Long Night

It's been a long night and I am still not particularly tired. When I'm trying to relax, I have to either empty the contents of my head somehow or try to fill my head with something light and humorous. Tonight, I dipped back into the John Hodgman book The Areas of My Expertise and came across a passage that hit very close to home. In the section "Our 51 United States", Hodgman lists "facts" about each state. The entry on the state of my residence was amusing but quite accurate.

DISCLAIMER: As a little background information on this book, here is an excerpt from the cover: "In the great tradition of the American Almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although bestsellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true. Here is a different kind of handy desk reference, one in which all of the historical oddities and amazing true facts are sifted through the singular, illuminating imagination of John Hodgman-which is the nice way of saying: He made it all up."

Missouri
Nicknames: The Show-Me State, The Prove-It State, The Demonstrate-Your-God-Damned-Thesis State
Motto: "We demand that it be revealed immediately."
Notes: Most experts agree that everything is up-to-date in Kansas City, Mo. With its seven-story skyscrapers, full telephone service, burlesque theaters, and multiple gas buggies, it has gone about as far as it can go. No further progress will be undertaken.

-John Hodgman, from The Areas of My Expertise

Hodgman pretty much hit the nail on the head, whether or not he actually knows anything about Kansas City. The city is truly at a point that it will either be forced to redevelop itself or it will perish. KC needs a revolution, but apparently they plan to do so despite making steep cuts to the City Planning and Development Department (see 2008-9 budget here). All I can really say is good luck in that KC.