* * * * *

          Yes, I can say “intellectualizing things into the ground.”

> You think that's bad? Just look at how my joke about Leni Riefenstahl and
> Snuggles the Bear has spawned this mega-crossposted thread about the
> differences between fascism and absolute monarchy.
>
> Can you say, “intellectualizing things into the ground?”
>
> “Douglas Lathrop”
>

Via Eric Burns [1] is Visited States Page [2], where you can get a map
highlighting the states you've visited.

[States I've visited, although “wierd” wasn't listed] [3]

The red states represent the ones I've “visited” although I use that term
very loosely.

For instance, while I have Texas highlighted, I've only seen the state while
sitting in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport, so to say I “visited” the state is a
bit of stretch. Yes, technically I was in Texas, I was looking at plastic
seats in an air conditioned terminal that could have been anywhere to tell
the truth.

Arizona is also highlighted, but again, it's a technicality—albeit with a
better claim of “visited” than Texas. Hoade and I actually saw the state when
we parked our car on the Arizona side of Hoover Dam [4], but it wasn't much
different looking than Nevada, and we only really ventured maybe a quarter
mile into the state.

I can say with better conviction that I've “vistied” Wisconsin, but that was
in Milwaukee, and even then, downtown Milwaukee at the Convention Center (and
a few blocks west to the hotel). Actually, I feel better about saying I
“visited” Milwaukee than I do about “visiting” Wisconsin. The same about New
York—It was New York City I “visited,” not the state at large. Pennsylvania
wasn't much better. Sure, I flew into the city, but I actually stayed in New
Jersey.

Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio only get mention because they were “drive
through” states—back when I lived in North Carolina, my Grandma would drive
down from Michigan to pick me up for the summer vacation. The route followed
I-75 through those states.

Maryland was a “sail through” state—one summer I spent with my Dad sailing
along the Chesapeake Bay [5], so was I really in Maryland, or just alongside
it?

Really, about the only state I can say that I've “visited” is Florida (and
yes, I live here). I've been along both the east and west coast, central and
north Florida, and out through the panhandle.

The only other state I've seen significant portions of is North Carolina, and
I've yet to actually see the central portion (having lived in both the
mountainous western portion, and the coastal eastern portion).

Then again, I'm probably over intellectualizing a silly web meme.

[1] http://demiurgent.livejournal.com/188349.html
[2] http://douweosinga.com/projects/visitedstates
[3] gopher://gopher.conman.org/gPhlog:2007/01/22/statemap.gif
[4] gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2006/07/20.1
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay

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