Where You Live Might Not Suck As Badly As You Think

Heavener, Oklahoma

You've probably never even heard of it. It's even less likely that you've ever been there.

Unless, of course, you're a student of pre-Columbian Norse Mythology, in which case you've probably visited many times, studying and debating the authenticity of the runestones and writing long, involved scholarly works on the subject.

Riverton, Wyoming

Unless you were the one person paying attention to the non-sex parts of “Brokeback Mountain,” you've never heard of it. You certainly have no reason to travel there.

Of course, if you did make the trip, you'd meet some of the most intrepid, enthusiastic hot-air balloonists to be found anywhere and see one of the largest Indian Reservations in the United States.

Fairhope, Alabama

Even if you can find Alabama on a map, chances are you'll still have difficulty locating Fairhope. It isn't even mentioned in lame Sonny & Cher songs like it's neighbor to the West, Mobile.

However, in addition to producing a few authors and songwriters you may have heard of, the town was also founded as a utopian artists' colony with a unique tax structure that reads to the non-American mind as radical socialism if not full-on communism.

Fresno, California

You've likely heard of it, but only as a punchline to a joke. You wouldn't ever consider actually going there.

Which is a real shame if you happen to have a taste for authentic Armenian food or are a fan of funk styles of dance, especially popping.

As you have read, the Yummish Council is currently located in the somewhat achingly trendy San Francisco Bay Area. That is not to suggest in any way that we are hip. We're geekish and awkward and often feel compelled to randomly apologize for our many short comings to the hipsters we encounter while waiting online for whatever restaurant, grocery store, or bus line we're clearly not cool enough for. (Which is, in itself, a fairly bizarre thing to do and more or less proves our point.)

It is important to remember, though, that wherever you may currently reside, there is something cool about it – something interesting to be experienced. No matter how small the town's population, others have elected to live there, as opposed to living someplace else. There must be something that attracts people and compels them to say – a Yum of sorts shared by all who chose to make their homes there.  




Today's exercise: Discover for yourself what makes your home town unique and take pride in sharing that Yummish tidbit with those not hip to it.

Next: A few hours after this posting, the book signing for our first novel will begin. We suspect that we'll have a few thoughts on that experience that we'll wish to share. (Unless no one shows, in which case we intend to go out and get quite drunk.)