I figured I should open a thread so that people have a place to introduce themselves. So I'll start.


Hi. My name is Inky and I'm a kitten.

My views are essentially Objectivist, but as a teenager I'm also exploring my own different ideas. So, if I say something that's "unorthodox," kindly keep this in mind. I'm not trying to insult your views or ruin Objectivism, I just like to put a fresh view on things.

Besides, my mom owns the site so you can't yell at me, haha!

Hi everyone,

My name is Kat. I am MSK's kitten and Inky's momma. purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Inky,

I love your drawings (I've noticed them when your mom has
posted a few on the old Solohq site).

As to fresh thoughts... Bravo and delightful. I doubt that
anyone thus far joined up on this site would trounce you for
"unorthodox" ideas, since all of us have those in abundance.
But anyone who does trounce you will hear from me, as
well as probably from your mom.

Ellen

Hi Ellen, I'm really glad to see you here. I wanted to tell you on the other site that your post about painting the roses red was absolutely brilliant. I simply couldn't bring myself to post on that thread. I had stopped interacting with those who wrote CRAP (backwards acronym, hope it catches on).

I'm so glad you like Inky's works. I'm really proud of my very talented daughter and I am pleased that she is participating on this new site. I'm sure she is a bit apprehensive because of all the venom that she saw being aimed at MSK and myself over rather innocent comments and chewing on ideas.

I very much enjoy having a place online where we will find good hearted, decent people who live objectivism and who do not attack other members for deviating from the playbook of orthodox Objectivism. I believe that if someone is touched by the work of Ayn Rand and wants to dig deeper, they should be able to do so without having their head bitten off for questions, comments or not swallowing it whole. I strongly hope that we eventually attract more women here too. BTW, where is Becky?

Kat

Eh, not so much that as I'm waiting until I have something worth saying. Not to mention the fact that my writing skills have gone down the drain, it seems. I blame the public school system.

Hi, Kat.

I'm glad to make your acquaintance (via email) and glad that
you enjoyed my painting-the-roses-red post. That seems to
have struck a chord with a number of people, judging from
off-list comments I've received about it.

Clever of you to think of spelling PARC backward.

Book unread, I expect that were I to read Valliant's prosecutorial
attempts therein, I would find them "crap." I'll acquire the book
one of these days, and I'll read AR's journal entries, as near as
possible ignoring interpolated remarks telling me how I'm
supposed to react. I expect that the memory-lane trip which
reading those journal entries will occasion won't be a pleasant
one -- though not because of the reasons Jim Valliant and
Casey Fahy would suppose. Instead, because I expect that
what I'll see won't be what they did.

Anyway... Enough of uncheerful subjects on this charming
thread.

Ellen


___

Ellen,

Thanks for the kind comments about Kat and defending Inky. Whoever treats my kittens well has a very warm place in my heart.

For the record, the person who first came up with running the acronym backwards was Rodney Rawlings in an e-mail to me. He was not posting on SoloHQ at the time, so I put it up with credit to him (with his approval, of course). It's cute, but I will not be going too much in that direction.

I want to focus on the value of the Brandens' work, the impressions of those who knew Ayn Rand, exploring ideas (I loved your little thing on her characters, comment from me coming), other off-the-mainstream aspects of her philosophy and things like that.

Of course, there is a section covering the traditional aspects of Objectivism which will expand, but that is covered so much in other places that I do not feel the need to make it a strong focus.

My greatest concern is for this site to not become a battleground of personalities and make sure it is a haven where the character of both Brandens is not spit on. In my mind, it is a haven for them by design, where their work can be discussed in a normal tone of voice.

I also want to foster the creation of commercial works from all the talented people who are showing up (of which you are one, Ms. Red Roses).

What the hell am I saying all this on Inky's thread for? (Sorry Tina...)

Michael

Oh, no, it's fine, I meant for this to be a general introduction thread, anyone can introduce themselves, and anyone can welcome them however they like (as long as it's in a friendly manner, of course), which I think you were just doing.

But you all had best hope that we don't follow in the footsteps of another forum that I used to be a part of, in which we attempted to eat newbies online.

I completely agree with Michael about the focus of Objectivist Living being the positive, the life-affirming, the growth-oriented, the happiness-seeking.

