The South

Love of The South

scream_it — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 07:04:29 GMT

Please take five minutes to help out a southern girl wanting to pursue her dream!

http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/JessicaCanady/the-gorgeous-south-and-its-lost-heritage/

http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/JessicaCanady/the-gorgeous-south-and-its-lost-heritage/
http://www.nameyourdreamassignment.com/the-ideas/JessicaCanady/the-gorgeous-south-and-its-lost-heritage/

Polls close April 3rd! If you all would vote and get as many friends to vote/comment as possible I would love you forever!!!! I need 200 more votes! Steal my bandwidth. I don't care!! I love you even if I have no idea who you are!

- Jessica

Check out my Slide Show!

eddie_thedane — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:49:50 GMT

Saying Hello

harmoniouslife — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:13:11 GMT

I recently found this community and it was a happy discovery! (Even though it seems a little quiet... *poke poke*) Anyway, I thought I would introduce myself.

I'm a married mother of one three-year-old girl, living in Charlotte, NC. I was born in Alabama (Birmingham) and lived in "L.A." (meaning Lower Alabama, obviously) until I was five. We moved to Chattanooga for a couple years before landing in the Charlotte area, and I've been here ever since.

I've found myself consciously making an effort to retain those things about my Southern heritage that I hold dear. Especially since my daughter was born. The challenge is that in the Charlotte area we have a large number of folks from other parts of the country (especially the North) who have moved here. Consequently, many of the old Southern traditions have begun to fall by the wayside. I'm talking about little Southern courtesies like pulling your car over to let a funeral procession pass and holding the door open for others. Even the little wave that you give when someone lets you into traffic-- these are things I used to take for granted.

I should also mention that I married a Yankee from New Jersey, although he's been down here so long that he's almost completely assimilated our Southern ways. He's fully embraced Southern cooking-- I've converted him to collard greens and cornbread, and he talks about sweet potato casserole with something approaching reverence. (I still can't get him to eat pimento cheese, though...)

I wondered if any of you have similar challenges in retaining your Southern heritage. And what are your favorite things about the South/ being Southern?

giveitfullheart — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 06:14:22 GMT

This community doesn't seem to be very active but I noticed that people are still watching it so...I have a question. I'm sure some of you are from Alabama...well, I've been thinking about moving there when I'm ready to settle down. I know there's bad weather there but I was wondering how bad it really is. Are tornadoes as common as it seems? Are they even very strong tornadoes? I'm mostly wondering about the weather because in southern Ohio we have very mild weather and I'm a scaredy cat. Would a safe room in the basement really be enough to protect from the bad weather? Also, do any of you feel it's safer in certain parts of the state?

I really want to live in the south...Alabama just seems to be the safest to me when it comes to weather (other than Kentucky which isn't far enough south for me). I want to be where it's warm! lol

Oh...also...I'm looking into Georgia if anyone has anything on that.

Thanks in advance for any input you have.

beepboop — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 20:11:07 GMT

Sassafras Tea

sugarbeta — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 05:07:08 GMT

My grandmothers used to make this, I had no idea it had been banned.

Ingredients

* 4 Cups Water,
* 5 To 6 Sassafras Roots
* (Find In The Spring Or The Fall)

Directions

Bring to boil 4 cups of water, and then add roots.
Continue to boil the roots until water becomes red and the smell becomes very strong.

Note: wash the roots very well and be sure to gather in the spring or fall when the sap is still strong.

http://www.nativetech.org/recipes/recipe.php?recipeid=200

Sassafras tea was America's first tea.

History of Sassafras

The Tree with Red Mittens

Now with the rest of you!

erebrandir — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 14:14:21 GMT

Whee, just remade the icon, this time including Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

For the three of you who cared enough to vote, is this better?

For the rest of you who didn't vote, where are you?

Icon

erebrandir — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:37:59 GMT

In about half an hour, I whipped up my best shot at a community icon. I am not an artist, so this basically involved stealing other people's images and photoshopping them together.

As I've stated previously, I wasn't too keen on using the Battle Flag, but it was kind of hard to think of any other universal symbols of the South. I compromised by using the Stars and Bars, which I think was a better-looking flag, anyway.

I found an image of the outline of most of the Southern states, minus Kentucky and West Virginia, whose inclusion is debatable anyway. I once concluded in my own journal (did I ever post that poll here? I don't think I did) that if you live in those states and consider yourself Southern, you are. The main reason I used this image was that I couldn't find anything better.

