A year ago, I moved to Iowa from Missouri to pursue an education. Living in Missouri was interesting, since I don’t like country music or consider myself a hick, yet I was surrounded by them full-time. Here, up north, I was hoping to get a little less of that. And I did, really. Except that Iowa is even lamer than Missouri, and Iowans know it. There’s even a t-shirt shop downtown here that sells shirts making fun of Iowa and Des Moines (and business is booming). That wouldn’t fly in Missouri, because Missourians don’t think they’re lame. Des Moines is a pretty nice city, though, if by nice you mean quiet. It’s pretty much an overgrown small town, which, having grown up in a small town, is fine and comfortable with me.