When I was going to recovery meetings in Al-Anon, we were encouraged to take our focus off the alcoholic or addict -- read: the person who was abusing us and making us miserable -- and put it onto what was best for us, for our healing and growth and happiness. When addicts and abusive people are deprived of all that unhealthy attention they have attracted, they sometimes come around and become decent people. Or, they precipitate a break and move on to find other victims. Or, we come to see that there is no value in continuing to interact with them, nothing but pain and turmoil and a waste of our precious time on earth.

I was very impressed when I heard Rand and Peikoff say at one point that polemics (i.e., negative, critical focus on other people and their ideas) is a small part of Objectivism, and that positive philosophy is the dominant focus. Yet, I see so many people who profess to agree with this idea nonetheless spending countless hours trying to tear down other people's viewpoints and character. And good people being drawn into futile debates with them about this. (I just raised my hand.)

It just occurred to me that the one thing these people fear most is other people not under their control putting out good, substantial work that attracts attention away from them. As witness all the criticism of such prolific writers as Nathaniel Branden and Chris Sciabarra, who are independent intellectuals writing about Objectivism, psychology, and cultural analysis. Nathaniel and Chris are growing, achieving, doing good work -- and so many of their critics are doing little other than trying to tear them down. What does this tell you? (That's a rhetorical question at this point, right? :-)

Well, enough on that! I am SO glad to be here, with all you, to make Objectivist Living a haven and a place for recovery and health -- and sharing and happiness. :-)

REB

Holy shite, I actually made it through this time.

Some of you may know me or are at least mildly familiar with me.

Anyway, here I go. I'm 26 years old been an Objectivist for about 4/5 years. In my spare moments I've been developing a comic project called "Frontier War" as a series of mini-series and graphic novels so one of my biggest interests within Objectivism is the theory of aesthetics. I'm interested in disected everything within my own sense of life and personal tastes and understanding the principles at work at everything artistic I encounter. I always had an interest in this but Objectivism gave me the best filter I've found thus far.

Comics are my main passion now but I spent most of my teen years as a musician. I'm no longer playing plus I don't expect to get into too many discussions about the finer points of heavy metal and punk rock so I'll probably be dropping it right there.

I've been with my fiancee Amy for six years now and she is my other passion in life. She is an amazingly bright person with a wonderful manner of experiencing the world. I've been amazed by her strength of character in dealing with schizophrenia in a matter so effective that I and many others often forget she's dealing with the problem at all.

That is the information I felt pertinent to mention about myself. Make the most of that.

---Landon

Hi Landon,

I'm glad you finally made it in. Sorry you were having technical problems.

Objectivist Living is a place to develop projects and chew on ideas in a supportive environment and we hope see many projects out in the marketplace over time. If you would like to share your comic book / graphic novel project with the group please feel free to start a new thread for Frontier War up in Creative Writing or maybe Inky's room if it is for a younger audience. Just be sure it's nothing too racy... this is a family site. I have posted instructions on how to put images in your posts in the Tech Support area.

I hope Amy feels welcome here too. Unlike some Objectivists, we don't deny the existence of mental illness or trash psychology as a whole. Saying something doesn't exist doesn't make it go away. If that were so, I'd never get depressed and my son would not have an autistic disorder and no one would ever become addicted to anything.

Anyway, six years is a long time to be engaged. Time to make an honest woman out of her. Do you two have wedding plans yet? Get your ass married already!! /

Wishing the best to you and Amy for the New Year,

Kat

Thanks Kat.

I have the worst Objectivist reason for the long engagement... when get married my income counts against her medacaid. I'm trying to make sure we manage to get some serious insurance before we're out in the cold. But I'll pass the message along.

As for Frontier war since I'm planning it as a series of independant but interconnected projects I think the audience for different projects would fit in different age groups. The first mini-series called Manipulation which I completed writing (it needs some final edits and for me to begin the art chores) is pretty all ages, I'd call it about pg-13. Meanwhile the second project I just started writing called Naked Souls is something I wouldn't feel comfortable marketing to a younger audience, but likewise future projects will be noticably more tame. Sadly for an Objectivist I have a pretty dark writing style. I'll probably keep the overviews handy but when appropriate keep the non-family friendly stuff offsite.

On that note, I thank you. And, I'll be back when I have some more to say.

---Landon

I just wanted to say hi to the new members and extend a special welcome to the new gals around here, Summer from the other O'ist forums; Lydia, Jody's beautiful new wife; and Laura, who I believe is Ciro's daughter. I hope you all enjoy Objectivist Living and make yourselves at home. We're glad you are here.

