Wrote commenter Kirby Olson in my post with the photograph of a small protest march, taken from my 9th floor window at Brooklyn Law School. He says there are "real events" in New York City and "history is being made. Whereas Madison is from the 80s." He asks the provocative question: "How can you stand to go back?"
By the way, Kirby has a blog called Lutheran Surrealism, and his blogger profile lists his favorite music as Bach and Captain Beefheart, and if you know me, you should know that these things make me more willing to answer his question.
My answer will be a numbered list.
1. What's the difference between looking at an event through a dusty 9th story window and watching it on television? I am able to monitor the news of everywhere from anywhere. The question is what place keeps me alert and attentive and in a state of mind where I can think and write something worthwhile about what I'm seeing.
2. I am constantly encountering protest marches and other sorts of incidents in Madison, and I can photograph them and talk about them in a way that brings more value because: a. So few of you are in Madison, and b. My Madison readers don't normally get the perspective this blog and its commenters bring to the city. It's a plus that Madison is whatever it is that makes Kirby say "PC backwater."
3. Maybe you are concerned that the pleasures of life do not flow to me in Madison and that New York City is, by contrast, a glorious playground. There is suffering and pleasure anywhere. You need life skills, luck, and perspective to enjoy living where you live. I can not only "stand to go back" to Madison, I eagerly anticipate it.
4. ...
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O, but Prof. Althouse, we will miss you if you go back. That is why you should stay in NYC.
While I can understand why they are different, I much prefer the Madison blogging style to the Brooklyn one. Life happens everywhere, contrary to some opinions.
4... the Wisconsin wind cries Mary and the twin Redbuds in the front yard cry Althouse
I would think you'd want to be here to live through the Presidential Election in a battleground state! The ads! John McCain eating creampuffs at the Wisconsin State Fair! Obama running the marathon at the Badger State Games! Hillary stomping grapes at Wollersheim. McCain's VP milking cows. It's gonna be a glorious summer and Fall.
Meanwhile, what candidate will visit NYC? It's not like NY State won't go democratic.
Us hicks want you back, Ann.
Add us rubes to the list of people who look forward to your return. I've also heard positive things from the yokels.
there's a "come to Wisconsin and smell our dairy air" joke lurking about.
somewhere.
Well everyone knows how I feel about Brooklyn, but home is where the heart is. You should go live where you want to live. Since you have already lived in Brooklyn, you can make an informed decision and it is obvious you prefer Madison. I don't know much about Madison, but I am sure it is very nice in a solid Midwestern mayonnaisey sort of way.
That type of comment is another example of the annoying solipsism that emanates from the East Coast.
"very nice in a solid Midwestern mayonnaisey sort of way"
Well, New York reeks of those overheated candied nuts they sell on the street corners. It's cloying as hell. I need some fresh air. Wisconsin is more about mustard than mayonnaise — I mean, really: brats! — but at least there is enough air in circulation to prevent lingering odors.
And there is at least as much egg salad in New York as in Madison. God help us, there's SHRIMP salad in New York — and that means shrimp in a ton of mayonnaise, served in a sandwich. That's just disgusting.
4 . . . I mean, really: brats!
Boy you Midwesterners are very touchy. My, my. Not too defensive now are we? I thought you were supposed to be stolid and phlegmatic. Can't you take a joke? I have been listening to New York bashing ever since you came to visit.
Now I agree that the smells of New York can be a little much. Hot candied nuts roasting on the little carts. Chestnut's roasting on the grill in front of Rockefeller center’s Christmas tree. The urine soaked bums in Borough hall. Fresh bread baking in the early morning from Caputo’s bakery. Coffee being ground from Damico’s on Court St. Fresh horse shit from the carriage horses lined up on 57th near Central Park. The odors of freshly prepared Mexican and South American food from the stands outside the ball field in Red Hook. And best of all when you walk home from church on a Sunday morning on a spring afternoon, you can smell the sauce bubbling on the stove as grandma prepares the Sunday lunch for the whole family. The meatballs. The sausage. The broccoli raab. The pork roast. Just don’t ring the bell to hell her she needs to add a touch more basil.
I am sure none of this can compare to the smell of cheddar in the morning. God bless.
Shrimp Salad - sound awful. A waste of perfectly good shrimp.
OTOH, its probably a good way to use shrimp thats a little too old or fell on the kitchen floor.
I think he's afraid that your conservative leanings (such as they are) are exacerbated in Madison, and he's afraid you'll go over to the dark side. Which is silly, since Madison itself is something of a liberal area, at least by your descriptions of it.
