Movie Review: Into The Wild
Written on 10/27 at 10:24 PM by Andy Posner
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"The majority of men lead lives of quiet desperation."–Henry David Thoreau Into the Wild is not for those that have never aspired to greatness. To them, Christopher McCandless, the subject of the book and movie by the same name, is at best naive and misguided and at worst cruel and fanatical. But anyone that has longed to cut ties to the world and its explore its vastness knows that when Chris, after graduating with honors from Emory University, gave away all his money, burned his social security card and, without informing anyone of his whereabouts, began driving west, his actions were not merely a symptom of youthful insouciance. There is a tremendous history of intrepid souls, from the earliest mythological figures, to Christ and Buddha and countless saints and sages from all parts of the earth, that have felt the need to step out of themselves and venture into the the wild. The question of whether Chris was a saint or hurt young man running from family problems has been in the minds of many that read Jon Krakauer's 1997 book about his 2 year, 2 month long odyssey that ended with his death in Alaska. The movie makes it clear: yes, there was pain from which he was fleeing, but there were also profound experiences and truths that he was seeking. To deny one or the other is to deny the truth: no great man is motivated purely by greatness, and what is most fascinating about Into the Wild is the view it affords us into the mind of an uncommon individual.
What It Is Really About
Written on 10/25 at 10:25 PM by Andy Posner
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I'm very quickly learning what my graduate program is really about. It turns out that what goes on in my classes pales in comparison to the importance of what I do at conferences, parties and meetings. Not that my classes aren't important and interesting, but so much of what I learn in my classes I could just as easily learn by reading on my own or on-the-fly in the context of a job. What I'm really here to do is to learn two things: how to network, and, more importantly, how to make things happen. The latter is critical. For so long I have filled my head with great ideas for projects, but always with a sense of frustration because I had no idea how to make those projects come to fruition.
The ESA Project
Written on 10/21 at 10:28 PM by Andy Posner
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I want to discuss my semestre-long graduate seminar project. Several weeks ago our class of nine divided into three groups of three, each assigned to a different project related to the broad theme of carbon neutrality. I was assigned to the Ecological Society of America (ESA) group. Our job is to look at the carbon emissions resulting from the ESA's yearly operations, find ways to reduce those emissions and then suggest methods of offsetting the rest. We already know that the primary source of carbon emissions is the group's annual conference, held in early August, to which about 4,000 people fly, drive or take the train.
Disaster Strikes Again At My Second Bike Race
Written on 10/07 at 10:29 PM by Andy Posner
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After my first bike race in August, which went rather poorly, to say the least, I decided I would spend the next two months training for the last road race of the season in Jamestown, Rhode Island. During those two months I rode at least 5 days a week, did intervals, recovery rides, group rides, and I even played some tennis for cross-training. All that training paid off: I lost 8 pounds, rediscovered my once-sculpted legs, and generally felt much fitter, faster and stronger on the bike. In other words, I was all ready for my second bike race.All week I have been tapering off my mileage while still throwing in a few hard efforts, just as all the training manuals recommend.
- Meet My New Folding Bike! (Poetry & Musings)
- Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States (Ideas)
- Executive Summary of the Capital Good Fund Business Plan (Ideas)
- A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States? (Ideas)
- Photos of Some Upgrades to My Bikes! (Poetry & Musings)
Green Microfinance: Advancing Social Equality and Environmental Sustainability in the United States
Click here to download a PDF of my complete thesis. Questions and comments are much appreciated!
My masters thesis in Environmental Studies at Brown University looks at how microfinance--the provision of small…
A Solution to the Limited Success of Micro-Credit in the United States?
Micro-credit has undoubtedly been a runaway success in developing countries as a tool of both poverty alleviation and economic development. To date, some 100 million people have been reached by micro-loans, and Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank…
Tonight, the Oneness of Things
It is late and my mind should be drifting through the colorful abyss of deep sleep, yet instead i find that tonight sleep will not come. I am like a hungry flower who dreams of bees so ardently that all…