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Psychological (“personality”) Types

According to Jung’s theory of Psychological Types we are all different in fundamental ways. One’s ability to process different information is limited by their particular type. These types are sixteen.

People can be either Extroverts or Introverts, depending on the direction of their activity; Thinking, Feeling, Sensing, Intuitive, according to their own information pathways; Judging or Perceiving, depending on the method in which they process received information.

Extroverts vs. Introverts

Extroverts are directed towards the objective world whereas Introverts are directed towards the subjective world. The most common differences between Extroverts and Introverts are shown below:

Extroverts are interested in what is happening around them are open and often talkative compare their own opinions with the opinions of others like action and initiative easily make new friends or adapt to a new group say what they think are interested in new people easily break unwanted relations

Introverts are interested in their own thoughts and feelings need to have own territory often appear reserved, quiet and thoughtful usually do not have many friends have difficulties in making new contacts like concentration and quiet do not like unexpected visits and therefore do not make them work well alone

Sensing vs. Intuition

Sensing is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its physical qualities and its affection by other information. Intuition is an ability to deal with the information on the basis of its hidden potential and its possible existence. The most common differences between Sensing and Intuitive types are shown below:

Sensing types see everyone and sense everything live in the here and now quickly adapt to any situation like pleasures based on physical sensation are practical and active are realistic and self-confident

Intuitive types are mostly in the past or in the future worry about the future more than the present are interested in everything new and unusual do not like routine are attracted more to the theory than the practice often have doubts

Thinking vs. Feeling

Thinking is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its structure and its function. Feeling is an ability to deal with information on the basis of its initial energetic condition and its interactions. The most common differences between Thinking and Feeling type are shown below:

Thinking types are interested in systems, structures, patterns expose everything to logical analysis are relatively cold and unemotional evaluate things by intellect and right or wrong have difficulties talking about feelings do not like to clear up arguments or quarrels

Feeling types are interested in people and their feelings easily pass their own moods to others pay great attention to love and passion evaluate things by ethics and good or bad can be touchy or use emotional manipulation often give compliments to please people

Perceiving vs. Judging

Perceiving types are motivated into activity by the changes in a situation. Judging types are motivated into activity by their decisions resulting from the changes in a situation. The most common differences between Perceiving and Judging types are shown below:

Perceiving types act impulsively following the situation can start many things at once without finishing them properly prefer to have freedom from obligations are curious and like a fresh look at things work productivity depends on their mood often act without any preparation

Judging types do not like to leave unanswered questions plan work ahead and tend to finish it do not like to change their decisions have relatively stable workability easily follow rules and discipline

These four opposite pairs of preferences define eight different ways of dealing with information, which in turn result in sixteen Psychological Types:

ENTp, ISFp, ESFj, INTj, ENFj, ISTj, ESTp, INFp, ESFp, INTp, ENTj, ISFj, ESTj, INFj, ENFp and ISTp, where E – Extrovert, I – Introvert, S – Sensing, N – Intuitive, T – Thinking, F – Feeling, j – Judging, p – Perceiving. So, ENTp for example would be Extrovert, Intuitive, Thinking and Perceiving type.

Optimism and Jitters at Art Fair in Europe

No matter what the economic climate, art fairs are always a gamble for the exhibiting dealers. The cost of renting a booth, shipping precious artworks, insuring them and keeping a sales staff housed and fed in a foreign city can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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Anthony Crichton-Stuart

Gabriel Metsu’s “Old Woman at a Meal” at the Maastricht fair.

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W. M. Brady & Co.

Théodore Rousseau’s “Farm in Les Landes.”

So in these rough times it was with a good deal of jitters that the European Fine Art Fair — one of the world’s foremost art and antiques events — opened here with a preview on Thursday of a record 239 exhibitors from 15 countries.

It seemed like business as usual at this annual gathering, which runs through Sunday. For the party on Thursday a smartly dressed, multilingual crowd waited patiently to get through the doors of the cavernous Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Center. On view was about $1 billion worth of art and objects from ancient times to the 21st century, with prices ranging from a few hundred dollars for a 19th-century British photograph to about $30 million for a van Gogh landscape.

