...to say the 'I'

Ukraine
At the end of July, I posted that Ukraine was planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Well, Alex told me I was wrong, and it turns out that he was right: Ukraine Defense Minister Vows to Keep Forces in Iraq.

Sibelius
I forgot to add this to my post about Sibelius: If you want, you can add a Karelia Suite ringtone to your cell phone! (I don't think I have to mention that I will not be doing this.)

Real life
Woohoo! I've been holding off for a little bit, but I can't any longer: I recently got my first real (meaning post-college) job! It was a bit of a surprise, but a very pleasant one. I applied, was interviewed, and was hired, all in five days! I'll be working as an editorial assistant at a publishing house that produces non-fiction (reference-type) books for middle and high schoolers. I start after Labor Day, so this week has been slightly frantic, but in a good wayâ€"I've already had a nice, looong vacation.

I wanted to write a real post tonight, but I'm tired from my first day on the job. While there was little difficult mental exercise, the strain of smiling while asking stupid questions and trying to remember all the little details necessary for working in an office wore me out (as did a certain lack of sleep). On the bright side, I think work is going to be great. I'm also hoping that once I get a real routine going, I'll be able to organize my time to allow for some real blogging. If only I had a dictaphone that could convert recordings into Word documents, I could put my two-hour round-trip commute to good use by "writing" posts in the car. Ah well, I'm still being productiveâ€"I do love books on tape/CD. Currently, I'm learning basic conversational Russian (in 10 easy lessons!), a birthday present from my mom (the big day is tomorrowâ€"9/9). But once I get my first paycheck, you'd better believe that part of it will go towards purchasing some audio lectures from the Ayn Rand Bookstore, such as Concretizing the Principles of Objective Law.

Oh right, the rest of the world:

CB of "My War" is back. I hope it goes better this time.

Cox and Forkum hit hard again. I've got an essay brewing to go with the image, but it might take a while.

On a related, but side note, I'd like to ask a question of those Objectivists who are patient enough to continue hitting up this site once in a while. (Those of any other philosophic persuasion are also welcome to comment, but I'm particularly interested in some O'ist opinions.) What, if any, is the role of emotion in argument? Will a persuasive essay/op-ed always be strengthened by the near-elimination of an emotional tone, in order to let cold facts and reasoning stand on their own?

Finally, go to Books for Soldiers if you're interested in sending some "care packages for the mind" to our men and women in the sandbox(es). The discontinuation of the "Any Soldier" program due to security concerns made it harder for those of us who would like to show our appreciation, but luckily, there are tons of groups that have sprung up to fill the void--I think this is one of the best. I went to the Goodwill, picked up 10 books for $2.50 total, and found three guys whose interests matched what I found. If you go with the flat-rate envelope, you can brighten someone's day for under five bucks. I included a self-addressed postcard so that each soldier could let me know that he received his package, and one Specialist not only wrote a nice message on the card, but sent an additional letter. Trust me, it will be worth it when you hear back from them.

Or, hearing, to be precise.

Imagine my surprise this morning when I turned on NPR and heard, "...Ayn Rand argued the value of such buildings..." etc, followed by a clip of unmistakable dialogue.

Then the program ended. It was Marketplace Morning Report, and the feature was called "Trophy Buildings"â€"go here to listen to it on Real Player, as I did to get the full scoop.

Essentially, with the three-year anniversary of Sept. 11, Marketplace was asking questions about the real estate prospects of so-called "trophy buildings," such as the Citigroup Building in New York.

At the beginning, the feature included a clip from the film The Fountainhead of Gail Wynand describing his lifelong vision of the Wynand Building: "It will be the tallest building in New York...a monument to my life."

It ended with (paraphrased):

Ayn Rand argued the value of such buildings over half a century ago in The Fountainhead. [roll clip]

[Wynand] "This will be the last skyscraper ever built in New York, the last achievement of man on earth before mankind destroys itself."

[Roark] "Mankind will never destroy iteself, Mr. Wynand, nor should it think of itself as destroyed so long as it does things such as this."

[Wynand] "As what?"

[Roark] "As the Wynand building."

The feature ended there. Pretty cool, huh?

While I usually don't agree with her politics, Sars at Tomato Nation is an internet writer I enjoy reading. Today, she has posted a bittersweet essay: Still Here.

It's still here. Things still happen on it. You've got a friend's birthday party written in it, and another friend's wedding. You know that a whole day can't go anywhere, really, but it seems like theyâ€"the "they" in "you know, they say"â€"would have canceled it at some point, found a way to skip over it like the thirteenth floor of a building. But no, it's there, and as it gets closer, you wonderâ€"how long will you do this?

* * *
I was home with the family in New York this weekend, and I didn't get on the computer, but I meant to post my favorite Ayn Rand quote of all time, the one I always think of when times are rough. It's this sentiment that got me through that awful day, and that I continue to meditate on during each anniversary of September 11th.

"We do not think that tragedy is our natural state. We do not live in chronic dread of disaster. We do not expect disaster until we have specific reason to expect it, and when we encounter it, we are free to fight it. It is not happiness, but suffering, that we consider unnatural. It is not success but calamity that we regard as the abnormal exception in human life."

â€"Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged