The final round of layoffs at Keating Khang had happened in January or February of 2009, and I was casting about, trying to figure out what to do next. My work had been very demanding, including a lot of travel, and suddenly it was like coming up for air and having all of this free time. So I started looking around online to see what other Objectivists were doing and what kind of community might be out there. I had joined facebook in 2008, but hadn't significantly expanded my online social circles much beyond my real-life friends.
I think the first O'ist bloggers I became aware of were Diana and Trey. I would see this weekly Objectivist blog roundup mentioned on their blogs, and I gradually started getting to know of all these other bloggers, and sort of one-way getting to know them personally, as happens when you start following other peoples' blogs. And there were a lot of them, a whole online community of them just like I hoped there might be. I wanted to join in on all this cool interesting stuff that was going on, so I launched CofP in early 2010.
Rational Jenn was always, and continues to be, one of my favorite blogs. I that's because she has such a great way of telling a story, plus those Casey kids are just so freakin cute! I think also because she reminds me in many ways of my sister, Emily. But now that I know Jenn in real life, I admire her even more than I did when she was just a famous internet personality who lived clear across the country.
So, thank you, Jenn. Thank you for running the Round Up all this time, creating this regular way for lots of interesting people to get together and share their ideas and thoughts. Thank you for introducing me to so many awesome people, both online and IRL. (You can keep doing that, btw.)
Thank you for inspiring me in so many ways.
Showing posts with label Objectivism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Objectivism. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Objectivist Round-up for June 28, 2012
Welcome to the Objectivist Round-up for June 28, 2012. This is my first time hosting the weekly carnival of articles on various topics by Objectivist bloggers, and I'm glad I got to play host before the carnival finally winds down in a few weeks. I want to give a big shout out to Rational Jenn and a big thank you to her, for organizing and running the Round-up.
This is also the last Round-up before Independence Day. Even though it's nearly a week away, I'll take this opportunity to present a quote on the Founding Fathers and their unique achievement, from the book The Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff, as quoted in the Ayn Rand Lexicon. This quote takes on a particular resonance given this morning's announcement of the Supreme Court upholding the Obamacare individual mandate, about which I'm sure there will be ample commentary in next week's carnival.
This is also the last Round-up before Independence Day. Even though it's nearly a week away, I'll take this opportunity to present a quote on the Founding Fathers and their unique achievement, from the book The Ominous Parallels by Leonard Peikoff, as quoted in the Ayn Rand Lexicon. This quote takes on a particular resonance given this morning's announcement of the Supreme Court upholding the Obamacare individual mandate, about which I'm sure there will be ample commentary in next week's carnival.
Throughout history the state had been regarded, implicitly or explicitly, as the ruler of the individual—as a sovereign authority (with or without supernatural mandate), an authority logically antecedent to the citizen and to which he must submit. The Founding Fathers challenged this primordial notion. They started with the premise of the primacy and sovereignty of the individual. The individual, they held, logically precedes the group or the institution of government. Whether or not any social organization exists, each man possesses certain individual rights. And “among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”—or, in the words of a New Hampshire state document, “among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty; acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; and in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness.”And now, without further ado, I present this week's Objectivist Round-up:
Tim Cheadle presents Design Thinking - Tim Cheadle posted at Tim Cheadle, saying, "A brief recap of my design talk with Tori Press, along with the slides we presented."
Paul McKeever presents "Bully": the new "Nazi" posted at Paul McKeever, saying, "Prepare to see the "Bully" card played more an more frequently in a place near you."
Darius Cooper presents Country Shares of World GDP posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "I present some graphs showing relative GDPs of various countries"
Diana Hsieh presents NoodleCast #143: Q&A Radio Podcast: Spanking, Parenting, Cheating, and More posted at Philosophy in Action, saying, "In Sunday's episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, I answered questions on corporal punishment of kids, parenting as a central purpose, compartmentalized cheating, something greater than yourself, and more."
Rachel Miner presents Lindamood Bell Experience posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Lindamood Bell is an individualized, intensive therapy that helps students with very specific language issues. In this post, I write about my experience using one of their programs. Due primarily to the high cost, it was a decision that took several years to make, but it was a positive experience that other parents may find valuable. They also work with adults."
Paul Hsieh presents Backdoor Euthanasia in the UK? posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "A UK neurologist reports that British patients with treatable conditions are being pushed against their will into "care pathways" for the terminally ill."
Roberto B Sarrionandia presents Andrew Brown wins 1/9th of a free coffee posted at Roberto Sarrionandia, saying, "Is the Guardian giving out free coffee to journalists who smear Ayn Rand?"
John Drake presents Starting a Project with Zero Resources posted at Try Reason!, saying, "Even if you don't have the time or money, it is possible to start big projects. You just have to get REALLY creative."
Rational Jenn presents Tonight! posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "Kelly and I are appearing Wednesday evening on the Philosophy in Action radio show to discuss Parenting without Punishment. By the time the carnival appears, the radio show will already have happened. But if you missed it, you can catch the recording at the Philosophy in Action website."
Earl Parson presents Strange in a Good Way posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "I've finally taken the plunge and rented a workspace outside my home. I'm now the resident architect at Strangeways Academy!"
That concludes this edition. The next edition of the Objectivist Round-up will be hosted over at Three Ring Binder. Submit your blog article to using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: objectivist round up, blog carnival.
Paul McKeever presents "Bully": the new "Nazi" posted at Paul McKeever, saying, "Prepare to see the "Bully" card played more an more frequently in a place near you."
Darius Cooper presents Country Shares of World GDP posted at Practice Good Theory, saying, "I present some graphs showing relative GDPs of various countries"
Diana Hsieh presents NoodleCast #143: Q&A Radio Podcast: Spanking, Parenting, Cheating, and More posted at Philosophy in Action, saying, "In Sunday's episode of Philosophy in Action Radio, I answered questions on corporal punishment of kids, parenting as a central purpose, compartmentalized cheating, something greater than yourself, and more."
Rachel Miner presents Lindamood Bell Experience posted at The Playful Spirit, saying, "Lindamood Bell is an individualized, intensive therapy that helps students with very specific language issues. In this post, I write about my experience using one of their programs. Due primarily to the high cost, it was a decision that took several years to make, but it was a positive experience that other parents may find valuable. They also work with adults."
Paul Hsieh presents Backdoor Euthanasia in the UK? posted at We Stand FIRM, saying, "A UK neurologist reports that British patients with treatable conditions are being pushed against their will into "care pathways" for the terminally ill."