Dealers hope the fair can capitalize on Christie’s successful $483.8 million auction of art and decorative objects belonging to Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, in Paris last month.

“The Saint Laurent sale certainly gave the market confidence,” said Richard L. Feigen, a New York dealer. “Still, there are pockets of liquidity, people who have money and are worried about the dollar, the euro, the sterling, and don’t know where to park their cash. So they buy art.”

The Saint Laurent sale’s effect on the fair could also be seen in the objects for sale. After such a landmark auction, works quickly surface, and it was no surprise to find a pair of German gold tazze (saucerlike objects on pedestals), at Galerie Neuse from Bremen, Germany. They were originally used to serve sweets, Achim Neuse, the gallery’s owner, said. He sold them to Mr. Saint Laurent and Mr. Bergé years ago and bought them back last month. He is asking about $879,000 for the pair.

While it is always difficult to gauge just how much business is done at any fair — dealers, after all, are masters of positive spin — there were a lot of relieved faces on Friday morning. At the opening Christophe Van de Weghe, a Belgian-born Manhattan dealer who was exhibiting here for the first time, had sold a 1982 Basquiat painting, “Untitled (Black Athlete),” that was the centerpiece of his booth. Depicting a full-length boxer with raised arms, it was snapped up by Laurence Graff, a London jeweler who also had a booth here, for $4.5 million.

A well-known Basquiat fanatic, Mr. Graff has bought other boxer images by him. In 2007 at Christie’s in New York, for instance, Mr. Graff bought “Sugar Ray Robinson,” another 1982 Basquiat, for $7.3 million.

It wasn’t just the painting but also the cost that clinched the deal. “My prices are attractive,” said Mr. Van de Weghe, who had also sold two Picasso drawings by Friday morning. “These paintings would have been a lot more expensive six months ago. It’s important to make people feel they are getting a deal.”

Sales did not come easily. “Everything we’ve sold was subject to more negotiations than last year,” said Angela Westwater, whose Sperone Westwater Gallery is in the meatpacking district of Manhattan. By Friday she had parted with works by the sculptor Evan Penny and the Dutch painter Jan Worst.

The economic crisis was felt here in less obvious ways too. Several dealers admitted that they were selling artworks for clients who were seriously in need of quick cash. “One person who got Madoff-ed gave us an important old-master painting to sell,” Mr. Feigen said, although he declined to identify the seller or the painting.

Karsten Greve, a dealer with spaces in Switzerland, Germany and France, was showing an exceptional suite of seven 1960s watercolors by Lucio Fontana priced at nearly $620,000 for the set. “I had sold them to an American collector who had lost money, so I bought them back,” Mr. Greve said. “I had always thought they would end up at the Museum of Modern Art.”

Noticeably absent were several big-name dealers who had pulled out. Among them were American galleries like Acquavella, Richard Gray and Barbara Mathes, as well as Leslie Waddington from London. Replacing them were names who had been on a waiting list for years.

“We wanted a larger European clientele,” said Mark Brady, a New York dealer who was new to the fair. Among the stars in his booth was Théodore Rousseau’s “Farm in Les Landes,” a luminous landscape from a set of three of the same size and format. “One is in the Frick, the other in the Museum der Bildenden Künste in Leipzig,” Mr. Brady said. “This is the only one left in private hands.” The three, which Rousseau began during the 1840s and ’50s, were documented in a letter. This painting was in a private Portuguese collection for more than 60 years, and Mr. Brady was asking $1.25 million for it.

People watching is always part of the fun of this fair. Talk was of top collectors who were spotted perusing the booths, including Sheik Saud bin Mohammed al-Thani of Qatar, the French financier Michel David-Weill and the New York real-estate developer Mark Fisch. While there were fewer American collectors than in years past, curators from museums like the Metropolitan in New York, J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, could be seen walking the aisles.

