Brace yourself. An idiot is thinking.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. –Albert Einstein

Einstein has always been one of my “idols”. And it is not just because of his cool hair. The man just made sense. Granted in order to understand some of the sense he made on needs a degree in physics and a slightly “different” mind, but it just so happens I HAVE a degree in physics. And a probably more than slightly different mind. This particular quote of his is one of my favorites, specifically because it is so obviously true on an empirical level. It seems to me the true key to Einstein’s genius was his ability to see what is right before his eyes, something severely lacking in most of us.

Unfortunately, by this definition, I am frequently quite insane.

I doubt this comes as a surprise to anyone though.

My particular brand of insanity usually comes with often timely head whacks that wake me up though, which, while painful, usually help me straighten my course for a bit. Until the lure (and ease) of insanity draws me back in. In other words, every once in a while I recognize that I am spinning in circles and make an attempt to move in a different direction. Sometimes it even works!

Anyone reading this might be thinking “What are you on about already?” Well I will tell you … as soon as I remember.

Hey you over there, would you mind whacking me in the head?

SMACK!!

Oh yeah. That was it. This grand plan started off … well … grandly. But due to that often pesky bugger known as life, it has suffered a few derailments. For instance, the blog did not become a worldwide phenomenon overnight for some reason. The expected media frenzy about the idiots who plan to torture themselves for charity just did not happen for some equally unexplained reason. No doubt because it did not involve Miley Cyrus, a Kardashian, terrorism or Obamacare. The planned on sponsorships from major outdoors companies just don’t seem to be appearing. Yep this adventure is not quite taking off like was originally planned. Of course that does not mean it will not happen. It just means if I want to actually get the masses involved I will have to try something different.

Not that I have a clue what that might be.

In the mean time, here is what is going on so far:

My new partner Jeff is definitely organized, and keeping me on the ball with equipment prep and the like. While I have not yet purchased most of what I need, I have a pretty solid shopping list now. One of the things I still need to figure out is how to finance the trip. It will probably cost on the order of $4000, which is a fair amount of money for someone with no steady income or savings. But I will figure it out. I hear drug testing labs pay a lot of money. Jeff recently brought up another very important issue, and this one I need serious help with.

I need a Trail Name.

Jeff has a nice one, a long used nickname that seems perfect for a Trail Name as well. He chooses to be known as Maytag. I think it is a great name. Now I need to get on the ball with my own name. I have had numerous nicknames throughout my life, some of them not necessarily suitable for polite audiences. But none of them are jumping out at me as a nom-de-trail. So I figured what I would do is throw it out to the masses (even though the masses are not yet seeing the blog).

So I put it to you guys. What do you think would be a suitable Trail Name for a sometimes insane idiot on a mission? If I get several suggestions, I can even set up one of those fancy blog polls and have a vote. I might be throwing myself to the wolves here, but I am a partially insane idiot after all!

I look forward to the suggestions. This could be fun (or painful)!