Ryan's blog

Why my dad is my best friend.

nobody@vox.com(Ryan) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 07:17:12 -0700

10:12:25 AM my dad: Thoreau advises us to simplify our diet. During his experiment at Walden Pond, he found he could feed himself for twenty-seven cents per week.47 Thoreau also advises us to simplify our dwellings. At Walden, he lived in a ten-by-fifteen-foot cabin he built by himself at a cost of $28.12½,48 but he suspected that even this was more shelter than a sensible person needed.
10:13:13 AM my dad: He toyed with the idea of living in a box six feet long and three feet wide. And in case this suggestion sounds impractical, Thoreau reminded us that "many a man is harassed to death to pay the rent of a larger and more luxurious box who would not have frozen to death in such a box as this."
10:13:26 AM my dad: when I was in grad school, I spent $13/week on food.
10:13:41 AM me: how much is 27 cents today?
10:14:06 AM my dad: $361.03. Inflation has been a bear!

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On my nightstand

nobody@vox.com(Ryan) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 07:24:39 -0700

The VOX Question Of The Day™ for 8/27 asks: What book(s) are you currently reading or what book did you just finish?

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story

Chuck Klosterman

I finally finished reading Klosterman's Killing Yourself To Live: 85% of A True Story on Saturday, and, simply put, it's one of my very favorite books. He's used his trek across the country to chronicle places where musicians have died to instead chronicle his relationships with three specific women whom he has written about before and who he encounters here. Killing Yourself is both moving and profound, and at times is mindblowingly depressing in the same way as an episode of House: some people are just meant to be alone—some invite that prospect while others, sadly, can't seem to avoid it.

His next book—Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade Of Curious People And Dangerous Ideas—is being released in hardcover by Scribner this week. It's a collection of his writings for Spin, Esquire, GQ, and other sources. I'm planning on tackling this next.

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Click

nobody@vox.com(Ryan) — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 08:35:40 -0700

I saw Click last night with Lauren and her sister in Solon.

The first hour or so was actually very funny---far sharper than more recent Adam Sandler fare, even---but the last half was a twisted It's A Wonderful Life-meets-Time Machine mindfuck. It was a bit over the top with its divisiveness too: they jerked our emotions around a bit too much at times when it just should've been more genuine and bittersweet.

And I think it's safe to say that I will NOT be shopping at Bed Bath And Beyond after this movie. I'll consider taking my business to Linens N' Things, but so help me, if I see a door marked "things," I'm sprinting the fuck out of there.

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