dawg
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Tue Mar-16-10 09:21 AM
Original message |
Saw a girl reading Atlas Shrugged in a restaurant. |
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She was sitting alone with a big hardback copy, holding it up to eye-level for everyone to see. Normally, I would lay a book that large on the table to read it. I thing she was "showing it off". I wanted to go drop two dollars on her table so she could go somewhere and buy a clue.
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Swede
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Tue Mar-16-10 09:29 AM
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Deep13
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Tue Mar-16-10 04:15 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
28. Exactly what I was thinking. nt |
HughBeaumont
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Tue Mar-16-10 09:34 AM
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keroro gunsou
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:15 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
19. "There are two novels |
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that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
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Haole Girl
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:02 AM
Response to Original message |
3. There may be another explanation |
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I have to hold books, up at eye level, when my neck hurts.
She might have felt a lttle conspicuous dinning alone? I know I used to...before my "I don't give a shit about society" phase I'm going through.
It's not really a good idea to make assumptions about people. And, just what kind of assumption do you think she might have made about you if you'd thrown money at her?
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Aristus
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:34 AM
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7. I hear you, HG. I hate the fact that there's some kind of societal stigma attached to dining alone. |
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Sometimes, if it's just me and I want a nice meal out, I don't like being conspicuous for sitting at a table alone.
OTOH, I always bring a book with me. If people think "Oh, he's studying; how diligent", I feel a little better.
That's assuming people even care, but what the hey... B-)
:hi: HG!
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Haole Girl
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #7 |
8. I realized, in Florida, when I went to a breakfast buffet the last day... |
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all by myself... I really don't care anymore. And I like that. Because there is no reason a woman alone (or man, alone) shouldn't enjoy a good meal, just because they don't have anyone to join them.
And, you know what? I don't think most people care... and that is a realization I'm glad I have.
:hi:
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RagAss
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Tue Mar-16-10 04:23 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
29. I love the bar myself...but that's just me. |
dawg
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:29 AM
Response to Reply #3 |
9. I hadn't thought of that... |
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And of course, I would never have really said anything mean to her. Dining alone can be difficult, and I am going to have to learn to deal with that myself soon.
But this girl looked like the spoiled sorority girl type to me. I still think she was showing off her "Ayn Randism", to the rest of us parasites in the place.
Of course you are correct, though. You really should never judge by outside appearances.
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retread
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
26. My assumption would not be based on where she held the book. n/t |
Orsino
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:13 AM
Response to Original message |
4. Make it more than two bucks, and wait a little while. |
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Edited on Tue Mar-16-10 10:13 AM by Orsino
'Cause something tells me she's not a big tipper.
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Orrex
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:23 AM
Response to Original message |
5. Tell her that John Galt is secretly dead the whole time, a la Bruce Willis |
soleft
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Tue Mar-16-10 01:12 PM
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11. DId you just spoil this book for me? |
Orrex
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Tue Mar-16-10 01:38 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
13. No, Ayn Rand spoiled it for you |
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Spoiled it for you, spoiled it for me, spoiled it for all of us.
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soleft
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:30 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
20. But all the characters on Mad Men think she's so cool! |
PVnRT
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Tue Mar-16-10 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
12. John Galt is a socialist replicant fundamentalist Muslo-Christian |
Fleshdancer
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:31 AM
Response to Original message |
6. Atlas Shrugged was a book club selection a few months ago.... |
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The entire club hated it so much, we ended up switching books that month at the last minute.
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Rhiannon12866
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:36 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
22. I'll bet they couldn't get through to the end. |
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I couldn't, and I read all her books when I was 14-16 years old.
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gmoney
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:44 AM
Response to Original message |
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Holding that hardback book at eye level for any length of time would develop the arm and shoulder musculature, as the content erodes the mind.
