Ryan Byrd’s Ramblings

Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner), is one of the latest books I’ve read.

The book is interesting and thought provoking and I’d love to have a indepth conversation with someone about many of the points covered — in fact, I’ve highlighted and made notes on many of the book’s pages.

Some of those contraversial topics include: the relative dangers to children of guns and swimming pools, data showing some teachers and sumo wrestlers being dishonest, the impact of parents on children, an economic analysis of a large scale drug dealing organization and the impact of Roe v. Wade on violent crime. So… who wants to chat?

I just finished reading Caldwell and Thomason’s The Rule of Four, which is a fascinating novel of the likes of the da vinci code. It is a work of fiction surrounding the very real and enigmatic manuscript, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. A rather good book (though at times it failed to keep my attention), I would recommend it as worthy of a couple hours’ diversion.

268 miles later I arrived in Fruita, Colorado, which you’ll quickly identify as the home of the first discovered Brachiosaurus (unearthed by a Mr. Elmer Riggs in 1900.) It’s also reputed home to the largest flat top mountain in the world and to Cory Bickmore.

Here are a few pictures I took this weekend: