The What & How of To Be a Good Vermonter
What can readers expect from To Be a Good Vermonter? What exactly does this publication look like? How does it work?
The What
To Be a Good Vermonter (aka, TBAGV) is a multimedia publication about the concept of utopias, examined through a Vermont lens.
More specifically, it’s about how our ideals about what is utopic to us as individuals - and our longing to make our lives closer to that ideal - shape our lives…and, in turn, shape our collective existence as Americans. Our behaviors, our fears, our careers, our dreams, our consumer decisions, our affiliations - and really most everything about our lives - is in some way (however small) shaped by our utopian ideals. Some of us don’t even realize we have these ideals, much less that they hold so much sway over our lives (and sometimes allow others to hold far too much sway over us).
But if a place is the combination of geography + people, and a culture is the combination of place + time, then a neither a place nor a culture can even *think* of working toward a utopian existence if its people are not essentially good. Geography does not scheme and work toward making itself a certain way; nor does time. And so, if a place or a culture is to be good - to be longing for and working toward its highest ideals - its people must be…well, good.
But what does it mean to be good, especially as singular individuals who inherently exist as part of a collective society? And how might common themes of what it means to be good - themes gleaned from the opinions of individuals - amount to a collective portrait of a good person…in this case, a good Vermonter?
Now…what will this publication look like? How does it manifest?
There are five distinct columns published on a regular schedule as part of TBAGV. Tomorrow, I’ll share in more depth about each of them. These columns offer up fresh new content four days a week: Monday - Thursday. On some Fridays, if there’s something of note, there’ll be a post.
Broadly, TBAGV takes these forms:
Interviews about Vermont, goodness, and utopias with Vermonters from all walks of life and every quadrant of the political spectrum. These will be transcripted, accompanied by my thoughts, and may have accompanying audio (but I’m no Erica Heilman yet - so bear with me on audio elements, y’all). Each interview will have an accompanying photographic portrait of the interviewee and - if they like - how you can learn more about them.
A weekly dispatch of what’s going on here at the homestead and in the art studio. We’re creating our homestead in the Northeast Kingdom slowly but surely. Soil is being built; perennials are being planted; woods are being rid of invasive species; a chicken coop and greenhouse are being designed; a rotational grazing map is being drawn; much reading and experimentation is happening.
In the studio, I’m mostly a printmaker - copper intaglio and screenprinting, primarily - but I used to be a documentary photographer and I’m returning to that practice, and I also know my way around a sewing machine and a paintbrush. This dispatch will include photos; audio; behind-the-scenes glimpses (often embarrassing) of homestead-making foibles and artworks in progress; recipes; strange things overheard; nifty solutions to problems; and more. It will also be an archive of the seasons: when I saw the first apple blossom on our trees, when the first snow came, etc.Short essays about blue-sky ideas; longing; things that make you say “there oughtta be a law!”; utopian projects (of more or less or no success); and touchpoints where Vermont intersects utopian ideals and history. As a former academic, you can expect these to be good, albeit not thesis-length (and thank goodness for that).
An advice column. Yep, you read that right. I can’t tell you how much time I spend giving folks advice (and yes, it is advice they’ve asked for and yes, they do find it helpful). I suppose there’s something about being a queer left-of-center gun-owning former-right-winger former college professor remarried divorcée neurodivergent learning designer homesteader who also knows a thing or two about politics, education, and art. It just positions you to have people ask you the wildest questions. Said wild questions (and tame questions) may be submitted anonymously (or not), and will be given the utmost care (and, if deserving, a dash of tough love).
The List. The List is a weekly roundup of topics to discuss with friends, family, and colleagues; interesting reading recommendations; sublime art to see and music to hear; photographs to ponder; and more. It’ll certainly keep your mind busy through each Friday + weekend.
Geography + people + time.
And what does Vermont have to do with this? Why is Vermont, from among every state on American soil, the lens for this investigation?
Well…that question of “Why Vermont?” is one for later this week.
Thank you, as always, for joining me here in To Be a Good Vermonter.
Warmly,
Jack Thomas