Rain
It appears 2007 will be ushered in with the gentle patter of a steady rain. It taps against the windows and slate roof tiles, lulling me to bed before the clock rolls around to a new year.
With a whimper
The last day of 2006 finds me drinking hot tea to treat what appears to be a cold. Sigh.
Hillbilly
When I started up this site and named it, I did so on a whim and a bit of a challenge from Trasherati who also provided me with the most interesting work of nonfiction I’ve read in some time: Appalachia: A History, by John Alexander Williams. I read this book over Christmas, scarcely stopping to put it down long enough to sleep, eat or do anything else.
I’m proud to be from Appalachia. Not defiant or anything like that; just proud. The Appalachian mountains are lovely and quite ancient. The Blue Ridge, where my people are specifically from, is alternately beautiful and soft and striking and harsh. It is not easy to be from Appalachia however, particularly southern Appalachia. The hillbilly stereotype is appalling. But it is also terribly useful for the rest of the country, and – if the search statistics for this site are any indication – terribly interesting to the world at large.
By useful I mean that it give others something to feel superior to. Hillbillies, per the stereotype, are generally the feuding, inbred, unhygienic, ignorant, racist, hokey, sexist, superstitious, overly-religious, and completely unsophisticated fools the rest of us could never be. When presented with this representation of who my people are supposed to be, I marvel that we can manage to be all of those things at once. Surely that is some sort of superhuman accomplishment worthy of recognition or an award. A brand new jug for our moonshine perhaps, or a shiny new firearm.
By terribly interesting I mean that a surprising number of people from other countries find their way to this site doing searches for hillbilly things: hillbilly tits, hillbilly costumes, hillbilly pickup lines, hillbilly porn, hillbilly Christmas, stupid hillbillies, hillbilly sex, etc. And I wonder what they’re expecting when they decided to come here. I also wonder what they are thinking when they think hillbilly. I’d love to know.
But back to the book. As with any regional study, this one is complex and compelling. Nothing is as simple or straightforward as it seems. But this book lays it all out there methodically and clearly, navigating through political, socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural history not to argue for or against the idea of Appalachia or the hillbilly or the mountaineer but to explain the region and its culture.
I want everyone to read this book so get thee a copy right now.
I also want to know what your perception of a hillbilly is or has been.
Back in black
Hugo’s back for the holiday weekend. It’s been generally less stressful overall with only occasional hissing and ill-advised rushing about in ways that agitate the elder cats. There was also an odd incident earlier this afternoon with a round straw rug that suddenly developed a bulge in the middle and started moving about the den like some sort of hovering Chinese peasant hat before a critter looking suspiciously like Hugo shot out from under it and ran down down the hall. The rug has once again retained its completely flat and immobile status, and the cats are asleep – Hugo in the bedroom and Abby and Figaro here in the den with yours truly.
Misplaced
While Denver seems to be experiencing enough winter for everyone, in Arlington we are experiencing spring, as if Mother Nature has set it down here and forgotten about it while concentrating on all that snow out west. If this morning’s fog is any indication, we are in for a warm and mild day, too much so for the mid-Atlantic at year’s end really.
Bridging cultural gaps and building vocabularies
I was informed today — and this is a direct quote — that “monkey is a negro word for poontang.”
So there you go. No need to thank me.
Genographic
I’m doing this. Perhaps you’ll do it too. Because wouldn’t you like to know? To contribute to the larger project?
On being an adult
“It’s like getting a horrible haircut and realizing that there’s nothing to do but wait. Except much, much worse.”
(I couldn’t have said it better … or even half as well if I’m really honest.)
2006
This is where I do the introspective me-centric year-in-review post. Consider yourself warned and feel free to skip it.
As I sit here typing this, I have a sleeping cat pressed up against my right hip. We all need warmth and love – even me – and my cats do not disappoint. Despite my severe and profound humanness, they love me and tolerate me. It is a constant source of pride and pleasure for me and makes me think I might be an okay person, at least some of the time.
And yet … I’ve been called selfish, shallow, mean, cruel, unwelcoming, unkind, self-absorbed, and cold this year. I’ve been accused of all sorts of rotten behavior. I have, to varying degrees and at different times, believed it all, as the accusations have come from seemingly reliable sources. And I have simultaneously fought against believing any of it, worried that it is all too true while trying to convince myself that I can do better, be better. I have cried far too much.
Good things have happened too. I’ve discovered that I am a fairly good photographer, and God knows I enjoy taking photos. I am more confident in my writing. I’ve made at least one interesting and unusual (and unexpected) very good friend, despite the great distance between us, and I’ve discovered some other fantastic people out there. I decided to get my shit together on some fronts where it is sorely needed and then actually followed through to start that process.
More than anything else, I decided that despite the real and perceived flaws, I am probably going to be okay.
Bring on 2007. I can handle it.