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KamaAina
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Tue Mar-16-10 01:41 PM
Response to Original message |
14. You could have saved your two bucks |
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and siad "Rrrrringggg!!! Clue phone! It's for you." :P
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unpossibles
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Tue Mar-16-10 01:54 PM
Response to Original message |
15. I prefer Atlanta Hope's |
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Telemachus Sneezed, the Randian parody found in The Illuminatus Trilogy
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Ian David
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Tue Mar-16-10 02:03 PM
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16. She should exercise the personal responsibility to keep you from stealing it from her. n/t |
av8rdave
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Tue Mar-16-10 02:42 PM
Response to Original message |
17. The guy I'm flying with this trip is reading it |
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I asked him if he knows the premise of it yet, and he said he doesn't. I just told him to be prepared for an avalanche of stupid.
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The Velveteen Ocelot
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:49 PM
Response to Reply #17 |
25. How can someobody be old enough to be an airline pilot |
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and never had tried to read Ayn Rand? Most of us got over that phase by the time we were high school seniors, college sophomores at the latest. You might mention to your FO at some point that Ayn Rand's hero was the serial killer William Hickman. Though that might make the rest of your trip a little tense. http://www.alternet.org/books/145819/ayn_rand,_hugely_popular_author_and_inspiration_to_right-wing_leaders,_was_a_big_admirer_of_serial_killers
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av8rdave
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Tue Mar-16-10 04:02 PM
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27. I guess I have to at least give him the excuse if ignorance.... |
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He's reading it only because Neal Boortz recommends it.
I know....unfriggin' believable!
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jobycom
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:12 PM
Response to Original message |
18. I've been in restaurants like that. |
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The server takes so long you could read Ayn Rand and Tolstoy and still wonder where your food is.
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Rhiannon12866
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:32 PM
Response to Original message |
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I read it when I was in high school, but I never got through the several-hundred-page speech at the end... x(
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dawg
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:47 PM
Response to Reply #21 |
24. She looked like a college student to me. |
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Maybe she'll learn better, someday.
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Rhiannon12866
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Wed Mar-17-10 03:10 AM
Response to Reply #24 |
40. It's possible she was reading it for a course... |
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My uncle was a huge Ayn Rand advocate, and he was pleased when I read her books while I was in high school. But then I brought home "Walden II," which I had to read for a college course, and he didn't approve at all... ;)
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Ikonoklast
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Tue Mar-16-10 03:38 PM
Response to Original message |
23. I never read Atlas Shrugged In a Restaraunt. |
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I wonder if it's as laughable as that Ayn Rand screed about selfish people.
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miscsoc
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:48 PM
Response to Reply #23 |
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uh...god, i'm going to have come up with a pun here.
Prawn Galt? (as in Lobster Thermidor?) A lot of fancy recipes sound like one of Rand's ridiculous character names anyway.
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Mendocino
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Tue Mar-16-10 06:05 PM
Response to Original message |
30. Were you at Applebee's? |
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or maybe the Olive Garden.;)
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dawg
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Wed Mar-17-10 08:33 AM
Response to Reply #30 |
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I was actually at a pretty good local burger joint.
(I do, however, love the Olive Garden)
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Zomby Woof
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Tue Mar-16-10 06:07 PM
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31. I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's |
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And his hair was perfect.
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Dyedinthewoolliberal
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Tue Mar-16-10 07:59 PM
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32. Clues are cheaper than that where I live |
jmowreader
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Tue Mar-16-10 10:35 PM
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33. Somehow part of your story doesn't jive... |
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namely, the part about holding a copy of Atlas Shrugged up to eye level. You need a forklift for a book that large.
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Zomby Woof
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:30 PM
Response to Reply #33 |
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Jibe jibe jibe.
Not 'jive'. x(
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gmoney
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:35 PM
Response to Reply #34 |
gmoney
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:37 PM
Response to Reply #35 |
36. "Oh stewardess, I speak jibe." |
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Edited on Tue Mar-16-10 11:38 PM by gmoney
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Zomby Woof
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Tue Mar-16-10 11:45 PM
Response to Reply #36 |
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Funny stuff - but jive and jibe are tow different words. I never said "jive" wasn't a word, just not the right one in the context the above poster used. :-)
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gmoney
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Wed Mar-17-10 12:06 AM
Response to Reply #37 |
38. Oh, I know it... one of my pet peeve words, too. |
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Just thought I'd have a little fun with it...
