Welcome to Forgotonia

Every song is good! (Great, actually.)

I’ve been a fan of this folk-rock-ish band since the early 00s, when I was lucky enough to catch them when they played locally—at my very place of employment at the time, in fact (Knox College in Galesburg, Ill.) They played in the lounge area of one of the dorms, and I don’t even think I had to pay to get in. Some friends from my hometown had alerted me to the upcoming show, but I had no idea what to expect. I ended up being completely charmed by this band, which paraded around the dorm lounge for one song, one of the members beating heartily on a big bass drum.

Since then, I’ve purchased only one album, which I definitely liked. But for some reason I’ve been leery to try their following albums, because they’ve been described as rock operas, concept albums, and that kind of thing. And I’m not even anti-rock opera. But sometimes I don’t need my music to be so… heady, I guess? The frontman, of course, has been mentioned in the music press countless times for having an MFA in creative writing. Admittedly, without even giving the albums a chance, I’ve been a bit dismissive toward the other albums, thinking that it would take too much attention in my already scattered brain to really listen to, pay attention to the lyrics of, and relate to the music.

The brand-new album, though, is almost poppy, by Decemberists standards. I’ll let the actual critics tell you the details (you should listen to what Jim and Greg have to say.) But these are my two cents. If, like me, you’ve reached that unfortunate age where you no longer have time to lie in front of the stereo speakers and analyze, let me just tell you, you can get into this album with one listen, and yet the songs still have the Decemberists’ trademark creativity and intelligence.

Also, if you’re like me, you’re exactly how one of the band members hypothetically described the Decemberists’ fan base in a recent TIME magazine article: something like “they probably like to read, weren’t good at athletics in high school, listen to NPR.” Um, check, check and check.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Can I please just share the irony? I got three-fourths of the way through the book, and then it fell apart–literally.

I was reading a vintage copy (not the one pictured here; I can’t find an image of the cover of the version I have). It’s been on the shelf for a long time and I thought I had picked it up somewhere at a Salvation Army or yard sale. (Interestingly, it’s stamped “CARTHAGE PUBLIC LIBRARY” inside. Which means my dad may have bought it at a library sale and…I stole it from him.)

Anyway, this copy was loosely held together as it was, and then, right when I get close to the end, it splits into pieces, and now I can’t seem to find the last chunk! I’ve searched under the bed and the nightstand, to no avail, and now I’m wondering if my copy ever even had all the pages anyway.

Such is the state of my literary endeavors.

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Leave the Building Quickly: True Stories by Cynthia Kaplan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was so excited when I learned that Cynthia Kaplan had another book out—I received her first collection, "Why I’m Like This," as a gift a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it. So the fact that I didn’t love this one as much might not be a reflection on this collection itself, but just that the first one was so great, anything else might pale in comparison. I did feel like there were a couple of essays in this one that fell a bit flat. But I really loved (and related to) the essay about how she tried to convince her grandmother (struggling with dementia) to use an American Express card, and the one about her relationship with her older brother. Overall, it just didn’t "zing" for me the way the first collection did, but I still love her voice and the mixture of reflective thoughtfulness and humor.



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Check the front page of the Peoria Journal-Star today for a bit of a meta moment, folks:

“Gone but not Forgottonia”

History Channel will spotlight satirical 1971 plan for western Illinois to secede from union

Cool, huh?

And in addition to news of the History Channel show, interestingly, this story features some quotes from the “governor” for the movement, one Neil Gamm, who, as far as I know, hasn’t spoken to the media about anything related to Forgottonia since back in the day. (Not sure he was, like, hiding out on the lam or whatever, but my understanding has been that he’s been somewhat reclusive). Gamm is now apparently living back in the area, too.

Points to reporter Nathan Woodside for getting an interview with Gamm. (And for understanding/ spelling correctly that certain things on this here blog are meant to be facetious!)

…the legend of Forgottonia is twitching with new life.

Gamm will be featured on an upcoming episode of the History Channel documentary “How the States Got Their Shapes.”

…Some signs of Forgottonia remain. A barn near Avon still proudly supports a “Forgottonia, USA” moniker.

An Internet blog still posts news from Forgottonia, facetiously building up small-town stories into big news. “Plans proceed for traffic light to replace four-way stop” was a recent headline under breaking news in Carthage.

Read the full story here.