What are Your True Colors?

DEAR
     Curious:
             Have you ever been surprised at how others describe your personality? I know I have, especially when people say that I am graceful. Since when did dropping things left and right connotate being graceful?

             In any case, it's fascinating to take a personality test to see your basic traits, so I've got a simple one here for you today! It's quick, easy, and you learn quite a bit about yourself! Take a look, and discover your true colors:

             To start, grab a pen and paper, then compare all four boxes in the row. Once you have a sense of the basic idea that each box represents, score each one from 1 to 4 depending on how well it describes you. 4: very well, 3: pretty well, 2: somewhat, 1: only slightly. Do this for all five rows, writing everything down so you can keep track!

Row One

Row Two

Row Three

Row Four

Row Five

             After you've written down the numbers for each row, look back at the colors of each box, and tally up the numbers you've paired with them: all orange boxes, all gold boxes, all green, and all blue. I ended with this: Blue: 18, Green: 12, Orange: 12, and Gold: 8. 

           After you have your tally, you can read these color guides to see your personality results! Everyone is a mixture of all colors, but we will all have a certain color that defines our personality more than the others. For me, it's blue! 

    

               So what color are you? Was it what you expected? 

With A Colourful Flourish,

Joélle.

The Mysterious Tumblr Dress

DEAR
     Netizens:
            A lot of people are on the internet for wayyyyy to long. This is not good for your eyes. It might take a minute to adjust your eyesight to anything else if you've been staring at a screen for a long time. But this mystical color-shifting dress that Tumblr user swiked uploaded not very long ago has everyone's knickers in a twist, and it has nothing to do with the brightness of a screen. The big question everyone's asking is, "Is it blue and black? Or white and gold?" Just take a look at the viral photo here:

            So, what do you see? Blue and black, white and gold, or periwinkle and brown? I just showed this to my parents. While I saw it as blue and black, my dad saw it in white and gold, and my mom saw the same as me. I closed my eyes for about 30 seconds, looked back at the screen, and while my mom's perception hadn't changed, I then saw what my dad was seeing. I just scrolled up while typing this, and the dress changed color again. After doing a lot of research and seeing this darn dress over and over again, I have now seen it in all three aforementioned color combinations. It's incredible!

             Of course, as I, a self-proclaimed nerd, enjoy doing research, I have discovered this tasty tidbit: apparently, there is some blue-tinted lighting in the photograph, and probably in the store, which most likely spurred on the argument in the first place. Different people have differently wired brains, which adjust to lighting and coloring at different speeds. This dress is just the right colors to flip that switch. 

           You know how you can look at a negative for a while, then look at a white space, and the negative is mentally projected in color? This is a similar principle. Depending on if your brain thinks what it's currently looking at is colored negatively or positively, the dress will appear in two different color sets: white and gold, or blue and black. Your mind is, in a nutshell, acting as a biological version of film tape, and your eyes, the camera, are seeing your head's confusion. 

           After looking through dozens of comments on Buzzfeed, Facebook, and Tumblr, it also appears that the majority of those who see blue and black first are female, and those who see white and gold are male. Females also tend to be able to notice the colors switch more often than males. And some people just can't tell how anyone would see it differently than they do! Interesting, huh? 

         This dress actually can be found on Amazon, and the description says it all: "dress, royal blue". But, you've got to admit, no matter the true color, the reviews and comments are way better! Read them all here!

          UPDATE: I have found an excellent article on wired.com that scientifically debunks the mystery! Read it here.

             So, my dear reader, what do you see when you look at the Mysterious Tumblr Dress?

With Crossed Eyes,

Joélle.

Feeling Blue... Or Green?

   Lately, I've really been thinking a lot about jealousy. We all have it toward someone.... an enemy, a friend, a colleague. I also have trouble with being jealous of others I meet in the music business; I just feel so inferior when I see others’ talent. Why can’t I be that good? There IS this thing called practice and determination, though, and I plan on getting to the place where I personally feel equal to really talented people around me. And honestly, it’s hard. But I am not going to give up, because music is what I live for. And I don’t feel like not living just quite yet.

   To help with my description of this, and to make it more interesting, I’m using the example of my past jealousy toward my brother, who is… well, smart. Not just normal smart, but really smart. It’s really quite annoying, to be honest. ;) He lives and breathes numbers, and I'm just feeling a little.... inferior. You know what I mean. He's really, really smart, and I, being a few years older, almost can't stand it. If you put us each in a chair, and put a huge math problem in front of us, the immediate effect would be this:

  My brother, pencil poised, would be surrounded by a glow, his eyes wide in anticipation, an invisible voice singing aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!*
   Then you'd look toward my seat. Your first thought would be, "Where'd she go?" Then you would squint, and realize that the very top of my head could still be seen, though barely, above the table. And hey, what do you know, there's something floating above my chair. "Is that a storm cloud?! And it's raining, too!"**

   I've been trying to cope with this feeling I get when someone else is better at something than I am, but it's so hard. But after thinking about this a while, I think I've come up with a list of ways to help both me and you solve the green-eyed problem. Let me know what you think, and if you've got any input, let the rest of us know! You never know who it might help. Here goes:

    1) stop thinking about what they're so much better at than you, and instead concentrate on what you can do that they can't. We've all got our weak spots. Think about the things that set you apart.

    For instance, I'm better at the arts (creative writing, drawing, music) while my brother is better at more.... I guess you'd say technological (?) things (math, all sciences, etc.).

    2) don't compare yourself to them. Why do you feel the need to? Do you think you have to be better than them? Everyone is so different, so unique, we really can't compare ourselves to other people. What will you gain from comparing, anyway? You'll just grow bitter and unfriendly towards that person the longer you feel that way. It won’t help anything.

         This is the concept I struggle with the most. He's around all of the time.... how can I not compare us? This is really a question of will. If you want to remove yourself, you'll be able to. It will take time, and a little help from others, but you'll be able to do it.

    3) This is the last step: feel happy for them. They have natural talents– you don't have to let them know, but be glad they have something they can do well and be proud of. You also need to feel this way toward yourself; get excited about what you can do! Also, my brother’s good at math and science. Do I care about math and science, beyond basic knowledge? NO! So why bother with any jealousy? I now have a live GPS and calculator that I can use whenever I need. The only negative side is the sassiness that comes along with using my brother’s services. :D

    4) Finally, for an extra oomph, use that feeling you get to push yourself to improve, if you still care. Back to my beginning example: Someone’s better at singing than I am? LET THE EXTRA PRACTICE SESSIONS BEGIN. I’m gonna catch up.

           And if you still have trouble letting this go, write it all out. Seeing your thoughts in front of you helps you figure things out. It works.... believe me, I know. :) These are my thoughts. What are yours?

*, ** dramatized version.