This being the heart of old-master country, there was the usual array of 17th-century paintings, although not the blockbusters of years past. Among the most stunning canvases was “An Old Woman at a Meal,” by the Dutch Baroque painter Gabriel Metsu. It was being offered by Noortman Master Paintings (a subsidiary of Sotheby’s, which acquired the gallery in 2006). The interior, which depicts a woman in a simple white bonnet eating soup, was priced at $4.6 million.

“It came from a Dutch collection,” said Anthony Crichton-Stuart, a former head of Christie’s old-master painting department who recently joined Noortman. “Paintings by Metsu don’t come on the market often.”

Within the first 24 hours of the fair the painting had a red “sold” sticker beside it. While nobody at the gallery would confirm the buyer, talk among old-master dealers was that it was Ike van Otterloo, a collector and Boston financier.

Every year the fair tries to become more up-to-date to compete with Art Basel, the contemporary art fair held in Switzerland in June. This year there was a new section devoted to 20th-century design. There was also a lot more photography than before. Hans P. Kraus Jr., a New York photography dealer, was an addition. His booth featured seminal works like William Henry Fox Talbot’s “Ladder” (1844), one of his best known images, for $750,000, and Edward Steichen’s photograph of the back of a nude woman, “The Little Round Mirror,” from 1902 for $1.8 million.

“We’ve been waiting to get into this fair for five years,” Mr. Kraus said. “So we brought a cross section of things starting with Talbot and going through to the beginning of modern photography with Stieglitz and Steichen.”

By CAROL VOGEL

Apple Raises Its iPhone Ante

Apple is making it easier for developers to create iPhone applications, which could increase its smartphone market share

For the past two years makers of powerful, Internet-connected smartphones have been racing to respond to the innovations unleashed by Apple’s iPhone. While they’ve taken steps to narrow the gap, Apple may have just pulled further ahead. Apple (AAPL) is doing that through a series of capabilities unveiled on Mar. 17 that make it easier for software developers to create nifty iPhone applications. In a packed auditorium at Apple’s Cupertino (Calif.) campus, the company presented both a major update of its iPhone software and details of a software developer kit. The likely result is that Apple will further solidify its position as the platform of choice for software developers—and as a result, many consumers. In just eight months programmers have created 25,000 applications that are available on Apple’s online App Store. Of those programmers, 62% had never written anything for an Apple product. So far, consumers have downloaded more than 800 million of these apps, which include everything from games like Tetris to software that helps diabetes patients manage insulin levels. The wide range of apps is a major reason the iPhone quickly jumped to No. 3 in the cutthroat smartphone market. Playing Catch-Up to Apple Apps The App Store is also a key reason why rivals will have such a hard time closing Apple’s lead. In recent weeks companies including smartphone leader Nokia (NOK), BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM), and Microsoft (MSFT) have announced plans to open their own app stores. While the three companies have sold far more devices than Apple, which has sold 17 million iPhones and 14 million iPod Touches, their products are used mostly for making calls and sending e-mail. People flock to Apple for other kinds of programs, including browsing the Web. “This will make Apple’s big lead that much bigger,” says Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate, a maker of popular iPhone games. Many of the new capabilities address shortcomings with the current iPhone software. For the first time, iPhone owners will be able to cut and paste text or pictures between applications—say, to include in an e-mail a photo of a home for sale or restaurant meeting place. Users will be able to write e-mails in landscape mode, so the phone’s software-only keyboard is larger. IPhone software chief Scott Forstall said the company also made upgrades to its server farms so it can now reliably offer “push notification” every time a user gets an e-mail or an application update.

What’s more, the iPhone will increasingly be useful for social rather than solo activities, thanks to the addition of so-called peer-to-peer networking. IPhone owners will be able to automatically recognize and interact with others wirelessly, to play a game, share a contact, or even play a duet using software from Smule that lets the iPhone double as a flute or trombone. The company also announced plans that should expand the already vibrant market for iPhone accessories. Now, accessory makers will have an increased ability to make customized products. There will be one for taking blood pressure, together with an app that lets the user quickly get a reading, look at past results, or contact a doctor.

