I end my first week’s reading assignment finally feeling a bit like I’m not reading a pig in a poke. However, the first half of the chapter makes me wonder if Rand wouldn’t have been helped with a bit more editing, although she strikes me as the type to not be very enthusiastic about that….
Author: Clio
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 4: The Immovable Movers
I’ll admit, I had to look the meaning of the title chapter up. Rand makes it clear in the next chapter that it’s an Aristotle reference, but she doesn’t elaborate. I know that people used to study the classics more than they do now, and so perhaps the concept was considered common knowledge at the…
BabyCenter and Father’s Day
I’m a member of the May 2009 forum on BabyCenter. I think it’s a clever and useful idea to have forums specifically for a birth cohort, and it’s entertaining and informative to read comments from fellow parents. I’m more than a bit disappointed that there aren’t more males on the forum I’m on; I haven’t…
Moments #3
I had always played right field, except for the year. Right field was reserved for the worst player on the team, because it was junior little league (whatever they called it when there was still a machine on the pitcher’s mound instead of a player), and so hardly anyone ever hit the ball into the…
English modals and negation
English modals are a strange enough beast among themselves, but adding in negation leads to especially treacherous waters. This post will restrict itself to the four most common, and possibly most confusing: May, can, must, and have to. May “May” as a modal is ambiguous between permission and possibility: 1. You may have some dessert…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 3: The Top and the Bottom
Alas, this chapter is not a foray into D/s relationships. Instead, it’s another contrast chapter, this time contrasting Jim’s high-on-the-hog lifestyle with Dagny’s more modest concerns. Chapter summary: Jim Taggert attends an event with various bigwigs in the steel industry, where they prattle on about Mexico and he complains about his sister. In a bridge…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 2: The Chain
A disingenuousness of Third Person Omniscient is that it creates the perception of a somewhat objective perspective (in contrast to First Person) while potentially remaining subjective. “The Chain” is a good example of this; this is nearly entirely Hank Rearden’s perspective, with events and dialog presented to make him look good and the other people in his…
Atlas Shrugged Chapter 1: The Theme
First off, I’m already getting vaguely tired of “Who is John Galt?”, as I figured I would. I’m also finding myself trying too hard to sort “good guys” and “bad guys” with trepidation towards Rand’s message. So much cultural baggage has come to surround this book that it’s difficult to maintain objectivity. Chapter summary: Taggert…
Gender messages
Last night we attended a Tigers game. We had gotten the tickets because I’d complained to Fox Sports Detroit, which airs Tigers games. I hadn’t been seeking anything by way of remuneration in my complaint, but the tickets were offered by way of “Sorry that we can’t actually fix the issue, would you like some…
Atlas Shrugged: My prejudices
Before I begin reading, I want to set out some of my own biases and perspectives. No reader enters a book without already having some sort of expectations, even if they’re indirect. Those expectations color the reader’s experience with and interpretation of the book. Politically, I call myself a liberal, a classical liberal, or a…