how boring must indiana be to think of this as fun

We just returned from Washington, IN. You know, the place I have been saying is not as strange nor as lurid as Petersburg. We went into the town for a promising Mexican dinner at a hole in the wall I had seen and kept hearing about. It was somewhat disappointing. They put mayo on the torta. Who does that? My tacos de lengua were good. There were no chile rellenos, aguas frescas or any of the other foods we were told we could order there. After, I took my boyfriend to the corner store I have been frequenting. This time there was a strange scene, men on cell phones and rolls of hundreds passing hands.

The laundromat had it's own creepy thing going on. Perched outside were three lethargic, little White girls probably ages three, eight and ten. The youngest was quite shocking. She wore the intense scowl of a severely, emotionally injured adult. Her frown never let up, she sat quietly, her face covered with sweat and dirt, her little hands in fists, her curls a tangled mess. Her eyes were the oldest eyes I have ever seen. A young Hispanic man passed by and smiled at them. They showed no emotion but after he entered the laundromat, the oldest asked her mother, who must have been one of the two women sitting several feet away, if she could go inside and say hello. Her mother nodded and all three girls immediately jumped up and ran in.

We bought tortillas and chorizo, a few snacks and left. On the way into town was a young girl in a tank top saucily sauntering as she pushed a stroller with a child no more than a year old and had a two year old walking beside her. She tossed her head and gave my boyfriend a look I have never seen any adult woman give him. We were both a bit freaked out with that brief encounter with pure jail bait.

On the way back home the bucolic landscape was interrupted by intermittent transmission lines and the four smokestacks puffing away at the power plant. We talked about the faces of the children we have seen these past few weeks and how there seems to always be a collection can with the photo of a kid suffering from some bizarre cancer I have never heard of. As we walked through the motel room door the familiar sounds of Lucy, Ricky and the Metz's greeted us. I had left the television on.

Lucy would've been 100 today.

Photo set of the West Baden Springs hotel. Unexpected grandeur in very rural Indiana. We ate lunch in the main domed space; the menu was an odd mix of ladies-who-lunch chicken salad etc and bar food.

This is nice!!!! Are these your pics? The Bowling Pavilion looks like something in France.

PP-I celebrated by watching the marathon on Hallmark....commercials but I have nothing but time, teehee....

Yes they are - we were back there over the 4th of July as part of a big road trip. Having grown up in central Indiana, I'd been down to Brown County and Bloomington lots, but never realized these huge old hotels were there.

I love huge, old hotels. The Shining never really took that away from me, teehee...

My boyfriend suggested dinner tonight at an Amish settlement. Sounds interesting. My first impression of Amish food at the Black Buggy wasn't great though.

I don't want to limit out experiences here. I want to see all we can see good or bad but the Amish...

Since being here and shopping with them at the Wal-Mart for groceries, I have discovered that they creep me out in groups of three or more. It's the whole cult/religion/lifestyle ambiguity coupled with their attire and the looks on their faces. I never understood people who were creeped out by clowns but I sort of get it now. It's a confusion that incites fear. What is a clown, what is their purpose, why are they dressed that way, why are they doing what they are doing? Their attire, make-up, the entire package can swing from ridiculous to sinister for these people. I get it now. That is what the Amish do to me. It's a confusion that scares the hell out of me.

The thought of dinner surrounded by the Amish makes me hyperventilate. I'll do it for him, because I dig the guy and love him even more but, eeksters. I am currently trying to find out exactly where we will be eating so I can view the menu. Then I'd like to check out photos on Flickr, maybe get an idea of what this place is like probably from a photographer who isn't as freaked out by them as I am. Then I'd like to spend the rest of day calmly walking through a casual scenario in my head: walking into the settlement, okay, I see Amish, don't count, breathe, baby steps, menu, order, breath, keep hydrated, focus on boyfriend.....

It's a confusion that incites fear. What is a clown, what is their purpose, why are they dressed that way, why are they doing what they are doing? Their attire, make-up, the entire package can swing from ridiculous to sinister for these people. I get it now.

Stay out of Williamsburg.

Teehee...

Going to try the Schnitzelbank in Jasper,IN instead. Looks very promising!

So where are people talking about the Indiana religious freedom bullshit?

Seconded

I'm still perplexed as to why Indiana's passing of the law has started a nationwide uproar that didn't happen when 19 other states passed virtually the same law. They all suck, of course, but is there some reason in particular people picked NOW to get angry about it?

Good question. I dunno, context? I have no idea, but how many of those states have anti-discrimination laws on the book that trump the religious freedom laws? For example, Illinois I think has a religious freedom law, but it also illegal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, which trumps the former.

The North Carolina law in progress seems even even more onerous. It barely even defines the basis of objection as a hunch or bad vibe or whatever. Religion has almost not explicit role.

And of course, almost every place of business has a sign hanging already that says they have the right to refuse service for any reason, so who knows what this all means.

Timing, I would guess. Same-sex marriage is such a foregone conclusion that this kind of shit just seems like desperate, backwards people clinging to their bigotry as hard as possible.