Roberto B Sarrionandia presents Andrew Brown wins 1/9th of a free coffee posted at Roberto Sarrionandia, saying, "Is the Guardian giving out free coffee to journalists who smear Ayn Rand?"
John Drake presents Starting a Project with Zero Resources posted at Try Reason!, saying, "Even if you don't have the time or money, it is possible to start big projects. You just have to get REALLY creative."
Rational Jenn presents Tonight! posted at Rational Jenn, saying, "Kelly and I are appearing Wednesday evening on the Philosophy in Action radio show to discuss Parenting without Punishment. By the time the carnival appears, the radio show will already have happened. But if you missed it, you can catch the recording at the Philosophy in Action website."
Earl Parson presents Strange in a Good Way posted at Creatures of Prometheus, saying, "I've finally taken the plunge and rented a workspace outside my home. I'm now the resident architect at Strangeways Academy!"
That concludes this edition. The next edition of the Objectivist Round-up will be hosted over at Three Ring Binder. Submit your blog article to using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
Technorati tags: objectivist round up, blog carnival.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
ATLOSCON 2012 Wrap-Up
Over Memorial Day weekend I had a great time in Atlanta attending (and presenting at) ATLOSCON, the mini-conference of the Atlanta Objectivist Society. I also presented a seminar on how modern architecture is much more than just blank white minimalist boxes, which is what I think most members of the general public think of, if they think of modern architecture at all. My talk was both well attended (over 40 people, about half of the total conference attendance! WooHoo!) and very well received.
The few weeks leading up to the conference, I was completely deluged with work, and the week immediately prior, I came down with a bad sinus infection. All of this combined to make getting out of town in any kind of reasonable way almost impossible, and I nearly missed my flight. I gave up on preparing my remarks in advance, and decided to just skip half a day of the conference to do it in Atlanta. That part worked out pretty well, and, combined with the fact that I can stand in front of a room full of people and talk about architecture all day long anyway, meant that I was in good shape by the time it was my turn to present.
But before I get ahead of myself, let's briefly recap the whole weekend.
I flew in on Thursday, arriving at around 3:00. Tom picked me up at the airport and we we went back to our hotel. We had arranged to split a room and a car, which all worked out very well. I needed the car because I had another architectural agenda for the weekend besides my talk: visiting and photographing the Peachtree Center and its adjacent hotels in downtown Atlanta, all of which were designed by the architect John Portman.
Thursday night was the conference meet-n-greet event, and it was like a homecoming for me in many ways. I had gotten to know many of the ATLOS folks when I was in the area (sort of) building the Tennessee House. That was almost 2 years ago! It was great to see old friends again and begin to get caught up in person (which is so much better than Facebook and the blogs, although they are better than nothing). The highlight of my evening was meeting Lynne Bourque and her husband Stephen. I have known them online for a while, and they are every bit as great in person as I had expected them to be.
Friday morning I discovered that the local public library was next door to the rec center where the conference was held, which made it extra easy to cut class and work on my talk, while still joining everyone for lunch. The rest of the day I had 3 seminars, which were "What's So Darn Special About Firefly?" with Kelly Elmore; "Design Thinking" with Tim Cheadle and Tori Press; and "Wine and Cheese? Yes, please!" presented by Maggie Roberts. All of them were fun and engaging, and a good time was had by all.
That night I got busy polishing my talk for the next day, and decided in the process to scrap all the slides I had prepared earlier at the library, and devote my entire talk to John Lautner's architecture. I realized that since I had tons of photos of some excellent examples of his houses, both from the tour I took last summer and a couple of events I had participated in since, I would show those. The photos really did deserve a wider audience, and they fit my talk perfectly, which was titled, "Style and Individualism in Modern Architecture". You will be hard pressed to find a more individualistic architecture than Lautner's, and I had around 8 very good examples of his houses (some of which I still need to write up for the blog), ranging from his early career in the 1940s to as late as the '80s. By the time I pulled it all together and appropriately revised my introductory remarks, I finally made it to sleep by around 2am.
Saturday morning rolled around and I was up extra early re-editing and revising, and deciding which shirt to wear for my talk. Before I presented I attended Miranda Barzey's talk on "The Importance and Value of Personal Style" which I enjoyed, although I was mostly focusing on my notes for my talk, which was next. (We were a little late to Miranda's presentation because Tom let his GPS talk us into going to the wrong Starbucks (#firstworldproblems) which I bring up here in the spirit of not being ready to let him live it down.)
Then it was my turn! The room was packed and I was a little nervous at first, but then I was fine once my own enthusiasm for the work took over. They audience was responsive and engaged, and asked great questions along the way. I had floor plans for some of the houses, and one person remarked to me that he started to glaze over at first, when the first plan drawing flashed onto the screen, but that when I started pointing out specific features of the house in plan and linking them to the photos too, that it really came alive for him. Also, he observed that others in the audience were having a similar experience. I had many comments afterward that a) my enthusiasm was infectious; and b) that people in general had no idea that modern architecture could be so interesting!
I can't express how happy it makes me that I took a bunch of people who were pretty much ambivalent at best with regard to modern architecture and showed them a beautiful and interesting side to it that they didn't know existed previously. It just doesn't get much better than that.
That afternoon I had 2 more seminars: "The History and Science of Five Classic Cocktails" with Trey Peden and Tori Press; and "Maintaining Rational Optimism" with Paul Hsieh. That evening was the big party at the Casey House, where I had a great time mingling, meeting new people, and talking about the events of the weekend. It was great to unwind and relax with a great group of folks, once my presentation was out of the way.
Sunday morning I headed to downtown Atlanta to check out the Peachtree Center and its hotels by John Portman. Portman pioneered the big open atrium lobby style of hotel (with glass elevators going up and down in the big atrium lobby). This model is somewhat common today, but never existed at all prior to his 1967 Hyatt Regency, which is one of the three hotels by him in downtown Atlanta that I got to see on this trip. They were doing work on the roof and skylight but it still looked pretty great:
I also saw the Westin and Marriott Marquis, both of which were amazing, but I have to say that the Marriott rises above amazing to the level of stunning. I'll discuss these buildings in more detail in the future, since I'm out of time today. Suffice it to say I have my subject matter for next year's ATLOSCON talk, likely to include a walking tour!
The rest of my Sunday afternoon included the OHomos panel discussion with myself, Tom, and Trey; and "Exploring Ayn Rand's Theory of Concepts" presented by Stephen Bourque. The panel discussion was lively and consisted largely of coming out stories and questions from parents or future-parents about gayness and kids. Stephen's talk was just getting interesting when he unfortunately ran out of time, but he had some interesting observations on the topic.
