Our State Fair is a Great State Fair
…It’s the best state fair in our state!
My my, it’s already time to think about Issue # 2. Why is the second issue called “Hick”?
Because I am from a town where…
* The local art gallery actually had an entire exhibit dedicated to my family’s art.
* A photo of my parents smoochin’ made local news on the town blog.
* My dad can interact with local law enforcement.
* There is an annual reenactment of the Jesse James Gang’s attempt to rob the bank.
(The guy on the right is Gus, a good friend of my sister’s, whose family has a long history of involvement with the James Gang reenactments. Gus now attends St Olaf college in town, and works at Goodbye Blue Monday, the local coffee shop that is like, THE place to hang out.)
I was interested in exploring the topic of “hick” because of my personal obsession with my town, and the ways in which it both DOES and DOES NOT conform to “hick” stereotypes. (For Example: It’s a little town in the Midwest…BUT it boasts two colleges. The Midwest generally votes red…BUT Minnesota has a lot of blue.) I didn’t really think about what it meant to be from the Midwest until I left it. Going to the East Coast for college has given me a strong sense of Minnesota pride. And yet it has also drawn my attention to some less savory aspects of the place.
This issue is not exclusively about Northfield, or about Minnesota, or about the Midwest. It is about being both drawn to and repelled from something that others might deem as “hick,” or “lowbrow” or “tacky” or “gross” or…unworthy of one’s precious intellectual time. For Example: I have an intense love of Dollar Stores and garage sales and JoAnn Fabrics, because these are all places I associate with my mother. No amount of intellectualizing could ever shake my obsession with these things. Do YOU have habits or hobbies or histories that contradict other more “academic” parts of your life? SEND ME YOUR HICK STORIES. BY NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, JANUARY 1ST.
A GENERAL NOTE: A number of the people who submitted to the “Slut” issue of Burn Book said “Oh, I don’t know if this is any good, it’s really short,” but actually, really short little stories/moments are PERFECT for making one-page comics! So do not hesitate to send something in just because it’s short! (OR because it’s long! Long is cool too!)
December 4th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Athena, what is in your house now??? Will that exhibit still be up when we go home?
I can’t wait for this issue…! There are so many hick stories!
Also, what’s with transcribe this comic? And are you ever going to make an Action Athena book?
Is it sad that I feel jilted by my father because he’s not responding to me on facebook chat?
December 4th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I totally don’t get this comic:(
December 4th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
No worries, Goldfeather, that exhibit happened like two years ago. Though I think my mom actually down the giant Me/Phoebe/Dixie portraits for good when she repainted the family room last year. LAME. I’ll just have to make some new huge piece of art to replace it.
Oh, and the “Transcribe” button is for this new archive thing I’m setting up; I’ll explain more on Monday.
And I would LOVE to make an Action Athena book. Mannn, but it’s a daunting idea. My hope is that by the end of Div III I’ll have a better sense of the best options in self-publishing. Also perhaps by that time I will magically be famous and the demand for such a book will be so great that I can get someone else to put it together for me.
As for you & your father & facebook…. MWA HA HA HA I’m so glad I friended him when I stole your laptop when we were drunk.
Dylan, the comic goes like this:
1) I am punched in the back of the head.
2) The punch upsets me. I turn; I cuss.
3) I am punched in the face.
4) I fall to the ground, feebly raising a fist in protest.
December 5th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Athena -
First off, some day the MOMA will have an exhibit dedicated to your family’s art. Or, at the very least, the Currier Gallery in Manchester…after all, we’re a more than somewhat talented and far more than average energetic group of people.
Second, that smooching picture got lost in the swirl of the Taste of Northfield gallery and there was an even better smooching picture that Mr. Griff Wigley took as part of the story on the annual Girls Nite Out…yet another major event in our little hick town but I thought that the overall effect was affectionately illustrative of a “hick” event.
