Adventures in Onionism

Unfortunately, I haven't read many books in the last few years. I blame the Internet. But I still run while listening to audiobooks, and also force audiobooks on friends and loved ones on roadtrips, so it's not a total loss. Walter Isaacson writes great biographies. The one about Einstein is awesome, and so is the one about Steve Jobs . If you're even lazier than me, all you need to know is both were geniuses, but Einstein was a mensch, and Jobs was a prick. (OK, Einstein wasn't perfect, his major flaw was poor treatment of his wife and children, but he was miles ahead of his time when thinking about care for the human race as a whole.) Also, Wild, by Cheryl Strayed . I can't hold it against anyone who hikes the PCT because of this book, since I hiked the AT in part due to Bill Bryson's  A Walk in the Woods . I got a little teary eyed listening to this book, when things like Meadow Ed's trail magic at Kennedy Meadowns got mentioned. But just because it ...

I just watched The Call of the Wild , a documentary about Chris McCandless, AKA Alexander Supertramp. I also re-watched Into the Wild for comparison. The latter I assume you've all seen and don't need to hear anything about; I liked it just as much the third time as the first. Pretty much the only thing I don't like is the font of the opening titles. Thanks for not blowing it, Spicoli. The Call of the Wild on the other hand is a low-budget independent documentary by film-maker Ron Lamothe who re-traced McCandless' steps. Lamothe was born in 1968, the same year as McCandless, and was obsessed with the story even before Krakauer made it huge. For the movie he went to Emory during graduation, Lake Mead, Slab City, hitch-hiked to Carthage, South Dakota, drove up to Alaska, and hiked to the Magic Bus, getting swept downstream by the Teklanika River and temporarily ruining his camera. There's a fair amount of thoughtful introspection--he interviewed random Emory grads, ...