It's hard to decide which aspect of the conference I enjoyed most, between seeing old friends, giving my talk, and seeing the Portman buildings. Let's just call it a trifecta weekend of awesomeness.
Big shout out to Jenn, Kelly, Miranda, and the ATLOS-folk who put together such a great and fun conference!
The few weeks leading up to the conference, I was completely deluged with work, and the week immediately prior, I came down with a bad sinus infection. All of this combined to make getting out of town in any kind of reasonable way almost impossible, and I nearly missed my flight. I gave up on preparing my remarks in advance, and decided to just skip half a day of the conference to do it in Atlanta. That part worked out pretty well, and, combined with the fact that I can stand in front of a room full of people and talk about architecture all day long anyway, meant that I was in good shape by the time it was my turn to present.
But before I get ahead of myself, let's briefly recap the whole weekend.
I flew in on Thursday, arriving at around 3:00. Tom picked me up at the airport and we we went back to our hotel. We had arranged to split a room and a car, which all worked out very well. I needed the car because I had another architectural agenda for the weekend besides my talk: visiting and photographing the Peachtree Center and its adjacent hotels in downtown Atlanta, all of which were designed by the architect John Portman.
Thursday night was the conference meet-n-greet event, and it was like a homecoming for me in many ways. I had gotten to know many of the ATLOS folks when I was in the area (sort of) building the Tennessee House. That was almost 2 years ago! It was great to see old friends again and begin to get caught up in person (which is so much better than Facebook and the blogs, although they are better than nothing). The highlight of my evening was meeting Lynne Bourque and her husband Stephen. I have known them online for a while, and they are every bit as great in person as I had expected them to be.
Friday morning I discovered that the local public library was next door to the rec center where the conference was held, which made it extra easy to cut class and work on my talk, while still joining everyone for lunch. The rest of the day I had 3 seminars, which were "What's So Darn Special About Firefly?" with Kelly Elmore; "Design Thinking" with Tim Cheadle and Tori Press; and "Wine and Cheese? Yes, please!" presented by Maggie Roberts. All of them were fun and engaging, and a good time was had by all.
That night I got busy polishing my talk for the next day, and decided in the process to scrap all the slides I had prepared earlier at the library, and devote my entire talk to John Lautner's architecture. I realized that since I had tons of photos of some excellent examples of his houses, both from the tour I took last summer and a couple of events I had participated in since, I would show those. The photos really did deserve a wider audience, and they fit my talk perfectly, which was titled, "Style and Individualism in Modern Architecture". You will be hard pressed to find a more individualistic architecture than Lautner's, and I had around 8 very good examples of his houses (some of which I still need to write up for the blog), ranging from his early career in the 1940s to as late as the '80s. By the time I pulled it all together and appropriately revised my introductory remarks, I finally made it to sleep by around 2am.
Saturday morning rolled around and I was up extra early re-editing and revising, and deciding which shirt to wear for my talk. Before I presented I attended Miranda Barzey's talk on "The Importance and Value of Personal Style" which I enjoyed, although I was mostly focusing on my notes for my talk, which was next. (We were a little late to Miranda's presentation because Tom let his GPS talk us into going to the wrong Starbucks (#firstworldproblems) which I bring up here in the spirit of not being ready to let him live it down.)
Then it was my turn! The room was packed and I was a little nervous at first, but then I was fine once my own enthusiasm for the work took over. They audience was responsive and engaged, and asked great questions along the way. I had floor plans for some of the houses, and one person remarked to me that he started to glaze over at first, when the first plan drawing flashed onto the screen, but that when I started pointing out specific features of the house in plan and linking them to the photos too, that it really came alive for him. Also, he observed that others in the audience were having a similar experience. I had many comments afterward that a) my enthusiasm was infectious; and b) that people in general had no idea that modern architecture could be so interesting!
I can't express how happy it makes me that I took a bunch of people who were pretty much ambivalent at best with regard to modern architecture and showed them a beautiful and interesting side to it that they didn't know existed previously. It just doesn't get much better than that.
That afternoon I had 2 more seminars: "The History and Science of Five Classic Cocktails" with Trey Peden and Tori Press; and "Maintaining Rational Optimism" with Paul Hsieh. That evening was the big party at the Casey House, where I had a great time mingling, meeting new people, and talking about the events of the weekend. It was great to unwind and relax with a great group of folks, once my presentation was out of the way.
Sunday morning I headed to downtown Atlanta to check out the Peachtree Center and its hotels by John Portman. Portman pioneered the big open atrium lobby style of hotel (with glass elevators going up and down in the big atrium lobby). This model is somewhat common today, but never existed at all prior to his 1967 Hyatt Regency, which is one of the three hotels by him in downtown Atlanta that I got to see on this trip. They were doing work on the roof and skylight but it still looked pretty great:
The rest of my Sunday afternoon included the OHomos panel discussion with myself, Tom, and Trey; and "Exploring Ayn Rand's Theory of Concepts" presented by Stephen Bourque. The panel discussion was lively and consisted largely of coming out stories and questions from parents or future-parents about gayness and kids. Stephen's talk was just getting interesting when he unfortunately ran out of time, but he had some interesting observations on the topic.
It's hard to decide which aspect of the conference I enjoyed most, between seeing old friends, giving my talk, and seeing the Portman buildings. Let's just call it a trifecta weekend of awesomeness.
Big shout out to Jenn, Kelly, Miranda, and the ATLOS-folk who put together such a great and fun conference!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Reflections on Randsday
Today we're celebrating Ayn Rand's birthday, here at Creatures of Prometheus. Harry Binswanger has come up with a really great way of marking the occasion: the creation of a new holiday, Randsday.
Randsday is about pursuing your happiness. It's about recognizing that your life belongs to you, and only to you, and that you only get one, and it's short, and so you better get busy, because if you don't pursue your own happiness it's not like someone is just going to come around and hand you some. You have to earn it.
So when you treat yourself to that special Randsday present (which, for me, is that Kindle Touch I've been wanting for weeks now), remember these words:
To celebrate Randsday, you do something not done on any other holiday: you give yourself a present. Randsday is for getting that longed-for luxury you ordinarily would not buy for yourself. Or for doing that long-postponed, self-pampering activity you cannot seem to fit into your chore-packed schedule...On Randsday, if you do something that you ordinarily would think of as “fun,” you do it on a different premise and with a deeper meaning: that you need pleasure, you are entitled to it, and that the purpose and justification of your existence is: getting what you want—what you really want, with full consciousness and dedication.Getting what you want, with full consciousness and dedication. Getting what you really want, not just as a whim or an impulse, but, rather, getting what you really want out of your life.
