okay, ayn rand. you win.

Have you guys heard of Ayn Rand? No? Maybe? If you're a more prolific reader than I am, than yes, you probably have. And if you like her, you should probably stop reading.

My love/hate/hate relationship with Ayn Rand began about, oh, two summers ago when I was still a sad little intern. I like to go to this park and read during lunch, being the social butterfly that I am not. So I found a bunch of books that looked decently good and started with The Fountainhead.

We should back up. Ms. Rand is a fantastic author. I mean, read for hours on end and forget to eat, that kind of good. Not in the "I can't wait to hear all about Edward eating the baby out of Bella's body" teenage way, but a soul-searching "this is something I can believe in" kind of way. She writes about the power of the human mind and the human spirit and productivity and progress and lots of terrible things that happen when those are ignored or trampled. She invented this philosophy called Objectivism back in the 1930's that people around the globe think is the next grilled cheese and all that, and wrote books about that too.

So I'm currently devouring reading Atlas Shrugged and let me tell you ... it is making me rethink my entire life. I know. Shit just got real.

So if I start going on and on about what is the meaning of life and where am I going and what am I doing, etc ... well, whatever. It's going to happen. A little over 400 pages to go, you can bet it's going to happen. So much for some light lunchtime reading.
It's really too bad she's not alive so I could write her a strongly worded letter about how I don't really have the time to be questioning my existence right now, doesn't she know I'm trying to get an apartment and work and plan a baby shower and all that? It's rude is what she is.

If you're one of those Edward and Bella kind of people, you might want to stay away from this one. However ... if you're into staying up questioning your existence late at night and trying to figure out something magnificent to do with your life, it might be time for you to meet Ayn.

[I'd send you my copy but the pages are dog-eared and the back cover's falling off and I'm pretty sure that's spaghetti sauce right around the 700's]