STAMPED Elizabeth Bennet // Matchmaker Theme
Name: Michelle
Previously stamped as:
Elizabeth Bennet (regular)
Madame Defarge (villain)
♥ You
What are some of your positive traits? My greatest strength is my intelligence. I'm very philosophical and logical and I like to talk about ideas. I'm a good conversationalist; I'm one of those people that likes to stay up until 3 AM and talk about the meaning of life (whatever the hell that means). I'm also a very loyal person to the few people that I'm very close to. I have a strong sense of ethics, even though I don't always follow it perfectly. I'm fairly good-natured; I treat people with respect unless they give me a reason not to. I laugh easily and I love to make people laugh.
What are some of your more negative traits? I can be moody and I get depressed easily. I'm very lazy; I procrastinate a lot, so I turn a lot of assignments in late. I can also be a little cold and self-absorbed; I'm not overly affectionate most of the time, and I tend to think about myself first. I'm very impatient, especially with stupid people. I also have a way of ignoring problems and hoping that that will make them go away.
Likes: I really love to cook, especially with other people. I'm not too good at it yet, but I'm learning. I enjoy doing all kinds of puzzles: crosswords, Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, even trying to work out knotty philosophical paradoxes. I love live music (including classical music) and improv comedy. I played the piano for a long time, and although I don't play as much as I used to, I still really enjoy playing and listening to piano music. I love to study philosophy, I like physics and math and linguistics, and I have a layman's interest in evolutionary biology and paleoanthropology. My interests are pretty broad. I also like big cities, live music, improv comedy, and casual bars.
Dislikes: I hate it when people snore or chew loudly. I don't like wearing high heels, or any uncomfortable shoes. I dislike people who evangelize their views (any views, not just religious ones) to people who repeatedly say they aren't interested. I don't like really discordant music, or music that is screamed rather than sung.
♥ Him
What are some traits that are ideal for your perfect match? Well, he has to be intelligent, and maybe even more importantly, curious. It's nice to have someone around who tries to keep pace with me and asks me questions when I'm talking about something weird and abstract, and he should have something to teach me too.
It's also important that he share some of my political, philosophical and religious views. It's easy to be idealistic and say that Civil Exchanges Of Differing Viewpoints Make You Grow As A Person, but I have the best conversations with people whose views are similar, but not identical, to mine. I don't have to hold my tongue or mince my words.
A good sense of humor is really important as well. I love a guy who can make me laugh. I like someone who's really clever with words, and who can be mocking without being really cruel.
What are some traits that are instant rejection in a guy? Misogyny is the biggest one, and it is surprisingly common (or maybe I have an unusually broad definition of it).
Stupidity is another one: I just won't be all that interested in stupid and incurious people. They may not be bad people, but they'd bore me in a relationship.
Unfortunately, with smart people who know they're smart, you sometimes get this noxious combination of misanthropy and arrogance. It also usually comes with a lack of perspective and self-awareness. I'm talking about people who are obsessed with how much smarter they are than others, people who radiate this attitude that humans suck, that they're foolish and greedy, and wouldn't the world just be so much better if I ran it? (Answer: No, it wouldn't.) I can tolerate this to some extent, but I seem to run into a lot of people who have it in really high concentrations. And their personalities and intellects really aren't good enough to justify their misanthropy.
Not everyone is perfect, so what are some flaws that you could tolerate? I could tolerate it if my partner were more laid back than a recliner: lazy with a low energy level. I might also be okay if he were a little standoffish--quiet and a bit arrogant at first--as long as he eventually opens up. (Loud and arrogant is just obnoxious. I hate those types.)
What physical attributes do you like? I find guys with large, blue or green eyes attractive. I tend to prefer dark hair to light hair. And I think glasses are pretty cute.
♥ This/That: You
Shy or outgoing: Somewhere in between, but closer to shy.