Randsday is about pursuing your happiness. It's about recognizing that your life belongs to you, and only to you, and that you only get one, and it's short, and so you better get busy, because if you don't pursue your own happiness it's not like someone is just going to come around and hand you some. You have to earn it.
So when you treat yourself to that special Randsday present (which, for me, is that Kindle Touch I've been wanting for weeks now), remember these words:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.Your life belongs to you. Go live it.
Friday, September 9, 2011
New Community Group: SoCal Obejctivists
I just got back from Chicago where I had an awesome weekend courtesy of the Chicago Objectivist Society, at their MINICON. Over the past year and a half, I've made many good objectivist friends in Atlanta, Denver and now Chicago (among other places). All those cities have vibrant objectivist community clubs, run by and for people with an enthusiasm for Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism.
Once I realized how much fun was being had by these folks, with their monthly socials, dinner lecture events, and conferences, I started thinking how much fun it would be to start such a group here in the L.A. area. One would think that with the Ayn Rand Institute right here in our backyard, such a club would be thriving, but there isn't really one. (I guess that would make Irvine the backyard of L.A. Well maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but stay with me.)
Meanwhile, I was going back and forth to Tennessee, and even living there for a while, for a house I designed and helped build. Then the new year rolled around and I thought it was a great time to start up the club. Then I had a freak accident requiring hand surgery, and all that stuff that completely derailed the first half of the year. My summer was spent getting caught up, and now I'm finally moving forward again.
Which means:
ITS TIME TO START THE CLUB ALREADY!
It also helps that I've become friends with Objectivist sex blogger Jason Stotts over the past several months, and he wants a local club here in SoCal too. So, without any further ado, we are proud to announce the formation of the SoCal Objectivists.
From the 'About' page on our Google Group:
We're planning our first social event for the evening of Saturday, September 17th, probably in the Long Beach area. Meeting locations will alternate monthly between Los Angeles and Inland Empire/Orange County. Our goal is to create simultaneous L.A. and I.E./O.C. chapters under one larger organization.
For now we're running things from the Google Group, but we will have a regular web page up and running soon. You can follow us on Twitter @SoCalOists, or like us on Facebook, or just sign up to get our announcements at our Google Group. We will also be disseminating information about other local events of interest via the Google Group, such as objectivist campus club events and Ayn Rand Institute events.
Once I realized how much fun was being had by these folks, with their monthly socials, dinner lecture events, and conferences, I started thinking how much fun it would be to start such a group here in the L.A. area. One would think that with the Ayn Rand Institute right here in our backyard, such a club would be thriving, but there isn't really one. (I guess that would make Irvine the backyard of L.A. Well maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but stay with me.)
Meanwhile, I was going back and forth to Tennessee, and even living there for a while, for a house I designed and helped build. Then the new year rolled around and I thought it was a great time to start up the club. Then I had a freak accident requiring hand surgery, and all that stuff that completely derailed the first half of the year. My summer was spent getting caught up, and now I'm finally moving forward again.
Which means:
ITS TIME TO START THE CLUB ALREADY!
It also helps that I've become friends with Objectivist sex blogger Jason Stotts over the past several months, and he wants a local club here in SoCal too. So, without any further ado, we are proud to announce the formation of the SoCal Objectivists.
From the 'About' page on our Google Group:
| This announcement list is for Objectivists and others in Southern California seriously interested in Ayn Rand's ideas. It's purpose is to announce our periodic, informal social events, and distribute info about other events of interest, such as Objectivist campus clubs and Ayn Rand Institute Events. |
We're planning our first social event for the evening of Saturday, September 17th, probably in the Long Beach area. Meeting locations will alternate monthly between Los Angeles and Inland Empire/Orange County. Our goal is to create simultaneous L.A. and I.E./O.C. chapters under one larger organization.
For now we're running things from the Google Group, but we will have a regular web page up and running soon. You can follow us on Twitter @SoCalOists, or like us on Facebook, or just sign up to get our announcements at our Google Group. We will also be disseminating information about other local events of interest via the Google Group, such as objectivist campus club events and Ayn Rand Institute events.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tuesday Night OList Happy Hour: Projects, Planning, and Productiveness
It's been a while since I've blogged about an OList Happy Hour topic.
Being in a big planning push this week to get a start on my summer projects, it got me wondering what the other OList folk have planned, project-wise, for their summers.
This line of thinking then had me wondering what others were doing to plan out and organize their work. At the moment, I'm in the process of charting out the coming months, setting milestones, and conducting research. I'm determined to get as much as I can out of the long days and nice weather.
What projects are you planning for the coming months? Can you think of actions you could take to give your productiveness a boost? Join us for Happy Hour tonight and let's discuss!
Being in a big planning push this week to get a start on my summer projects, it got me wondering what the other OList folk have planned, project-wise, for their summers.
This line of thinking then had me wondering what others were doing to plan out and organize their work. At the moment, I'm in the process of charting out the coming months, setting milestones, and conducting research. I'm determined to get as much as I can out of the long days and nice weather.
What projects are you planning for the coming months? Can you think of actions you could take to give your productiveness a boost? Join us for Happy Hour tonight and let's discuss!
Happy Hour Mechanics:
Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.
Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat. You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.
You will see the chat window that looks like this:
On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself. At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest. If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.
Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d
Thursday, May 26, 2011
This Week's Objectivist Round-up
This week's edition of the Objectivist Round-up has been posted over at Try Reason!
Check it out! John Drake's blog is one of my favorites. That man has a way with words.
Check it out! John Drake's blog is one of my favorites. That man has a way with words.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Feeling Like My Old Self Again
Last night I was up until 2:30.
Yesterday I spent most of the day working on a difficult writing project. I'm having my website, as well as the blog here, completely redesigned from scratch. When I started the project with John David, I didn't realize quite what I was in for. Turns out, he's not just a web designer; he's a marketing guy too, and he's chock full of good ideas. So he sent over this Creative Brief that was a few pages long, with lots of questions written out in italics having to do with my objectives, my audience, and their demographics, and some particularly difficult questions about brand character and the competition (!)
During our initial conversation about the Brief, I had to have him explain the concept of brand equity to me. After a little simple math, I calculated my brand equity at about $1.95. So, it turns out there's lots of room for improvement around here in the Online Personal Brand Development department -- and now I have a Pro on the case! As we wrapped up the conversation, I thought he would be ready to get off and running, but he managed to turn the tables on me at the last minute. "Why don't you take this document and write out your responses and send it back to me," he said. It seemed like a completely reasonable request at the time, but in reality it was a challenging assignment, to say the least.
