Mimpy

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/12/ford.pres...s.ap/index.html Highlights: • Ford: Carter, a fine person but a poor president • Ford: Reagan, a bad manager and the least well-informed on running gov't • Ford: Truman, Nixon were good on foreign policy • Ford: Eisenhower best president of his lifetime Don't know too much about these presidencies to comment myself, but I liked what he said about the American people at the end. Thoughts?

Wow. Just wow... since when is peeing suggesting of violence now? And it's not like the woman is there...witness to his "violent" behavior. Feminists!

Is that the candy that comes in the boxes and says on top of it "Not for Retail?"

I think Depp would be great in the AS movie. I read in an interview once, though, that he is done with the whole pirate thing after PoC. As for Galt...I'm not so sure. I wouldn't mind seeing him as Francisco, though.

AIM: mimpalicious89

He kept saying that we needed more troops but he never gave factual data supporting that the number of troops was the problem, not something else. So of course the Democrats criticized him for that...and it was a valid critiscism. Bush didn't support his new plan with real numbers. And the Republicans supported Bush, of course....without explaining how more troops would help. And then all that balogney he spat in the end...about the troops sacrificing so much and the families living without them on holidays, etc.....made me want to gag. It was pity central. Discuss!!

She said she admires Rand. How so? In a general kind of way for being a famous writer and strong woman? Or in the way that she really enjoys Rand's works and tries to implement her philosophy in her daily life?

1. I'm a student/singer. I'm also hoping to start working at Target soon. My interview is tomorrow! 2. I hope to become a doctor, preferably a surgeon.

It annoys me, though, when a person who "actively makes life happen by setting goals and working rationally to accomplish those goals" says that they are Christian. I don't know why those people never stop to analyze their values and develop a concise and logical moral doctrine. Don't they realize the contradiction in their own beliefs? I can't imagine a person just doesn't realize....which makes me think that maybe they do realize but choose not to do anything about it, which is just more awful.

I wonder, though, that if it's going to be a trilogy, if it'd make sense to use that phrase to catch people's attention. If they did, and split the movie into three parts, then the viewers would not learn of John Galt's identity till the last movie. It might be too early to advertise for that for the first movie....definitely for the third movie it would make sense.

What is so complicated about it? Sheesh, lol

Even though it's the longest, Atlas Shrugged. Galt's speech at the end makes everything worth it

Hi! I'm from Philadelphia, too. Great game yesterday, no?

Many sites feature Amazon products on the sidebars and whatnot and if you click on them...it directs you to the Amazon website where you can purchase said item. The products that are advertised on these other sites....who chooses which products to advertise? Usually when you refresh the site, a different product is featured. I ask because there's one site I visit where the advertisements are very frequently Rand's books or books about O'ism. The site I'm referring to has nothing to do with philosophy at all. Is it just a coincidence? Do the publishers of the book pay for advertisements on other sites? Does Amazon choose which products it wants to advertise on other sites based on what it thinks will sell and won't sell? Does anyone know how it all happens?

If you have to decide now for a major and it has to be final, this might be too late, but it could still be fun to do....you could apply for an internship position at the ARI institute for the summer and see how you like it.

