Oh, and, from her site:

The title Wire in the Blood - where it came from and what it means..

The phrase "the wire in the blood" comes from T.S. Eliots "Four Quartets". - "The trilling wire in the blood/sings below inveterate scars/appeasing long-forgotten wars."

As for the meaning..
In an interview Robson Green said the phrase "wire in the blood" was taken to mean a genetic kink, something impure and unusual in the blood, that leads to the kind of psychosis Hill might deal with.

Val McDermid says: 'Who knows what Eliot really meant by that line? Robson's explanation is as good as any... For myself, I've always taken it to be a metaphor for the thrill of adrenaline surging through the bloodstream. But we'll never know for sure".

mmmmmm, Robson Green.

ita, I have known a couple of people who were told they "didn't screen well in comparison to our corporate culture/environment" after taking the tests. One of them, my sister's friend Ron, was apparently too outgoing for them; the fact that he'd just found out his wife was pregnant after three miscarriages might have had something to do with his giddiness that day. They also told him he was the best qualified in terms of his skill set (he was a technical editor with two decades experience), but they needed to "weigh all the factors." Translation: we give you one test, tell you we won't consider hiring without it, and if we can't box you in? Buh-bye.

So, yeah, I remain opposed, unless they want to test on four or five different days. Otherwise, it becomes just like single-person news report: a single POV. Which neither fair nor reliable, in my world.

I like Val's explanation of wire in the blood - adrenaline, the big whoosh.

When my DH joined the Foreign Service, all the incoming officers were given the MBTI. The woman who was adminstering it did horrible things like, "I've mapped you all onto this grid. See, most of you are right around here, but there's one person who's waaaayyyy out here by himself - in fact, the strongest introvert in the class. Jack, why don't you get up in front of the class and tell everyone how you feel about being such an introvert? Class, be nice to Jack. After all, he can't HELP being the way he is."

That, combined with her message that there are only 16 possible personality types (vice 12 in the zodiac I guess) really predisposed me against the MBTI. Later I got more familiar with it, learned what it's really about. It's a tool, and a good one, but like any tool, idiots can pick it up and destroy shit with it.

I love love love Eliot, even the ones like Prufrock that have been repeated to death. One of the things I love about his work is how you can take a phrase ("wire in the blood" or "I can hear the mermaids singing") and even not knowing its context, the very words cause shivers.

People who use the MBTI like that are stoooopid with four "o's".

I'm about the read some brain candy -- Mercedes Lackey's book Joust . I'm going to read it in the bubble bath, and then I'm going to bed. When I wake up, it will be a sunny Saturday morning, and Wonderfalls will be picked up for a three-year run.

I tend to be scared of HR people, period.

The PI test that I took after being hired for my previous job indicated that I shouldn't have been hired for that position.

Oh, I did it just fine, but it took me a while (and the PI helped) to accept how out of shape I was bending myself to do it. I thought all the bits of it should be easy. Now I feel much more accepting of what's not so natural.

I was at Barnes & Noble, only looking for a copy of The Sun (which they didn't carry, damn it), and walked out with a reprint of the 1938 "classic" Better than Beauty -- A Guide to Charm, by Helen Valentine.

Here's an excerpt from the section about posture:

"Do you toe out in the genteel, outmoded fashion of 1912? Make a conscious effort to get those toes straight ahead. Have you the arrogant bustle walk, your hips thrown out behind? Start today, learning to walk as though someone were about to spank you -- and watch those hips go back where they came from."

And from the section entitled "What should you weigh?":

"Before you consider your weight remember that, in general, it is well for a woman under thirty to be slightly overweight. During these early years the body still can use this extra defense against disease."

And from the section "Do you exercise?":

"If you do housework, the chances are you get plenty of exercise...."

This is very entertaining. I've also learned I should change my underwear "not less frequently than every other day."

I tend to be scared of HR people, period.

Yes, indeedy, except substitute "mistrust" for scare"; usually I scare them, which it makes it doubly fortunate that I don't work in corporate America. I'm far too decisive and "do it this way and don't forget to kiss my ring" in an office setting for anyone's comfort.

But my feelings about HR people are yet another reason I don't entrust dissecting my highly gamma personality to them.

ita, truth to tell? I think there were other circs involved in the last job, if we're talking about MI. Such as, one person, deliberately crazy-making.

Damn. I need this book. Is it in the remainders section?

Do you toe out in the genteel, outmoded fashion of 1912?

I'm just happy to know that toeing out was ever in fashion.

I'm just happy to know that toeing out was ever in fashion.

"Now, don't forget your bustle, dear, and remember, walking like a duck is dainty.