I've been working on it over the past few weeks, sort of off and on, when I haven't been sick with the pneumonia or drowning in student work to grade. Yesterday was my self-imposed deadline for getting it done and back to JD. This coming weekend is ATLOSCON, and I absolutely had to get the Creative Brief out of my hair before then, otherwise it would have been 2 more weeks of delay.
My writing-a-difficult-essay process works like this: I write a bit, maybe for half an hour or so, then get hungry or thirsty. So I allow myself to go to the kitchen and get some noms. Then I come back and write some more. Then I decide to put on some music, but usually have a hard time finding the right thing in my iTunes. Sometimes I can write to music but it usually has to be something I'm not that familiar with, or it will distract me too much. The late Beethoven piano sonatas can be good to write by, as they are more contemplative, I think -- except for the Hammerklavier. Then I write some more. I have given up being bothered by my wandering mind's interruptions. I think my subconscious just needs some breathing room sometimes, and it lets me know, when the flow of ideas gets interrupted.
After a bit more writing, I will have a sudden realization about a particular passage in a Beethoven piano sonata, and have to go look up the Wikipedia article to get an answer. Yesterday's Beethoven distraction had to do with the structure of the second movement of his Piano Sonata #5 in C minor, Opus 10 No. 1. (Wikipedia describes the movement as having sonatina form - meaning a simplified sonata form with no development section.) I've been studying that sonata lately; it's an interesting one because it is an early work, and it foreshadows many of his future compositions in C minor, like the Grand Sonata Pathetique, the 5th Symphony, and his lesser-known 32 Variations in C minor (among others). Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I've had to put on the Coriolan Overture (also in C minor) to see if I can find any similarities there. (Coriolan always makes me feel like I'm in a spy movie. It has a dramatic element that sounds like Jason Bourne doing parkour over the rooftops of Berlin, alternating with a tender, somewhat more romantic (but still dramatic) second theme.)
See? I'm doing it right now. I'm trying to write this blog post, and Beethoven has me completely under his spell. Anyway, I finally got through my writing project yesterday, reread and edited it, and sent it off. Then I shifted gears around dinner time and took the dogs for a long-ish walk over in Echo Park. We don't tend to go over there for walks, but I like that area, and my thoughts of moving out of this house have returned (along with recent reports from neighbors that the dog that attacked Paul and I last year has been seen loose in the neighborhood again). So, you could say we were doing a bit of reconnaissance towards the idea of possibly moving, perhaps next year sometime.
All afternoon, I'd been hitting the coffee pretty hard. After our walk, I was pretty excited about all the good work I'd gotten done, and my brain was still snapping along pretty well, so I resumed working on my ATLOSCON talk. This involved going back through old photos, deciding what images to re-scan, and realizing that I had my own new photographs of Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building, as well as his Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, which was installed at the Chicago Art Institute after the Stock Exchange was tragically torn down in the '60s or '70s.
I just worked right on through until about 1:45, and finally decided I really should go to bed if I wanted to be at all productive today. By the time I finally got into bed and watched a couple of videos online to help my brain turn off, it was 2:30. Somehow I woke up at 7 feeling good. I was expecting to be completely dragged out and hungover feeling, but I'm surprisingly refreshed today. I even tried going back to bed after feeding the dogs, but it just wasn't working for me.
Since I felt pretty good, I decided to started my day with a relatively light dumbbell workout, which I have done a few times over the past few weeks, now that my thumb has returned to mostly-normal after my surgery back in early February. Working out first thing in the morning always gives me a tremendous sense of efficacy, and it really is the best way I can think of to start the day. Perhaps today will mark the start of the return of that excellent habit.
Then I was checking out my Google Reader feed, and saw this excellent post from Trey, on the objectivist virtue of integrity. It's really a solid, thoughtful bit of writing. He observes,
Yesterday I spent most of the day working on a difficult writing project. I'm having my website, as well as the blog here, completely redesigned from scratch. When I started the project with John David, I didn't realize quite what I was in for. Turns out, he's not just a web designer; he's a marketing guy too, and he's chock full of good ideas. So he sent over this Creative Brief that was a few pages long, with lots of questions written out in italics having to do with my objectives, my audience, and their demographics, and some particularly difficult questions about brand character and the competition (!)
During our initial conversation about the Brief, I had to have him explain the concept of brand equity to me. After a little simple math, I calculated my brand equity at about $1.95. So, it turns out there's lots of room for improvement around here in the Online Personal Brand Development department -- and now I have a Pro on the case! As we wrapped up the conversation, I thought he would be ready to get off and running, but he managed to turn the tables on me at the last minute. "Why don't you take this document and write out your responses and send it back to me," he said. It seemed like a completely reasonable request at the time, but in reality it was a challenging assignment, to say the least.
I've been working on it over the past few weeks, sort of off and on, when I haven't been sick with the pneumonia or drowning in student work to grade. Yesterday was my self-imposed deadline for getting it done and back to JD. This coming weekend is ATLOSCON, and I absolutely had to get the Creative Brief out of my hair before then, otherwise it would have been 2 more weeks of delay.
My writing-a-difficult-essay process works like this: I write a bit, maybe for half an hour or so, then get hungry or thirsty. So I allow myself to go to the kitchen and get some noms. Then I come back and write some more. Then I decide to put on some music, but usually have a hard time finding the right thing in my iTunes. Sometimes I can write to music but it usually has to be something I'm not that familiar with, or it will distract me too much. The late Beethoven piano sonatas can be good to write by, as they are more contemplative, I think -- except for the Hammerklavier. Then I write some more. I have given up being bothered by my wandering mind's interruptions. I think my subconscious just needs some breathing room sometimes, and it lets me know, when the flow of ideas gets interrupted.
After a bit more writing, I will have a sudden realization about a particular passage in a Beethoven piano sonata, and have to go look up the Wikipedia article to get an answer. Yesterday's Beethoven distraction had to do with the structure of the second movement of his Piano Sonata #5 in C minor, Opus 10 No. 1. (Wikipedia describes the movement as having sonatina form - meaning a simplified sonata form with no development section.) I've been studying that sonata lately; it's an interesting one because it is an early work, and it foreshadows many of his future compositions in C minor, like the Grand Sonata Pathetique, the 5th Symphony, and his lesser-known 32 Variations in C minor (among others). Now that I'm sitting here thinking about it, I've had to put on the Coriolan Overture (also in C minor) to see if I can find any similarities there. (Coriolan always makes me feel like I'm in a spy movie. It has a dramatic element that sounds like Jason Bourne doing parkour over the rooftops of Berlin, alternating with a tender, somewhat more romantic (but still dramatic) second theme.)