Now I have never been to the Midwestern heartland so I can’t really say I know anything about it other than what I see in the movies or on TV. I must admit I am very ignorant. So I really don’t have a basis of comparison to argue the point as to how small town living really feels. Although Rh Hardin makes it seem quite attractive with his photo essays of unleashed Dobermans and nubile chickens preening in the morning dew. The closest I ever got was a buddy who was living in Pittsfield which is a kinda small town. It was very nice right up to the time when I broke a toe when it got stuck as they rolled up the sidewalks at 8 pm.
Who's been looking after your chickens while you've been gone, Ann?
Now I have never been to the Midwestern heartland
How provincial! When I lived on the east coast, I was amazed at how many people had never left the state (except to go to Florida, of course -- or as they said it, Flahridder). Yet I know very few people in WI who haven't been elsewhere. I think that's a big difference between the two locations.
Well let me put it to you gently Madison Man….the Midwest is a place you come from….New York is a place you go to. Just sayn’
Compared to NYC, the rest of the country seems flat to me. That said, I myself live in a tiny village in the Catskills, where I teach at a small branch of SUNY.
Spitzer had promised to put 4 billion dollars into the system, but obviously his money went elsewhere.
Patterson wants to take away SUNY money and give it to the CUNY system (City University of New York), because that's where his political base is.
And I suppose I can see the point that even in Madison there are many things going on. I just feel that NYC is a more major nerve center.
But I think a smart person can blog from anywhere and still be interesting.
Thanks so much for saying something about my little-visited blog (200 hits a day, or thereabouts).
Just to be fair, I must also cop to the fact that I am an arrogant New York Yankee fan asshole. If that's not redundant. Yep, it's redundant. Sorry.
1) I'd gladly live in New York, but not Philly. The Midwest is fine. Decent place to raise a family and all. NYC takes a lifetime to see. Winona MN takes a lunchtime.
2) I don't get rah rah about anyplace. Each locale has its hidden beauty and dark underbelly. Big deal. You're often where you are entirely by accident (or intelligent design, if you're so inclined), but choice seems to move people to ever larger cities. Because they like them.
3) I find it hilarious that Jon Hassler, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Schulz, and Sinclair Lewis seemed to hate the midwest and left as soon as they could, yet their towns hail them as heroes.
4) The Midwest is great for misanthropes. There can be great distances between people unattainable elsewhere. You can afford land. You can pretend you have the virtues of farmers long dead.
5) NYC is great for those who want to disappear forever. We hear alot about its famous denizens, but most people rise and fade without much notice. I like that; it faces the rhythm of humanity full on.
6) Comparing cities is like comparing favorite music, as if there were some grand standard. Except for Philadelphia. Christ, what a dump.
4. -- Football season. I imagine Wisconsin is a fine place to be for that.
Hey, we (NOLA Saints) drafted a Badger this year! A kicker. Who the hell drafts a kicker?
And what's up with the weather up there? Our friend's mom came down recently for a visit and she said it was 23 degrees in Madison when she left. WTF? That was the last week of April, y'all!
Yeah football season would be great in Madison. Big raccoon coat. Pork pie hat. Silver flask of hooch. I mean football isn't a big deal in New York...I mean who is the Super Bowl Champion...the New York Giants...well they really are in Jersey...a short bus ride from the Port Authority...never mind.
You're clinging to guns and religion.
Well she is just striving to be a typical white person. You can't do that in Brooklyn.
Hey did I mention lately that the New York Giants won the Super Bowl?
Beth, he's a good kicker. Probably a wise pick.
What's your surprise at 23-degrees? You act like that's cold or something.
Today's record low in Madison is 26. The record low in NOLA? 48.
I've been on the left coast in Seattle and would dearly love to move back to Madison, or at least the midwest. Too many yuppies and burned out hippies out here. The mountains and water are nice, but so is being able to see the horizon stretch off into nowhere in particular. And drive a half hour and be surrounded by farms and pastures and cows and the seemingly slow pace of life which is really quite rapid, just not unproductively frenetic like in the big cities.
And fish fries in a church hall or a supper club on a Friday evening.
I'd mention the beer but I can't really drink beer anymore. But brats. . . .oh yeah. . . .with mustard and kraut and maybe some onion.
Oh well, off to finish my mocha and decide on salmon or donburi for lunch. . .
My favortite New York Giant kicker?
Pete Gogolack. "I keek a touchdown."
Hey when it is really cold in Madison do you put little cute sweaters on the chickens like they do with the chihuahuas in Brooklyn?
Trooper, okay, your Giants are okay. They have a good quarterback.
And he just got married to a nice girl. Family values don't you know. No Hollywood strumpets or knocking up and dumping super models for Eli. A country boy can always do great in the big city. Look at Trace Atkins, he was almost the celebrity apprentice...everbody's talking at me..I can't hear a word the're sayn'....
