Why It Matters

Once upon a time I had an online friend named Laura B. She was funny, smart, clever, and supportive. Laura was also a librarian, which doesn’t have anything to do with this story, but what a cool gig.

Anyway, Laura ran a little blog, and her most popular recurring feature was “Choose and Defend Wednesday.” Each week the funny, supportive librarian would give us a choice between two things and — you guessed it — ask us to defend our choice in the comments.

Laura passed away unexpectedly a couple of years ago. For those who knew her personally I imagine the loss was profound, as those of us who only knew here as a person trapped inside the intergooglewebtubes felt like we’d lost a great friend.

And so it is with nothing but love and respect that I’ve decided to bring back Laura’s recurring feature. I hope you’ll play along — it’s a lot of fun.

For this Friday, here’s is what you must choose. You can only have one, and you better be ready to defend your choice! Those who break either of these two rules are doomed to an eternity of watching Three Stooges movies, and not the good ones. We’re talking Curly Joes here.

Your choice is delivered to you tax-free at no cost (not even shipping), no strings attached. Would you rather have:

– A rare painting:

– A rare automobile:

Answers must be between 1 and 100,000 words, and come on people — let’s make Laura B. proud.