See? I'm doing it right now. I'm trying to write this blog post, and Beethoven has me completely under his spell. Anyway, I finally got through my writing project yesterday, reread and edited it, and sent it off. Then I shifted gears around dinner time and took the dogs for a long-ish walk over in Echo Park. We don't tend to go over there for walks, but I like that area, and my thoughts of moving out of this house have returned (along with recent reports from neighbors that the dog that attacked Paul and I last year has been seen loose in the neighborhood again). So, you could say we were doing a bit of reconnaissance towards the idea of possibly moving, perhaps next year sometime.
All afternoon, I'd been hitting the coffee pretty hard. After our walk, I was pretty excited about all the good work I'd gotten done, and my brain was still snapping along pretty well, so I resumed working on my ATLOSCON talk. This involved going back through old photos, deciding what images to re-scan, and realizing that I had my own new photographs of Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Building, as well as his Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, which was installed at the Chicago Art Institute after the Stock Exchange was tragically torn down in the '60s or '70s.
I just worked right on through until about 1:45, and finally decided I really should go to bed if I wanted to be at all productive today. By the time I finally got into bed and watched a couple of videos online to help my brain turn off, it was 2:30. Somehow I woke up at 7 feeling good. I was expecting to be completely dragged out and hungover feeling, but I'm surprisingly refreshed today. I even tried going back to bed after feeding the dogs, but it just wasn't working for me.
Since I felt pretty good, I decided to started my day with a relatively light dumbbell workout, which I have done a few times over the past few weeks, now that my thumb has returned to mostly-normal after my surgery back in early February. Working out first thing in the morning always gives me a tremendous sense of efficacy, and it really is the best way I can think of to start the day. Perhaps today will mark the start of the return of that excellent habit.
Then I was checking out my Google Reader feed, and saw this excellent post from Trey, on the objectivist virtue of integrity. It's really a solid, thoughtful bit of writing. He observes,
The simplest possible definition or explanation of the virtue of integrity that I can offer is this: consistency. Integrity is about always always always pursuing your values in the same way according to the same principles.
Reading it really helped me resolve a lot of the things I've been wrestling with over the past few months. Basically, since the middle of January, I've felt completely down and out, first from the hand surgery and recovery, which was closely followed by the bout of pneumonia. This has definitely been one of the most depressing periods of my life; I think it has rivaled 2004, which I refer to as my Dark Year. At least this latest experience was relatively short-lived by comparison.
Towards the end, Trey sums up with, "Integrity is about serving your larger goals. This is why when I stop to think about my career, I am always absolutely ruthless. " This just completely hit home for me.
I've had a clear sense over the past couple of weeks, as I've returned to work and seen some new opportunities opening up for me, that the clouds were parting and the sun was coming back out again. But there were nagging doubts lingering in my mind, just like the cough lingers as your lungs work to get all the junk out after the pneumonia has cleared up.
But today is different. I'm through indulging in any more self-doubt. It really is an indulgence that I simply cannot afford any more of, and am no longer willing to engage in.
Today the sun is back out, and it's shining down on me. And it's the same sun and same blue sky that shone down on Louis Henri Sullivan in Chicago the 1890s when he was at the height of his powers, and it's the same sun and blue sky that shone down on Ludwig van Beethoven in Vienna in the 1790s when he was writing that early C minor sonata that planted seeds for those future masterpieces.
And now, I'm going to go out and be absolutely ruthless.
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5/24/11 Update: Link added for John David
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5/24/11 Update: Link added for John David
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
ATLOSCON Architecture Talk
I'm getting very excited about my upcoming talk on architecture, to be given at the Atlanta Objectivist Society's conference, ATLOSCON. It's nearly a week away!
This is a re-polished version of the talk I gave last fall at FROST in Denver. The talk was very well received there, and I'm pretty optimistic that the folks down in Atlanta will enjoy it just as much.
The talk starts with a reading of the scene from The Fountainhead where Roark and the Dean are arguing about the proper principles with which to approach architectural design. From there I discuss three of the early heroes of the modern architectural movement, and how they did actually have the right ideas from the get-go, which led to many great and fabulous buildings.
Many (most?) people have heard of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a lot of people are even aware of his mentor, Louis Sullivan. Sullivan brought us the seminal concept 'Form Follows Function.' Few people, however, know about Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, the early 18th Century French architect and theorist, whose ideas heavily influenced Sullivan.
Viollet-le-Duc wrote things like:
There's still time to register, so get on board and come hear my talk at ATLOSCON!
This is a re-polished version of the talk I gave last fall at FROST in Denver. The talk was very well received there, and I'm pretty optimistic that the folks down in Atlanta will enjoy it just as much.
The talk starts with a reading of the scene from The Fountainhead where Roark and the Dean are arguing about the proper principles with which to approach architectural design. From there I discuss three of the early heroes of the modern architectural movement, and how they did actually have the right ideas from the get-go, which led to many great and fabulous buildings.
Many (most?) people have heard of Frank Lloyd Wright, and a lot of people are even aware of his mentor, Louis Sullivan. Sullivan brought us the seminal concept 'Form Follows Function.' Few people, however, know about Eugene-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, the early 18th Century French architect and theorist, whose ideas heavily influenced Sullivan.
Viollet-le-Duc wrote things like:
If we take separately all the members of a Greek temple and study them individually, as well as in their direct relation to the whole, we shall invariably perceive the influence of those intelligent and delicate observations which attest the presence of art, -- that exquisite sentiment which subordinates every form to reason, not indeed t the dry and pedantic reason of the geometrician, but to reason as directed by the senses and by observation of the laws of nature.and
[The Greeks] neither invented any type of Architecture nor any system of construction; but they applied the principles of logic to Architectural Art, and this they never derived from the Eastern races nor even from the Egyptians. In this the Greeks are the Fathers of the Western world; -- it was they who opened the way of progress. Though lovers of form, they never sacrificed principle to it until their genius was stifled under Roman domination; but then they were no longer Greeks.I love how much emphasis he places on reason, and acting on principle. There's even more great stuff to be discovered in his writings, which we'll look at in the talk. We'll also review key passages from Sullivan and Wright's own writings, as well as look at some of the buildings the three of them designed during their careers.
There's still time to register, so get on board and come hear my talk at ATLOSCON!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Tuesday Night OList Happy Hour: SnowCon, ATLOSCON, and OCON
2011 is shaping up to be an exciting year for Objectivist conferences.
