Minnesotans are a proud lot. We’re proud of our state in all of its bounteous and beautiful glory. We’re proud of our people. We’re proud of our creativity. We’re so proud that we’ll gladly claim anyone who’s made a home here, announcing loudly that “THIS PERSON IS FROM MINNESOTA!!!! YAY!!!!” As Garrison Keillor says, Minnesota is where “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” (Did you know that this tendency to inflate your good qualities is called the Lake Wobegon effect? Really. Check out the Wikipedia page. Unfortunately, the psychologists who’ve taken the term don’t get the joke. Minnesotans may be proud, but we don’t boast about our personal traits as individuals. That’s what makes Keillor’s standard ending for Lake Wobegon stories so funny. We’re all saying to ourselves, “Yeah, right,” when we hear it.)
When I first discovered that British author Neil Gaiman had transplanted himself to Minnesota, I have to admit that I swelled with pride. Not only is he a fabulous writer, he has good taste in living environments. Neil Gaiman from Minnesota? Yah, you betcha! Well, guess what? He doesn’t actually live in Minnesota. (Say it isn’t so!) According to an article by Britt Aamodt at mnartists.org, his house is located across the border in WISCONSIN! Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. I, along with plenty of others, have been wrong all this time – falsely claiming Neil as one of us. That’s soooooo un-Minnesotan. We like to pride ourselves on our honesty, after all. Not that I have any problem with Neil living in Wisconsin. My father’s people are from Wisconsin – the Indian-head region, where Luck, Siren, Grantsburg and Frederick are located. (My Grandpa Jens, who lived in Siren almost his whole life, used to say, “I was born in Luck and I’ve been out of Luck ever since.”) Wisconsin is a fine state, but it’s not Minnesota. Wherever did we get this notion about Neil Gaiman? Is it because he lives so close to the border that he spends a lot of time in Minnesota? If this is so, can we still claim him? Pretty please with a cherry on top?
Even though I was wrong about Neil being a Minnesotan, I was right about one thing. Neil Gaiman is one of the most sociable authors on the planet. In his journal he is forever talking about this person or that person or these hundreds of others he has met, had dinner with, or worked with. Britt Aamodt’s article makes mention of the fact that lots of local cartoonists have been to his house ( . . . in Wisconsin [sigh] . . . will I ever get over it?). Not to stereotype (but I’m going to anyway), many authors are known for being rather unsociable. I have to admit that I am in a way. When I first meet people, I’m very quiet. Sure, I’ll give them a fine “How d’ ya do,” but I slip into observation mode until the ice is broken into navigable chunks. Once I get to know people, if I feel sympatico with them, I go all Chatty Cathy. I guess this explains the “I” part of the INFJ result I got on the Myers-Briggs personality test I took years ago.
(P.S. I just told Hubby about this post and he said, “Does Neil know that Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein were from Wisconsin?” Hey, it’s something to think about.)
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June 17, 2008 at 11:03 am
rox
I went through a period about a year ago where I was desperate to move to Minnesota. Then I found out there are no Dunkin’ Donuts in Minnesota. I quickly got over it
.
And just so the joke makes sense, Bostonians take their access to Dunkin’ Donuts very, very seriously. I knew my transition to Masshole (I’m not a native) was complete when I became obsessed with Dunkin’ Donuts.
June 17, 2008 at 11:39 am
Joy
Being a Minnesotan myself, aahhh, Wisconsin!!! I know how you feel and I feel your pain. Don’t we just love to hate them??? Then you add the Vikings against the Packers!! It never seems to end. All in all though, I don’t really hate them, I just LOVE to hate them. You also NEVER put green and yellow together under any circumstance !!!! I think it’s just a rule about living here. Ya, you betcha!!
I’m a stand back kind of person too until that ice has been broken. I’m basically very shy. People who know me say I’m not until I point out that “I know them” and therefore, not shy but if I walked into a gathering of some kind and didn’t know anyone, I might leave never talking to a single person. On the other hand, if I know everyone, I can be the life of the party.
June 17, 2008 at 6:53 pm
erin g
I feel the same way about NC. And if I found that someone who I THOUGHT was a tarheel actually lived across the border in the south kackalack, I would be equally disappointed. I mean, I lived in SC for several years and I have lots of friends and fond memories there. But. I will never claim to be FROM anywhere else besides good old NC, so I know what you mean about the state pride!
June 18, 2008 at 2:04 am
lkwinter
He must be regretting the fact that by now, he understands what a “cheesy” place Wisconsin can be. : )
Being from CA, I wouldn’t make it there; sure I’d LOVE to visit, but visit is as far as that goes–lifelong Californians die in the cold; I’d freeze to death. They’d come to check on me, and I’d be frozen in a ball…and I’d die from shoveling all that snow!
June 20, 2008 at 8:47 pm
woowooteacup
Hey, rox, I thought there were Dunkin’ Donuts stores in Minnesota. We certainly see enough commercials for the company. When I googled “dunkin donuts minnesota,” I discovered that we only have two.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080109205938AAIWAGK
Apparently, I haven’t been paying close enough attention. That, or I don’t eat enough donuts!
Isn’t state pride an interesting phenomenon? Here we are, all of the current commenters, anyway, and we’re all from the United States, but each state has its own distinct culture and each of us feel that pride from being stitched into the fabric of that culture. What causes that? And is it any wonder that countries can’t always get along?