Monday, January 23, 2006

Call Me A National

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, I watched the Harlem Globetrotters play the Washington Generals. I thought it was something pretty fantastic. The unfortunate thing was that I didn't understand that the Globetrotters always won. I didn't know that it was basically some great entertainment and a show of amazing skills. I didn't know that the Generals NEVER won. The game seemed to be so one-sided that I began to cheer for the Generals. Ah... the innocence. Anyway, the Generals no longer play the Globetrotters. Now it is the New York Nationals.

The reason I bring this up is that I visited an internet site the other day. It allowed me to log where I've been in the U.S. I thought that it would be pretty cool, so I tried it. Here is my map:



The red states are the states where I've been. I actually thought I was closer than this, but upon inquiry of family members, I realized that I had never been to Montana or Rhode Island. I was still
happy to have as much red as I do, but I feel the need to have a completely red United States of America.


So, then I saw a world map. I was pretty excited to try it, having just gotten back from a cruise where I got to add two new places to my list. Check out how pitiful my world map is:



Yep, that's pitiful. ...especially considering that I actually haven't been to ALL of China - just a few cities here and there. ...not to mention the fact that
I counted layovers in airports as having been in that country.


...and THAT, my friends, is why I am a National. I am not a Globetrotter, even though I would like to be one. Apparently, I have a lot of sky miles to accrue. If you would like to assist me in my endeavors to fill up my world with red, please let me know. Although, I don't get that much time off each year from work, so patience will be a virtue. May we all someday require additional pages in our passports.

24 comments:

tearese said...

youve still been many more places than me by far!I've been to Victoria, Canada twice, and to Mexico only on our cruise a few years ago. Thats it! Perhaps someday I'll go to Canada again, since its just a few hours north of here, but you never know!

warnser said...

I second tearese's comments. If you're list is pitiful mine is less than the dust. And I thougt I was doing pretty well. Oh well feel good about what I've seen.

julie said...

I love how you worked the Globetrotters and the Nationals into you blog about where you've been! Really, that was just fantastic.

I, too, dream of a red United States. I've only been to about 15, so I have a long way to go. My international map would only include Mexico and Canada. Someday I want to travel all over the world and I hope we go to lots of places together.

Cardine said...

Yeah, I hope that we can all travel lots of places. I just watched a documentary about the Eiffel Tower on PBS. Suddenly, I feel the need to go see it. Wanna come and translate for me, Julie?

Cardine said...

...so... Montana is still in dispute. I have some family members who say yes and some who say no. I will have to take an informal poll about a particular vacation from my childhood to get a deciding vote.

julie said...

Paris?!? Bien oui! :)

C. Jane Kendrick said...

Can you tell us which state is your favorite so far? Which one should we miss?

I never, ever thought I would hear Julie say "I, too, dream of a red United States."

(Republicans=Red
Democrats=Blue)

Anonymous said...

I swear we've been to Montana, Cardine. Remember that time we went to Yellowstone? Didn't we go into the Montana section of it? Love that pink jumper, by the way. I bet I wore it at some point, too.

Cardine said...

Yeah, it does seem like we went through Montana that time. That is the debatable part. Some people say yes and some say no.

I have always been a big fan of Virginia because I used to live there and have fantastic nostalgic feelings towards it.

I tried to think of a missable state, but I have fond memories of all of them, unless you count the disputed State of Montana.

julie said...

Cjane, I'm impressed that you caught that little remark. I paused before I typed it, thinking that same thing. Normally I'm more in favor blue. :)

tearese said...

is this a veiled blog about Republicanism?

tearese said...

hey...I typed that before I saw those last two comments about politics, dang it. And I thought I was being clever. Sheesh!

Cardine said...

Whoa, if I ever blog about party-politics, it will only be to say that it's just another way for Americans to categorize themselves into vague generalizations and become rabid supporters of whatever generalization they decided to be, and by the way, there can only ever be two, and naturally, one is always right and the other is always wrong, and of course, who decides which category supports what? Why yes, rabid supporters or poll obsessors.

Cardine said...

By the way, I belong to a party, am proud of it, but I feel no qualms about voting outside my 'party' or even voting straight for 'the other party.'

Sorry about this short-lived politics burst.

Anonymous said...

I don't think we went through Montana on that childhood trip. I've always said that I could see Montana's trees, but I've never been there. I saw part of Montana's sky, too. It was pretty big.

Anonymous said...

And, I'll bet I wore the pink jumper, too.

julie said...

Cardine, I agree with your voting practice. I'm not sure I even "belong" to a party (though sometimes I think I do) but I am never tie myself down by voting solely based on someone's political party.

tearese said...

yay! People who feel strongly for a party for no good reason annoy me. Its just as bad in Seattle as in Utah, its just the other side that everyone is rabid about. Depending on where I live, I like to defend the underdog.

julie said...

I found that in New York I felt a lot more conservative and in Utah I feel a lot more liberal. I'm basically a moderate.

Cardine, I've been loving a certain cooking show on PBS that takes place in Sweden. I've been thinking that in lieu of France I'd like to go to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, or Finland. What do you think - wanna come?

Cardine said...

Hmmm... definite possibility. That will require some thought.

Thanks for helping me hit 20.

julie said...

That was my plan! :)

Cassie said...

Cardine and Julie,

A friend of mine and I are planning on going to London and France in the fall of this year if either or both of you wanted to come. By the way Cardine, I'm Julie's cousin so its not as random as you may have thought.

Anonymous said...

I know my comment is a little... well, late... but I thought you were all referring to communism.
Ha, ha...

Cardine said...

No, Sarah. Communism was just a red herring.