Episode 6 - Thanksgiving: The Middle Child

When Fall comes around each year, people get excited about Halloween. “What will I wear?” “What will you wear?” “Who is going to have the most clever idea for a baby costume?” Halloween also brings about the ever popular (and mildly disgusting) Pumpkin Spice Latte at your local (possible corporate monster) Starbucks. But, it gets people excited. Walmart is covered with candy and orange decorations and plastic wigs that were made by the hands of tiny children in China (check the label).

Then, as soon as Halloween is over, the orange turns to red and green. “The Monster Mash” turns into “Jingle Bell Rock.” Hocus Pocus turns into Elf (I’m not complaining about that one. Look forward to a post entirely dedicated to Elf coming soon). The point is, some people kind of forget about Thanksgiving. It’s kind of like the middle child. Halloween is the first big holiday of the season. Everyone gets to come up with a costume and eat candy. People are excited, like when a couple has their first kid. Then the less exciting Thanksgiving comes along (middle child). It’s a story about pilgrims and Indians celebrating how mediocre they are at farming. THEN IT IS CHRISTMAS AND SANTA COMES, the third and final child.

I guess you could say I’m biased about how awesome the baby is. I’m the baby in my family and clearly I am the most clever and handsome and fun. Like Christmas.

So I guess I’m trying to say that we really need to not look over Thanksgiving. Let’s give Thanksgiving a song or two and maybe a Diane Keaton/Sandra Bullock or Tim Allen movie. It’s a time to be thankful for our family, friends, babies, and crocs (also, babies that WEAR crocs). There is awesome food and awesome people. It’s not quite as magical as Christmas but it’s just as powerful. Anytime where a family can reunite over a meal is a time to be proud of. We shouldn’t ignore Thanksgiving just like we shouldn’t ignore the middle child. After all, the middle child is a human, too.

Episode 5 - This Is Halloween

Halloween comes and stress comes with it. As an ENFP, I like to think that I am creative enough to come up with good costume ideas. Apparently, I’m not. I take that back. I have GREAT ideas (Kenneth the Page, Buddy the Elf, Kenny Powers the human) but I can never make anything that actually looks like what I’m trying to convey.

So what happens instead? I wear an Under Armor (whatsup, product placement) turtleneck, overalls, a Santa Hat, and Crocs. I’m “A Tennessee Christmas.” See? Even at Halloween I only think about Christmas. But let me explain to you why the costume was surprisingly impacting. CROCS. Royal blue Crocs. Here’s a secret, I love my Crocs. I wear them often. Daily, in fact. One day, I will be brave enough to wear them to class. One day. I honestly think that Crocs should become socially acceptable. Are they retro yet? No? I didn’t think so.

The reason Crocs are great is that they are comfortable and practical. Who cares that they make you look like a toddler? Toddlers are awesome.

But, Halloween. People get really “in” to Halloween. Some girls become very confident in their bodies and show a lot of skin. Some guys try really hard to be iconic characters from movies (The Joker is a favorite). Some people just refuse to dress up citing that they didn’t have time to make a costume or forgot that Halloween happens. Number 1) That’s a lie. Number 2) You actually might be cooler if you don’t dress up. Number 3) Yeah, the cool kids don’t dress up.

So there you have it. I give Halloween about a B. Crocs get an A+. Add them to the list.

Final thought: Is "The Nightmare Before Christmas" a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? I've never really understood.

Episode 4 - V.I.ENFPs

Today I want to discuss some of my fellow ENFPs. It is important to examine other ENFPs so that you, the reader(s), can truly understand our lives. So I want to introduce you to my friends, Margaret Ann the ENFP and Marianna the ENFP. We came into this world separately, but we will occasionally hang out together as ENFPs.

Meet Margaret Ann. She is wild. Here, she is singing karaoke at a mexican restaurant. It is truly her natural habitat.

Margaret Ann is the epitome of an ENFP. Fun, full of life, and loud, Margaret Ann exemplifies what it means to Extraverted Intuitive. She is constantly singing and dancing, usually because I push her to do it. Her favorite songs to sing (with me) are anything by Celine Dion ("It's All Coming Back to Me Now"), "Poker Face" but the Glee version, and any other song by anyone, anywhere, ever.