T.S. Eliot...I'm sure you've at least heard of him if not read him extensively in a college literature class. My English teacher gave us "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" to read last week. He said (and I tried to find criticism to support this but couldn't find it) that this poem was argued by some to be the best poem ever written in Western literature. Keeping this in mind, I read it. I didn't really understand it, so I read it several more times until I got a basic idea what Eliot was trying to say. I haven't read Rand's views on aesthetics extensively but I do remember hearing Peikoff saying that art should portray man "as he could be and ought to be." This poem, which I will post if someone hasn't read it and wants to check it out, doesn't directly show how man ought to be. Instead, Eliot writes about how most men are very self-conscious, somewhat pretentious, and constantly concerned with what society will think of them. He displays these characteristics of man, however, not to advocate them or even indifferently state them. The poem, at least from what I could understand, serves to really warn the reader of the stifled and restrictive life one leads when he is constantly worried what other people think and doesn't really act on his own beliefs because he is too scared his ideas will be rejected by others. Is this poem's technique of conveying a message, from an Objectivist point of view, aesthetically good? He doesn't directly show how one ought to be, but he presents a contrast of how man is now and by his tone, it is evident that he thinks people should act differently. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1919) S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero, Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo. (1) Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized (2) upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust (3) restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question . . . Oh, do not ask, "What is it?" Let us go and make our visit. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. (4) The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, And seeing that it was a soft October night, Curled once about the house, and fell asleep. And indeed there will be time For the yellow smoke that slides along the street, Rubbing its back upon the window-panes; There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. And indeed there will be time To wonder, "Do I dare?" and, "Do I dare?" Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair-- [They will say: "How his hair is growing thin!"] My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin-- [They will say: "But how his arms and legs are thin!"] Do I dare Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. For I have known them all already, known them all:-- Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume? And I have known the eyes already, known them all-- The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? And how should I presume? And I have known the arms already, known them all-- Arms that are braceleted and white and bare [but in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!] Is it perfume from a dress That makes me so digress? Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin? . . . . . Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . . I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas. . . . . . And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers, Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me. Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, (5) Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, (6) I am no prophet--and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid. And would it have been worth it, after all, After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me, Would it have been worth while, To have bitten off the matter with a smile, To have squeezed the universe into a ball To roll it toward some overwhelming question, To say: "I am Lazarus, (7) come from the dead Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all"-- If one, settling a pillow by her head, Should say: "That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all." And would it have been worth it, after all, Would it have been worth while, After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor-- And this, and so much more?-- It is impossible to say just what I mean! But as if a magic lantern (8) threw the nerves in patterns on a screen: Would it have been worth while If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl, And turning toward the window, should say: "That is not it at all, That is not what I meant, at all." . . . . . No! I am not Prince Hamlet, (9) nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-- Almost, at times, the Fool. I grow old . . .I grow old . . . I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. (1) A passage from Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Canto 27, lines 61-66) spoken by Guido da Montefeltro in response to the questions of Dante, who Guido supposes is dead, since he is in Hell:. The flame in which Guido is encased vibrates as he speaks: "If I thought that that I was replying to someone who would ever return to the world, this flame would cease to flicker. But since no one ever returns from these depths alive, if what I've heard is true, I will answer you without fear of infamy." (2) Anesthetized with ether; but also suggesting "made etherial," less real. (3) Cheap bars and restaurants used to spread sawdust on the floor to soak up spilled beer, etc. (4) The great Renaissance Italian artist. (5) Cookies and ice cream. (6) Like John the Baptist (see Matthew 14: 1-12) (7) A man raised from death by Jesus (see John 11: 1-44). (8) Early form of slide projector. (9) Shakespeare's sensitive hero known for procrastination.

Thanks, everyone, for all your comments. I have edited the piece a quite a bit more, and I'm happy with it. The sentence structure is still the same. Even though many of you said that I shouldn't do this, I agree with BrassDragon that there is a "greater potential for both reward and loss." Among the people I've shown this essay to, some people have loved the structure and others not so much. It's really 50/50, so I'm going to take the risk. Also, this is not the only essay I have to write for GU. The other one, which is about my future goals and academic interests, is written in the conventional style, so I have no doubt that the admissions officers will receive a correct understanding of my serious writing capabilities. I have edited some of the areas where I was perhaps poking a bit of too much fun about my character that could be interpreted negatively, not comically. Thanks, everyone.

http://wwjgd.blogspot.com/ Sources aren't cited, but it gives a basic overview.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/...t.ap/index.html This child can't think for herself, can she? She is incapable of making rational decisions, of living a rational life on her own. Static Encephalopathy, as defined by Easter Seals: "Permanent or unchanging brain damage. The effects on development depend on the part of the brain involved and on the severity of the damage. Developmental problems may include any of a range of disabilities such as cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, mental retardation, autism, PDD, speech delays, attention deficits, hearing & vision impairments, oral motor problems, etc." Shouldn't the parents, who hold responsibility for her, be able to decide what to do with her? If she were unmanageable at 5'6", then she may not receive as good care as she might be receiving now. In the end, shouldn't the parents be able to decide what to do for their child since their child can't decide for herself...and will never have the capacity to decide?