Modern or old fashioned: Modern
Loving or lustful: Loving
Emotional or physical: Emotional
Sensitive or thick-skinned: Somewhere in between. Maybe closer to sensitive, but I do okay with some casual mocking.
Pessimistic or optimistic: Pessimistic
Idealistic or realistic: Realistic, but still principled.
Romantic or unromantic: It depends on the person. I don't mind a little romance in small doses if I really like someone.
♥ This/That: Him
Shy or outgoing: Either works. I don't want someone who's really a social butterfly because I'd find it hard to keep up, but anything from shy to semi-outgoing works. Maybe someone more shy than outgoing would be best, though.
Modern or old fashioned: Modern. "Old-fashioned" is often a euphemism for "has stupid and outdated ideas about women".
Loving or lustful: Loving
Emotional or physical: A little of both is okay, but hopefully his affinity for me will be more emotional than physical.
Sensitive or thick-skinned: Thick-skinned is my preference, but it's not that important.
Pessimistic or optimistic: Somewhere in between. I'm a pessimist and I think a reasonable optimist would complement and buoy me, but an extreme optimist would just frustrate me and vice versa. Someone who's halfway in between optimistic and pessimistic might work best.
Idealistic or realistic: Either is fine. Maybe closer to realistic, but a little bit of idealism is okay.
Romantic or unromantic: Depends on his definition of romance. I don't want the stereotypical girly romance things all the time--flowers and stuffed animals and things like that. Chocolate is okay, though. If he does want to be romantic, I'd rather have something that's specific to me, like cooking me a food that he knows I like, or getting tickets to see my favorite musicians in concert. I think that's a lot more thoughtful.
♥ You and Him
Describe your ideal date: I'm not too picky about dates, so I'll describe a few that I think would be fun:
- Amusement parks. There's a really awesome amusement park about an hour and a half from my house, and I have a great time when I go there with my boyfriend. We're both roller coaster fiends.
- Casual dinner, a few drinks at a local bar, and a live concert or a comedy show. This is probably the most common one that I actually do (though we don't usually go to a bar in between). I know a couple of good restaurants for this sort of thing, and a great improv comedy club that's always fun.
- Dinner at a more upscale restaurant, complete with a bottle of red wine, and then a symphony concert. This works if you're willing to blow your money on an expensive night.(Luckily, the best symphony near me has cheap student tickets, but dinner can still be pricey.) Unfortunately, I've never gotten to do this date, because I've never dated a guy who was into classical music.
- A sports game. My preferred team for this is the Phillies. My college doesn't have any really excellent sports teams, I'm not that interested in hockey or basketball, and Eagles tickets are expensive and hard to come by. I really love being up in the nosebleed seats, cheering on my team and ribbing the opposing team's fans. After the game, I like to get a cheap, late dinner before we come home.
How would you handle arguments? I think the key is not to insist on being right (because a lot of the time nobody's really right), but on making both parties not be upset anymore. I wouldn't want to put off resolving the dispute, since going to bed angry is a horrible idea.
That's how I would like to handle arguments, anyway. In real life, I don't always keep that sense of perspective. But I usually do: there have only been two or three times in our two-and-a-half-year relationship that we've had serious fights. It's hard to generalize from so small a sample size.
Do you believe in a traditional marriage (woman stays home and keeps house, man goes out and works) or a more modern marriage? Well, I don't know if I like the premise of the question, because I don't think a marriage has to consist of a man and a woman. But putting that aside, I'd prefer a modern marriage. I don't plan to have kids anyway, so there's no reason why I should stay home. Even if there are children in a marriage, and someone stays home with them, there's no reason why it automatically has to be the mother. (My dad stayed home when my sister was born.)
♥ Anything else you'd like to add? I'm screening comments to avoid sheep voting. Also, if you don't mind, could you explain a little bit of your reasoning for your vote? I don't know the characters in question very well; the only ones I'm familiar with are Rhett Butler, Mr. Darcy and Gilbert Blythe.
And because votes are still a must...
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