Oh, Ayn

Stranger editor Christopher Frizzelle asks Slog readers what he should do with this portrait of ayn rand hanging in the Stranger offices:



You'll find a full explanation at the Slog post, but here are the four proposed options for the future of Ayn Rand's portrait:

(A) We auction her off in next year’s Strangercrombie and give the proceeds to a worthy charitable cause, which would make Rand (who despised altruism) roll over in her grave.

(B) We hang it over Paul Constant’s desk, after all he’s the one who wrote in The Stranger: “If you’re over 25 and you still think her books are great, you’re (a) white and (b) an asshole.”

(C) Cut holes where her eyes are and put it over a urinal. (Paul’s idea—which really kinda makes you want to tack her up on his wall, doesn’t it?)

(D) We hold an essay contest in Slog comments under the subject: “Why This Portrait Is Rightfully Mine and No One Else’s.” No word limit.

I'm in favor of option D, although I'm in total agreement with Paul Constant's snarky assertion in option B.

Full disclosure:
I loved "The Fountainhead" when I read it in high school for my honors English class. Then I read "Atlas Shrugged" in college and was still into her shtick (probably because I wasn't thinking about objectivism so much as how John Galt seemed like he'd be hot). But by the time I read "Anthem" post-college, thanks to a boyfriend who was way too into Rand's whole "looking out for #1" philosophy, I really, really wanted to tell Ayn Rand (not to mention the narcissistic BF) to shut the hell up.

So, yeah. If you're over 25 and still into Ayn Rand, you're an asshole. Or a Republican.

can i get a napkin, please?

improv everywhere's latest public prank was a spontaneous food court musical at a mall in LA. it's pretty amazing and features "the most singingest janitor" you've ever seen. watch it here.

plus, the hotdog on a stick uniform and spontaneous singing remind me a whole lot of this:



and this:

lady writes like a dude

This just in: I WRITE LIKE A DUDE.

I plugged in some old reviews I wrote to the Gender Guesser, this algorithmic carnival trick that guesses your gender (but not your age or weight) based on your writing style. It's probably total BS, but it's entertaining.

The best (?) part is that it judges your writing for both formal and informal styles. My writing is almost always informal and the samples I plugged in all fell into that style, but for one review I wrote, which came out 60.44% male on the informal scale, these were the results for the formal scale:

Genre: Formal
Female = 542
Male = 487
Difference = -55; 47.32%
Verdict: Weak FEMALE

Weak emphasis could indicate European.

Ha! Awesome.

I should probably be offended by this "tool," but it's just too ridiculous to take seriously. (I'm sure if I used writing samples from my current day job, the results would lean quite heavily toward the girly side. Because I have to use words like "chic" and "gorgeous" a lot. meh.)

So step right up and give it a whirl! See if you write like a boy or a girl!