More Payment Options

Maybe the most significant advances are in the tools that will enable developers to make money from their handiwork. Developers will be able to offer subscription pricing for the first time. They can also offer other “in app” purchases, so customers could buy another level of a video game or an electronic book without having to leave the application. Many developers have wanted these payment options, to help differentiate their offerings from free or cheaper knockoffs. That’s not enough to build a large, profitable software company, but these alternatives can let developers bring in recurring revenues. “This will drive up revenues for developers, and lead to the creation of more expensive apps,” says Gartner Group (IT) analyst Van Baker.

Despite speculation that Apple would tip its hand about future devices, the company gave no such hints. And Apple did not announce support for video, which would likely be a prerequisite for the laptop-like netbook many expect the company to bring to market. But Baker notes that the secretive company may well have included software that lets iPhones record or play video clips but chose not to disclose it.

Of course, Apple’s many rivals are not about to throw in the towel. Palm (PALM) is expected to start selling its Pre phone by midyear. Many observers feel the device may come closest to the iPhone for ease of use and may be even better for people who want a device for both their personal and business lives; for example, it includes a real keyboard, which many prefer for typing e-mails. Phone maker HTC has announced it will make additional models that run Google’s (GOOG) Android software.

Microsoft to Make Its Move

Microsoft, Apple’s old nemesis from the PC wars, is also planning a major consumer push for phones that run its Windows Mobile software, which in the past were aimed mostly at corporate users. The company plans to focus on making phones that work seamlessly with Windows PCs, which still have 90% of the PC market. And the company may integrate voice-recognition capabilities, obtained through Microsoft’s 2007 acquisition of TellMe. One possibility: users simply ask for turn-by-turn directions or for the next movie time of a certain flick, rather than have to type or tap a touchscreen. “There’s a lot of opportunity there, and the team is looking at all the relevant ways to integrate that into the platform,” says Greg Sullivan, senior product manager in Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business.

But while others look, Apple is increasing the momentum for a product some believe is the most significant in the company’s history.

By Peter Burrows

How to Market in a Recession

The signs of an imminent recession are all around us. The spillover from the subprime mortgage crisis is weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending—much of it on credit—that has been buoying the US economy.

Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:

1. Research the customer. Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing. Consumers take more time searching for durable goods and negotiate harder at the point of sale. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today’s can-live-withouts. Trusted brands are especially valued and they can still launch new products successfully but interest in new brands and new categories fades. Conspicuous consumption becomes less prevalent.

2. Focus on family values. When economic hard times loom, we tend to retreat to our village. Look for cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising to replace images of extreme sports, adventure and rugged individualism. Zany humor and appeals on the basis of fear are out. Greeting card sales, telephone use and discretionary spending on home furnishings and home entertainment will hold up well, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home but also stay connected with family and friends.

3. Maintain marketing spending. This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known brands ? and more consumers at home watching television can deliver higher than expected audiences at lower cost-per-thousand impressions. Brands with deep pockets may be able to negotiate favourable advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of advertisements by shifting from 30-to-15 second advertisements, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of direct marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact.

4. Adjust product portfolios. Marketers must reforecast demand for each item in their product lines as consumers trade down to models that stress good value, such as cars with fewer options. Tough times favour multi-purpose goods over specialised products and weaker items in product lines should be pruned. In grocery-products categories, good-quality own-brands gain at the expense of national brands. Industrial customers prefer to see products and services unbundled and priced separately. Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in. New products, especially those that address the new consumer reality and thereby put pressure on competitors, should still be introduced but advertising should stress superior price performance, not corporate image.

5. Support distributors. In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line. This is particularly true with unproven new products. Be careful about expanding distribution to lower-priced channels; doing so can jeopardise existing relationships and your brand image. However, now may be the time to drop your weaker distributors and upgrade your sales force by recruiting those sacked by other companies.

6. Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.

7. Stress market share. In all but a few technology categories where growth prospects are strong, companies are in a battle for market share and, in some cases, survival. Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact. Companies such as Wal-Mart and Southwest Airlines, with strong positions and the most productive cost structures in their industries, can expect to gain market share. Other companies with healthy balance sheets can do so by acquiring weak competitors.

8. Emphasise core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people. CEOs must spend more time with customers and employees. Economic recession can elevate the importance of the finance director’s balance sheet over the marketing manager’s income statement. Managing working capital can easily dominate managing customer relationships. CEOs must counter this. Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.

by John Quelch

Modern Love/A Guest Star in His Romantic Drama

MY science-fiction-loving friend Alyson always told me geeky guys were more interesting. I took her words to heart when I found myself single again a few years ago and resolved to broaden my dating pool.

Until then my pool (more like a mud puddle) had consisted solely of adventurous, charming, yet fatally flawed boy-men, one of whom had left me stranded at dusk with a flat tire while mountain biking down a ravine known to be frequented by mountain lions. An earnest geek with a heart of gold could only be an improvement.

With that in mind, I met The Engineer. He was good looking in a Clark Kent way. Sure, he was a brainiac with multiple degrees and a military-industrial-complex job, but he also indulged in Red Bull and Jägermeister, was an athlete and had a playful side. Maybe I could have my Clark Kent and a daring Superman, too.

Our first date was initially strained because of his quiet nature — he seemed unable to speak without first making intricate internal computations. Luckily after a few cocktails he loosened up, and we talked about spiritualism, near-death experiences and flying (he owned a plane — hot). I melted when he held my hand and spoke of future dates we would go on. His good-night kiss was a little mechanical, but I still got goose bumps. I went to sleep that night feeling unexpectedly tingly.

Two weeks later we had our second date, in Las Vegas, where The Engineer was temporarily working. I had just finished a screenplay, and my craving for adventure won over my need for caution in the romance department, so I flew there to meet him.

The movie version of our time there would be all glitter and high-rolling romance. In reality, we were two people growing more in lust in a bland business motel complete with free happy-hour beer and hot wings. After two days he flew me back to Los Angeles in his single-engine. His sexy pilot’s voice revved me up, while his explanations of wing load put me to sleep. Perhaps that’s what life with Superman was all about.

Back home, visions of boyfriendship danced through my head. The Engineer, however, seemed to be on a different flight plan, not calling for more than a week. But by our next date our connection had returned so strongly that I blithely set aside my dismay and invited him to a Moby concert.

Twenty-four hours later I was lazing on my couch when he phoned. I thought: “How nice, he’s calling two nights in a row. He really does like me.” Instead he sent my stomach into a neat back flip with the words: “There’s something we need to talk about.” I braced myself for his dirty bomb.

“So,” he said, “I’m sure you must realize I date other women.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I replied, fake breezily.

“But there’s one woman I’m more serious about.”

“Oh?”

“We’ve been going out for over a year.”

“You have a girlfriend?”

“She’s just someone I see more regularly than the others.”

Call me naïve; I have this tendency to believe that men who are dating me are actually available. But wait. The Engineer was available. He and his girlfriend had an open relationship. He went on: “What may seem even weirder … She wants us all to have dinner before the Moby concert this weekend.”

Funny how he hadn’t advertised this fabulous two-for-one deal when we started dating. “Why does she want to meet me?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “She likes to meet some of the women I see. Circumstances aside, you two could probably be friends because you’re both smart and she also likes hiking and biking.”

So now he was setting me up with his girlfriend. How thoughtful.

One word kept going through my head: freaks!

What can I say? I may be a venturesome city girl, but I’m small town at heart. I pressed him again on why she wanted to meet me, suspecting they wanted a threesome. The Engineer reasoned that she wanted to meet his “friends” when she felt threatened by them. He said she also had a rule: he can’t date her friends. So I guess if she became pals with me it meant he could no longer date me? Who was this Jezebel? She was brilliant!

A Guest Star in His Romantic Drama

I told him I had no interest in meeting his ball and chain and hung up. Clark Kent had a secret identity all right. As I poured myself a bucket of wine, I mourned this new blow to my trust in people. Why couldn’t men surprise me with roses or trips to Paris instead of requests like “My girlfriend wants to meet you”?

After my brief pity party, however, the Steven Spielberg (Soderbergh?) in me became intrigued. Maybe there was a screenplay in this. I also got angry. While I blamed The Engineer for his dishonesty, I was peeved that his girlfriend seemed to be pulling all the strings. I didn’t like being manipulated. So I decided to fight back — although I preferred to call it research.

I e-mailed The Engineer that I’d meet his girlfriend after all. He replied that he would check with her and closed with, “I hope this means we’re still on for the concert!”

Cows would turn blue before I’d be taking him to Moby, but I didn’t tell him that. Instead, my screenwriter’s eye envisioned a scenario for our date: We’d meet in a romantic restaurant, The Engineer flanked by his two main squeezes, his computer brain whirring uncomfortably as she and I chatted like new best friends. Over dessert, I’d zing them with the hypocrisy of their not-so-open open relationship and explain that I prefer to be the star of my own romantic dramas, thank you very much. Then I’d flounce off, leaving them contrite in my defiant wake.

To prepare for my role, I even studied up on open relationships and their combative cousins, swinging and polyamory. The great thing about research was that I could explore brave new worlds without actually getting my hands dirty. Or so I thought.

OUR meeting was put off as a tiff unfolded between The Engineer and his girlfriend. I don’t want to sound vain, but I think it was about me. I seized the opportunity to quiz him by phone about their relationship. “What are the rules?”

He wasn’t sure, they had changed so many times, but one rule was he had to tell her in advance when he was going out with someone new, and then they discussed it.

Ick. I wanted to be talked about, but not like that.

He explained that he didn’t become emotionally involved with the women he played with; they were just friends.

Double ick. I hadn’t been anyone’s playmate since fourth grade.

And then, as if he knew I needed a new plot twist for my screenplay, he mentioned that he had met his girlfriend’s husband before. And the husband’s girlfriend.

“She’s married?”

“Legally — although they’re just friends now.”

Friends or “friends”? I didn’t even know what the term meant anymore. Their crazy setup went beyond the scope of my research. I also saw the irony of my involvement. In my effort to break my gravitational attraction toward noncommittal men, I was now drowning in a sea of philanderers.

Then a strange thing happened. Simply by asking questions, I was suddenly being treated as The Engineer’s confidante, fielding his complaints about how hard it was to keep up with all of his open-relationship regulations, though he admitted his situation “has its perks for the man.” Now he was being a little too open about his open relationship.

The next day he called to say our rendezvous was back on, and did I want to speak with his girlfriend? My heart thumped. At first I said no, but then I heard the ka-ching! of my million-dollar screenplay. “Sure,” I squeaked.

A woman with a warm voice came on the line: “Hi, Katherine.” She spoke intelligently, clinically. She wanted to meet me because, she said, “If I can meet a person and know who they are, then I feel comfortable with the physical relationship.”

I learned that she and The Engineer had met in a swingers club (new plot point). She had gone there with her husband, and though she knew she wasn’t supposed to get emotionally involved with anyone in such a club, she couldn’t help it. She claimed to now be monogamous, but after some background murmuring from The Engineer, confessed that she occasionally slept with her husband, too. She also said she put out personal ads but made it clear she was already in love with both her boyfriend and husband.

“Don’t you get jealous?” I asked.

“Yes,” she admitted. But she said she would rather cope with the jealousy than give up her need for variety.

“Don’t you want more?” I pressed.

“Yes … I do,” she said. The sadness in her voice confused me. “That’s why I wanted to meet with you,” she went on. “You understand as a woman what it’s all about.”

I wanted to scream, “I don’t understand any of it!” But I held my tongue.