Ha, my post is half typo. I blame the Plead the 5th Imperial Stout.

Having lived down the street from Indiana my whole life, and having had family in a small-town farming community there, I think it's not that Indiana is so conservative, it's that there is more likely to be controversy within the state about it, and that gets good ratings. Hoosiers pride themselves on being friendly and they generally are! Then they have this stupid law where it's okay to not want gays' money. Like I said, it will make for good tv.

Hoosiers pride themselves on being friendly and they generally are!

As are most racists, homophobes, etc.

http://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/-welcome-to-indiana-the-mississippi-of-the-midwest--4e8e9.png

otm - this is exactly my experience having spent lots of time in tx and tn, both places full of seemingly pleasant not-so-secret bigots, homophobes, and misogynists.

according to this the indiana law is somewhat different? idk.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/what-makes-indianas-religious-freedom-law-different/388997/

xps

is there some reason in particular people picked NOW to get angry about it?

My guess is the priorities are changing in the LGBT community. As Josh said, the SCOTUS is giving every indication that all the laws banning same-sex marriage will be struck down as unconstitutional. Up until recently that took precedence. Now more resources can be shifted to this front. Indiana is the target because it meets the requirement for being new news, not old news.

the Indiana law is different!

In the other states the government can't infringe on a person's "religious liberty." Indiana's law sez "persons" can't do the infringing.

^^ that explains it!

It was strange how the HIV outbreak/needle exchange in SE Indiana happened nearly simultaneously.

Dennis Perrin is from IN:

Hard to believe that Obama carried Indiana in '08. Mushrooms?

On how the Indiana law is different: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/03/what-makes-indianas-religious-freedom-law-different/388997/

Yup, call all destroyer posted that link already. It's a good summation though, I think.

Yeah, now that I understand the differences, it makes total sense.

Shit just got real:

@Wilco
We are canceling our May 7 show at the Murat in Indianapolis. The “Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act” feels like thinly disguised legal discrimination to us. Hope to get back to the Hoosier State someday soon, when this odious measure is repealed. Refunds available at point of purchase.

Well shoot, I've already posted that Brian Henneman song in this thread.

Hoos should change his dn

I'm cancelling my christmas visit

Just because Illinois has no such law is no reason for Wilco to be typically superior toward their neighbor state's conservatism. Only someone from Illinois would blame an entire state for this bad law. Get a clu, Illinois - you're a farm state too. Maybe someone should boycott you for your lack of humility.

If anything bad karmically happens to Indiana because of this, I'll blame Illinois. IME Illinoisans are much bigger unapologetic jerks. Clean up your own state first!

can't believe mitch daniels is the president of a university now

The thing that sucks about the Wilco thing is that most if not all of the people going to that show are probably as against the law as the band is.

Oh no, the Midwesterners are having a intradisagreement now. How long will it be now for an Iowan to come along and offer a slice of his husband's World Famous Rhubarb Pie as a token of friendly kinship.

XP "against the law IN QUESTION"

is rhubarb pie midwestern? because I fucking love it.

Illinois does have a similar law, but it also has - as do most of those others states save maybe Texas - an anti-discrimination law as counterbalance, which Pence has stressed is not remotely going to happen in IN.

And come on man, Indiana has been paying for billboards up here for months taunting Illinois.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8C-lxTJTcRM/U3wwZaSEP1I/AAAAAAAAWk4/F1MUjsnnmoM/s1600/Still%2BAnnoyed.jpg
http://www.ibj.com/ext/resources/IBJ-Print/IBJ-Forefront/roob-billboard.jpg
Punks had it coming.

I suspect the Wilco cancellation is largely symbolic. They did it to help amplify the opposition, not to hurt Indiana.

are they taking a stand by dressing like their idea of homos?

Gonna say ... no.
http://popinprogress.glamour.it/files/2012/05/Jeff-Tweedy-Wilco-Sound-Check-Music-Blog.jpg

I'm still "Illinoised." I'd boycott this shithole - the Mississippi of the north - for the damage it's corruption and bloat do to poor people, but I can't. I live here.

I understand what Wilco is doing, but people in Illinois feel superior all of the time. Indianapolis is not as RW as the outsiders up north think it is.

Boycotts of this sort are a good way to spread fear and doubt into the non-fundamentalist business community, which HATES the idea of losing money they might be making. The main trouble is that such a boycott wouldn't touch the rural communities much. If it spreads to boycotting automobiles made in Indiana, then watch out!

Also I really think more people would vote Democrat if the Democrats in places like Illinois weren't so corrupt! Democrats hurt the causes they claim to defend with their own corruption - I have heard Midwest Republicans say so!

xp no more subarus

I can picture the portlandia bit where Carrie and Fred are buying a Forrester but then see the "made in Indiana" sticker

Yeah, them Dems and their corruption. I read somewhere that the best way to cut down on corruption is just to cut taxes.

bit doesn't really work with the hummer plant

Handy guide to some state boycotts, effects:
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/will-the-indiana-boycott-work/