Our guest columnist this morning is Sherwood Anderson.

In the bed the writer had a dream that was not a dream. As he grew somewhat sleepy but was still conscious, figures began to appear before his eyes. He imagined the young indescribable thing within himself was driving a long procession of figures before his eyes.

You see the interest in all this lies in the figures that went before the eyes of the writer. They were all grotesques. All of the men and women the writer had ever known had become grotesques.

The grotesques were not all horrible. Some were amusing, some almost beautiful, and one, a woman all drawn out of shape, hurt the old man by her grotesqueness. When she passed he made a noise like a small dog whimpering. Had you come into the room you might have supposed the old man had unpleasant dreams or perhaps indigestion.

For an hour the procession of grotesques passed before the eyes of the old man, and then, although it was a painful thing to do, he crept out of bed and began to write. Some one of the grotesques had made a deep impression on his mind and he wanted to describe it.

Read more »

Title: “Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto”

Authors: Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe

Rank: 45

Blurb: “This groundbreaking manifesto is essential reading for tea party activists — or any American seeking to understand what the Tea Party is fighting for and what’s next for the movement.”

Review: “A WORD OF CAUTION: If you join the Tea Party movement and begin speaking out and taking action to defend our US Constitution, there is a very high chance that those who call themselves progressives (who fight to remove our Constitutional rights) will become offended. And because they don’t have a high regard for following laws, (because they equate liberty with the freedom from moral discipline), there is a high chance that they will treat you in the same way they treat conservative politicians and they will try to accuse you falsely of wrong doing. They will lie about you and perhaps call you a racist. All of these things are meant to harm your reputation.”

Customers Also Bought: “The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America,” by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.

Footnote: You forgot the “Or”.

Give Us Liberty [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

“A climate change protester managed to breach security at the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland by making an appointment to speak to an adviser and then glued herself to a desk.” [The Scotsman]

Can you tell which of these are dog toys and which are sex toys?

And really, does it make any difference?

Sex Toy or Dog Toy? [The Smoking Jacket, via Sully]

“The city of Gainesville has denied Dove World Outreach Center’s application for a burn permit to set fire to copies of the Quran on Sept. 11, but the church says it plans to burn the holy books anyway. Gene Prince, interim chief of Gainesville Fire Rescue, said Wednesday that under the city’s fire prevention ordinance, an open burning of books is not allowed.” [Gainesville Sun, via TPM]

“A federal judge is allowing a negligence lawsuit to proceed against the publisher of the online virtual-world game Lineage II, amid allegations that a Hawaii man became so addicted he is ‘unable to function independently in usual daily activities such as getting up, getting dressed, bathing or communicating with family and friends.'” [Wired]