In the course of our chat we discovered that The Engineer had duped her, too, lying that he had told me about their relationship back in Las Vegas. I pointed out that he had mentioned her a few times but had used the term “friend” not “girlfriend.”

There was dead silence. She put The Engineer back on.

I sensed our meeting was destined for the cutting room floor of my imagination, so I finally asked him what I most wanted to know: “Were your affections toward me just an act, or did you really feel anything?”

“It wasn’t an act,” he replied, “but I really have to go now.” Click.

So much for The Engineer’s efforts to keep his complex love life clean and orderly. And my attempt at remaining an observer, playing along with them as a form of research, only left me feeling unsettled and strangely complicit. The Engineer’s words about not becoming emotionally involved with the women he played with echoed in my head.

Does love ever really work like that? Not the kind I wanted.

By KATHERINE RUPPE

The ancient Egyptians and Romans used black for mourning, as do most Europeans and Americans today/What Colors Mean

We live in a colorful world. In many countries, colors represent various holidays; they are also used to express feelings and enliven language. Find your favorite color and see what it means around the world.

Red

For the ancient Romans, a red flag was a signal for battle.

Because of its visibility, stop signs, stoplights, brake lights, and fire equipment are all painted red.

The ancient Egyptians considered themselves a red race and painted their bodies with red dye for emphasis.

In Russia, red means beautiful. The Bolsheviks used a red flag as their symbol when they overthrew the tsar in 1917. That is how red became the color of communism.

In India, red is the symbol for a soldier.

In South Africa, red is the color of mourning.

It’s considered good luck to tie a red bow on a new car.

In China, red is the color of good luck and is used as a holiday and wedding color. Chinese babies are given their names at a red-egg ceremony.

Superstitious people think red frightens the devil.

A “red-letter day” is one of special importance and good fortune.

In Greece, eggs are dyed red for good luck at Easter time.

To “paint the town red” is to celebrate.

Red is the color most commonly found in national flags.

In the English War of the Roses, red was the color of the House of Lancaster, which defeated the House of York, symbolized by the color white.

The “Redshirts” were the soldiers of the Italian leader Garibaldi, who unified modern Italy in the nineteenth century.

To “see red” is to be angry.

A “red herring” is a distraction, something that takes attention away from the real issue.

A “red eye” is an overnight airplane flight.

If a business is “in the red,” it is losing money.

Green

Only one national flag is a solid color: the green flag of Libya.

Ancient Egyptians colored the floors of their temples green.

In ancient Greece, green symbolized victory.

In the highlands of Scotland, people wore green as a mark of honor.

Green is the national color of Ireland.

A “greenback” is slang for a U.S. dollar bill.

Green means “go.” When “all systems are green,” it means everything is in order.

The green room of a concert hall or theater is where performers relax before going onstage.

The “green-eyed monster” is jealousy.

A greenhorn is a newcomer or unsophisticated person.

Green is youthful.

Being “green around the gills” is looking pale and sickly.

“Green with envy” means full of envy or jealousy.

A person with a “green thumb” is good at making plants grow.

A green, or common, is a town park.

Green is a healing color, the color of nature.

Blue

In ancient Rome, public servants wore blue. Today, police and other public servants wear blue.

In Iran, blue is the color of mourning.

Blue was used as protection against witches, who supposedly dislike the color.

If you are “true blue,” you are loyal and faithful.

Blue stands for love, which is why a bride carries or wears something blue on her wedding day.

A room painted blue is said to be relaxing.

“Feeling blue” is feeling sad. “Blue devils” are feelings of depression.

Something “out of the blue” is from an unknown source at an unexpected time.

A bluebook is a list of socially prominent people.

The first prize gets a blue ribbon.

A blue blood is a person of noble descent. This is probably from the blue veins of the fair-complexioned aristocrats who first used this term.

“Into the blue” means into the unknown.

A “bluenose” is a strict, puritanical person.

A “bluestocking” used to be a scholarly or highly knowledgeable woman.

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore blue for protection against evil.

The “blues” is a style of music derived from southern African-American secular songs. It influenced the development of rock, R&B, and country music.