I also thought about including little clips of other representative Southern images, perhaps one of the Old South and one of the New South. I was going to use a cotton boll for the Old South, but when I shrunk it down it looked kind of dumb, and you couldn't tell what it was. I couldn't think of anything that would be recognizable for the New South. Also, I think it would probably look kind of cluttered to put a bunch of extra stuff in there.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you my half-assed icon:

What do you think? Will this work?

Redid the poll for iamanevilkiwi. ;-)

Please comment on the corrected icon in the next post.

Southern cookin'

erebrandir — Thu, 23 Feb 2006 17:54:10 GMT

Does anybody have any favorite restaurants offering good old home-style Southern food?

My Alabama History professor makes fun of us because we've missed out on so much. I am determined to keep these traditions alive in whatever way I can.

We still need an icon. Any suggestions? And we all need to post, too.

Introductions

josh1904 — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 00:09:57 GMT

Hey guys and gals! Im Josh, living in Kentucky and just thought I would introduce myself. Im 21 and feel free to check out my journal if ya want!

blueingreen — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 01:52:47 GMT

hi all, i'm new to the community. my name's erin and i was born and raised in rural alabama; attended the alabama school of math and science in mobile; and am now in my third year at UGA. this year more than any other time i've realized how incredibly unique southern culture is. after a couple years denying it, i've embraced southern-ness.

so, for my sociology of the south class, i'm studying brain drain and lifestyle drain from the south--folks who leave the south for various reasons because they feel they don't fit here. i was wondering if you had any ideas about it:

- do you think southern brain drain exists?
- what about other kinds of drain, i.e. queer folk, atheists, liberals?

if you're interested in contributing to the research, please take the survey or tell me what you think here! i'd love to get some discussion going on the topic of brain drain and lifestyle drain in the south (even if you think it's bunk), so any and all input is greatly appreciated.

it's a pretty fascinating and pertinent idea--any thoughts?

mandine82 — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 22:11:17 GMT

Hey everyone.

Could you explain to me what the verb "kick back" means in the following sentence : "Grab a hammock, kick back and view the festivities".

Thanks in advance!

X-posted

svimmelhet — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 03:30:10 GMT

"Just because your children were born in the South does not make them Southerners. After all, if a cat had kittens in the oven, that wouldn't make them biscuits."

I just saw that and about cracked up. Thought I'd share. ;D

Oh, look, it's a Yankee

ladybird7 — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 06:59:40 GMT

A little opener, true but stupid:
My cousin, who is from upstate New York like myself, lived down in Kentucky for about seven years. He'd been there for about five years when he noticed that his neighbors were still calling him "yankee" instead of Brian. This pertrubed him, and he asked his next door neighbor, "Why do you guys keep calling me Yankee? I've been down here for years now!"
To which his neighbor replied, "Yankee is like ugly. It doesn't go away no matter what covers it up!"

I was about eleven when I heard that story, and it has made me interested in the South's view of the North ever since. Just tonight, I found this community, and if I may, I'm going to ask a few things that have long danced in my head.

-Is Yankee an insult?

-What is the thought on Upstate New York, or do people from the south (or places that are not the Northeast) just think of the whole state as one big city? (or is it just not thought of at all?)

-When I was in North Carolina, the family I was with and I were kind of uncomfortable telling people where we were from, as it seemed to have an adverse effect. Shopkeepers watched us like hawks. We were just imagining things?

-Why the stereotype that we are rude? Because Northerners as a whole don't feel that way about themselves. There must be different standards of what is polite...what exactly are they, I wonder?

-When you think of the north, what are the stereotypes that float to mind, as far as people, culture, geography. Since I live here I probably see things that others do not, and i probably am blind to other things that I just accept as normal.

Clearly, since Yankee doesn't seem to go away and I don't want it to, I am a Yankee for life. I have no drawl, I like bagels, I like the Yankees (yay, stereotype time!) No matter how far down in Dixie I should travel, I know that New York and Vermont will come with me. I just thought it would be best to get to know how 'we' are perceived. I hope you guys don't mind my barging in here.

-Excelsior! (I am so lame)
--Kelly

I declare! ...it's a ghost

vanillabeani — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 22:28:20 GMT

i thought it would be fun to read a ghost story to the kids tonight...i hope they'll be into it as much as i will be.

i found a really cool site that features southern folklore type stories.....check it out

(if you dare....mwahahahahha)

Howdy ya'll

doesanyoneknow — Tue, 13 Sep 2005 14:58:16 GMT

So I stumbled on this community and there's a story that needs to be shared.