It's a lovely, balmy 81 degrees where I am right now. We've been enjoying cool evenings in the low 70s. I don't think we dipped to 23 all winter, though it happens once in awhile. Though our record low for today is 48, I assure you that doesn't happen very often. I bet Madison in the 20s is more likely in late April than NOLA in the 40s.
The kicker sounds great, by the way -- it's getting one in the draft that perplexes me. They're usually a position you pick up on the market after the draft. We haven't drafted a kicker since Morten Andersen back in 1982(? not sure about that date). But we got burned badly with Olindo Mare last year, so I guess it was a good move.
Trooper isn't Joe Pesci the Official Linguist of The City of New York?
No matter where they come from, don't all New Yorkers eventually look like Weeb Ewbank?
I'm sure it's nice there in a EastCoasty aioli kind of way...
One of my best friends is an insane New Orleans Saints fan. He has family in a small parish near NOLA and goes down there every year for Mardi Gra. One year we got tickets for the Giants vs. New Orleans and he dressed in all his Ricky Williams regalia right down to the dreadlock wig. We sure had to take a lot of crap that day.
Country boy? He does look like a big old country goober, but trust me, he grew up in the city. We have sidewalks and all sorts of urban amenities. But good for him for not being caught up in his celebrity; it would be hard for him to get away with it, given his family.
Next time you visit New Orleans, go to Domilese's Po-boy shop. It's a little corner dive whose walls are covered in photos of local high school football hotshots. There's several old Eli and Payton shots up there. The po-boys are excellent, too.
Well Joe Pesci is actually from Jersey and he had a real life role in the life of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. You can see it in "Jersey Boys" when it comes to your community theatre and Danny Pintauro plays the Joe Pesci role.
Beth when I am down there visiting the Voluptuous Vixen we will definitely meet up for a meal and a few cocktails. I will trust you for recommendations as to what to eat. I know you know NOLA like I know Brooklyn.
cool evenings in the low 70s.
Sounds oxymoronic to me. I like my evenings in the 50s. Good sleeping temperture. To each is own.
Melhaff has a very strong leg. Long fieldgoals, and few of his kickoffs are returned.
at this point in the career, we'd get Joe Pesci in the Joe Pesci role...
My ideal New York RomCom would star Gilbert Gottfried and Fran Drescher, in something like The Days of Whine and Roses...
One of my best friends is an insane New Orleans Saints fan.
You have to be insane to be a real Saints fan. The highs are high but the lows are low indeed. No Ain'ts allowed in my house during the season.
Looking forward to it, Trooper.
Trooper, you always welcome in Ann Arbor...I come to New York when I can, and would happily visit Brooklyn which is, what, somewhat near my Manhattan digs? Or is that Long Island?
Good choice Ron but overly Jewish. You have to realize that New York is more than 50% minority now. Actually the typical white person like me is in the minority. The couple should be Rosie Perez and the Indian kid from Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay.
And Ron, Brookly is just a quick subway ride away. Come by the shop. Several commenters already have. I am there on nights and weekends. There's always pastry.
Trooper, you like Pete more than Ali Haji Shank?
Of course. The first soccer style kicker in the NFL. And a world class boozer back in the day at PJ Clarkes. I used to run into those guys at Clarkes. Spider Lockhardt. Tucker Fredickson. Good times.
But don't diss the immortal Joe Danelo.
Wait...
Trooper York is white?
OK, maybe I buy that.
But typical?
Nah.
Anthony,
"The mountains and water are nice, but so is being able to see the horizon stretch off into nowhere in particular."
I'm from the Puget Sound area, and while I agree that seeing the horizon stretch off into infinity has its own charm, my worst flatland experience was in Norman OK, where I spent a summer at OU. The problem was, with all the buildings on campus, you couldn't see the horizon stretching off anywhere, all you could see were buildings, with the net effect that the world seemed about 1000 yards from one end to the other. It felt darn claustrobic to me.
"And drive a half hour and be surrounded by farms and pastures and cows and the seemingly slow pace of life which is really quite rapid"
We have that here, too. Not just in close-in wild places like this park in King County (also discussed in the comments over here), either. I live in a suburb of Tacoma and know many places that are not only undeveloped but don't even have cell coverage, all within a 1-hour radius.
Hey when they have the cheese festival is there like floats and stuff. Do they have a giant block of cheddar that 100 guys carry on a big platform set on long poles while a bunch of old Italian guys play sad music on battered instruments as they carry the cheese through the streets and people run up and attach dollar bills to it as old women in black dresses weep and shout out prayers and incantations?
Now that would be worth a trip to the Midwest.
Or I could wait two weeks till the Barese do that on Court Street.
With Our Lady of All Sorrows, not a cheese.
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