Self Magazine on Sunday when I ran across the Body Confidence Awards for 2004. Guess who got a Body Confidence Award? Robyn at the now defunct Tampatantrum, for the Blogger Boobie-Thon. Too cool!
It would be kind of neat to do something like that to raise money for the non-kill shelter I volunteer for, wouldn’t it? I don’t particularly want to see y’all’s boobies, though, nice as I’m sure they are. I’ll have to think on that…
Also receiving a Body Confidence Award was the awesome Catherine Dent from (the awesome) The Shield, who heard that a top stylist referred to her body as “a challenge” and refused to work with said stylist ever again.
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Have you ever read anything by Ayn Rand? Should I? Will I like it, or will it bore me? If you’ve read anything (or everything) by her and you know we have the same taste in
reading material, give me an opinion down there in the comments, wouldya?
(And for the record, I DO like more than Zany Chick stuff. But it’s got to be interesting. If it’s not interesting I won’t bother to give it more than a chapter or two.)
My brother Randy gave me a copy of something by Ayn Rand (I don’t remember which book) when I was in high school but I either lost it or didn’t like the first few pages. When he asked if I’d read it, I gave him a big fake smile and said “Yeah, it was good!” and then ran away before he could ask for details.
Also, Kafka. Should I read something by him? I told my senior English teacher that my favorite book was
The Metamorphosis, WHICH I HAD NEVER READ. I was all about trying to impress my teachers with the books I was reading. It usually worked, too. Heh. Give me your Kafka opinions in the comments as well, if you please.
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Good fucking god. That Randi chick on
My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance is just getting all over my nerves. Get OVER yourself, princess.
Interesting fact: the actor who plays Steve is actually married in real life. If I were his wife, I’d be pretty pissed at all the crap Princess Randi is saying.
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Petstore kitty pics from yesterday are
here.
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The spud wanted to download Yaho0 Messeng3r yesterday, so I stood over her and supervised while she downloaded and installed it. Then I came back downstairs, installed it myself, and taught her the simple stuff – how to message someone, add them to your friends list, stuff like that.
Then I signed on after dinner and chatted with the spud until I logged off to go watch TV with Fred at 7:00. Fred kept saying “What on earth can you possibly be TALKING about?” Nothing too exciting, but it was still kind of fun.
spud: Hahah
spud: type
spud:lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllll
spud: mum?
mom: Yeah?
spud: oh. thought u got off or somthing.
spud: do you know much about the salem witch trials?
mom: Not really
mom: Are you studying them in school?
spud: no. we are going to start on the mla paper and i can’t decide on a topic.
spud: fun. fun. fun. in the sun. doodoodooodooo
mom: The Salem witch trials sounds like an interesting topic
mom: Do you have any other ideas?
spud: yeah that is what i want to do but i need to make sure that i can get at least 7 sources or so from it.
spud: Pope leo x
See? Nothing earth-shattering, but I think she enjoyed it, and she still types slowly enough that I can go do other things in between responses.
I also gave her the rules – no messaging with anyone she doesn’t know, no giving out her last name, address, phone number. If someone messages her, she is to say “I’m not allowed to chat with people I don’t know”, and if they persist, to come get me and I’ll show her how to add people to the ignore list.
I swear, we’re going to make this kid so paranoid about anything to do with chatting online. Better paranoid than hitchhiking across the country to meet some perv though, eh?
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Hey! Remember when I mentioned the carpet guys who came to replace the carpet upstairs that Tubby had peed on and pretty much ruined? And how they pulled up the carpet and sprayed some kind of magic something-or-other that immediately killed the stink? And how I didn’t know the name of it?
Well, the carpet guys came back last week to deal with the piece of carpet in the computer room that has caused us trouble for the last year or so. While they were here, Fred said “By any chance could we buy some of that stuff from you?” The guy said “Let me see if I have some in the van I can sell you”, and when he came back inside, he had a gallon jug which was half full of the stuff. He sold it to us for what it cost him to buy (LOVE the carpet dude!), and now we have more than we’ll hopefully need anytime soon.
Know why I couldn’t find a link for it online? Because I was spelling it wrong, of course. It’s called
Axi-dent. The stuff we have is in a big jug and doesn’t look exactly like the stuff in that link, but surely it’s got to be the same stuff. And it ROCKS.
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Miz Poo sure does love to be outside in the sun.
Also, she loves to lay on the side table, under the warm, warm lamp.
She does NOT, however, like it when Daddy gets too close with the camera.
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Robyn, as much as I like to read Kafka, I don’t think you would like it much. It is really really depressing. The Metamorphosis is positively uplifting in comparison with his novels.
