In Which I Ask a Question that Ruins Any Street Cred I Had

Was Aaliyah really nice or something?  Because I swear, based solely on her ability to whisper her way through whole albums of material, I don’t understand why she was famous.

Do We Have a Feminist Equivalent of the Bat Signal?

If we don’t, perhaps we should consider one.  Then I could signal all y’all Nashville feminists to run to the grocery store and pick up some food for my favorite lil’ feminist indoctrination camp.

For, as it stands now, sixteen girls between the ages of 12 and 17 are about to start camp and no one is quite sure where the huge bowl of M&Ms they usually snack on is going to come from.

I know things are tough all over, but if you can help, drop me an email (appropriateaunt at yahoo dot com) and I’ll put you in touch with the folks who could use some sustenance in the coming month.

Other Places

—The Recovering Baptist is in love, and who can blame her?  We Midwesterners are hard to resist.

—Bridgett‘s talking bad covers.

–Speaking of bad covers, Coble‘s got some brilliant publishing industry ideas.

Meanwhile, here’s what I’m mulling over (which you Midwesterners will also find HILARIOUS [yes, so hilarious that I have to shout]): Mack is taking his family to the Dells on vacation!

Doesn’t that just make you want to give the whole family a squeeze and hand them a casserole?

But oh, the moaning and wailing and weeping about having to drive through Illinois.  Good lord, you’d think people had never been in a car in a flat state before.

So, I have this idea of putting together a little quiz for the kids to work on in the car in between bouts of making fun of my homeland.  But the thing is, these kids are smart, so I want it to be something interesting for them and pertaining to Illinois AND, here’s the tricky thing, something they can do while sitting in the car and just looking out the window or at a road map on occasion.

Here’s what I’ve got so far:

1.  Much of the reason Illinois is so “boring” and flat is because glaciers extended far into the state during the last ice age.  Generally, the flat parts were under ice; the rolling hilly parts were not.  Just looking at the landscape as you head north, how far south do you think those glaciers came?

2.  Look out your window.  What are Illinois’ two biggest cash crops*?

3.  Based on the city and town names you see, what country would you guess the first European settlers came from?

4.  Name me five towns in Illinois you think may have been Native American villages at one time.

5.  Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.  He sent his daughter to Charleston to college.  What school did she attend?

6.  Right now you’re driving over one of the largest coal basins in the nation.  Just by looking on the road map, can you guess where you might find mines?

Okay, that’s what I’ve got so far.  I’m throwing it open to y’all if you have any ideas.

*Not counting that illegal cash crop.