Sumthin' else from The Shoebox Blog... "Why Are Americans So..." in which the blogger lets Google auto-complete a statement about each of the 50 states. Fascinating stuff, this, and you should go... coz there are all sorts o' fun facts and graphics. And you KNOW what my favorite excerpt had to be, eh?
Well, PARTS o' New Mexico are beautiful. Less so in my particular neck o' the woods, where there are no woods to speak of... just lots and lots o' empty spaces, which have a beauty all their own once you learn to appreciate it. And have I ever mentioned our sunsets and the night sky? Why, yes... I do believe I have.The single most common result of all was “boring,” which appeared for 18 states with no particular regional concentration. Other popular terms (returned for >10 states) were “humid”, “windy”, “expensive”, and “liberal”. Strangely, Connecticut and Pennsylvania both returned “haunted”; apparently there are a lot of ghost sightings (and related walking tours). My favorite result of all was “enchanting”: New Mexico is beautiful.
I kind of like the wide open spaces and big sky.
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Lou. Me too!
DeleteHeh!
ReplyDeleteLouisiana:
1) So hot
2) So poor
3) So humid
4) So corrupt
1) I loves me some hot.
2) Democrats have run things for...well...forever (even if a Republican is the Goober, they are still controlled by Democrats...Jindal is no exception to the stinkin' rule).
3) I loves me some humid.
4) Refer to #2
You can have yer humid, Andy... I'll take the dry and be thankful for it.
DeleteHumid keeps my skin supple and adorably flattering.
DeleteJust sayin'...
Plays hell with my hairdo, though.
Hairdo? What hair do ya have t'do? ;-)
DeleteActually, I have growed my hair back out pretty nicely...have a fabulous "square" haircut that drives the ladies wild...and look almost as good as my Daddy at my same age.
DeleteWell...not really (on the last part).
I really wanted to keep the #1 clipper deal all over. But, Pam told me I looked retarded (even though everybody else thought it was a bitchin', fabulous look...and it sure was easy to maintain). It's actually a very funny story about how she told me she didn't like it (her being the one that made me get shorn in the first place).
So....since I only have ONE fan that really matters, that cares either way, I growed it out.
Wimmens!!!
But, I must say that I look quite handsome.
No brag. Just the absolute fack on thangs!
Well, not to be redundant or anythang but... Well, OK Then. ;-)
DeleteBTW... I'll prolly post my new Silver Fox look at some point in the near future, as I popped for that "Shimmer Lights" shampoo as recommended by my barberess the last time I went to see her. I've been usin' it for a couple o weeks now and I must say I AM a handsome debbil now that my hair shimmers. In lights.
Heh! Can't wait to look at it.
DeleteSeriously.
One thing good about my gray is that it is silvery like my Daddy's, and not mousy like Mama's.
But, those damn things go any which way they want!
BTW: I went back and looked at other States.
ReplyDeleteThe Arkansas list made me snort.
The Texas list made me figure that a lot of Texans need reinforcement of their predispositions.
I noticed there were a lot o' "poor" auto-completes for the various states. That made me go "hunh?"
DeleteI always loved the old State mottos on license-plates when I was growing up. Some of those particularly fitting besides New Mexico's are "Big Sky Country" (Montana), "Gem of the Rockies" (Idaho), "Sportsman's Paradise" (Louisiana), and the old "10,000 Lakes" (Minn)I bsort of liked the old Mich "Water Wonderland" better than the present "Great Lakes"--although it is a nice play on words. I HATE "Famous Potatos" now on the Idaho plates. "Land of Lincoln" has been on Ill plates forevevor, but I wished they'd put it's older name "The Praire State"on.
ReplyDelete(Interesting factoid about the 33rd "Prairie State" Inf Div. patch. It is a yellow cross on a black circle.For years I always thought it stood for the yellow corn--Ill produces more corn that even Iowa--and its rich black topsoil. Actually those were the only two paints avail in quantity when the Div was ordered to mark their vehuicles in WWI and personnel remembered from their campaign against the Muslims [Moros] during the Phillippine Insurrection that the color yellow was/is anathanama to Mohhamedans, so they marked their property w. a yellow cross in that Campaign. Thus the present-day Div Patch. A VERY UN-PC Army Division, no? If I were El Cid I'd have activated the 33rd Div and the 79thID[French Cross of Lorraine on Crusader shield]as well and sent 'em both to the ME JUST to piss off the Muzzies. Does this get me on the SPLC hate group watch-list?, lol)
Good comment, Virgil!
DeleteBrings back a lot of memories...
One of my favorites is when I lived in SW Colorado. We were within a rock throw of the New Mexico State Line (I lived about 8 miles north of it). Our license plates had that famous "Mountain-scape" green deal that was so eye-catching.
And, the Colorado locals had a truism. "If you fail your driving test, don't have insurance, or have 9 DUIs...they give you a 'special yellow license plate'. "
@Virgil... New Mexico actually has three different license plates now: the old, traditional "Land of Enchantment" yellow plate, a white/orange plate with an image of a hot air balloon on it, and a centennial turquoise-colored plate (I have the latter on both cars). The yellow plate is distinctive in that it sez "New Mexico USA (emphasis mine) The "USA" bit is there because of the One of our 50 is missing phenomenon. That actually happened to me, once or twice. From an old, old post:
DeleteOne of Our 50 is Missing...
...is the title of a humor column that makes up the end-matter of New Mexico Magazine. New Mexicans get no respect, sometimes. If you see a car with NM plates, notice that the plates say "New Mexico USA." (Emphasis mine, of course.) There's a reason for that. I've read and heard stories about illiterate cops in New England (or other places far removed from NM) saying words to the effect of "You're in the USA now, we have laws against..." after being presented with a NM drivers license during a traffic stop.
It's happened to me. I was on the phone with Gateway last year trying to arrange expedited shipment of my laptop after an overly-long repair job. The service rep on the phone, after dutifully recording my new address, said "Hold on, I'll transfer you to another department." "Why?", sez I. "Because we have a separate department for international orders." I then tried to explain US geography to this person, but she was adamant NM wasn't in the US. Seriously. I wound up talking to her supervisor, who got it. Gateway still shipped the laptop to California. But that's a whole 'nuther story...
True story.
And... what Andy said.
I've heard of people stopping in Questa, NM to "change their money."
DeleteNo! There are some real idiots out there...
Delete