Considering that the main character is a miserable bug, that is saying something.
On Ayn Rand… The stories *are* interesting, the philosophy behind them (if you do any research on her) is a little scary. I read Atlas Shrugged in 9th grade and for most of my college years, I wanted to be Dagny Taggart. She is strong, intelligent, driven – she’s a great character. Ayn Rand really struggled when she wrote to put together perfect prose and it shows. Oh, you can skip the 50 page speech toward the end – oh you will know exactly what I mean. I was told to do that myself – and I read the book every couple of years and skip the dang speech.
I’m with you on Randi. I mean, it’s not like she has to REALLY marry him…she acts like it’s some arranged marriage she is going to have to be forced to live with for the rest of her life.
I think Steve is hilarious and I just LOVE his laugh.
I love Ayn Rand. 🙂 I reread the Fountainhead every couple of years, myself, and every darn time I discover something new to take away.
That being said, I agree that her philosophy can be a bit off-putting. All of her books are just ways of personifying her philosophy, Objectivism. Simply put, it’s a belief in selfishness and the importance of man putting himself first, not others, as a way of bettering mankind. The first time I read anything by her, I was almost offended. The second time, I began to grasp it. The third time, I was a fan. I still don’t consider myself an Objectivist (one of the tenets is atheism), but I can accept her argument and call her works gold. 🙂
And I loved the Metamorphosis, too.
I agree also about Randi. You know that one shot of her with the scrunched up face (she’s in her wedding dress) in the commercials? That is the ugliest photo I’ve seen since Michael Jackson’s mug shot…she looks absolutely wretched, ugh. Maybe they’ll show Steve’s wife kicking Randi’s ass on the show – talk about some good reality tv!
Also, that purple mouse toy Pilgrim is playing with in the kitty store pics? My cats are obsessed with those things, and they don’t cost very much at all. We currently have 6 residing under our living room funiture, bedroom furniture, and in other places we haven’t found yet. Its like, “Do you want to play with this expensive electronic mouse or the 30 cent mouse toy with the missing tail?” And guess which one they choose…
Hey Robyn.. thanks for the great writing. You should start with Handmaid’s Tale by Rand, its really good. Alias Grace, the Robber Bride, heck- most of her books are very captivating. Have fun!
I loved reading “Anthem” by Ayn Rand…I’ve never read any of her other stuff, but meant to. I had to read it for one of my high school English classes, and I re-read it a few years ago.
Randi is a blight on womanhood. She makes all of us look like shallow biotches. BLAH. Steve’s wife doing some ass-kicking would make my week.
Thank you for the Poo pics. I’ve been jonesin’ (haha) for some Tortie kitty lately.
As for Kafka here’s my take:
I had to read “The Trial” for my World Lit since 1750 class. Now, I consider myself an intelligent person, I make the dean’s list while working full time, and take a few Honors courses. I am also a bookworm, and love to read anything. Cereal boxes, magazines, books, you name it! While the story was interesting (a man wakes up one morning to find himself being arrested, but no one will tell him his crimes; and the subsequent issues regarding said predictiment) I dislike reading anything which requires me to take notes to try to make full sense of what I am reading later. Granted, I snobbily can reply, “yes I’VE read KAFKA” but I wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoyed it. I simply enjoyed being able to say “read it, i’m a smartie!”
None of his characters grabbed me. I didn’t truly feel for any of them. I don’t want to shape anyone’s opinion of a “classic” author, but I think his books are a bit dated, and not really written to be enjoyed by women.
Sorry for the length, happy reading! 🙂
Uh, “Handmaid’s Tale”, “Robber Bride”, and “Alias Grace” are by Margaret Atwood, not Ayn Rand.
Also very good books, but VERY different!
“Anthem” is a great book! and it’s short, so it’s not a huge time investment if you end up hating it. i love that book. it’s kind of “Brave New World”y, if you’ve read that.
Heh! You know, I was just sitting here thinking to myself “I could swear that I read “Handmaid’s Tale”, maybe I DID already read some Ayn Rand!”
Hi Robyn. My husband LOVES LOVES Ayn Rand. I’m a book whore and will read anything and everything, but Ayn Rand is definately not just brain candy. I have picked up and put down Atlas Shrugged countless times and it is good, but you need to be in the right frame of mind for it.
I think the reason that I have never finished it, is because I am like a crow, always finding something else shiny and new to catch my attention, thus four and five books going at the same time.