Kat

Thanks, Kat and Michael, for the welcome. Glad to be here for the ride.

Lydia,

I caught your profile on RoR. It said you like creative writing...

Hmmmmmmmm...

Michael

And I saw that you're interested in cello music. Now that is interesting...

Lydia-
Glad you finally joined me here. Hope you're always with me wherever I go.

Michael-
She not only likes creative writing, but teaches it and will soon have her PhD in it, so I'm looking forward to her contributions in that field. I'm glad the subject is seriously discussed here. That's another thing I love about this site.

Totally agreed. It's good to see a place with writing forums that aren't dying of atrophy.

And yes weclome.

---Landon

Hello everyone. I'm new here.

I live in Hawaii and have been a student of Objectivism since 1997. I joined Rebirth of Reason recently and then decided that I should check out this forum as well. Aloha to you all!

Aloha to you as well.

---Landon

Stuart,

Welcome aboard. Bem vindo and aloha! I hope you like it around here.

You have one hell of a first name. Impeccable taste...

Do you write or compose or paint or whatever or like artists?

Michael

Good to see you here Stuart. Welcome aboard.

Hi Stuart,

Aloha and welcome to Objectivist Living. We're happy to have you here. Make yourself at home and enjoy yourself.

Kat

Hi Stuart,

I enjoyed your thread on the Industrial Revolution on RoR. That UCB website was a good find. The early conditions of the In. Rev. ALWAYS come up in discussions about capitalism. That and the greedy railroad barons. Can't have a discussion about federal banking or unions or the welfare state without hearing about it again. It's good that you're prepared. I look forward to your contributions.

Nice to see you here too!

Mike E.

Mahalo for the warm welcome! Thank you Landon, Kat, Jody, Mike E., and MSK!

MSK wrote,



Thank you; I strongly agree. By that same token, MSK has the awesomest middle name ever. You're much worthier of it than that utilitarian Mill dude. /

Hi,

I bumped into Kat's profile on Atlasphere; it led me here.

I live in the People's State of California, where the War on Productivity is going nearly unchecked.....so far. I'm a geotechnical lab manager for a small firm--I've been doing this for a really long time. Good thing I like playing in the mud. Living every four-year-old boy's dream!

I write when I have time. Work is progressing on a near-future Sci-fi story. I'll read through the Creative Writing topic here, as I can.

Regards to all,

Col. Hogan

Welcome Col. Hogan. It's nice to meet you. We're glad you joined us here at Objectivist Living. I hope you like it here. Please make yourself at home.

You may want to visit the Writing Techniques Workshop where Michael is talking about plots. Since you are a writer, you may find it very helpful. We hope you will share some of your writing projects with us here. We have both a creative writing section for fiction, poetry and songs and an articles thread for non-fiction, personal stories and commentary. And there are also the Objectivist philosophy sections as well as Chewing on Ideas for things philosophical but not necessarily Objectivist thought.

Are you a colonel in real life? I gave Michael the nickname, Colonel, but that character seldom is seen anymore. I kinda miss my colonel and that sweet Southern charm... and those almost indecipherable posts. If you want to read about the Colonel and his Kitten, see The Virtue of Silliness in the articles section.

Again, welcome aboard, Col. Hogan. We are glad to have you here.

Kat

Col Hogan,

Nice to meet you!

"GeoTechnical Lab Manager"... Did you happen to know Bill Mancuso of Pacific Nuclear Technology? I worked for Bill off and on for a few years, both when he was VP of Campbell Pacific Nuclear and owner of PNT. You certainly have a lot of interesting equipment in those soil labs. I sure miss Bill.

Mike E.

Kat,

My name is Wayne, but I was given the name "Col. Hogan" back in the early days of Prodigy bb's, because I argued against fascism in a way that was considered humorous. I refuse to take it (philosophically) seriously. It stuck, and many of my friends still refer to me by that nickname.

I'll take some time to read in the Writing Techniques Workshop in upcoming days. Having read the work of those who've posted, it's occurred to me that I could post an introductory chapter of the novel I'm currently writing.

Mike,

I used Campbell-Pacific nuclear tes gages at times, though most of the gages I used were Troxlers. Most of my career, though, I've been an inside guy. I test the soil that the field guys bring in.

Thanks, both of you, for the welcome.