Not even for style's sake? Just curious! I edited the essay: A Day in the Life… Swim, baby, swim! Keep your eyes wide open. Flail in the water. Escape is close. Look back once…the malicious shark is still chasing you. Reach the endpoint and wiggle your way through the hole in the tank. Get stuck. Mutter to yourself that you shouldn’t have eaten that last piece of pumpkin pie, no matter how much it had beckoned you. Squeeze in your stomach and lunge towards safety, the shark at your heel. Wake up to see hazy shadows. Groan at the alarm clock screeching. Release your tight grip from the sheets and tell yourself it was the usual dream. Stumble in the dark to find your contacts. Poke your eyes out by accident. Get dressed, gulp down breakfast, and drive to the hospital. Make it to class with a minute to spare. Tell yourself, “I couldn’t be any more awesome.” Find nobody in the classroom and then remember that there are clinicals today. Run up the stairs, run out of breath. Watch the operation. Barely hear what the surgeon is saying at first because you’re so fascinated by the nail she's drilling into this woman’s foot. Decide that surgery is right for you. Decide you will be the best surgeon in the world, like McDreamy from “Grey’s Anatomy.” Start rambling to the surgeon how excited you are and how you never considered podiatrics before and how exactly she decided which drill to use. Notice the gleam of excitement in the surgeon’s eye and the eagerness with which she answers your questions. Drive to school. Find an excellent parking spot. Take that to mean it’s going to be a good day. Walk into German and realize there’s a quiz today. Feel torn between reading something of your choice or quickly studying for the quiz. Reluctantly study and spill the information from your brain onto the paper. Forget it immediately afterwards. Get out Atlas Shrugged and read a few pages. Wonder why everyone doesn’t think like Ayn Rand. Duck when someone throws a crumpled piece of paper across the room when the teacher isn’t looking. Go to chorus. Sing. Pretend to look at everyone else when your voice cracks so they won’t think it was you. Walk to lunch. Eat less, talk more, and laugh till your stomach hurts. Feel a pang of sadness that soon you will all be separated and in different parts of the country. Go to the bathroom. Find no soap in the dispenser. Return to the cafeteria and wash your hands with sanitizer. Wash them again, just in case. In English, write an essay about “Heart of Darkness” and wonder what possessed Conrad to write such a confusing piece. Realize you don’t really understand his message, despite the time you spent trying to understand it, and spend the rest of the period writing vague statements that could apply to almost anything. “The author’s tone reveals his desperation to bring back humanity in his society’s ways!” Come out of physics thinking how cool it would be to be an astronaut. Go to government class and listen to people argue. Throw in your own two cents. “Capitalism!” “Individual rights!” Come home. Shuffle down to the basement. Crank up the karaoke machine and pretend you’re Kelly Clarkson. Drown out the ordinary day with thoughts of surgeries, philosophy, space, and music. Tell yourself you can conquer the world if you put your mind to it. Then realize that world domination will have to wait because there’s homework to be finished. Complete your work. Read some more. Go to bed. Think of holding a scalpel and possessing the competence to save someone’s life. Fall asleep. Dream of astronauts on the moon, listening to rock music and contemplating the meaning of life.

I added those things in just for humor.....I appreciate the perspective, though. Do all those sentences really make me seem inadequate as an applicatant? If so, I'll surely revise them. Of course, I know what's really true and not, so I didn't think much of it. But an outsider's perspective is certainly helpful. Thanks

I bet you'd find a lot of people who were productively competent but held contradictory personal views. I think we should respect people for the good in them and that's all...not concern ourselves with all their shortcomings. Henry Ford was an excellent businessman. Props to him for that. Unless you were writing a biography about him, his personal life shouldn't really matter.

