lame ca artists

i heard a woman on npr this morning. she was a famous performance artist who writes plays and specializes in one-woman shows.

good for her.

the host of the show brought up a point that surprised the artist. since i was lifting at the time i did not hear the startling revelation in its entirely, but based on the artist's response, i think i can reconstruct it:

HOST : (reconstructed) did you know that states like ohio and north dakota have, per capita, greater funding/appreciation for the arts than CA?
GUEST: (not reconstructed) (shocked disbelief) but, but, i've been to CA! i've lived there! i'm so surprised! san francisco! berkeley! los angeles!

this attitude, of course, is why, in many places in the nation, "artists" are looked down upon as effete, useless morons, and californians are looked down upon as "artists".

what this "artist" failed to understand is that CA is a mighty big place encompassing such towns as sacramento, bakersfield, and king city. population-wise, the majority of californians are farmers (i think. i'm too lazy and disinterested in my own point to actually look it up. anyhow, this is in the new category, "angarrrrrgh!!!" which really does not beg for actual facts). the noisiest californians are loud-mouthed small-brained hollywood actors (who occasionally get elected governor/potus) and that's what much of the country thinks of all of us.

now, what the heck was my point?

i think it was this: i'm irritated by people who think the solution to all the worlds problems is to forget that there exist people outside of sfba, and who think we'd all just get along if we watched more plays about lesbians and racial harmony.

in other words: i'm irritated by people that are more sheltered than me (quite an accomplishment, actually) but believe themselves not to be.