Regards,

Col. Hogan

Gotta apologize. I didn't actually answer your question. No, while I did use Campbell-Pacific gages some, regrettably. I never met anyone from the firm.

For the past nearly ten years, I've been working in the lab, where we have the mechanical testin gear for testing soil strength in various ways and also how soil reacts in the presence of water. Interesting stuff!

Regards,

Col. Hogan

Hi Col,

Almost missed this one. I gotta pay attention. I know EVERYBODY in California didn't know Bill, but he used to get down there once a month to give classes on use of the gauge and radiation safety. So he knew a bunch of people down there.

Your labs are quite interesting. When I did that kind of work I did some installations of data loggers and some troubleshooting in a soil lab. I had a little trouble figuring out what some of your setups did. Permeability, shear strength, procter curves. There must be about a million pages of soil data generated every day in the US. You can't ever throw any of that data away can you?

Hey, do you call your crew "Hogan's Hero's"? Of course you do!

Hello,

I am a retired music professor presently living in Chicago. I have been studying Objectivism since 1969, and share my approach with one of my best friend, Edward L. Hudgins, whom I've known sinced about 1971. My main interests are music, aesthetics, Joseph Schillinger, and Japanese language. Am looking forward to some interesting exchanges.

Wesley

Welcome Dr. Wesley,

I hope you have a good time here. You mentioned Joesph Schillinger. I read a bit on a Schillinger method of music composition when I was in college in the early 70's. Is this the same one?

I will have to bone up, but I remember he had some interesting ideas - especially about rhythm.

Also - let me take advantage of the opportunity to welcome Col. Hogan/Wayne (sorry I missed you back then).

Michael

Michael,

Thank you for welcome. I'm sure it is the same Joseph Schillinger. Among his illustrious students were included Gershwin, Glenn Miller, John Williams' orchestrator Herbert Spencer and many others. I believe Schillinger found a fundamental approach that allowed analysis and creativity in all valid styles of music, from ethno through jazz. His insights were enormous, and interestingly, when he first started working in this country (he defected when the first Soviet jazz band toured the US with him) he taught design at Columbia University. His Mathematical Basis of the Arts gives some amazing integration of pattern and design in art.
I have long believed that Schillinger's work could play a role in Rand's description of some of the necessary work to be done in music aesthetics.

Wesley

Hi Dr. Lowe,

Welcome to Objectivist Living. Its nice to have a fellow Chicagoan join up. I hope you can meet us for pizza at Gulliver's (Howard & California) on Saturday at 2:00. I recently became the leader of our Chicago Ayn Rand Meet-Up Group. We will be talking about Return of the Primitive, Ch. 3-4 (discussion questions are posted in the library in the thread for Return of the Primitive). I would be delighted if you could come.

Kat

Hello folks. I'm new to the message board thing, so I guess my emoticons will be quite boring. But actually I'm happy to be here, as I get so little chance to talk to people who embrace reason.

I'd love to talk to you all about philosophy, faith, reason, politics, whatever. Please reply.

Love and Liberty,

Don

Don,

Hi.

Welcome aboard.

I was a bit timid about the message board thing when I started too, about a year ago.

Suggestion. Read some of the stuff we have here (incidentally, its great stuff), find something that interests you, then go for it.

Anyway, it only hurts the first time...

Michael

Hi Don,

It was a pleasure to meet you today. Thanks for joining us for pizza at Gullivers.

Kat

Hello All,

I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of OL. I'm a psychologist and financial trader (and a psychologist who works with traders) based in Naperville, IL. I am also a faculty member in a med school department of psychiatry, where I teach brief therapy to psychiatry residents and psychology interns. The book I'm currently writing is a survey of elite performance in various fields--athletics, performing arts, chess, etc.--and what makes expert performers tick (with a particular focus on trading performance).

My greatest interest in Objectivism is the focus on "the best within us" and the role of philosophy in living one's life. My greatest disappointment in Objectivism is with the large number of individuals who seem to equate discussing/debating the philosophy with living it. The focus of this forum on "the art of living consciously" is exciting, and I look forward to hearing about how members are creating works of art out of their own lives.

Brett
www.brettsteenbarger.com

Dayaamm Brett,

That was one hell of an intro! I loved it.

It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I look forward to talking to you.

Michael

Hello.