“Blue laws” are used to enforce moral standards.

A blue ribbon panel is a group of especially qualified people.

Purple, Violet

The Egyptian queen Cleopatra loved purple. To obtain one ounce of Tyrian purple dye, she had her servants soak 20,000 Purpura snails for 10 days.

In Thailand, purple is worn by a widow mourning her husband’s death.

A “purple heart” is a U.S. military decoration for soldiers wounded or killed in battle.

Purple is a royal color.

Purple robes are an emblem of authority and rank.

“Purple speech” is profane talk.

“Purple prose” is writing that is full of exaggerated literary effects and ornamentation.

Leonardo da Vinci believed that the power of meditation increases 10 times when done in a purple light, as in the purple light of stained glass.

Purple in a child’s room is said to help develop the imagination according to color theory.

Richard Wagner composed his operas in a room with shades of violet, his color of inspiration.

Yellow

In Egypt and Burma, yellow signifies mourning.

In Spain, executioners once wore yellow.

In India, yellow is the symbol for a merchant or farmer.

In tenth-century France, the doors of traitors and criminals were painted yellow.

Hindus in India wear yellow to celebrate the festival of spring.

If someone is said to have a “yellow streak,” that person is considered a coward.

In Japan during the War of Dynasty in 1357, each warrior wore a yellow chrysanthemum as a pledge of courage.

A yellow ribbon is a sign of support for soldiers at the front.

Yellow is a symbol of jealousy and deceit.

In the Middle Ages, actors portraying the dead in a play wore yellow.

To holistic healers, yellow is the color of peace.

Yellow has good visibility and is often used as a color of warning. It is also a symbol for quarantine, an area marked off because of danger.

“Yellow journalism” refers to irresponsible and alarmist reporting.

White

A white flag is the universal symbol for truce.

White means mourning in China and Japan.

Angels are usually depicted wearing white robes.

The ancient Greeks wore white to bed to ensure pleasant dreams.

The Egyptian pharaohs wore white crowns.

The ancient Persians believed all gods wore white.

A “white elephant” is a rare, pale elephant considered sacred to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka; in this country, it is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner doesn’t want but can’t get rid of.

It’s considered good luck to be married in a white garment.

White heat is a state of intense enthusiasm, anger, devotion, or passion.

To whitewash is to gloss over defects or make something seem presentable that isn’t.

A “white knight” is a rescuer.

A white list contains favored items (as opposed to a blacklist).

A “whiteout” occurs when there is zero visibility during a blizzard.

A “white sale” is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items.

A “whited sepulcher” is a person who is evil inside but appears good on the outside, a hypocrite.

“White lightning” is slang for moonshine, a homebrewed alcohol.

A white room is a clean room as well as a temperature-controlled, dust-free room for precision instruments.

White water is the foamy, frothy water in rapids and waterfalls.

Black

The ancient Egyptians and Romans used black for mourning, as do most Europeans and Americans today.

The “Blackshirts” were the security troops in Hitler’s German army, also known as the S.S.

Black often stands for secrecy.

Black humor is morbid or unhealthy and gloomy humor.

A “blackhearted” person is evil.

If a business is “in the black,” it is making money.

A “blacklist” is a list of persons or organizations to be boycotted or punished.

Black is associated with sophistication and elegance. A “black tie” event is formal.

A black belt in karate identifies an expert.

A black flag in a car race is the signal for a driver to go to the pits.

A blackguard is a scoundrel.

The ancient Egyptians believed that black cats had divine powers.

Black lung is a coal miner’s disease caused by the frequent inhaling of coal dust.

Blackmail is getting things by threat.

Black market is illegal trade in goods or money.

A black sheep is an outcast.

“Blackwash” (as opposed to “whitewash”) is to uncover or bring out in the light.

A blackout is a period of darkness from the loss of electricity, for protection against nighttime air raids, or, in the theater, to separate scenes in a play.

When you “black out,” you temporarily lose consciousness.