On Dec 28, 2005, at 2:35 PM, Steve Litt wrote:

> One thing -- why not some_call(:@my_variable)?

This is a fair question I've asked myself once or twice.  Ruby seems  
to change it's mind on this sometimes too:

 >> class MyClass
 >>   def initialize( var )
 >>     @var = var
 >>   end
 >>   attr_reader :var  # I guess we're talking about the method here  
(no @)
 >>   def fetch( name )
 >>     instance_variable_get("@#{name}") # but we need the @ now
 >>   end
 >> end
=> nil
 >> ex = MyClass.new(123)
=> #<MyClass:0x32565c @var=123>
 >> ex.var
=> 123
 >> ex.fetch(:var)
=> 123

James Edward Gray II