Dear Anonymous in Cleveland, Tennessee

Hey Anonymous,

Um, I'm trying to write a book right now. I have not been on the road for two months. What kind of pictures do you think I've been taking with my phone lately? There are some pictures in there that surely have good stories attached to them, like the picture I took of a guy named Ramses outside the In-N-Out Burger in Henderson, Nevada. But I'm too freaking busy writing a book right now to spend time giving the story away to people who don't understand or appreciate what I've put myself through. And I was too busy starving and walking 3,000 miles, with 50-65 lbs on my back, to stop and tell you the whole story as it happened.

Do you think I'm making any income from this blog?

I'd like to give you what you want here, OK, but I'm busting my ass on something I hope will put some money in my pocket someday because there is no money in my pocket right now, nor has there been since I can remember.

This web site and blog have been here for over two and a half years, and it still does not see much traffic. Way back whenever, when I had hope that people might visit this site and tell their friends about it and help me generate some buzz and support, it didn't happen. A few people, like Brad, Jay, Luke, and Lew, tried to help me spread the word, but basically no one else did. And whenever, if ever, I am in position to give something back to these guys and the other people who have helped me, I will, even though I doubt that any of them consider me in debt to them. Especially Brad, though, because Brad has gone out of his way to help me promote Aimless.

Do you know who constitutes the largest demographic of visitors to the Aimless web site? People looking for pizza recipes. Yes, and I have given them almost all of the secrets behind the best pizza on the planet, for free, just as I have given you something you want for free.

There's a brand new web site called Pimp This Bum that has generated tens of thousand of hits in less than a week because people talked about it and wrote about it and told their friends about it. You could say it's very similar to what I've been doing--and I'd say it's less interesting than what I've been doing--but people are going there and helping these guys create something out of nothing. Maybe the guys behind that site are just smarter than me. Or maybe they knew someone who had the power to get the word out for them. I don't know. But they took about half an hour to interview one homeless guy, and now there is tons of buzz about their site, and there are probably people lined up to help them further their cause.

All because one person told someone else about that web site, just like I've done by telling you about it and linking to it. That's precisely the kind of snowball effect I hoped to create when I began this project, but it hasn't happened and I'm over it.

I don't care if you stop reading this blog, all right. Obviously, according to your comment, there is at least a little demand for what I've tried so hard to give you. Sometimes when people bust their asses to give you what you want, you have to give a little bit back. If you don't give back, it goes away.

If you haven't already seen this, here is a response to your comment. (Since the anchor doesn't appear to be working, scroll down to the comments.)

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Aimless
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