Creme Cheese and Steve Martin

A few more gratuitous America photos.

Jessica's creme cheese flag tart.  National fireworks.

Steve Martin at the Capitol Fourth concert (thanks to Rachel, production assistant extraordinaire). U.S. Capitol. 

Happy Birthday, America.

Happy Independence Day!

I've spent the weekend laughing with friends, drinking lemonade, singing Darius Rucker, eating pie for breakfast, wearing braids and living in sundresses.

I'm very proud to be an American girl.  Happy Birthday America.  235 years young.

Wishing you a firework filled, beer drinking, flag waving Monday.

Coke, Soda...Pop?

I grew up in Florida, which is not technically the South but it certainly is not the North.  I'd say I grew up around more Surfer Talk than Magnolia Mouth.  With a Grandma from Alabama, school in North Carolina, never living farther north than DC, and friends from the Northeast, I find regional linguistics fascinating.  It's one of those moments where I get all excited about the US - how we can all be Americans, but be so different at the same time.  We're all speaking the same language...sort of.

One of the most obvious differences in dialect is what we call carbonated beverages.  I call it Coke.  (And if you call it Pop, you're obviously wrong.) The first time I heard it called Pop, I thought they were talking about a lollipop.  (Which is apparently called a lolly in some places?!)

 

(via Matthew Campbell and Prof. Greg Plumb of East Central University in Oklahoma) 

When I meet people from the far reaches of America (read: the Pacific NW, New Yorkers, Celtics Fans), I bombard them with dialect questions.  "What do you call the thing you push around the supermarket?"  "What do you call your parent's sister?"  "How do you say the maple sauce you put on pancakes?"  "How do you address a group of people?"

Tell me:
Is the sandwich Sub or a Hoagie? Do you toilet paper a house, or roll it?  Is it a Rolly Polly bug, or a Potato Bug?  Tennis Shoes or Sneakers?  Is the spider called a Daddy Long Legs or a Granddaddy Long Legs?  Do you grocery shop with a Shopping Cart or a Buggy? Do you change the channel with the remote or the clicker?

My answers are the first in the question.  What do you all say?

(For more dialect maps, check out these)

SOTU

(photograph by Chuck Kennedy)

 This weekend, bars across America were packed with people watching the Packers and the Steelers.  But tonight, bars across DC will be packed with people watching the State of the Union.

It probably seems strange to people in the Fifty Real States, but DC has its nerdy quirks.  I think I’m going to opt for the warmth of my couch, but I like the idea nonetheless.

Speaking of which, have you heard about the seating arrangements?  In a bipartisan gesture, lawmakers are switching up their normal seating assignments.  Some Republican and Democrats will sit together, which means that they’ve been asking each other to be “seat buddies”.

It's like Capitol Hill Prom!

Kiss Me Quick

(Jim Zorn, and his wife Joy)

I went to the Celtics-Wizards game this weekend.  It didn't go well for the Celtics. But the part that bothered me: the Kiss Cam.  All these tiny little peck kisses.  If you're on Kiss Cam, go for it.  Be a crazy American sports fan.

It's Our State of Mind!

(via Real Simple)

Isn't that the truth!  Of all the stereotypes about the US, I'm happy to accept the notion that our state of mind is positive, excited and joyful.

Thank you

(West Point, USMA)

When I lived in Italy for a semester, I had a wonderful Dutch roommate named Petra.  After we became close friends she told me that, before she met us, she thought Americans walked around with American flag t-shirts, always talking about how great the United States was and how much they loved the US of A.  (To be fair, I teased her that all Dutch people got high and wore wooden shoes.)

I am not an owner of an Old Navy flag shirt, and there are certainly things about the United States that I think could be improved upon.  But she was right about one part: I love my country.

And on today, Veterans Day, I am proud to honor those that served our country.  There are not enough words to express the gratitude owed to you for your sacrifice.  Thank you.