In Which I Make It Clear That I Agree with RationalJenn About Baby Eating

Jenn, friend of my heart and partner in crime, being the kind person that she is, would never eat a baby. Just so you know. Here is her statement that the Atlanta Objectivist Society would also never condone the eating of babies.

To Whom It May Concern:

The principal members of the Atlanta Objectivist Society (ATLOS) would like you to be aware that we do not advocate the eating of babies, even deliciously adorable ones with smooth skin and squeezable cheeks and beautiful smiles.

We would also like to make it plain that we do not automatically sanction every utterance someone makes at any of our events. We expect those who hear something they do not like or disagree with to seek out the individual in question and gather more information as necessary and sufficient to support making an independent decision about that individual's claims or character. We especially expect people to do that because we pride ourselves on our crazy senses of humor and are as likely as not to make outrageous and inappropriate jokes on a regular basis. 

Sincerely, 

The Management


I would like to echo her sentiment that baby eating is definitely not something we advocate. We also do not advocate the following:

• selling children to the gypsies
• beating people to death with jars of peanut butter
• going to hell
• strangling your loved ones with pet anacondas
• pinching people's heads off
• keeping lions in closets in order to have people who contradict you eaten up

However, these are all things that I have said, right out loud. Since I must publicly disavow all crazy things that people may flippantly say, I thought I better tell you all that I do not actually advocate any of the above. In fact, I think that people who actually do them should either go to jail or return to the myths they came out of (yes, I'm talking to you, Orpheus!). 

For future reference, if I say anything really outlandish involving cartoon-like violence, especially if I do this funny guttural utterance from my diaphragm while saying them (known as a laugh to those of us who have a sense of humor - you can google it) or if I say them with a flourish and then leave the room in a huff, you can say in your head, "Wow, I think that's this thing I heard of called sarcasm or hyperbole or a joke. It's so cool to see an example in real life. I am going to notice them every time they happen, and one day, with much study, I will have a sense of humor like a real, grown-up boy!" 

Here is what I do advocate: Get a fucking life, people. And fast, before your seriousness, like natron on a mummy, sucks all the life juices out of you and dries you out like a humor-less, fun-less, wrinkled-up old prune.

ATLOSCon Survey for People Who DIDN'T Go

Hi everyone,

Now that I am back in action after ATLOSCon (I was incredibly lazy for nearly two months while I recovered), I have created a survey for people who didn't go to ATLOSCon. Basically, we want to gather data to help us make ATLOSCon more relevant and interesting to people who didn't come this year. We'd love your help!

If you didn't come to ATLOSCon, please fill out this survey. Also, please pass it on. We'd really appreciate links to our survey on blogs, twitter, Facebook, Google+, your local Objectivist mailing list, basically anywhere Ayn Rand fans who didn't attend our conference may be lurking. It's very short, so never fear!

Here's the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DFZGZG7

Thanks,

Kelly

Ender's Game Reading Group for ATLOS

I'm very excited about a new project of mine: an Ender's Game reading group for ATLOS. The idea is for a small group to study the science fiction book Ender's Game, giving a bunch of fans a chance to talk the book over and giving me a chance to teach some of the best ways to approach a novel in order to better understand it and enjoy it more deeply.

Ender's Game is the perfect book for us, I think. It is beloved and accessible to the group, a mixture of people ranging from me, all booky and literary, to people who almost never read fiction. We need something that is meaty enough for me to find it fun and with enough depth to really explore how to read literature. But we also need something that this group will enjoy so much that they want to think about how to get more out of it. It's just not gonna happen with lots of my literature choices, and I haven't found overmany sci-fi books with the required depth. But Ender's Game is perfect.

I've thought a lot about the format, and I think I found the way I want to do it. During the first meeting, we'll introduce ourselves (Yay, we have some people who are newish to the group doing this!). I'll do a very short little presentation on how to get more out of fiction. If I'm feeling bloggy, I'll post the presentation here when I am finished with it. It won't focus on plot, theme, rising action, and stuff like that; instead it will deal more with how to be a better noticer, how to ask good questions of yourself and the story, and how to pursue an interest that you find in a book.

After this little presentation and any questions or comments on it, we'll begin our discussion of Ender's Game with a lovefest. I don't think our group can be happy or go deeper without first having a chance to talk over how much we love this book, who our favorite character is, who we hate, and what Ender's experiences reminded us of in our own lives. And I think this is a great thing about the group that will be meeting. Because they haven't ever been English-teachered into hating sci-fi (at least they were left with one or two kinds of fiction to love), they still read it selfishly and without any of the soul-killing habits with which they read other fiction (like the game of "find the theme"). They will not be happy in this reading group unless they get to share how this book personally affected them, and good on em.

On the subsequent meetings, we will discuss the book thematically, rather than chronologically. I have a list of things I am interested in discussing (adults/children, simulations and the making of art, the complex parental relationships which both nurture and manipulate in this and other books about children, Ender's relationships with Peter and Valentine, the characters and author's position on total war), and I will keep a list of interesting things that come up from others in the discussion to revisit later. The group will come to an end when we feel finished.

I'm excited about this group as a part of ATLOS as well. It's one of the optional value groups that I think of as so key to the success and the uniqueness of our group, and it's the first time that we have held a reading group for a book that wasn't connected with Objectivism and philosophy. I like this direction, and I hope that more reading groups will spring up to delve into books that ATLOS members are passionate about.

If you are interested in this group, our first meeting is Saturday, July 23 at 2 pm at Stoney's. You should have read the entire book before the first meeting. See you then!