November 30, 2002
OU SUCKS OU SUCKS OU SUCKS II
I am in the car riding home from boston so I will have to be brief for now... But I will soon tell you the story of how the lowly Pokes kicked the asses of the supposedly great Sooners once again. Now, Sooner fans will suddenly develop a huge interest in the LIFETIME record of these two schools, instead of the past few years. Too bad they don't get to go to a better bowl based on how well other Sooner teams could play.
oh, and did someone say "basketball?" north carolina, my other alma mater, won the preseason NIT.
Posted by ash at 06:25 PM
November 20, 2002
Spaced Out
home after ten days away doing training. i just had the Best. Class. Ever. man, they were funny. one was from oklahoma, that must have been the secret. i celebrated my birthday at a hotel, working... for the third year in a row. sadly, all the hotel staff *remembered* it was my birthday and had a large cake and song ready. i was appropriately touched. my hotel is the greatest.
on monday night frank the maintenance man - coolest maintenance man in the world - snuck us all up onto the roof to see the leonid meteor shower. in the middle of the city it was a little bright, but we still saw plenty of shooting stars. last year mike and i woke up in the middle of the night and watched it in the dark, and we saw an amazing show.
speaking of meteors, and my (thankfully) ex-home state, today on Fark i learned that oklahoma has a space industry. once again proving that anything texas does, the sooner state does it smaller, and not as well.
Posted by ash at 11:25 PM
November 02, 2002
Six Months of SOLOHQ
the solohq website went live on may 1, 2002. in the past six months the readership has steadily grown, thanks to the participation of SOLOists who have contributed their talents and efforts. the solo site features a daily article, discussion boards, and links to other objectivist content with a passionate sense of life.
on free-market.net the page of the week is now solohq. here's what the freedom network's brian patrick had to say about SOLO:
Recently I saw a quote from the credo of The Sense of Life Objectivists that read, "We see ourselves most emphatically as being at war with the current culture: the culture of anti-heroes, nihilism, destruction and dishonesty." At last, an explicitly articulated antidote to the irrational madness that makes it possible for mafia outfits like the CHA to operate with a claim of legitimacy.
Ordinarily I wouldn't wade through the literature of an Objectivist organization. That's not because I think Rand was wrong, it's just that I find most Objectivist literature to be a bit, well, dry. But the SOLO website drew me in and kept me there. Instead of simply pontificating from on high, SOLO provides excellent tools for effectively communicating Objectivism to the uninitiated. They provide an introduction to the principles of philosophy, educational material for teaching Objectivism to children, a plan for franchising Objectivism, and a treatise on the importance of art to the cause of Objectivism. Most of all, they proudly proclaim that reason and passion are not contradictory but complementary. If only we can get that point across to all the deadpan Randroids out there.
Even as I fundamentally agree with Objectivism, I never got excited about the philosophy. Thankfully, Sense of Life Objectivists provides excellent insight into the philosophy without the tedium that hamstrings other Objectivist organizations. A passionate amen to that!
Posted by ash at 11:54 AM
November 01, 2002
Great Old Box
john freyer begins the book tour for all my life for sale in iowa city, iowa today.
bowling at the palace, in AMLFSwhen john freyer sold his life on ebay, i bought a great old box for around $20. i have gotten a lot more than twenty dollars worth out of it. when i traveled through airports i used to be stealthy and sly, jumping in front of people and throwing my laptop case into their carry-on bin. i complained about vacation travelers and other people who didn't understand how airport check-in gates worked. but with the box i am a clumsy traveler, too. i can't maneuver quickly or quietly. grabbing something to eat requires planning and possibly asking someone to watch my box. i have needed the hand of a stronger and taller person to help me get the box into a half-full overhead compartment. trips are more interactive with the box. i was once the person who pretended to sleep, who started reading before you boarded, who cringed if you looked my way. but struggling through the airport with a large box plastered with stickers begs for conversation.
and so on through the rest of the trip. cabs, subways, walking down a crowded city block. i don't know what the great old box was doing in its past life, but in the past year and a half it has changed mine just a little.
john freyer will be in philadelphia on november 22 to talk about his book "all my life for sale." catch him now, then, or sometime in between.
Posted by ash at 09:40 AM
on monday night frank the maintenance man - coolest maintenance man in the world - snuck us all up onto the roof to see the leonid meteor shower. in the middle of the city it was a little bright, but we still saw plenty of shooting stars. last year mike and i woke up in the middle of the night and watched it in the dark, and we saw an amazing show.