I'm a 16 year old Indian (a true one, living in India, not a Native American ). I read The Fountainhead a few months ago, and I've been attracted to Objectivist ideas ever since. I'll probably never become a "true-blue" Objectivist, since I have reservations over some ideas, but I find myself in agreement with most of what she wrote.

What I am truly shocked to see is the amount of mud-slinging going on in other "Objectivist" forums (or is it just that some Objectivists, "individualists" by nature, can't interact properly with others?)

I also consider myself very good at most things tech.

BTW, it seems like the "whistle" emoticon is broken.

Hi Sid and welcome to Objectivist Living. I hope you enjoy it here. We do have a special place for the teens to hang called Inky's room, and of course, you can participate the the regular discussions here.

I'm sure you will find that this is not one of those vicious internet gladiator forums. If you see the attacks against us and our members, it is usually comes back to the smear campaign against the Brandens and a lot of petty guilt by association stuff. We just don't allow that to poison our world. It is much better this way.

Michael and I admire the Brandens greatly, and think that they have contributed greatly to the philosophy of Objectivism. Not everyone here admires the Brandens though. That is fine with us. We only ask that Barbara and Nathaniel are not attacked here. This is our home and they are our friends.

Thanks for joining us,

Kat

Hello all.

I'm an Objectivist of the intellectually tolerant, inquisitive, friendly, and self-examining sort. I love life and happiness too much to waste time beating others over the head with the wooden club of morality.

I'm also what you might call a "spiritual" Objectivist in the sense described in the introduction to The Fountainhead, and in its spirit laced throughout the novel. The description of the Temple of the Human Spirit is one of my top favorite passages in the novel.

I'm a charter member of the Fellowship of Reason, which is a tolerant and inclusive Objectivism-inspired philosophical and moral community. The founder of the organization, Martin Cowen, decided that we could learn some valuable things from religion about the value of moral communities (such as churches, temples, etc), but we could do one better by creating a rational moral community dedicated to self-examination, self-actualization, and self-esteem. Philosophy is fine in debate, but excellent as a living, breathing way of life.

I hope to meet some kindred souls at these boards.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Once again, welcome, Mark.

You just described a good many of us to a tee.

I knew that there was sanity in the reason world somewhere out there...

Michael

I think its about time I stopped lurking here, and introduced myself.
My name is Saulius Muliolis (the name is Lithuanian) and I live near Cleveland, Ohio. I have been studying Objectivism for about 15 years, and was introduced to Ayn Rand by a friend of my brother's, who also introduced me to the works of Nathanial Branden. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both of the Brandens for the great value I have gained from both of their works. =D> I have been to two TOC Summer Seminars, one before it was called The Objectivist Center, the other the year they announced the name change.

I have a number of other interests and hobbies, such as windsurfing, kitesurfing, and radio controlled airplanes. I like to try to apply Objectivism to all of these.

This seems to be a very friendly forum, and I hope to spend quite a bit of time here. I also like the selection of emoticons here, and plan to put them to good use.

Wow, welcome to the forum.

If you look at my signature you'll see that the local heretic does a huge
amount of his business in Euclid. I am based out of East Cleveland.

Next year at Euclid Sq. Mall we are planning to host a very large RC convention. I saw a video of it and it was amazing. We are considering building an indoor track there. The thrust is RC racers but I think the airplane guys are going to be included too.

Saul,

Welcome aboard!

A friendly person, knowledgeable in Objectivism for years and friendly towards the Brandens.

Wow! You are a treat. I look forward to your thoughts.

Michael

Yes, I noticed that. Interesting to see a local Objectivist.

It would be great to have a local RC event. I already belong to an informal RC flight club, the North Coast Electric Flyers. Euclid Square Mall should have enough room for some of the smaller electric planes. I would definitly love to attend, and might even do some flying, if you don't require an AMA membership.

When you have schedule information, you are welcome to post it on our forum at http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=258

If you want to see some of my RC, windsurfing, and kitesurfing videos, they are at www.putfile.com/SaulOhio

Hello, I'm Jake. AKA Jack. I'm glad I'm finally back with people I can associate with and respect. I've lived my life (I'm a retired geezer) under the guidance of Objectvism since way back in the late fifties. Since I'm retired now I'm glad to have time to associate with people intellectually capable of understand my (our) philosophy of life and brush up on the latest interpretations (read: details) of Objectivism.

Jake,

Glad to have you aboard. Make yourself at home.

Michael