Welcome to Objectivist Living. Come on in and say hello.

Look what Kitten did!

I love you, sweetie. Always will.

Michael

Yo, momma. Can I join?

Considering I'm sort of helping you and all....

Alrighty then ^.^

Hiya.

Welcome Inky! (Gotta name?)

Hey Sarah!

Let's get down!!!!!

Guest - you just did one on me. How on earth did you post without registering? I loved that trick. (Maybe I wanna do it at other places too - heheheheh...)

Michael

Register? You have to register?

Isn't "Guest" [the first one] and INKY the same person? And wouldn't that be one of Kat's kittens? [note: location: "down the hall"]. Just figurin' stuff out.

Mike E.

Dayaamm Mike,

:oops:

You mean I started here by being WRONG about something? And in my family life?????

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

What will the Objectivist world say about that?

Might as well hump off a bridge or something.

(er... jump that is... )

Welcome, friend. It's good to see you.

Michael

Hi everyone glad you could stop in. I kinda left the door unlocked there for a sec but I think it is now set up correctly.

Kat

If any of you folks have any trouble getting your picture up, please send a copy to Kat as an attachment at katdaddy@comcast.net and she will do her magic.

Michael

HOWDY!

gw

Gary,

Great to see you here. (Was it my good looks that brought you here or.. ahem... er... anyway...)

We gonna party...

Get ready.

Michael

Michael, this is what you needed.
I am very happy for you. I will be a regular costumer.

Ciao, amico carissimo.

Kat, if Michael were a woman He wanted to be like you. lolololol

Keep dreaming Michael! lol
Ciao.

Hi, Kat & Mike & Everybody!

I have already posted twice, once as a guest and once as a member. Interesting how that works.

Kat, I just sent you an email with a pic of myself attached. I already cropped it a bunch, but it still was too large (too many pixels) to upload. I hope you can "do your magic" on it so it will upload. Thanks in advance!

Best 2 all,
REB

Ciro,

Thanks for being aboard. You know that wherever I am, you are always welcome. You are my kind of people. (I don't know who has a bigger whatchmacallit, though... b )

Roger,

That goes for you too. btw - I love your picture. You even look handso... er... better save that for another site...

Michael

Hi Kat and MSK! Congrats on your new website; three Objectivism sites in three days. Wow! Soon we'll dominate cyberspace.

Kat, good to see you on your visit to D.C. recently. Feel free both -- both of you -- to see us if you get to D.C.

Regards,
Ed Hudgins

Mike, keep it clean, there are kittens around.

Yes, I am the Kat's kitten. One of them.

I wanted to say that I hope this site flourishes, I hope objectivism flourishes, and I hope the two of you flourish. I have no doubt really about the two of you flourishing actually, so I'll just say that I hope I'm around to share in it. I admire you both, I respect you both and I'm glad to know both of you. Thanks for having me over.

Ed,

What an honor! Thank you for showing up. I hope we will be seeing you at times. We certainly will be plugging TOC and its authors.

Jody,

We're getting ready to have a blast. Thanks so much for the nice thoughts. Glad you're aboard and let's do some good stuff around here.

Inky,

ahem... I'll try, but, well... er... talk to yo momma...

Michael

@#$%$%*&*!!! :twisted:

I just noticed that Jody's name is next to Barbara Branden's on the member list!

Lucky dog!


gw

Oh, you didn't know they were an item???

I think its cool just to have my name on the same page as hers!

Oh, and yours too Kat!

gw

Well, darlin' thanks for the compliment. purrrrrrrrrr

I am deleting the duplicate post for you. Those things happen sometimes. I will try to catch and clean them up when I see them.

Kat

Kat wrote: "Oh, you didn't know they were an item???"

I thought everyone knew. Didn't you think so, Jody?

Barbara

Barbara-
Out of deference to you, I've kept it hush-hush. However, it seems to have now been exposed here on Objectivist Living, which is great by me. Now we can stop meeting in dark and dank alleyways.

Thought I'd stop in and say hello. Where's the egg nog?



(Note from Administrator: This poster actually joined OL on the date of the post, but later asked to be removed from the member list before the forum was transferred to a new program, thus his original member name was lost. He later rejoined on August 6, 2006.)

Hey Ethan, glad you made it in. Ciro is mixing up some eggnog in the kitchen. Enjoy!

Kat

btw - great article over there

I moved this in from the Objectivist Living Room.

Just moving furniture around.

Michael

Michael & Kat,

Congrats on 100. It's just the beginning.

