As you’ve probably heard by now, in one year, Kyle MacDonald successfully traded his way from a red paper clip to a house. It only took 14 trades. It’s a great, wacky story and there’s been a ton of media attention.
As it turns out, I discovered that I’ve got two obscure connections to Kyle:
- My wife Julie was Kyle’s day camp counselor in Belcarra in the summers of 1993 and 1994. She recalls taking him to emergency with a hematoma on his forehead after he tried jumping from picnic table to picnic table and missed. She also has fond memories of Kyle and, uh, Gross Day.
- The house he acquired is in tiny Kipling, Saskatchewan (population 1140), where my father-in-law’s family is from.
So, Kyle, if you bump into any Szabos in Kipling, they’re related to Julie.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
That’s wild. Disney was right – it’s a small world after all.
Weird connections.
I looked up property values in the Kipling area. Houses are listed for as little as $8k. Still, paperclips are pretty cheap.
I should check to see where the heck Kipling is.
I’ve called Saskatoon home my entire life (Choosing to stay, even when my parents moved to Vancouver), and I don’t think I’ve even driven past the place.
When I looked it up on Google Maps, it was in the southwest corner, but not so far as Estevan or the border.
Now, can you do that same connection with Kevin Bacon?
I can’t, thank God.
Turns out Darren has a Bacon number of just 3:
Kevin Bacon starred in Where the Truth Lies with Maury Chaykin. Maury Chaykin was in Intern Academy with Carly Pope whom Darren spotted at 7-11 a few months ago.
I think, if my ludicrous understanding of how the world works is serving me correctly, that entitles you to some sort of share in his publicity.
And maybe some money.