Wednesday, December 14, 2005

This n That

I'm all done with finals! Yay! No more tests or homework EVER!

I posted that quote on Sunday to let people ponder the notion of collectivism and I was overwhelmed by the discussion that has ensued. Everyone interprets things in different ways, and I posted it because I was struck at how much the quote could apply to today's society. The lack of drive to keep up with current events was what I was referring to, though the discussion veered off course. The fact that people were willing to engage in such a discussion obviously proves me wrong. I now believe that we are in no danger of becoming a collectivist society as long as there are people like Scott, lefty_grrl and my dad out there. Thank you guys! As a footnote, I got the quote from the introduction that Ayn Rand wrote to her book, Anthem, which was our book club selection for this month. Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism is not political and she shunned governemt of any form. The quote and her philosophy refers to objectivism on a more rudamentary level. Wikipedia defines it as being characterized as such:

1. That man must choose his values and actions by reason;
2. That the individual has a right to exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing self to others nor others to self; and
3. That no one has the right to seek values from others by physical force, or impose ideas on others by physical force.

Anyway, those of you who wish to continue the thread politically or otherwise are more than welcome to do so. However, at the risk of alienating some of my readers, I thought I had better take this opportunity to present something not as, well, heavy.

The countdown is on to my trip up to the frozen tundra. One week from today. I am so excited to see my family and friends. But I hate the cold. My God do I hate the cold. I am ready to be spoiled by my family and Dean's family, eat yummy food (without actaully having to cook it OR pay for it), drink yummier wine, see how my stepsister and cousins have grown, catch up with the three classiest broads I know, go see the Timberwolves (and my boyfriend, KG) and forget about work!
But going home always brings me mixed feelings. Moving away from my family was so painful for me. People sometimes assume that only people who aren't strongly tied to their families move away, but that isn't true. I am just as close if not closer to my family than anyone I know and every time I leave Minneapolis I am confronted with the same pain all over again. The pain of knowing how much time must pass before I can see these people again. Knowing that in the meantime things might change. But at the same time, I am so happy to be living down here. Experiencing a new part of the country, a part of the country that doesn't make me suicidal for 4 months of the year. I know we won't be down here forever, and I think it will be neat to describe this life to our kids one day. They'll learn that their mom and dad struck out on their own and had an adventure- a four or five year adventure- and hopefully they'll do the same.

Okay, enough rambling. Time to start catching up on work I've pushed aside the last few days.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is why- I live where other people vacation!!

a few weeks ago your mom asked about the bugs and hurricanes... etc, what's wrong with Minn?.... well mom... BLIZZARDS!! -12 degrees!! -- come visit soon!! :)

I guess we all have to love something about where we live.

Anonymous said...

sweetheart the good lord looked down and said "that agnostic scientist is coming home" and promptly dumped 8 inches of snow, dropped the temperature 20 degrees and just for good measure whipped up an ass kicking 25 mile an hour wind. WELCOME BACK!

Anonymous said...

What your mom said...plus your auntie is cooking a REAL Christmas dinner this year!!!

Anonymous said...

Point, Set, and Match...

Damn!! That was just too easy. :)

mr. schprock said...

Sorry I missed the Ayn Rand quote. I read "The Fountainhead" and "Anthem" a long time ago in school. Wasn't "Anthem" the one where no one referred to themselves as "I" or "me," but "we" or "us"? And the character of Howard Roark in "The Fountainhead" was, I think, Ayn Rand's version of the ideal man. A very tortured and unhappy man to me. It made me think I'd be better off as a mindless, non-individualistic automaton!

But I do understand her points and think they're valid. The world needs Ayn Rands.

Natalie said...

I'm excited to have a real Christmas dinner this year as long as my family promises to ignore the vile language that will be coming out of my mouth every time that 25 mile an hour 20 degree wind his my face.

I really enjoyed Anthem but am debating if I should read the Fountainhead. I hadn't heard that the main character was based on Frank Lloyd Right but the mediator at my book group mentioned that they were good friends. Yes, Anthem was with the "we" and the "us" which was tough to get used to, but really brought the point across. Part of what I liked about it was the absolutely bare bones story and characters. By the looks of it, the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged aren't quite as sparse...

Scott said...

I loved the book Fountainhead, but didn't enjoy Atlas Shrugged as much. Fountainhead moved me. Atlas Shrugged had something like a 100 page speech in it that bored me to tears.