Paul

My name is Joseph. Though I've enjoyed the works of Ayn Rand for many years, this is the first Objectivist site I've joined. From reading the posts, everyone here seems pretty friendly. I'd like to stick around and see if we can generate some stimulating discussions.
Check back soon.
Joseph

Paul,

Thank you. That may be only 98, though, because two of our posters have emails that bounce and they never visit (one is even from "Occupied Palestine"). Se we will probably delete their accounts after a while for housekeeping and if the people who registered them are really interested, they can join again.

Still, it is heartening how many good people are joining.

Joseph-612,

It's great to see you. If you are like I used to be, you have been part of "The Silent Contingency" for a while because interaction with Objectivists was just too complicated. You sound very friendly and that is a top value here.

Welcome aboard. I look forward to your discussions.

Michael

Michael,

OK, now is it congrats on 100?

Paul

Paul,

LOLOLOLOLOLOL...

Sure. (But it is still a fudge because Mike Lee registered twice. The next one should do it.)

Michael

Paul

Now it's safe. No. 103 just checked in.

WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!! WE'RE THE GREATEST!!!

//;-))

/

Michael

((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug)) ((hug))

100 hugs!! OL ROCKS!!!

Kat

Michael

Aaahhh...what were we talking about again? :-k :-k

Just kidding. Now I can say with full confidence, CONGRATS!!!!
(I think)

Paul

And such a concentration of quality!

I would like to add a congratulations in here for surpassing the 100 mark also, and I would like to add that the overall feeling I get from this board is courtesy from others even if there is disagreement. It is enjoyable in contrast to some boards I frequent.

I like an old saying which goes "in order to disagree I don't have to be disagreeable".

That reminds me of an ad I saw decades ago in (I think) the Scientific American, with the text: "We'd like to hire some disagreeable young men" (or something similar). The joke was of course that they used "disagreeable" in the uncommon sense of "people who're not afraid to disagree", but the wording caught my attention (so that I even remember it now) and that was of course also their intention.

Hello everyone. I've spent about the last three hours of my life in the company of some very interesting people; you! Thank you for that. I've been missing that lately. :-({|= I was looking for somewhere here I could simply post that in thanks, but there appears to be no way to communicate anything here without registering. Ah well, welcome to the 21st Century. Bite the bullet. Jump in.

Accept my apologies in advance for any faux pas I may unknowingly commit. I'm ordinarily not a Web Forum kind of guy. I'm more a Usenet News & mailinglist sort. This format feels a little odd to me ... Eh. So hi. Thanks for the rays of sunshine. 8-[

Stephen (tqk),

A hearty welcome to our home. I hope you join us for conversation sometimes. I like computer people.

Michael

(Note from Administrator: The text appears to have been deleted by the poster.)

Okay, so I'm a lapsed Objectivist. Haven't affiliated with any of the various branches which lead away from the original NBI/ARI trunk, nor with the original trunk. I need to be educated as to the difference between these different Objectivist followings to determine where I should be.
Can anyone objectively describe the differences and similarities in the Objectivist thinking of SOLO, TOC, ARI, OL, etc.
FYG - I first read AS when I was sixteen, 39 years ago. I've read Rand's other works, and subscribed for a few years to the Objectivist (published then by NBI). Couldn't afford the lectures at NBI back then, although I heard part of one while their office was still at the Empire State Building. Never left the philosophy, although over the years have found myself skirting between what I felt was correct and what I felt was necessary (or pragmatic). So how has thought or reasoning on Objectivism changed over the past 39 years?
My wife bought me my first hardbound edition of AS for Christmas, and I re-read it for the sixth or seventh time. I find it as re-assuring, and inspiring as I did when I was sixteen, and, as every other time, I find myself re-examining my objectivism, and gauging myself. So I'd like to see what different thought processes and growth have shaped Objectivism today (and hoping I'll find most of them to be consistent).
So...can anyone start with the basics?

JTR,

Welcome aboard. I look forward to reading your posts. We are honored you are here, also, as we are honored with the presence of all people of good will. I hope you find and provide value here.


Waterclerk (lapsed Objectivist),

Welcome to you too. You're asking the wrong person about how Objectivism has changed over the last few decades. I was in Brazil for over 30 years and only came back a little over a year ago. (I am appalled at many of the things I have seen this last year.)

I will let you explore the other places as you go along. Here on OL, we have a handful of high-quality posters who prize civility, talent and intelligence. Barbara Branden posts here regularly. (I know of no other place where she posts regularly.) There are too many great thinkers to cite them all in a small post.

Our focus is on exploring and questioning ideas, especially Objectivist ones, making good friends, and fostering new works. We are not so much into preaching, leaving that to other places.

