ROC observations

so, i sort of think that the tendency on academic blogs to ethnographize (word?) about where said academic lives, as though this place where people go to church and drive pickup trucks and vote Republican is just too too much, is kind of silly and disingenuously snotty. however, i also have the same tendency. thus, sundry notes about my adopted home:

• naming of names. ROC seems to have a predilection for very very badly named businesses. to wit: the sushi place California Rollin'; the mediterranean restaurant Feta-chini; the hair place Shear Ego; the restaurant Beale Street, which serves Cajun food, nevermind that Beale street is in Memphis, Tennessee, which is not Cajun; the steak-and-seafood place Black and Blue, which i can only think of as the color you turn when your husband beats you; the yoga place The Goddess Hour, which is embarrassing even to type.
• more local cuisine. when i visited ROC for the first time, for my on-site campus interview, one of my first questions was what kinds of food/dishes/cuisine ROC claimed as its own. i was told the local dish is the Garbage Plate. experience has confirmed this to be true. as in, "plate of garbage." as in, "let's go get some garbage plates [i.e., plates of garbage] to eat!!" what is on the garbage plate, you may ask? two of four "sides": macaroni salad, baked beans, home fries or french fries; hot dogs, or hamburger or cheeseburger patties; mustard and onions; some kind of greasy meaty hot sauce. will i ever eat one? god willing, yes, yes i will.