Things and Stuff

Not too much to say. I visited my folks in Oceanside a while back; there was only a little bit of yelling, so I managed to stay for around 72 hours. I think Marcus is getting kind of sick of me living on his couch, but I'll only be around for another three weeks (as if that were a short period of time to have a rent-free loafer in your tiny studio). I read another Chuck Klosterman book, Killing Yourself to Live, that wasn't as good as Chuck Klosterman IV, and I really liked John Vaillant's The Golden Spruce, an Into the Wild-like tale about an unstable logger that as an act of protest cut down an ancient and unique Sitka spruce in British Columbia and then disappeared.

CDT planning goes well. I've been buying gear I need (Henry Shires' TarpTent, Gossamer Gear sleeping pad, the paper and ink to print all the maps) and trying not to buy the fun gear I may or may not need (UV SteriPen water treatment, GPS system that's on sale at REI). The task of planning for both directions is too daunting, so I'm just focusing on the northbound direction for now and will let the return fall into place.

Here's a really interesting article about economics that lambastes the type of economics I can actually understand (Freakonomics type stuff that's fun and interesting with simple and reliable statistical estimates but not earth-shattering Fed interest rate super complicated model here's-how-you-end-all-unemployment-forever type stuff). The full article's only available to subscribers. I'll send it to you if you ask.