I went to see the Sean Penn film "Into the Wild" today. It starred Emile Hirsh as a new graduate who, dissatisfied with the weight of parental expectation (and its' incongruence with their behavior at home) decides to "drop out of society" to find himself and become more connected with nature and the people he'll meets along the way (played by variously Vince Vaughn, Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener and Kirsten Stewart, amongst others).

It was a strange film. I enjoyed it, but at the same time it was a little log in places and made me want someone to yell "This is a seriously bad idea if you don't at least tell someone where you are" at him on occasions. If you've seen the film you might feel they did say this, but the fact he went and ignored them tells me they didn't say it loudly enough).

In the past year, I've seen a lot of America, but I was still blown away by the scenery. I've grumbled in the past when I went to Jackson Hole Wyoming, but this film made me want to go back (and actually miss the place, if you can believe that).

Incidentally, I know the goal of Hirsh's trek was Alaska, but as I've never been there, it set off memories about the state it most reminded me of and that was Wyoming.