Now, meet Marianna. Mari, otherwise known as Scari (see picture below), is a lover of life and weird humor.

An avid Saturday Night Live fan, Scari (pronounced Scare - ee) will often break into a character from the most recent SNL episode. She's like Kristen Wigg (Mari, you're welcome for the compliment). But Mari will cry. It could be because she's not talked to her boyfriend in a month or because the episode of Law and Order: SVU that she is watching is exceptionally touching. She is a scientific example of the Feeling/Perception.

By the way, I didn't get their permission to talk about them or post these pictures. However, since they probably won't read this, I'm not too worried. Also, this is the first time that I've posted any pictures because it is the first time that I've taken the time to figure out how to do that.

These are ENFPs. Take it in. We are more fun than any other MTBI personality type. We win. You can't not love these girls. ENFPs are also crazy/fun-loving/spontaneous enough to use double negatives. We are cray.

So there you have it. You've met some pretty great other ENFPs. Stay tuned for more. Who knows what else might pop up? Not me. ENFPs are notoriously bad planners.

P.S. Here is what they look like on normal days.

Episode 3 - The List

I wanted to write about singing or twitter, but instead I’m going to write about Christmas. My excuse for writing about Christmas before Halloween is because my mother has already asked me for my Christmas list. Yes, the list. Some people, like my friend Bailey, have a running list that they keep throughout the year. These are the people who never get enough. They always want more stuff. “I want a chocolate lab.” “I want a Four Runner.” “I want a Tervis Tumbler with the Dr. Pepper logo on it.” “I want Mucinex.”

Some of us, on the other hand, have more trouble when it comes to deciding what we want. It’s the weirdest thing. Everyday I look forward to Christmas but I’m always blind sided when my mom asks for my Christmas list. When I was little, I never asked for anything. I just woke up and everything that I wanted was there, even if I didn’t know that I wanted it. Santa is pretty good at guessing what people want at the Newman house. Last year I asked for season 1 of The West Wing on DVD. Instead, I got the entire series. Santa gets work done.

So this year, I’ve started putting together a rough draft for my Christmas list.
Subaru Outback (any model from the last four years is fine)
Concert tickets to any of the following: Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, the Dixie Chicks, Garth Brooks, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, or Jimmy Buffett
Super Bowl tickets (but only if the Titans play)
A contract with Saturday Night Live
A pony (duh)

Mom, since I know you’re reading this, I prefer that the Subaru be either gold or grey. Also, if Bill Clinton could be my guest to the Dixie Chicks concert, I would like that a lot. Finally, if none of these things seem plausible, I would just like for all of you to remember that miracles DO happen. Proof: 45 people have read my blog. FORTY FIVE! Good job, world. And Merry Christmas.

Episode 2 - The Second Episode

Hey world. Remember me? It's been a year and a half and I have had a total of, wait for it, ZERO READS! Well done, John the ENFP. I'm so proud of you.

One thing you have to know about ENFPs is that we get really excited about starting things but we have trouble going through with them. So if you're surprised that I haven't written in a while, non-existent readers, that is why.

I mentioned previously that my interests in life revolve around the television show "30 Rock" and me. That is a lie. I also think about the television show "The West Wing." Also, Oprah. So there you have it. 30 Rock, myself, The West Wing, and Oprah. Maybe also grammar. And Christmas. Anyway, I love a lot of things. But today/night, I want to talk about family. And the reason I want to talk about family is because I recently saw The Father of the Bride Parts I and II.

Yes, you will come to find out that most things that I talk about are inspired by TV or movies. But The Father of the Bride movies are incredible. If you haven't seen them, I suggest that you do. Steve Martin and Diane Keaton are in them, so that should be reason enough to watch them. Anyway, the plot revolves around George Banks (Steve Martin) and how his daughter gets married (Part I) then has a baby (Part II). Being the typical father that he is, he freaks out both times. The themes, however, are what strike me the most. Banks is tremendously involved in all aspects of his family. He is in love with his wife and kids, and it makes me want to have a family.

And by family, I mean babies. I LOVE BABIES. The clumsier, the better. I love when two-year-olds get really excited, start bouncing up and down, and then fall on their bottom. How can anyone hate kids after seeing that? I don't understand. My favorite baby is Burgess Galligan, son of my brother's best friend. Burgess is two, I think. He's blonde and smiles constantly. I've never heard him cry, which is good, and he loves me, which is also good. He especially loves when I hold him upside down and spin him around a little bit. He starts cracking up, you know, with that baby laugh. It's almost too much. Almost. But I never get enough. I could play with him all day if his parents let me.

They don't.

So you can add babies to the list of things that I love. But watching these movies have made me miss my family, and more importantly, my childhood. It sucks growing up. When I was ten, I couldn't wait to be thirteen. Then I couldn't wait to be sixteen. Then I couldn't wait to be eighteen. Now I want to be five. But we all grow up and have to deal with the responsibilities of getting older (i.e. college). I guess it's just one of those things (also, taxes). Anyway, there you have it. My second post. I'll probably talk about childhood again and how I'm obsessed with being a kid at Christmas (when I try to recreate being a kid at Christmas, my family tends to roll their eyes). Until then, I'm just going to watch television.

This should be interesting

Hello world. This is my blog. It is new. Brand new. It does not have an interesting layout or design. It has no central theme or topic. It was--as are most of the other things in my life--a decision that was incredibly last minute and poorly thought out. Which is fine; I've come to terms with that.

The only two things that I know enough about to consistently offer information are "30 Rock" and myself. So this is a blog about me. (ENTER Narcissism jokes). Yes, yes. I know. How original. A blog written by some random person about their daily life. Well, to all of you pessimistic souls in the world (the ones who have nothing else better to do than to read this. I kid, please keep reading.), I am trying something different. Instead of "The world through the Eyes of John," I hope to offer a look into "The World through the Eyes of an ENFP, whose name just happens to be John."

So those are the stipulations I will try to follow. Present images and anecdotes as interpreted by an ENFP. "What is an ENFP?" you may ask. Interesting story: I am an ENFP. It is a personality type that is directly associated with Meyers-Brigg's Personality Type Testing.

The "E" stands for Extroverted as opposed to Introverted ("I"). This means that the majority of our--"us" being ENFPs--energy comes from the outside world: people, places, things, etc. We love to be around a lot of people and a lot of things. Talking to other people makes us jump up and down in delight, to the chagrin of my mother. Introverts, on the other hand, would rather spend their time alone. Their energy is made inside their own mind. They prefer to be alone and accomplish tasks, which is incredibly foreign to an extrovert.

The "N" means that instead of Sensing ("S"), We are iNtuitive (yes, intuitive. they already use an "I" for introverts, so they settled for an "N"). When analyzing data we use our gut feeling to tell us what's going on. Instinct drives ENFPs to interpret information. Those "S"s use their senses and really examine every possible idea and think incredibly literally and analyze every piece of information.

The "F" stands for Feeling and not Thinking ("T"). When making decisions, ENFPs think with their hearts instead of their minds, more or less. Personal relationships are key to us because we love people. We make decisions based on how we feel. For instance, ENFPs may get really angry and quit their job on the spot due to a rise in strong emotions without fully thinking the consequences of, you know, not having a job. Thinkers would not do that.

Finally, the "P" stands for Perception instead of Judgement ("J"). This means, essentially, that spontaneity rules over organization. Basically, ENFPs do not have a set schedule that they follow, and if we have made one up, it is rare for us to follow it. We get excited about the idea of starting something, however follow up seems to be a problem (story of my life). So, I can't promise that this blog will continue for very long. Sorry guys, but I will try my darnedest to continue writing.

And to those people who are reading this, Thanks. I gave you a hard time earlier, but now that you now what all this stuff might be about, you might be prone to stay around and see life through the eyes of an ENFP.