Dude, not the ranch kind

Dude. (Translation: I have no better way to inarticulately start this post about things that I am selfishly upset about)

Dude! (Translation: My favorite co-worker is moving away. I am sad. I told him today that it wasn't about the fact that he got basically his dream job in a city he's been dying to move to for YEARS and gets to live inexpensively in a huge, beautiful house until he figures out what neighborhood to settle into, and he gets to live there with his best friend, while he works his dream job, in his dream town, with a company that's exactly what he wanted. No, I'm sad because he's the best work-friend I've ever had and now he's going to be gone and I will be doing my job and half of his and the only reason that I look competent or capable at all most days is because he & I communicate well and balance one another out in terms of organization and remembering details and what-not. I know I will find a way to adapt to the new normal and things will be alright. I know that I still have people to talk to and ask questions. But I'm going to miss my friend.)

Duuuude. (I gave a mini-dissertation, fueled only by first-hand accounts and vast quantities of speculation today on my right to say "dude" as much as I wanted because I was from California, even though I haven't lived there for over 20 years, and when I did, I never did anything even vaguely surf-like, was not frequently seen on any beaches, anywhere, and was from the part of the state that thought "hella" was a good way to modify other slang words. During my brief-but thoroughly enjoyable-stay at UC Santa Barbara I remember quite a few debates on California culture. NoCal vs SoCal... and just typing that makes me twitch, because... come on. You're from the Bay Area, LA, or San Diego, right? Or the way-north-almost Oregon part. There are all sorts of "valleys" that you can be from too, but for the most part, those are the areas of California that I recognize. Eureka and other parts north, The Bay Area-which extends disgustingly far in my brain, the central valley, LA and San Diego... If you're not from one of those areas, can you describe your part of the state to me using those areas? That would be helpful. I think of Texas that way too. El Paso, Amarillo-the panhandle, DFW, Austin/San Antonio, Houston, and East Texas...  If you're from other parts of the state, can you describe it using those areas? That would be helpful. I'm pretty sure Illinois is just stuff between Wisconsin, Chicago & Springfield too. Maybe everyone divvies up states that way. There are some big cities & some stuff in between? Nebraska is Lincoln, Omaha & everything else. Nevada is just Las Vegas & a whole lot of dessert. This is my grasp of American geography, and it gets worse on the East Coast.  It's all one big sort of blob in my head--New England & Other Southern States. I should draw my map of the US. It would be highly entertaining, if only to me.)


DUDE! (Translation: I did it. Standard Internet disclaimers apply--this is my version, from my brain, not meant to be an accurate or realistic representation of people, places, or heaven forbid, geography. This is just the way I think about the country. I realize that certain common labels (Midwest, New England) may be completely off, but this is what I think... feel free to visit the website and color your own map with your own labels, colors, boundaries, etc.)

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