Personally, John Irving floats my boat. No, not just Garp, but “The Prayer for Owen Meany” is one of my favorites, along with “The Son Of A Circus.” at a close second. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE James Clavell, and highly reccommend “Tai Pan” if you haven’t read it already. Shogun is good, but Tai Pan is better.)
Good Luck!
I’ve read one of Ayn Rand’s books – Anthem – and thought it was really good. I tried reading The Fountainhead, more than once even, and couldn’t get more than 20 pages into it. (I tried to watch the movie once, too, but only lasted a half hour or so, thought it was pretty boring, too.)
I read The Metamorphosis, and if it was cheery compared to is other stuff like someone up above said, then I’m scared of his other stuff!
Okay…this is going to sound stupid, but I read some books about 18 months ago and now I can’t remember the author or any of the titles so I thought I would toss out what I *do* remember and see if any of you know what the heck I am talking about. It is a series of books where the main character is a female cop or P.I. – she was found as an adolescent by a cop who took her home and he and his wife ended up adopting her. She was traumatized but won’t talk about it and as the story unfolds, it turns out that she was a witness to a murder as a child. There were several books that I remember reading – one was about a magician. Help? Anyone?
After seeing that last pic I am now wondering if Miz Poo is actually female!! hee
Tammy – those would be the Mallory books by Carol O’Connell, which I just love to death. I got the most recent one – Dead Famous – at Christmas. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m definitely looking forward to it!
Robyn, I love it when you ask a reading question because then I get lots of suggestions of books to go pick up! Also, LOVE the pet store pics and Miz Poo. She is so beautiful with her warm, warm self.
For once in my life, there is another Stacey in relatively the same place. So I’ll make me Stacey2 (just because the other Stacey was here first)
Loooooove the MizPoo pictures. I’m going through Kitty withdrawl and am seriously considering asking the guy next door if I can borrow his cat for some kitty love. *sigh*
I am way out of my league on the book discussion. I’m sticking to fluffy reading until I get out of university. Too much textbook reading to take on something like Kafka.
i’m 35 and i say “i’m not allowed to talk to people i don’t know.” it cracks me up to do it. i sometimes have to type it a couple of times, but most people leave after the first time.
Robyn, there’s no such thing as being too paranoid when it comes to kids and the internet. One of my sons friends – a 6th grader – “met” someone on the internet and was supposed to “meet” them at a local 6th grade dance at the Boys & Girls Club. Can you fricking imagine???????? At the age of 11?!?!
The mom is pretty naive about the internet, but I sufficiently scared the crap out of her about it, so I don’t think (hope!) her sons will be online unsupervised anymore.
OOH OOH! A Prayer for Owen Meany…I love that book.
I was actually named after Dominique in The Fountainhead. Never much liked the book, but I like my name..
Funny you should mention Ayn Rand (Do you say her first name ANN, or AIN?) I am, at this very moment plowing through Atlas Shrugged…very thought provoking. I’d read it once before, and skipped the speech out of self-preservation, but I am DETERMINED to read the whole thing word for word this time around (I’m a notorious word skipper). It’s a good story Robyn, I say give it a shot. I’d love to read some of her other stuff now that everyone’s brought me up to date on it.
I loved the Fountainhead…. I skipped past the few sections where she goes too deep into her Objectivism philosophy. It’s an incredible love story, I think.
The Fountainhead also has one of my all-time-favorite lines:
woman: “I can’t imagine what you must think of me!”
man’s reply: “But I DON’T think of you.”
The Metamorphosis is good and very fast, you can read it in a couple of hours. It’s a depressing story, but then the bug thing is pretty much a metaphor for depression. A man wakes up to find he’s changed into a giant cockroach, worthless and unable to function in society, and his family can’t and/or doesn’t want to deal with it.
I also agree that a Prayer for Owen Meany is a great story. Another good John Irving book is
“The 158 lb. marriage”.
My husband goes in “spurts” of finding an author, reading EVERYTHING by that author, and then searching endlessly in used book stores and online buying up hardcover copies of said books. One author was Ayn Rand. He said her books were awesome. I picked The Fountainhead up, skimmed a little and said blecchhh! and put it down. I ended up seeing a bit of the movie about her life with Eric Stolz (and Helen Mirren who won an Emmy award for her portrayal)and was completely turned off by Rand’s philosophy and would never waste my time reading her works. Carol O’Connell, on the other hand, is AWESOME and I read everything she puts out. I am a voracious reader by the way and thrillers/mysteries set in UK my first choice!
