Be it ever so humble...

Today I went out to my parents' house and visited with my mom, dad, and brother. After awhile my brother and I got talking about the little country town where we grew up. Now it's been gobbled up by Milwaukee's suburban sprawl, but it used to be a bona fide redneck town.

I'd like to think of myself as a reformed hick. Sure I grew up in a town where the cows outnumbered the people, but ever since I graduated from high school, every time I moved I relocated to a larger city. I love living in the city, but sometimes I like things that remind me of my hometown (mainly because it reminds me that I never have to go back). There are several things that amuse me about the country, and below I've detailed two of them.

Exhibit A: Country Singles!

This is actually something that I never looked at when I lived in the country. I can't remember when I started picking them up...they're available at rest stops along I-94. The best thing is that when you pay your dollar, you aren't paying for the newspaper...you're paying a montly membership fee to belong to the Country Singles Club. The newspaper is a complimentary copy to members. They even have a little card you can cut out, sign, and keep in your wallet.

Country Singles (they also have a website here) is mainly personals ads for people who live in unpopulated areas, are truckers, or are incarcerated. The incarcerated ones are my favorites...in the last Country Singles issue there was an incarcerated woman who was looking for a man who was well-off, generous, and trusting. She may as well have written, "Rich sucker." The other ones are fun to read too, although a lot of the men seem to be in their 50s and looking for a woman in her 20s. Good luck, fellas.

Exhibit B: The 24 Hour Bait Shop!

These things entertain me because people don't believe me that they actually exist. It's a bait vending machine. You know, for fishing? Really, you can wander up and pick out whatever you need!

As you can see, all the different baits are arraged for ease of purchase. Mealworms? Nightcrawlers? What's your pleasure?

So yeah. Those are the things that make me nostalgic. Classy, no?

Tagged for a meme

Work has been kicking my ass lately. This fun summer job is getting less fun by the day. Fortunately my client is heading out on Thursday for a lovely ten-day vacation, so the break will be welcome.

In the meantime, I was tagged by Dykewife tagged me to do a meme!

"The Rules:
• each player lists 8 facts about themselves
• the rules of the game appear before the facts do
• the player ends by tagging 8 people, which means listing their names and then going to their blogs to tell them that they’ve been tagged, then going back and commenting on their lists."

So here are eight facts for me.

1. I have eight [EDIT: by "eight" I actually mean "five" - they're nearly the same number] cats – Rusty, Cider, Lucky, Edison, and Juneau. Rusty and Cider were originally mine, Lucky and Edison were originally Mike’s, and we sort of got stuck with Juneau together.

2. My newest TV addiction is “Rock of Love” on VH1. It’s a show like “The Bachelor,” where a guy eliminates one woman a week in order to find his true love. Except that in this show, the bachelor is Bret Michaels of Poison! And the women he’s with are total class. It’s majestic.

3. I have an irrational fear of buoys. Really. I find them extremely creepy.

4. Mike has never beaten me at Scrabble. This makes me really reluctant to play him, because I want to keep my streak intact.

5. If I could have my way, I’d eat nothing but pizza, ice cream, and stuff like that. I absolutely adore junk food.

6. When I was 23 I never thought I’d get married or have kids. Now that I’m 27 I’m already married, and I’d like to have kids when I’m 30. I guess things change.

7. I love my religion, which makes me extremely uncool compared to almost everyone my age.

8. I’d love to move to Canada, but I’m afraid that I’d ruin it somehow via my inadvertent Americanness. Also, they get a lot of snow. If I move it’s sure as hell not going to be to someplace colder than Wisconsin.

I don’t really want to tag anyone, so just do it if you want to, and pretend I tagged you.