I love <i>Walden</i>, and whenever I'm stuck in yet another time sucking corporate meeting I dream of going off, building my own cabin, and living alone for a bit (see this cautionary tale, though: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_wild" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_the_wild</a>).<p>My esteem for the self sufficiency of Thoreau, as described there, was just a bit dented though, when I learned that every week he would take his laundry to his mom and sisters to have them washed (<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=_73o98V6s7cC&pg=PR20&lpg=PR20&dq=thoreau+laundry+sister&source=bl&ots=DV5KoCiVL5&sig=i0VuuvTFn0VhzRKcwfZce-qNfTE&hl=en&ei=GgzATcvZN-P50gGq3vGuBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="nofollow">http://books.google.com/books?id=_73o98V6s7cC&pg=PR20...</a>).