I love snarky local blogs. Unfortunately, the one for my little mountain county seems mostly devoted these days to attacking one county commissioner candidate, so I will spare you that.
But thanks to a Facebook friend, I was introduced to Normal for Glastonbury, which contains such nuggets as these about the most esoteric town in England, contributed by its readers:
Lisa: ‘Get off my fucking leyline!’ a hedge monkey once shouted at the custodian of the White Spring.
Sophie: “Yesterday, whilst on the top floor of the bus returning to Glastonbury from Bristol I overheard two young men, talking excitedly about visiting Glastonbury for the first time. One French guy explained that he had a calling to go to Glastonbury because people there believe in dragons, as he did himself and in fact he always travels with his dragon. When the other man asked where his dragon was the French man explained that his dragon was riding on the roof of the bus.”
Vijay ” I have a boyfriend in the seventh dimension”
Sam: “I was stood outside St Dunstan’s house on the pavement. Woman walks up and, looking concerned asks “Can you tell me where something normal is?”. I paused and asked whatever did she mean ‘normal’? She said “Something like .. well – an Italian restaurant”. I pointed across the street to point out we had (at that time) two – there and there. She looked relieved, thanked me and walk away. It left me wondering .. why is an Italian restaurant in Glastonbury ‘normal’ and what had led to her concern?”
That comment about getting off the ley line((Is ley line one word or two?)) reminded me of another blog, one devoted to conversations overheard in the too-hip university city of Boulder, Colorado, once famous for its population of Buddhist converts.((Sedona, Arizona might be a better parallel for Glastonbury, however.)) (They’re still there, but Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche is long gone.) Mirroring a more hipster/New Agey-vibe, it’s called Stay Out of My Namaste Space.
Some samples:
“I do yoga at the Y. They do a poor people’s scholarship which is great ‘cause I look poor on paper.”
“I was thinking about it today and I haven’t been in Europe in 2 whole years.”
“The Universe has blessed me with the opportunity to be unconnected from my smartphone.”
“I swear to God, I was the only person on this earth who thought Iceland was cool before everyone else did. I’ve literally been obsessing over Iceland for twenty years.”
“We ended up naming him Jeffrey. I wanted to name him Stannis but my psychic didn’t think that was a good idea.”
Who’s delivering the snark in your town?
Heh thanks for linking to the blog. I quite like the idea of being described as a writer of a ‘snarky local blog’. There are hundreds more Overheard in Glastonbury comments to go up yet, plus a whole load of other pithy observations.
Now I am looking for the equivalent to your blog for Sedona, which might be the Glastonbury of America — or at least of the American Southwest. The best I have found is this one entry by some unimpressed visitors with a perfect Sedona photo.
Okay, I read the one about the American Southwest and she ends with “cha cha cha?” What the hell is that? Other than a popular dance from the 1950s.
Here in lovely NE TN, I don’t think we have anything vaguely related to a snarky blog, unless you consider the local newspapers snarky. Maybe if I went up to Damascus, VA where the AT runs right through the middle of town, I might find a snarky blog. Hmmmm….
Well, we now have the Tweetsie Trail, which isn’t snarky of course.
Cha cha cha = tralala?
The Tweetsie Trail needs a pilgrimage site to attract people from all over, perhaps. I have pilgrimage on my mind, since my cousin is walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain — and it’s changing him — but will the changes last?
Oh, the Tweetsie Trail (rails to trails) just started in 2014 and is already heavily used by the local community. In fact, they’re trying to link it up to the walking trail to the local college (ETSU) and then extending it on the other side over to Roan Mountain State Park. The only ones bitching about it are the horse people because the trail prohibits horses from it due to its new status and other issues. Right now it’s only about 10 miles long. If you’ve ever been east there’s the Creeper Trail in SW VA, which is also bikes/walking/horse trail that is extremely popular. I think the Tweetsie Trail was pushed because of the popularity of the Creeper Trail. So, Appalachia isn’t as “backwards” as a lot of people think, although it has a long way to go to catch up to other areas. 🙂
Sorry I don’t live closer to New Hope. It’s the Philadelphia equivalent of latte town in these parts. Fun to visit so you can see all the trendy shops.
Again, I realize this has zilch to do with your essay, but I thought you’d be interested in this piece from Mythology Matters: https://mythologymatters.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/yahwehs-divorce-from-the-goddess-asherah-in-the-garden-of-eden/
Thanks