- This week is SnowCon, the much-anticipated Objectivist mini-conference hosted by Front Range Objectivism in Denver. I will be there for the weekend, but will miss the skiing/snowshoeing/other outdoor activities during the week. I'm very excited to see my FRO friends, as well as other friends who are flying in. Plus, I will get to meet some internet friends for the first time in real life, which I'm quite looking forward to, as well.
- Coming up over Memorial Day weekend, will be ATLOSCON, the second mini-conference to be put on by the Atlanta Objectivist Society. I'm scheduled to speak at that one, so naturally I'm quite excited about it! Their 2010 MiniCon was a great success, by all accounts.
- ARI has just posted the info and registration page for OCON 2011, which will be held in Ft. Lauderdale next summer, around July 4th. Last summer, I attended my first OCON, and it was an amazing experience.
- I thought I had seen information on at least one other regional conference later in the year, but can't seem to find any official information to which to link. If anyone knows about something I don't, please contact me and I'll be happy to add it.
-----------------------
UPDATE 3/8: I received the following email from David Maltby over at Chicago Objectivists:
I'm excited about all of these, although it's still uncertain whether or not I'll be able to attend OCON. I probably won't know until around mid or late May.
This week's happy hour will be all about the conferences.
- This week is SnowCon, the much-anticipated Objectivist mini-conference hosted by Front Range Objectivism in Denver. I will be there for the weekend, but will miss the skiing/snowshoeing/other outdoor activities during the week. I'm very excited to see my FRO friends, as well as other friends who are flying in. Plus, I will get to meet some internet friends for the first time in real life, which I'm quite looking forward to, as well.
- Coming up over Memorial Day weekend, will be ATLOSCON, the second mini-conference to be put on by the Atlanta Objectivist Society. I'm scheduled to speak at that one, so naturally I'm quite excited about it! Their 2010 MiniCon was a great success, by all accounts.
- ARI has just posted the info and registration page for OCON 2011, which will be held in Ft. Lauderdale next summer, around July 4th. Last summer, I attended my first OCON, and it was an amazing experience.
- I thought I had seen information on at least one other regional conference later in the year, but can't seem to find any official information to which to link. If anyone knows about something I don't, please contact me and I'll be happy to add it.
-----------------------
UPDATE 3/8: I received the following email from David Maltby over at Chicago Objectivists:
Indeed, there is a Chicago MiniCon in the works for Labor Day weekend (September 4 & 5) 2011, and we are currently gathering proposals for presentations. I've added a link from our home page to the proposal submission form, which was previously circulated to our members via email: http://www.-----------------------chicagoobjectivists.org/ minicon-2011-proposals/. Please feel free to direct others to that page. The deadline for submissions is April 1st, and those selected will be notified by the end of April.
I'm excited about all of these, although it's still uncertain whether or not I'll be able to attend OCON. I probably won't know until around mid or late May.
This week's happy hour will be all about the conferences.
----------------------------
Tonight's Menu:
Appetizer: Are you attending or considering any of the conferences being offered this year? If so, what are you most looking forward to?
Drink Special: What Objectivist conferences have you attended in the past? What were your favorite things, either specifically or generally, about it/them?
----------------------------
Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.
Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat. You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.
You will see the chat window that looks like this:
On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself. At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest. If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.
Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
OList Happy Hour: Spotlight on OGeeks
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Why Paleo?
Tonight's Happy Hour Chat covers a topic of general interest for those on the OEvolve list, and perhaps those lurking therein, and was submitted to the Google Moderator by none other than the OList OWner, Diana Hsieh:
----------------------------
Tonight's Menu:
Appetizer: What made you start eating paleo (or paleo-ish)?
Drink Special: What other eating strategies have you tried? What were their drawbacks and/or benefits?
----------------------------
Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.
Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat. You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.
You will see the chat window that looks like this:
On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself. At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest. If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.
Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Travel
There are two travel-themed topic suggestions on the Google Moderator we set up for Happy Hour suggestions, "Which city has the most Objectivist-like culture?" and "Countries each of us has traveled to, and what's better or worse there compared to the USA." Thanks and a big OLists Shout Out to Adam Thompson for suggesting them.
The first suggestion of the two has a link to this essay, where Paul Graham makes some pretty interesting observations about cities.
The first suggestion of the two has a link to this essay, where Paul Graham makes some pretty interesting observations about cities.
As of this writing, Cambridge seems to be the intellectual capital of the world. I realize that seems a preposterous claim. What makes it true is that it's more preposterous to claim about anywhere else ... Cambridge as a result feels like a town whose main industry is ideas, while New York's is finance and Silicon Valley's is startups.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Happy Hour + Some OList Social Announcements
Warning: There is a lot more than just Happy Hour going on in the world of OList Socials this week, so make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the post!
Happy Hour:
This week, we're slightly changing the format of the OList Happy Hour Menu announcements. We've started using Google Moderator for people to submit and vote on chat topic suggestions (see your OList email for more details about that). I like the idea of crowd-sourcing the chat topic from among those who participate in the chats.
Happy Hour:
This week, we're slightly changing the format of the OList Happy Hour Menu announcements. We've started using Google Moderator for people to submit and vote on chat topic suggestions (see your OList email for more details about that). I like the idea of crowd-sourcing the chat topic from among those who participate in the chats.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Winter Reads
I'm not someone who reads all that much. Lately, I've been trying to figure out why this is, and make an effort to read more.
In addition to introspecting, I have also consolidated my library into one section of my bedroom, where I have set up both a desk and a comfy reading chair, in an effort to make the whole experience as pleasurable as possible (although the comfy chair can be counter-productive, especially with the close proximity of my bed. Get me too comfy and I want to stretch out.)
I think one reason I have a hard time making the time to read, is that it doesn't really seem like productive activity. Why sit and read when you could be doing something?! I realize that this is a complete fallacy, and there is tremendous practical value to be gained from reading. Part of my new reading effort involves reminding myself of this practical value, and then carefully choosing my titles accordingly.
Last night I made a new discovery about my reading habits, as I was trying, yet again, to get through Tara Smith's Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality. I was surprised to find a few dogeared pages in the first couple chapters, and realized that I had gotten farther than I had remembered, in my first attempt with this book a few years ago. Last night was actually the second night in a row with Viable Values and the comfy chair. The previous night had ended with me stretching out on the bed after being overcome with The Sleepy. When I saw things headed that same direction last night, I realized I needed to take a different approach. I stepped metaphorically back and examined what was going on.
The first 3 chapters of this book are very technical (for me, at least) descriptions and refutations of the failure of traditional philosophical underpinnings of the subject of morality. While I'm sure this material is extremely important from the point of view of scholarship and such, and needs to be there for the book to be taken seriously in academic circles, I'm really mainly interested in the later parts: Chapter 4: Morality's Roots in Life, Chapter 5: Morality's Reward: Flourishing, and Chapter 6: Principled Egoism: The Only Way to Live.