Loved Ayn Rand in high school and college. Have read all except “Anthem”. “We the Living” is good – about the Russian Revolution. Very thought-provoking and not as long or “scholarly” as Atlas Shrugged. I’ve read “Atlas Shrugged” about 5 or 6 times, and also skip the speech at the end. Each time I swear I’m going to read it, get about 2 pages in, and say ‘nah’ and go right on over it. The movie “The Fountainhead” was a pretty poor adaptation of the book. Gary Cooper as Howard Roark is just not right. My three cents.
I hate Ann Raynd. The Fountainhead is purported to be a lesson in objectivism, but in my opinion, the lesson is one of egoism. It was touted as a book for “the new intellectual.” Fooey. According to Ayn Rand, the theme of The Fountainhead is: “individualism versus collectivism, not in politics, but in man’s soul.” Gagggg. If you ask me, Ms. Rand and her nihilistic protagonists have big, fat superiority complexes. Get over yourself, already, Ayn! That goes for Howard Roark and Dominique Francon, as well. Those two are the most contemptuous, scornful, arrogant characters I have ever had the misfortune to be introduced to. They do not possess a single redeeming quality. The unremitting intolerance expressed in Rand’s “classic” first angered, then depressed, and ulitmately, bored me. Don’t get me wrong -I’m all for individualism. What I object to is that Howard Roark and Dominique Francon use and hurt others (even their so-called friends) in order to get what they want, and don’t feel the slightest twinge of conscience in doing so. I have no use and no respect for such selfish people – not in my life, nor in the books I read. Anyway, that’s probably more than you needed to know. A Prayer For Owen Meany is a great book, though! 🙂
Robyn, bless you for the link to axi-dent. I just know that once I get everything moved into the new office Zubby, Enid and Norma are going to get into a territorial pissing match. *Sigh*.
I hate the “C” word but I do think it applies to Ayn Rand, her philosophy, and the way she lived her life.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I have placed holds on the two most recent books and am looking forward to reading them. You are the best!!
My husband was given “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” by a friend of my parents’ after they had a discussion about current social issues. After reading both books, I wished I had read them as a teenager. They are good stories (hard to get through at certain points, I admit) and they put into form a lot of thoughts and beliefs that I’ve had my whole life. The basic idea is not about being “selfish” as we usually interpret it (where you do things that hurt others), but about respecting other people and not doing things that infringe upon their rights. However, if that person is infringing upon your rights, they no longer deserve your respect or consideration. She teaches that you should never put the good of the group over the good of the individual (she knows of which she speaks having escaped from Communist Russia). She teaches that you should follow what interests you and makes you happy instead of worrying about what everyone else thinks or living up to anyone else’s standards. She shows you how there are people who work and then there are people who expect handouts, but resent you for giving them the handouts. Atlas Shrugged is about how the “second-handers” (people who want a free ride) enslave the “prime movers” (the people who drive the world) and what happens when those prime movers start disappearing. The “second handers” are unable to function or pick up the ball. Basically, the world starts deevoling into chaos and third-worldliness. It’s hard to miss the correlation to today’s world. I actually think Fred would really like the books.
I realize I am way off topic here, but there is a really neat interactive activity in National Geographic on the Salem Witch Trials. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/ It can really help people understand the forced choices many of those people had to make. There are also several good websites full of information.
My almost 14 year old and almost 12 year old son use AIM mostly with their friends online. They talk on the phone and computer at the same time. We have all the computers in one central location and a list of 8 rules posted over each computer. So far neither of my daughters have gotten into chatting yet!
Computer Rules
1. Do not talk to people you don’t know
2. Do not give your real name to people
3. Do not go to websites that have a “Must be 18 to enter” page
4. Do not go to web sites you wouldn’t want your mother to see
5. There is an “X” in the corner, use it as needed.
6. Computer usage is a privilage not a right!
7. Violaters will lose computer privilages!
8. Ask Mom if you aren’t sure what to do!
Have fun and be safe!
So far we haven’t had any problems except when the kids open a “room” to chat in and strangers wander in. But, a locked room helps take care of that. I hope she is having fun:)
I’d start with Anthem and see what you think. It is a very quick read. I loved it as a teenager and started reading more Rand from that.
I have recently had an incident with my almost 14 year old daughter regarding the whole chat thing. We had told her never to go into a chat room and that she could only chat with school friends etc. That seemed to go fine for almost a year until….you guessed it. One night she was bored and decided to venture into a chat room through AIM and someone started to talk to her. The stupid thing is, she talked back! Not only did she talk back, she sent him a picture of herself. She admitted all of this to me after I asked just the right questions. I was so livid! We are on week 4 of her punishment from the computer and I think it is driving her crazy. And guess what? She still doesn’t know why she did it even though she knew not to do it. Teenagers.