In the Eye of the Beholder
Apparently, Washington D.C. is spending a paltry 150 G’s on research for a rebranding slogan. That sounds pretty half assed to me, as any real city would have squandered a half a million on such an effort. Regardless, Sommer Mathis has written a post on DCist making light of this, requesting commenters to offer their own slogans for Washington and was kind enough to offer a few suggestions of her own. Of course, one of her suggestions was this:
Good one, Sommer! Bleh. I could use this opportunity to point out that comparisons are always problematic. One could point out that D.C. is richer than Baltimore, safer than Baltimore, and has a wonderful federally subsidized museum network . But then again, someone else could point out that Baltimore is actually a real city that built its own industries, built its own economy, by its own indigenous population, has an actual soul and doesn’t owe its existence or its own present economy entirely to the American people’s tax tit... all the while looking down its contemptuous nose at the Great American Nipple.
“Better,” of course, is a relative notion, and always open to debate.
For instance, I could offer, completely free of charge, a new rebranding slogan promoting Sommer Mathis’ physical attractiveness:
Although I do honestly believe that she is more attractive than a flying rodent, I’m willing to concede that this is unquestionably a debatable issue, and might not be an opinion shared by everybody. If others disagree with my opinion, who am I to tell them that they’re wrong?
But I really shouldn’t go there. There’s no reason to be petty. She’s certainly entitled to her opinion, and I prefer open contempt to backhanded faux-inclusive contempt anyway. It’s better than them presuming to be an authority over us, at least.
Washington, D.C.: Better than Baltimore
Good one, Sommer! Bleh. I could use this opportunity to point out that comparisons are always problematic. One could point out that D.C. is richer than Baltimore, safer than Baltimore, and has a wonderful federally subsidized museum network . But then again, someone else could point out that Baltimore is actually a real city that built its own industries, built its own economy, by its own indigenous population, has an actual soul and doesn’t owe its existence or its own present economy entirely to the American people’s tax tit... all the while looking down its contemptuous nose at the Great American Nipple.
“Better,” of course, is a relative notion, and always open to debate.
For instance, I could offer, completely free of charge, a new rebranding slogan promoting Sommer Mathis’ physical attractiveness:
Sommer Mathis: More Attractive than a Bat
Although I do honestly believe that she is more attractive than a flying rodent, I’m willing to concede that this is unquestionably a debatable issue, and might not be an opinion shared by everybody. If others disagree with my opinion, who am I to tell them that they’re wrong?
But I really shouldn’t go there. There’s no reason to be petty. She’s certainly entitled to her opinion, and I prefer open contempt to backhanded faux-inclusive contempt anyway. It’s better than them presuming to be an authority over us, at least.
posted by dcistgohome at 1:57 PM
2 Comments:
Looks like DCist is trying to claim they have a Baltimore writer:
A true Baltimoron, Jamie grew up cracking Baltimore blue crabs with her teeth and sprinkling Old Bay on popcorn and fries. She was raised on thousand year-old duck eggs, her dad's home-cured and roasted meats, and exploring nearly every Chinese restaurant in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas. She also recalls a time when her mother and sister held her down while the other shoved her food in her mouth because she refused to eat. That's no longer a problem. Jamie spends her time running to eat, harassing Duke fans, cheering on Arsenal at Lucky Bar, exploring the fine arts scene, and writing for her own blog, synaesthesia.
aaaahh, she or DCist placed a "S" in areas. That, at least, is a step in the right direction. Otherwise, meh, this is no more spectacular than nearly every other contributer being from somewhere else as well. I checked out her blog. It seems she is a Washingtonian now. Such things happen. People move to different markets. I suspect she'll, at least, know the difference between the two markets. Still, I hate that "Baltimoron" crap nearly as much as I hate members of the middle and upper classes using the word "hon" for comic effect. It's like listening to someone from the upper east side saying "fuggabedabautet." It makes my skin crawl.
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