I realized that the only way I was going to get to those chapters was to give myself permission to skip the boring parts. This idea is somewhat revolutionary for me, and I have a feeling it will end up being very helpful in the long run. After all, should I discover I've missed some vital concept, I can always go back and read it later. The words will still be there on the page, that's the beauty of books!
After making this realization, I decided I had put in enough effort and it was ok to stretch out on the bed.
I'll try again with Chapter 4 tonight, and I'll sit at my desk rather than in the comfy chair.
My quest for developing reading as a habit makes me curious of the reading habits of others. Thus, tonight's topic.
This Week's Menu:
In addition to introspecting, I have also consolidated my library into one section of my bedroom, where I have set up both a desk and a comfy reading chair, in an effort to make the whole experience as pleasurable as possible (although the comfy chair can be counter-productive, especially with the close proximity of my bed. Get me too comfy and I want to stretch out.)
I think one reason I have a hard time making the time to read, is that it doesn't really seem like productive activity. Why sit and read when you could be doing something?! I realize that this is a complete fallacy, and there is tremendous practical value to be gained from reading. Part of my new reading effort involves reminding myself of this practical value, and then carefully choosing my titles accordingly.
Last night I made a new discovery about my reading habits, as I was trying, yet again, to get through Tara Smith's Viable Values: A Study of Life as the Root and Reward of Morality. I was surprised to find a few dogeared pages in the first couple chapters, and realized that I had gotten farther than I had remembered, in my first attempt with this book a few years ago. Last night was actually the second night in a row with Viable Values and the comfy chair. The previous night had ended with me stretching out on the bed after being overcome with The Sleepy. When I saw things headed that same direction last night, I realized I needed to take a different approach. I stepped metaphorically back and examined what was going on.
The first 3 chapters of this book are very technical (for me, at least) descriptions and refutations of the failure of traditional philosophical underpinnings of the subject of morality. While I'm sure this material is extremely important from the point of view of scholarship and such, and needs to be there for the book to be taken seriously in academic circles, I'm really mainly interested in the later parts: Chapter 4: Morality's Roots in Life, Chapter 5: Morality's Reward: Flourishing, and Chapter 6: Principled Egoism: The Only Way to Live.
I realized that the only way I was going to get to those chapters was to give myself permission to skip the boring parts. This idea is somewhat revolutionary for me, and I have a feeling it will end up being very helpful in the long run. After all, should I discover I've missed some vital concept, I can always go back and read it later. The words will still be there on the page, that's the beauty of books!
After making this realization, I decided I had put in enough effort and it was ok to stretch out on the bed.
I'll try again with Chapter 4 tonight, and I'll sit at my desk rather than in the comfy chair.
My quest for developing reading as a habit makes me curious of the reading habits of others. Thus, tonight's topic.
This Week's Menu:
Appetizer: What are your reading habits? Meaning: how often do you pick up a book and read, and for how long at a time? How many different titles do you have going at once? Do you use an ebook reader or Kindle? Where do you learn about new books that interest you?
Drink Special: What titles are you reading now, what have you recently finished, and what is on your reading list? What stands out that you would recommend? What do you not recommend?
Happy Hour Mechanics:
Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.
Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat. You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.
You will see the chat window that looks like this:
On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself. At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest. If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.
Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Habits of Excellence
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle
Tonight in OLists Happy Hour, we are going to discuss Habits of Excellence, inspired by this quote from Aristotle.
Tonight in OLists Happy Hour, we are going to discuss Habits of Excellence, inspired by this quote from Aristotle.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Household Productivity
During last week's Happy Hour, while we were discussing goals and projects for the new year, a side conversation came up between some parents in the group. It had to do with trying to be productive with repetitive household tasks and such, in order to leave more time for various projects and things that really matter.
There was some discussion of the Getting Things Done system, and then Rose remarked, "...I was wondering if support for organizing housework should be some threads on OProducers.
That was when the lightbulb upstairs went on, alerting me that whenever there is talk of overlap between Olist groups, it's a topic that should be developed, dissected, and discussed in detail at Happy Hour.
There was some discussion of the Getting Things Done system, and then Rose remarked, "...I was wondering if support for organizing housework should be some threads on OProducers.
That was when the lightbulb upstairs went on, alerting me that whenever there is talk of overlap between Olist groups, it's a topic that should be developed, dissected, and discussed in detail at Happy Hour.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Completing Projects & Setting Goals for 2011
Last week at the OLists Happy Hour, we had a rousing and fun discussion of everyone's achievements, looking back over 2010.
In fact, it was so much fun, that I want to open this week's discussion to anyone who didn't get the opportunity last week. Feel free to join in and tell your achievements alongside our discussion of goals for the New Year. Read about last weeks menu here.
For those who had their fill of retrospectivity last week, let's look ahead to next year:
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: The Gift of Achievement
As Christmas fast approaches, and many of us are busy preparing to celebrate with family and friends this weekend, a specific observation occurs to me.
In discussing Christmas, in 1976, Ayn Rand observed:
In discussing Christmas, in 1976, Ayn Rand observed:
The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: “Merry Christmas”—not “Weep and Repent.” And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form—by giving presents to one’s friends, or by sending them cards in token of remembrance...Years earlier, she wrote this passage in Atlas Shrugged, when Dagny is about to run the first train on the John Galt line:
She looked at the crowd and she felt...a sense of fitness that they should be here, that they should want to see it, because the sight of an achievement was the greatest gift a human being could offer to others.
As we approach the end of the year, I think there is real value in looking back on our individual achievements from the past year, both as a source of spiritual fuel, and as a means of checking one's bearings in contemplation of goals to set for the new year.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday Night OLists Happy Hour: Is College Worth It?
(Note: This question has been suggested for Diana Hsieh's next Rationally Selfish Webcast, where she discusses various questions related to practical ethics, each Sunday morning. If you find this topic of interest, check out her webcast info page here. She suggested the topic for Happy Hour, and I think its a good one!)
Something that seems essentially taken for granted these days is the importance of a college diploma. But is college really worth it? As education costs continue to rise, and students/graduates find themselves saddled with huge amounts of student loan debt, one can easily see from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis that the question is not trivial.
Something that seems essentially taken for granted these days is the importance of a college diploma. But is college really worth it? As education costs continue to rise, and students/graduates find themselves saddled with huge amounts of student loan debt, one can easily see from the point of view of cost-benefit analysis that the question is not trivial.
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