Update on Ryan's Aimless Project

Hey there! I have an update on Ryan's comings and goings. For those who need a reminder, my long-time friend, Ryan, is travelling the country by foot, public transportation, and hitchhiking, with a video camera and a cell phone. Like an amateur anthropologist (as Ryan's buddy, Lew, put it) is documenting what he sees as the reality of America, and he wants to tell the world about his experiences. He's kept up an interesting blog. He posts photos every now and again, and he has his own website that explains what he is doing, why he is doing it, and how he came up with the idea.

If you'd like to see what Ryan can do with a video camera, then check out his "quasi-trailers", as he calls them.

At this point, Ryan is calling on his readers, including myself, to help him replace the gear that he has been using for so long. His tent is too small for him to fit comfortably inside, because he is too tall for it. His belt is too big for him. His pants are too big for him. His backpack has a waist strap that is too big for him. His socks have holes in them. The treads in his shoes are so worn down that it hurts him to walk. His sleeping bag is not insulated enough to keep him warm.

What Ryan hopes is that companies will want to help Ryan by providing him with these goods. In return, the donors (or sponsors) would be able to promote their products on his website. With Ryan's backing on a good product it could only help generate interest and potential sales.

I believe that Ryan would also like to have a light notebook PC and a better video camera and cell phone (that still takes photos). However, I think he is mainly concerned about the necessities of surviving the journey right now.

So, how can we help out Aimless Ryan?

He wants us to contact a bunch of manufacturers, requesting them to help him. He has a page on his website that lays out what it would mean to sponsor Aimless.

The short list:
Kelty --> Contact Kelty about sponsorships
Gregory
Columbia
Coleman
Timberland
REI
The North Face
Eureka!
Therm-A-Rest
Sierra Designs
Amtrak
Apple
Sony
Canon

If you'd like to contact Ryan personally, then go to his contact page.

Thanks for your attention!

Ryan, Train Hopping Hobo

Ryan has hopped his first train. He met up with a couple of young hobos, and he jumped a freight to get out of Columbus. He was last heading west on said train, but they were discovered and forced off of the train. Now, I'm not sure where he is or what happened. I think he's just fine, though. Read about it here

Ryan, Agenda Pusher

In one of Ryan's most recent Aimless posts, he addressed someone who, apparently, was relatively interested in him when he met him, in person. However, after a deeper look at Ryan's Aimless website, this guy came to a different conclusion...

"Thank god your liberal ass is out of our state. Do me a favor, take your paranoid conspiracy driven ass to Cali and stay there. You are a two face person. I thought u were for real but your not, just trying to push your agenda. Oh, stay away from Michigan too. BTW OSU sucks!!!!!!!!!"

He didn't sign his email message to Ryan. He identified himself as 'Deputy Dawg', from Florida. What a moron.

Ryan, in one of his more clever retorts, responded very well, I think. This is a classic Ryanism, I think:

I can't help it if your state is full of total assholes, dude. If you were not one of them, I probably made it very clear that you were not one of them. So if it bothers you that I think assholes are assholes, go ahead and be an asshole about it.

Yeah, I'm trying to push my agenda of doing nice things for people. Clearly that is too difficult for you. (I never claimed to be Jesus, so I'm allowed to talk shit about assholes.)

And use your real name next time, pussy.

So, check out Aimless, if you haven't already, and be looking for Ryan at ComFest this year. It should be great. Maybe you'll see me there, too.

Pastor Lew meets Ryan

A pastor named Lew picked up Ryan, who was trying to get a ride in Florida. He was really impressed by him and his adventure, so he wrote about it on his blog, revolution. Ryan has often been very outspoken when it comes to evangelist types and people who claim to follow the example of Jesus.

Ryan has written a lot about our culture, as Lew points out, has become a true student of our culture, or what I would call, an anthropologist. I love it!!!!! I went to school and studied how to become an anthropologist, and Ryan has actually employed himself as an anthropologist. That's very cool, because it inspires me not to throw away my own dreams.

I'm going to have to contact Lew and see how we can work together to help support Ryan with some more marketing and promotions, grassroots-style.