Fun with my childhood touchstones.

Narnia if Ayn Rand had written it: Aslan Shrugged. The link came from a comment thread about the latest Objectivist news. The charitable branch of BB&T is giving money to UNC Charlotte to encourage having Atlas Shrugged as required reading and they are mystified as to why anybody would find this a bit objectionable.

The length of the book is brought up, but nobody brings up my first thought concerning the length. I've taught college freshman Literature before and my most charitable estimate for how many people would read all of the book rather than go on the web to find out what happens would be a third. The grant is actually to encourage a high level economics course that includes the book, but I'm not sure that is better.



Poor Cookie Monster:

Me thinks me have serious problem. Me thinks me addicted. But since when it acceptable to call addict monster? It affliction. It disease. It burden. But does it make me monster?

How can they be so callous? Me know there something wrong with me, but who in Sesame Street doesn't suffer from mental disease or psychological disorder? They don't call the vampire with math fetish monster, and me pretty sure he undead and drinks blood. No one calls Grover monster, despite frequent delusional episodes and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. And the obnoxious red Grover—oh, what his name?—Elmo! Yes, Elmo live all day in imaginary world and no one call him monster. No, they think he cute. And Big Bird! Don't get me started on Big Bird! He unnaturally gigantic talking canary! How is that not monster? Snuffleupagus not supposed to exist—woolly mammoths extinct. His very existence monstrous. Me least like monster. Me maybe have unhealthy obsession, but me no monster.