"Out with the jive, in with the love..." -- Monty Burns
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HughBeaumont
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Wed Mar-17-10 05:23 AM
Response to Reply #36 |
42. I just can't believe Barbara Billingsley is still alive. |
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Just turned 94 this past December. She outlived 3 husbands.
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dawg
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Wed Mar-17-10 08:38 AM
Response to Reply #33 |
45. That is what made me notice. |
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It was a big-ass hardback copy and it looked brand new like it had just come from the bookstore.
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hunter
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Wed Mar-17-10 01:46 AM
Response to Original message |
39. She was waiting for a strong handsome man to happen by and take her... |
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... book.
"Why are you reading that crap?" he'd ask.
"I don't know, it is truly horrid," she'd answer.
Then they would fall in love and have sex and disrupt Objectivist gatherings with pie throwings, nude bicycle rides, loud music, and other random acts of joyful chaos.
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dawg
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:03 AM
Response to Reply #39 |
48. You could be right ... |
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If it happens again, with a woman closer to my age, and many months (years) from now when I've got my crap together and could attempt such a maneuver, I may have to try that approach.
I don't know if I'll ever be ready for the sex, but I do like throwing pies.
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JCMach1
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Wed Mar-17-10 05:22 AM
Response to Original message |
41. Dude, you really need to quit the Olive Garden habit |
dawg
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Wed Mar-17-10 08:40 AM
Response to Reply #41 |
46. In my best Jerry Seinfeld voice, "It wasn't the Olive Garden!" |
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Not that there's anything wrong with that!
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JCMach1
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Wed Mar-17-10 10:47 AM
Response to Reply #46 |
51. Just pickin' at ya anyway... |
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how was she staying awake?
Atlas Shrugged= Snoozefest
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woo me with science
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Wed Mar-17-10 05:47 AM
Response to Original message |
43. Yeah, I saw someone holding up Howard Zinn's book in a cafe the other day. |
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What a turd. I almost poured my orange juice on him.
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dawg
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Wed Mar-17-10 08:57 AM
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47. I don't know why this incident resonated with me so much. |
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She was young attractive woman - the kind who will have many opportunities placed before her in the upcoming years, some of which she will deserve and some of which she will not. Of course, I don't know her real situation. She could have been feeling just as depressed and broken as I was at the time, but with that damn book held up for all to see, she seemed to symbolize something else.
Sometimes, it seems like there are born winners and born losers in this life, and the losers are nicer people who don't deserve it. But the winners are smugly certain that they deserve everything that's coming to them and more. They don't realize or appreciate how lucky they are, and how much their success depends on the "collectivist" efforts of other people, many of which are among the "losers" like me.
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Crabby Appleton
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:10 AM
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49. Maybe she has bad eyesight |
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and needed to hold the book close to her eyes
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Richardo
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:11 AM
Response to Original message |
50. ...her hair was PERFECT. |
guitar man
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Wed Mar-17-10 11:56 AM
Response to Reply #50 |
Maine-ah
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Wed Mar-17-10 11:48 AM
Response to Original message |
52. I read some pretty thick books |
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sometimes I will bring them for my break at work. I can't put it down on the table to read it because it hurts my neck to read that way. My C3 is fucked up from a car accident.
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DFW
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Wed Mar-17-10 03:51 PM
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54. I saw a girl shrug while listening to Alice's Restaurant |
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That's about as close as I got........
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Taverner
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Wed Mar-17-10 03:53 PM
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55. "Atlas Shrugged" is the book teenage girls use to piss off their liberal parents |
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Trust me, I have seen it happen.
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miscsoc
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #55 |
58. yup, here's an interesting article on that phenomenon |
Taverner
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Thu Mar-18-10 09:09 PM
Response to Reply #58 |
60. Ayn Rand was a piece of work I tell ya! |
bluedigger
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Wed Mar-17-10 08:03 PM
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56. You are too harsh, dawg. |
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She just didn't want the other patrons to see her lips moving.
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miscsoc
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Wed Mar-17-10 09:43 PM
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57. tell her "i am john galt" |
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then ask her if she'd be interested in joining you for some rough objectivist sex just like in the books. ayn rand had some serious sexual complexes regarding rape fantasies, which informed her whole demented philosophy w/ its fetishisation of callous ubermenschen and all that.
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