Real or Not

I was wondering, if states that support Barack Obama are fake America - where have most of our presidents come from. Turns out fake America is whooping ass.

Name	State	Real?
Clinton	AR	Yes
Nixon	CA	No
Bush, GW	CT	No
Carter	GA	Yes
Hoover	IA	No
Reagan	IL	No
Lincoln	KY	Yes
Adams	MA	No
Adams, JQ	MA	No
Kennedy	MA	No
Bush, GHW	MA	No
Truman	MO	Yes
Polk	NC	No
A. Johnson	NC	No
Ford	NE	Yes
Pierce	NH	No
Cleveland	NJ	No
Van Buren	NY	No
Fillmore	NY	No
Roosevelt, T	NY	No
Roosevelt, F	NY	No
Grant	OH	No
Hayes	OH	No
Garfield	OH	No
Harrison	OH	No
McKinley	OH	No
Harding	OH	No
Buchanan	PA	No
Eisenhower	TX	Yes
Johnson, L	TX	Yes
Washington	VA	No
Jefferson	VA	No
Madison	VA	No
Monroe	VA	No
Harrison	VA	No
Tyler	VA	No
Taylor	VA	No
Wilson	VA	No
Arthur	VT	No
Coolidge	VT	No

Grateful. Proud

Dave pointed out last night that Obama won every single state I've ever lived or worked:

Indiana,
Ohio,
Minnesota,
Iowa,
Michigan,
Wisconsin,
Colorado,
Washington,
DC,
Maryland.

Where were you when...

I'd venture a guess that most of the folks who are inclined to read this blog (or for that matter any blog) come from a generation without a lot of epic shared moments. I'm talking about moments that years later you can reflect on and say without a doubt where you were when XYZ happened. For most it's the Challenger explosion, September 11, Tieneman Square, A couple of Very Special Episodes of Blossom. I mean sure there are probably others, but honestly we're a generation where you may remember where you were when your parents told you where they were when Kennedy was shot.

I wonder if the lack of these moments and the obsessive self-congratulatory nature of the Boomers is why we're so prone to nostaligic overcompensation. Remember the 80s, the 90s. Etc. Either we're really insecure and are trying to redefine our relevance through a constant repetition of meaningless tv jingles, one hit wonders and cartoon icons, or we're all far too close to goldfish when it comes to our memories. Made happy by the castle, or the flashback each time, no matter the interval between the moment and the memory. Speaking of which, remember Ani Difranco's album Little Plastic Castle. Yeah, less than 10 years ago was great.

The moments, the ones that seem to belong in that Jungian collective conscious are often shocking, tragic and sudden. For a generation with "appointment tv" the great moments fall outside those scheduling blocks.

But next week, you can plan for one of these moments. Given the millions (or a lot) of hours of our lives which never leave a lasting imprint on our memories, there's something truly compelling about knowing ahead of time that a moment will be with you forever. That what you're about to experience will be recalled, shared, replayed and definitional. But Tuesday, upon the election of Barack Obama - another moment will be made into memory. I wonder if knowing that in advance will change my perception, if the lack of shock will rob it of its luster.

In the end, I'm left with a thought inspired by David Berman - Tuesday, I will watch as a moment becomes a monument.

State your case

Downloading from Youtube a couple of songs (oh, yes you can strip out the audio from Youtube) I happened to notice that I'd chosen Nebraska by Springsteen and Ohio by CSNY. I started to wonder two things - which states have songs named for them and of these what's the best state name song. Earlier on this blog I'd posed a question about how many songs you could name with colors in the title. So now the question (without a time constraint) is how many songs are there with states as the song title. I'd also add, how many songs are there with cities as song titles.

My list off the top of my head, please add others in the comments

STATES
California Dreaming - Momma's and Papas
Ohio - CSNY
Ohio - Modest Mouse
Ohio - Damien Jurado
Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen


CITIES
Allentown- Billy Joel
Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
Twin Falls - Built to Spill
Dallas - Silver Jews
New Madrid - Uncle Tupelo
Istanbul - TMBG

Where is my mind?

When I first started writing this blog I thought myself somewhat witty for selecting the title “where is my mind.” I imagine, I don’t remember well enough to say with certainty, that I was pleased with finding a good pop culture reference, something not too obscure, something not too mundane.

I’m trying to remember the person I was when I first started this blog. It was more than four years ago, I’d not yet lived in Colorado, Washington, or DC. Then like now, I was searching for who I wanted to become, searching for what to make of ability and injury, doubt and arrogance. I believe I began with a desire to share my thoughts, an urge to make known what I believed about the world, myself, and to some extent my place within that world. When I started this blog, Where is my Mind was posed as a question, but first and foremost it was a declaration. A statement that the words below would, if read, and reprocessed illustrate where I was, mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally. When I started this site was an outlet, a microphone, a platform to explore, rant, announce and share. For several years it served me well, and gave me a sense of my own voice, and a way to be public and present in the lives of a great many I love.

As I return to this space, to these pages, to this site. I find that I still like the title. It still seems apt, and slightly cooler than its author. But instead of a certain declaration that the words to follow will add up to some coherent whole, I’m finding myself questioning. I wonder, more than I have allowed myself to in a long while: Where is my mind. I’d like to see what I can learn about the man I am, and the man I seek to become – and I’m eager to see whether this site can give me just such an outlet.