Back in 2003 I took a huge road trip leaving from Houston, Texas going all the way up to NYC, Canada, Ohio and various places between here and there. On my trip I noticed something that people always talk about - but I never believed.

There's this small thing called Southern Hospitality. I just figured it was part of everyone's life - but when I got North of the Mason Dixon line I did notice a change in the way people were. I don't want to make it sound like I got disrespected or mistreated by any Northerns, because I didn't, but while in the South I had people coming up to me and asking if I needed help. If I was pulled over on the side of the road looking at my map trying to figure out if this way would be better than that way, in the South people would pull over and ask if I needed directions, gas, or a cell phone. In the North that never happened.

For those who just think that being hospitaible is a way of life, you're right. You're right as long as you're refering to the South.

Hey from a new member

bozartsgirl — Mon, 12 Sep 2005 02:50:40 GMT

Just wanted to say hey, since I'm new here. I am a bona fide Southerner and am very interested in Southern Literature, music, the way the South is portrayed in movies, etc. I live north of Atlanta, so here's a shout out to all Atlantans! (MMMKay)Check my page out if you want. I also have a Yahoo group called bozarts, whose initial goal was to discuss Southern art and literature. C Ya, Katy

Katrina Relief Fund. How you can help.

solemnrayne — Sun, 04 Sep 2005 16:49:25 GMT

Comment on http://www.livejournal.com/users/slackerace/49482.html and she'll donate a dollar for your comment to the relief fund. That dollar is being matched by another lj user and in turn that eljay user's company is matching a dollar. Altogether, three dollars are being donated per comment.

Katrina

erebrandir — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 05:58:14 GMT

Beauvoir, the final home of Jefferson Davis, is gone.

New Orleans, one of the South's greatest gems, will never be the same again.

The Gulf Coast is devastated. Countless people have lost their homes and lives.

So much history and culture, now lost.

Hurricane Katrina has dealt the South an indelible blow. And the South is hurting.

If you pray, please pray. If you can help in other ways, please do what you can. How would you as a community feel about organizing a drive for disaster aid?

Southern Literature

ride4thebrand — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 21:25:49 GMT

Once at a book conference, a man from upstate New York asked me, "You're from the South? No kidding?" He grinned wickedly and then winked.

"I thought that people in the South couldn't read," he said.

Fury ran over my body but I kept it in check.

"Not only do we read," I replied icily, looking him straight in the eyes, "but most of the time, we write what the rest of the world reads."

~~ Ronda Rich

Who is your favorite Southern Author??

hello!

desertfaith — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:44:31 GMT

Hey there!

I too have an interest in things both Southern and Historic. I am in the process of revising a novel that takes place mostly in the south...I might bug you all when I'm ready to start asking some questions...

I'm also a college student, changing the major to history....

Enjoying the conversation so far! (goes back into lurk mode)

West Virginia

ride4thebrand — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 00:40:00 GMT

Howdy folks.. just joined.

And.. looking through all of the "interests", I noticed that one of them listed, is West Virginia. Well, hate to spring it on ya like this hoss, but West Virginia didn't come into existence until AFTER the Civil War started... and it joined the Union.

As a slave state!

Now.. I wonder what they wuz thinkin'?? Ya figure they fought in "The War" to end slavery?

;)

mandine82 — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 13:20:55 GMT

Hey. Can you explain to me how the verb "wish" works exactly? Like for example, can you tell me the difference [in terms of meaning] between the following sentences:

- I wish he didn't tell her that.
- I wish he wouldn't tell her that.
- I wish he hadn't told her that.

Besides, is the pluperfect always used when "wish" is conjugated in the past tense (e.g. I wished he hadn't driven the car that day) or can you use other tenses? If so, which ones?

Thanks a lot in advance!

X-posted.

hello

vanillabeani — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 06:04:18 GMT

just joined...live in kentucky (all my life)...my husband is from south carolina. found this community and thought i'd see what kind of interesting folks are here.

i love southern food,culture,literature,life.....

read my journal...add me if you'd like. i feel you can never have too many friends!

gddisgrace — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 15:33:19 GMT

Hi there. I just wanted to stop by and see if any of you would like to join a new community:

southernirish

If so, go right on ahead. :)
It'd be majorly appreciated.

Thanks!