America!

A belated 4th of July post.

{adding my signature to the Declaration of Independence.
Philadelphia, fall 2012}

This morning, I read an article called America the Marvelous in Vanity Fair. While the U.S. has undoubtedly made some questionable and even horrific contributions to world culture...

Ke$ha, Walmart, willful insincerity (think: waiters/waitresses singing "happy birthday" to customers at Applebee's. I absolutely hate the fact that it's your birthday and that I have to sing to you while clapping and pretending it's fun...but here's a free piece of lava cake!), MTV's Teen Mom, Guy Fieri, planned obsolescence of consumer items (the pair of shoes from Payless that you purchase because they're cute, knowing they probably won't last the season--not that I've never been guilty of that), oversize cars, overprocessed food, etc.

...there have been some great contributions as well. For all the criticisms of the U.S., there sure are a lot of people worldwide who:

will use every comforting, clever, and ingenious American invention, will demand America’s medicine, wear its clothes, eat its food, drink its drink, go to its cinema, love its music, thank God for its expertise in a hundred disciplines, and will all adore New York.                                                                                                                   {A.A. Gill}

Some other great things about 'Merica:

• This CBS Sunday Morning story about an Iraqi war cameraman in the U.S.
• Michelle Obama (and her glorious wardrobe)
• The Fabulous Beekman Boys and a step toward equal protection under the law
• National Parks (we're hoping to make a trip to Acadia sometime in the next 3 years)
• Thanksgiving--my favorite holiday!
• S'mores! (amazing s'mores recipes...I want to make them all)
• Speaking of s'mores...The Sandlot (you're killin' me Smalls)
• Regional dialects (I say "pop," not "soda")