Actually, I forgot to include the title. It was "A Day in the Life..." And since they wanted to know about me, I figured that if I summarized a day and pinpointed the things that were important to me, that they'd get a general idea about me. And from what I've been told, colleges like a bit of humor, but not only humor. I figure they want some purpose in the essay as a whole, as well. Georgetown requires 2 essays and one short answer. The short answr is supposed to be about an activity that is significant to me, so I wrote about singing and how that is a cathartic experience. The other essay is about my academic goals, in which I elaborated why I want to study medicine. This one is just supposed to be about me in general.

Okay....well, I'm applying to Georgetown University and they want me to be creative with my essay. I'm normally not a very creative person and at this point in the college application process, I'm pretty burned out with the many essays I've already written. So if you guys have any suggestions for me, I'd love to take them into consideration! Be honest, lol. I really don't like the ending...I want it to be more meaningful, but I don't know how to go about doing that. The question is: The Admissions Committee would like to know more about you in your own words. Please submit a brief essay, either autobiographical or creative, which you feel best describes you. A Day in the Life... Swim! Keep your eyes wide open. Flail in the water, escape is close. Look back once…the malicious shark is still chasing you. Reach the endpoint. Wiggle your way through the hole in the tank. Get stuck. Mutter to yourself that you shouldn’t have eaten that last piece of pumpkin pie, no matter how much it had beckoned you. Squeeze in your stomach and lunge towards safety, the shark at your heel. Wake up. See hazy shadows. Release your tight grip from the sheets. Tell yourself it was the usual dream. Stumble in the dark to find your contacts. Poke your eyes out by accident. Get dressed, gulp down breakfast, and drive dangerously fast to the hospital. Make it to class with ten seconds to spare. Tell yourself, “I couldn’t be any more awesome.” Realize that nobody is in the classroom and then remember that there are clinicals today. Run up the stairs. Run out of breath. Bump into the teacher, who looks at her watch. Watch the operation. Ignore what the surgeon is saying because you’re so fascinated by the nail they’re drilling into this woman’s foot. Decide that surgery is right for you. Decide you will be the best surgeon in the world, like McDreamy from “Grey’s Anatomy.” Suddenly break from your dreamy stupor and realize the opportunity presented to you. Start rambling to the surgeon how excited you are and how you never considered podiatrics before and how he decided which drill to use exactly. Notice the surgeon understands how you feel and eagerly answers your questions. Drive to school. Find an excellent parking spot. Tell yourself it’s going to be a good day. Walk into German. There’s a quiz today. Feel torn between reading something of your choice or quickly studying for the quiz. Reluctantly study and spill the information from your brain onto the paper. Forget it immediately afterwards. Get out “Atlas Shrugged.” Read a few pages. Wonder why everyone doesn’t think like Ayn Rand. Duck when someone throws a crumpled piece of paper across the room when the teacher isn’t looking. Go to chorus. Sing. Pretend to look around at everyone else when your voice cracks so they won’t think it was you. Walk to lunch. Eat less, talk more. Laugh till your stomach hurts. Feel a pang of sadness that soon you will all be separated and in different parts of the country. Go to the bathroom. Find no soap in the dispenser. Return to the cafeteria and wash your hands with sanitizer. Wash them again, just in case. In English, write an essay about “Heart of Darkness” and wonder what possessed Conrad to write such a confusing piece. Realize you don’t really understand what happened in the story and spend the rest of the period writing vague statements that could apply to almost anything. “The author’s tone revealed his desperation to bring back humanity in his society’s ways!” Come out of physics thinking how cool it would be to be an astronaut. Go to government and listen to people argue. Throw in your own two cents. “Capitalism!” “Individual rights!” Come home. Shuffle down to the basement. Crank up the karaoke machine and pretend you’re Kelly Clarkson. Drown out the ordinary day with thoughts of surgeries, philosophy, space, and music. Tell yourself you can conquer the world if you put your mind to it. Then realize world domination will have to wait because “Grey’s Anatomy” is on tonight. Finish your homework quickly. If there’s time to spare, you can read some more. Watch the show. Tell yourself you’re going to be just like those surgeons when you grow up. Go to bed. Think of holding a scalpel and possessing the competence to save someone’s life. Fall asleep. Dream of a burger and French fries doing yoga. Wake up the next morning extremely hungry.