Tourism and The Cosmodemonic Telegraph Company

Struggling with menu terminology and marketing always bring up the question of identity, which in turn makes me wonder how to reconcile the various aspects of my personality and to be able to present them in a palatable way.

Let me illustrate. In this month's Food & Wine there's a full page ad for Monterey County and at the the top of ad is a quote from Henry Miller. Now I never got the opportunity to meet him when he was alive but something tells me the author of "The Air-Conditioned Nightmare" might not have been thrilled at seeing his work used to attract tourists to his beloved Big Sur.

As a young man I read everything by Miller I could find and no, not for its use as one-handed literature. Now I sit on the board of 2 promotional organizations one for our county (which is not Monterey) and the other for our town. I have turned into the most horrible of creatures. The Junior League Booster.

The GM points out to me that it's important I do these things, not just to attract business to our area but from what my perspective may bring to the table. She's got a point, but there's a nagging voice in my head that tells me the young man I was isn't entirely happy with the man I'm becoming.

I sure as hell would have nixed the idea of using Henry Miller as a promotional vehicle but another side of me wonders if that's such a bad idea. Perhaps if Monterey County built something more substantial around Miller in order to bring his ideas about America into the mainstream that wouldn't be bad. Unfortunately though I think as deep as it goes is an ad in a glossy lifestyle magazine.

To quote Henry, "To be generous is to give before the man even opens his mouth." How to take this to heart while engaged in what is at once one of the most elemental (feeding people) and frivolous (feeding people with excess income as entertainment) vocations is my eternal dilemma.