"Lucy, you got some 'splainin' to do..."
Okay, some 'splainin'--here's why those links are over there:
Anger Management is worth a read simply because Don Watkins likes to think about important things, some of which are not obvious. Look, I'm not trying to assume a pose of "Most Americans don't think, man"--and neither is Don. Go read his take on altruism.
The Ayn Rand Institute is there because, quite simply, Ayn Rand has influenced my thinking since 1975. She's not only an enormous popular culture figure (hey, two bestsellers, each weighing in at over 700 pages?), but a profoundly thinker who, 21 years after her death, has yet to receive explicit recognition for her accomplishments in philosophy. Hint: her definition of logic puts many logic textbooks to shame. Lots of good introductory material at this site.
Banana Oil No, I have no idea what the title means. Nice culture blog, emphasis on film. Maybe someday we'll be watching "Ebert and Hamet" on television...
Chris Matthew Sciabarra is (along with his friend and sometime collaborator, UTEP Professor Mimi Reisel Gladstein) one of the premier Ayn Rand scholars working today. Chris does annoy some in that he likes to quote Ayn Rand and discuss, analyze, and attempt to apply what she actually wrote. Scandalous.
Classical Values is where Eric Scheie advocated the crucifixion of spammers, and added to Don Watkins's discussion of altruism. Take a look. Take more than one look.
The Light of Reason is Arthur Silber's home on the blogglobe, and what a home it is. Look, you people know to what extent I admire Ayn Rand. So if you aren't reading Arthur every day, ask yourself: "Why do I deny myself? What puritan thought courses through my veins? Do I not deserve a daily dose--or more--of The Light of Reason?"
Damn my eyes, I should have started Mudita Journal back when everything on the internet was Unix. See, I'd had this wisp of a thought (aided and abetted by Nietzsche and Walter Kaufmann and correspondence with Roy Childs and Nathaniel Branden) that the Buddhist metaphysics and ethics all amounted to bullshit, but that their technology of mind--meditation, Zen koans, mindfulness--offered value to an Objectivist. Yeah, well, I never pursued that--but Joshua Zader has, and the online Mudita Journal is the result. Please, be good to yourself : go there. Joshua also maintains the list of Objectivist Blogs, quite the internet resource. Finally, if you appreciate natural beauty, Joshua also offers New Mexico Blogs. Now I'm not saying that you are obliged to love New Mexico--but I spent my salad days on the west coast of southern Florida, easily one of the most gorgeous places on the planet. I now live in extreme west Texas and I'm telling you: New Mexico is wondrously beautiful. Let Joshua's links enrich your life.
It's not updated every day, but Objectivism Today is worth a daily check. I haven't agreed with everything they've posted there (they were wrong about the Sultanna Freeman thing with her Florida driver's license, whereas I was correct), but it basically functions as a blog for The Ayn Rand Institute, so I'm going to agree with more than 95% of what they publish. Give 'em a look.
Some bloggers have all the luck with their titles. I have received more compliments than I ever expected on my own title, but....well, noms de guerre like InstaPundit and VodkaPundit are just...perfect in their own way--as is Out of Lascaux for a blog dealing with art and art history. If you know the names Lascaux and Altamira, then you'll be excited to dive into this one...and if you don't, then you needto...and either way, you'll grasp my blogtitle envy.
I can't say enough about Prodos. Outstanding internet radio show (best, in my opinion--and I challenge you to check him out and contradict me)...owner of American Ideals, one of the best email discussion lists on the internet (disclaimer: I am a Moderator of the American Ideals list)...and founder of the worldwide Celebrate Capitalism/WalkForCapitalism annual (now, apparently, biennial) movement. Go there, go there, go there now, people. PLEASE: be good to yourselves, go there now.
More tomorrow.
UPDATE: The Rest of the Reading
Lynn Sislo's Reflections in D Minor is a nice treat. Lynn codes her blog by hand (no blogging software for her), sews her own drapes, and still manages to find things on the internet and think about things in the course of her life that will make you glad you made her blog part of your daily reading.
Roscoe Ellis writes the only online journal that I read.
And then there's Stephen Green, known to the world as VodkaPundit. Steve was on hiatus for a while, but he's back...probably because of this.
Posted by Craig Ceely at June 18, 2003 11:17 PMThanks Craig for the kind words. Let's both of us keep up the good work and watch Objectivism sweep the nation in a few short...er...decades?
Posted by: Don Watkins at June 19, 2003 07:01 AMThanks for the kind words, Craig. :)
My title comes from a line of dialogue in Singin' in the Rain (which I described in mind-numbing detail in an old post linked at the top of my right hand column): "Lena, you can't believe all the banana oil they publish in the gossip columns!" (from memory, thus probably not word for word.)
I happen to hand-code too, but I try not to boast about it. ;P
Posted by: Ian at June 19, 2003 05:09 PMCraig: the "Objectivism Today" link needs to be fixed! Thanks/dave
Posted by: David at June 21, 2003 09:34 PMDavid, I just clicked it and it worked fine. Are you, possibly, not an Objectivist? We have a secret handshake, you know. ;-)
That is, I don't remember how to do it, but I know we have one.
Posted by: Craig at June 21, 2003 11:15 PMhttp://www.ladysmaidjewels.com/Cblog/archives/objectivismtoday.com
That's how the link appears...I know the site, so it doesn't bother me, but I'm afraid that wannabe-objectivists might get confused and unable to click through, thereby being deprived of enlightenment!
And YES - I am an objectivist! And although I know the handshake, I seem to have misplaced my secret decoder ring :-)
Posted by: David at June 21, 2003 11:49 PMDavid, glad to have you as an Objectivist, and obviously that means I'm glad you have the handshake. Um, but I too seem to have lost the decoder ring (I blame it on my kid) and damn, isn't it needed at some places!
Posted by: Craig at June 22, 2003 12:20 AMYou're very kind, Craig -- thank you.
It does look like your link to Objectivism Today is broken. It may be working on your computer for some reason, but for everyone else it appears as a local link when it needs to be an absolute/outside link.
Posted by: Joshua Zader at June 22, 2003 05:16 PMJoshua,
The will of the masses cannot be denied--I'll take a look at the Objectivism Today link.
As for my "kindness," as you put it...well, it's not my fault you've got a quality site. I do not apologize, nor shall I. ;-)
Posted by: Craig at June 22, 2003 10:29 PM