#test of character

[itswilliamleonard]

when her friends need tech support, amelia is only FAR too willing to be there!! :D

[quotes-for-every-occasion]

"Character, like a photograph, develops in darkness."

— Yousuf Karsh

[internutter]

Challenge #04823-M074: The Wager of Import

Wraithvine lost a bet with a family that runs an orphanage. What did they want in return? A magical pouch of edible and medicinal plant seeds that never emptied no matter how many were planted. They would never again worry about not having enough to feed the kids. -- Anon Guest

[AN: personally believing this is some kind of test by the orphanage because of mummers and fraudsters pretending to be hir. Only Wraithvine would purposely lose a bet to help an orphanage]

It began with a rambunctious toddler running off with Wraithvine's breadroll. Sans a tailclout. Of course ze rescued the little rogue from the path of a speeding carriage, and of course ze asked about where the little one belonged.

"With those grungy overwashed clothes?" sniffed one of the roaming highborn. "That has to belong to the orphanage."

Wraithvine thanked her and made a mental note to teach the area some manners at a later date. The small child needed their carers. And the orphanage needed it too, if the tot was stealing bread. Of course Wraithvine let them keep it. Ze could not do otherwise and still be hirself.

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[mydistracteddrive]

The Curious Case of The Shopping Cart Theory

Will This tell You If You’re a Good Person?

For my part, I think returning the shopping cart is an excellent test of character.  

[thebiglonely]

[thedaveandkimmershow]

They played the song at one of the concerts we saw in Las Vegas, but it also popped up on one of my not-Christmas playlists: that staple of classic rock originally performed by Meatloaf.

The thing’s a monster of a song, but the end is just so clever... and funny. Here’s a taste:

I couldn't take it any longer Lord I was crazed And when the feeling came upon me Like a tidal wave I started swearing to my god And on my mother's grave That I would love you to the end of time I swore I would love you to the end of time

So now I'm praying for the end of time To hurry up and arrive 'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you I don't think that I can really survive I'll never break my promise or forget my vow But God only knows what I can do right now I'm praying for the end of time It's all I can do (ooh, ooh) I'm praying for the end of time So I can end my time with you

I’m sure my understanding of the song is different down at the deep end of the pool. Our next stop, after all, is three decades.

A really, really long time if you’re with the wrong person. Which thank God I’m not.

When I think of the last two-and-a-half decades and the challenges we faced together in that time... yeah.

Thank God.

I’m not.

With the wrong person.

The theme or word that keeps coming up in these first weeks of the new year has been intentional. It’s a great, wisdom-y kind of idea to consider.

Very adult-y.

But.

Not everything in life transpires in such a way that you can plan or prepare for it.

Plus, when you screw up... what good is “intentional” then?

I’ve said it before in public and I’ll say it again here: being married is such an excellent test of character. 

And not in a good way.

Because sometimes you have to improvise. Sometimes you have to make it up. Sometimes you have to figure it out on the fly. And you have to do all that in real time with no huddle. 

Sometimes.

Got it? Real time. No huddle.

So whatever I do... I do. And whatever she does... she does.

And its crazy over the years how much we’ve been in sync on the most significant challenges we faced from all the way back to the very beginning of us.

Were we perfect?

Oh God no.

But we were able to work in tandem... which is a weird way to put it... but that’s what it feels like. We are, after all, individuals bearing different expertise. Which is what we bring to the table, have brought to the table... from the start.

We’re a cocktail that has prevailed under pressure. External pressure, most of the time as it turns out. But still.

A reminder to me that this is all... one massive test of character.

Here’s that song I was telling you about...

[therealjulibee]

Now, that man who is affable in public and who is irritable in private is making a fraudulent over-issue of stock, and he is as bad as a bank that might have four or five hundred thousand bills in circulation with no specie in the vault. Let us learn to show piety at home. If we have it not there, we have it not anywhere. If we have not genuine grace in the family circle, all our outward and public plausibility merely springs from a fear of the world or from the slimy, putrid pool of our own selfishness. I tell you the home is a mighty test of character. What you are at home you are everywhere, whether you demonstrate it or not.

Talmage