Ellen DeGenere’s Wish You Were Here tribute to towns. Add yours.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show Web site has an AOL feature called Wish You Were Here. This is where people can enter details about the towns where they live. Sure, you can add in the best places to eat, scenic attractions and best activities, but to add some extra flavoring, there are catagories like unusual talents, facinating characters and most talented pets. There are also photos.

I did some poking around on the site and here’s what I found out so far, there are 25 states that have a town or city called Columbus. Columbus, Ohio is listed first which makes sense since it’s the only one that’s a state capital and also the largest of them. After typing in Columbus, Ohio to see what came up, I tried Hindman, Kentucky, my mom’s hometown–a small place in southeastern Kentucky. This brought me to Kentucky’s page. (There’s also a Hindman, Texas.) Nothing is on Hindman, Kentucky’s page, but a map showing where it is. On the Kentucky page there are 10 different listings in Kentucky. (Ohioans have been busier filling in details I have to say) One person, though waxes poetic about Northern Kentucky where I have two aunts. Once you get past the malls and suburban sprawl of Northern Kentucky, I’d say there are some interesting places to go. One of my most favorite is the Dinsmore Homestead.

With some further link clicking, I also found out that Morro Bay, California has an man with an unusual talent. He stands by the ocean every day trying to fly pieces of trash as if they were kites. Napkins, soda cans, whatever he can find, gets attached to a stick with string.

In a way this site reminds me of a gigantic scrapbook photo album which is probably the point. As people from around the U.S. add to it, it has the potential to make the U.S. look like an engaging, diverse place that is more than just the latest McDonald’s that’s opening. Clever idea. I like it.