We are enormously inspired by Ayn Rand's magnificent works and life, yet look at the shortcomings of both. We are not of the true believer mentality.

We also study the marvelous works of the Brandens. We do not blame them for all the wrongs in the Objectivist world. On the contrary, we honor them, their essential contribution to Objectivism and their life's work.

We print op-eds from both TAS/TOC and ARI with the permission of both, along with contributions from other prominent and not-so-prominent authors. Both Robert Bidinotto and Ed Hudgins from TAS/TOC post here sometimes. I doubt anybody comparable from ARI will come because of our posture about the Brandens.

They sometimes call us names on other sites. I keep an updated list in the "Humor" section.

You can find more on the thread, Basic Objectivist Living Stuff.

Michael

Michael,

My 3 year old daughter was looking at the faces on the screen and asking who they were. She looked at your picture and said, "That's Michael. He's not yucky. He smells good." I guess you have a way with younger women. What cologne do you use that works so well through the internet?

Paul

That's funny Paul, kids are truly awesome.

L W

Paul,

I am completely charmed. Please give your daughter a kiss on the cheek and a tweak on the nose for me.

(btw - The cologne is the cheap stuff from the dollar store - class stuff doesn't work online. )

Michael

Hi,

I'm a stay at home mom living in the California Bay Area. The cookies are 4 1/2 years (b ), 2 1/2 years (b ) and 5 months old (g).

If you're wondering why I go by Cookiemonsterette...My husband and I went to a pig-roast get together organized by members of an online forum that my husband likes to post on. I went on under his username to post some pictures of the event and was christened Cookiemonsterette. I liked it so much I've used it ever since.

I got my BS in Chemical Engineering in 2000, speak Spanish fluently (although my husband says I don't practice it enough), and enjoy filming and editing.

Six months ago I didn't know who Ayn Rand was. One month ago I finished Atlas Shrugged. I'll never see the world the same way again! WOW!!!! Based on a recommendation from a new friend I've made on another Objectivist site I'm going to tackle Leonard Peikoff's Objectivism:The Philosophy of Ayn Rand.

I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone here and discussing Ayn Rand's works, Capitalism and Objectivity.

Hello,
My name is Gonzalo, I´m fifteen years old and I´m from Spain. I have read to Kropotkin and Bakunin, anarchist thinkers (metaphor!), when I was twelve years old. After that I begun read other books or essays around Philosophy, History, literature, Political Sciences, etc. I have read Spanish´s books of José Ortega y Gasset, Ramiro de Maeztu, Pedro Laín Entralgo, Miguel de Unamuno, Miguel de Molinos, Miguel Servet (the discover of the sanguineous fluent), Ramiro Ledesma Ramos, María Zambrano, Rodríguez Huéscar, García Lorca, Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Luis de Góngora(I suggest to read Soledades and Romances), Lope de Vega, Ramón Menéndez Pidal(He has compilated ancient Spanish "romances" on the volume Flor nueva de romances viejos), Ángel Ganivet, Miguel de Cervantes... (and much more of Spanish writers). I have read another books but by foreign writers like Husserl, Heidegger, Gabriele D´Annunzio (not so good...), Dante Alighieri, Giacomo Leopardi (I think this one is some of the best poets. I enjoy a lot his idea of the suicide, you can read that on his Zibaldone di Pensieri but I like more his Cantos), Marx, Keynes, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich August von Hayek, John Locke, Noam Chomsky (This is a painful thinker. He said that the terrorists of "ETA" -a paramilitar group that claims the "fredoom" for Basque Provinces- are fighters of freedom.), etc.
I also read from Aristotle to Herodotos.
I have been on a lot of differents philosophical or politic movements -conservative liberalism, anarchism, phalangism, christianism...- from my twelve year to the fourteen, approximately. I prefer this than the doing of other people that likes the ortodoxy, the non reflexion around -and on- their issues. Ortodoxy is recklessness, unconsciousness.
I have found Atlas Shrugged (La Rebelión de Atlas) on a Library and I have bought it. I read it benefitly and I read more books of Ayn Rand (Fountainhead, Anthem, and I´m seeking for more books with difficulties because of the non existences of Rand´s works here). After that I had a faith crisis (at the time I was catholic) when I have cuestioned me about the reason and other matters.
I haven´t more time, at Spain now is ten to midnight. I would like to stay on this forum longer time (If my embarrasing English allows it).

Thanks you for read this salutation.
Best regards,
Gonzalo Jerez

Don't worry Gonzalo Im sure from reading your post that your English is just fine for this forum. I hope you have an insightful time reading the posts here, I have found many of them very intriguing and insightful myself. Welcom to OL.

Dustan