Third, the tall “law enforcer” in the middle is actually Police Chief Mark Taylor, who first came to Northfield many years ago when he and his wife rode their his and hers Harleys into town, were impressed by all the enthusiastic activity on the sidewalks and live music in the local pubs, and so jumped at the chance to take the job in town when it became available.
Fourth, Blue Monday is definitely THE place to hang out for folks your age (as well as aging wanna-be-a-little-bit rockstars like me and my bandmates). However, many people my age (particularly women) seem to prefer the HideAway, older men of a Libertarian political persuasion seem to congregate at Bittersweet, hard-core Townies are often found at Quality Bakery (or Klinkhammers’ as they call it), those living in the so-called “southeast suburbs” take the shorter trip to the James Gang Coffeehouse, St. Olaf’s staff of course frequents the Ole Cafe and a goodly number of people (I don’t often recognize many of them) go to Caribou. I guess my point is that for a town of 18,000 (5,000 of whom are college students) we’ve got quite a few places to to go and debate the issues of the day. And that doesn’t even get to the over two dozen restaurants, some of which are also pubs, taverns or bars, that provide community congregating places later in the day.
Finally, speaking of Libertarians and debating issues, I think Minnesota’s Red or Blue tendencies are quite worth further note. Let me start by suggesting that one look at the electoral maps of the 1980, ‘84 and ‘88 elections. When I first moved to Minnesota, between ‘80 and ‘84, the two major state-wide political organizations were called the Independent Republicans and the Democratic Farmer-Labor. I found them to be much more broad-minded than the near mindless machines that I had experienced elsewhere. Alas, the Republicans dropped the “Independent” and now follow the dictates of the D.C.-based professionals and the Democrats dropped the “Farmer-Labor” and have seemed to lost touch with the realities experienced by their roots. Fortunately, as least philosophically speaking, but frustratingly, at least in terms of process, there’s often little more than a coin-toss between the direction that the electorate in Minnesota will choose and this no doubt contributes to the historically significant support that third parties have received in gubernatorial elections.
December 5th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I imagine that even in Minnesota, you’re rarely going to have viable third-party governors/senators until the state/nation ditches the “one vote, winner take all” system in favor of a “top three choices” system or something. Alas, that will never happen because the only point of such a system would be to make third parties viable: and Republicans and Democrats unite together in opposing any such reforms, as can be seen with their legal battle against the Washington state primary system.
December 5th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Uh Dylan, ever hear of Jesse Ventura?
December 5th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Hence why I said “rarely.”
December 6th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Well Dylan, Minnesota also had Governor Floyd B. Olson, of the Farmer-Labor Party, a political figure of national influence, who was followed by Hjalmar Peterson and Elmer Benson in the governor’s office, as well as several Senators and Representatives, of the same party during the 1920s and 1930s. It’s almost like a tradition in the North Star State.
And, although I’m not as familiar with the details, I know that our neighbors to the east, in Wisconsin, had a number of successful third-party politicians during this same period. Perhaps there’s something special in the Mississippi River near its source.
December 6th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
Sorry, I should have been more clear: I was thinking more modern times (last 40 years or so), particularly since (correct me if I’m wrong here) the Farmer-Labor party merged with the Democrats.
It’s true that independent in Minnesota have BETTER chances, but within the current political system that simply isn’t saying much (possible victories of tea-party folks aside).
December 11th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Hick things I love and don’t even mind admitting: (though I’m still not sure I have a grasp of just what you mean by hick)
Rice-a-roni
Stupid tv shows
Having coffee with the neighbor ladies
Craft magazines
Chatting with people in line at the grocery store
Sweeping
Those trashy courtroom shows on tv
Advice columns
I think my list of things that people love and hate could come in handy for you…
December 15th, 2009 at 1:56 am
Ooh, thank you for the list, mom! I will add it to my hick notes. And we can talk more about definitions when I get home… So far, everyone I’ve interviewed has a slightly different one.