated her yet...
A promise is a promise, and I like to keep my promises. That’s why I’m doing this. Not because I have so much time on my hands (I don’t), and not because you demanded that I do it, taking it upon yourself to presume that I had nothing more important to do over my Christmas break. It’s a busy life that we all lead, and things slip our minds, or we mean to do things right then but a houseful of demands takes precedence and we push things to later, always later. Regardless, the prompt was to tell you what I think of you.
I’m not going to tell you what your dreams are—your dearest aspirations. You either know or you don’t know, and nothing a stranger tells you is going to change that. I’m not some boardwalk gypsy all decked out in her gaudy cheap metal earrings and swap-meet polyester prints. I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear or what you already know about yourself. I’m just here to tell you what I think about you—just my impression of your character.
I don’t claim to know you at all. One lengthy AIM conversation, some brief LJ exchanges, one short AIM conversation where yeah, you ticked me off just a little and I might have returned the favor. That’s all I have to go on. That, and your own journal—but you can’t judge a person by his/her journal. Not really. It’s all filtered. If you’re being honest, then at best it’s only the small part of you that you’re willing to expose. So in all, we don’t know each other. Everything I tell you will be the honest truth from my perspective, and not all of it is pretty and aglow with the light of a thousand faeries. The uglier parts, you might think are unfair or just plain wrong. But that’s how it goes when you ask near-perfect strangers for their naked opinions. Have I dodged the question for long enough? Here I go.
My first contact with you consisted of a brief comment left in my journal. It was flattering because hey, everyone likes to make new friends and it’s nice when people think well enough of your writing to read you regularly. So I checked your user info page.
You kind of threw me with your LJ etiquette section. Everyone has one, but very few people get downright contractual. You’re more demanding/blunt than most people I know, but at least you seem to be aware of it. I get the feeling you’ve been told this in the past, and you don’t care to change the way you deal with people regardless of who you offend. There are other ways of getting your points across just as effectively as the brutally harsh approach (not that you’ve been that way with me, but I wouldn’t be shocked it you were in the future—plus you’ve referred to this on LJ). The fact that you prefer to be so direct tells me you’d like people to think that you’re confident. And hey, maybe you are. Reading your entries, just having an IM conversation with you, there were times when I perceived you as somewhat arrogant and condescending. You seem to have this need to prove yourself to the new folks in your life. So why the song and dance if you really are so confident? Am I completely off? Maybe I misread the tone of your IMs. Perhaps I’m projecting my own insecurities. It’s all quite possible.
Despite all that, I do like you. Your honesty is refreshing. Sometimes it’s nice to cut through the restraints of social niceties and say exactly what you’re thinking (that’s the whole point of this whole exercise, after all). Other things--while you are obviously conservative, I like that you are, at the very least, open to hearing opposing views. That’s all I ask of anyone. You do have this tendency to make snap assumptions based on just a few details and then stick to your guns for as long as possible before considering defeat, but again, at least you’ll hear/tolerate the other side. Why else would you have friended me despite the clear warning label on my journal? California liberal, D. As a further addendum, I also appreciate that you are also familiar with what having Asian parents entails. I know lots of kids who treat their families horribly and don’t seem to appreciate their cultures and their responsibilities. With your respect, you honor your family, and that speaks volumes about your character (no, really not trying to lay it on thick).
So there you have it. You asked for honesty and I gave it my best. I’ll talk to you later, unless I’ve managed to offend and alienate you.
sundancetango wrote about me. She asked me what I thought of her once...and I told her straight up. Of course it was ridiculous what I came up with because I hardly knew her. And yet I haven't alienated her yet...A promise is a promise, and I like to keep my promises. That’s why I’m doing this. Not because I have so much time on my hands (I don’t), and not because you demanded that I do it, taking it upon yourself to presume that I had nothing more important to do over my Christmas break. It’s a busy life that we all lead, and things slip our minds, or we mean to do things right then but a houseful of demands takes precedence and we push things to later, always later. Regardless, the prompt was to tell you what I think of you.
I’m not going to tell you what your dreams are—your dearest aspirations. You either know or you don’t know, and nothing a stranger tells you is going to change that. I’m not some boardwalk gypsy all decked out in her gaudy cheap metal earrings and swap-meet polyester prints. I’m not here to tell you what you want to hear or what you already know about yourself. I’m just here to tell you what I think about you—just my impression of your character.
I don’t claim to know you at all. One lengthy AIM conversation, some brief LJ exchanges, one short AIM conversation where yeah, you ticked me off just a little and I might have returned the favor. That’s all I have to go on. That, and your own journal—but you can’t judge a person by his/her journal. Not really. It’s all filtered. If you’re being honest, then at best it’s only the small part of you that you’re willing to expose. So in all, we don’t know each other. Everything I tell you will be the honest truth from my perspective, and not all of it is pretty and aglow with the light of a thousand faeries. The uglier parts, you might think are unfair or just plain wrong. But that’s how it goes when you ask near-perfect strangers for their naked opinions. Have I dodged the question for long enough? Here I go.
My first contact with you consisted of a brief comment left in my journal. It was flattering because hey, everyone likes to make new friends and it’s nice when people think well enough of your writing to read you regularly. So I checked your user info page.
You kind of threw me with your LJ etiquette section. Everyone has one, but very few people get downright contractual. You’re more demanding/blunt than most people I know, but at least you seem to be aware of it. I get the feeling you’ve been told this in the past, and you don’t care to change the way you deal with people regardless of who you offend. There are other ways of getting your points across just as effectively as the brutally harsh approach (not that you’ve been that way with me, but I wouldn’t be shocked it you were in the future—plus you’ve referred to this on LJ). The fact that you prefer to be so direct tells me you’d like people to think that you’re confident. And hey, maybe you are. Reading your entries, just having an IM conversation with you, there were times when I perceived you as somewhat arrogant and condescending. You seem to have this need to prove yourself to the new folks in your life. So why the song and dance if you really are so confident? Am I completely off? Maybe I misread the tone of your IMs. Perhaps I’m projecting my own insecurities. It’s all quite possible.
Despite all that, I do like you. Your honesty is refreshing. Sometimes it’s nice to cut through the restraints of social niceties and say exactly what you’re thinking (that’s the whole point of this whole exercise, after all). Other things--while you are obviously conservative, I like that you are, at the very least, open to hearing opposing views. That’s all I ask of anyone. You do have this tendency to make snap assumptions based on just a few details and then stick to your guns for as long as possible before considering defeat, but again, at least you’ll hear/tolerate the other side. Why else would you have friended me despite the clear warning label on my journal? California liberal, D. As a further addendum, I also appreciate that you are also familiar with what having Asian parents entails. I know lots of kids who treat their families horribly and don’t seem to appreciate their cultures and their responsibilities. With your respect, you honor your family, and that speaks volumes about your character (no, really not trying to lay it on thick).
So there you have it. You asked for honesty and I gave it my best. I’ll talk to you later, unless I’ve managed to offend and alienate you.
