People keep asking to see pictures of Mississippi, so I’ve decided to do some personal storytelling of my own. I went to Natchez, MS with my parents

to see my baby cousin Alex get married.

People come to Natchez to see the beautiful antebellum homes

but I was much more interested in cultural relics like Mammy’s Cupboard.

Mammy is 28 feet tall, and dining takes place inside her skirt.

I also managed to stick my feet

into the fabled mud of the Mississippi River

and hitchhike in my very first pick up truck.

I fell in love with the political signs supporting candidates for sheriff, tax collector, and coroner,

not to mention other signs I’ve never seen in New York.

For Mississippi storytelling much more thoughtful than mine, check out The Mississippi Project. A student at the University of Pennsylvania (alma mater of at least five SMITHsters) achieved an incredible collision of old and new media, as he canoed down the Mississippi River with some friends and blogged the whole journey. It’s Twain meets Treo, at once classically American and quintessentially 2007. They even visited Natchez, where they dined at my personal favorite, Fat Mama’s Tamales.