mrled/invisible_states_of_america.tsv

## readme.markdown

      
    Raw
  

              readme.markdown
            
          
    INVISIBLE STATES OF AMERICA

UEL ARAMCHEK wrote INVISIBLE STATES OF AMERICA.
I loved it, and wanted to play with it, so I made this.
This file


I chose a TSV file to represent the data on disk.
The source data has commas in the tourism guides for some states, which would bring quoting headaches for a comma-separated CSV
GitHub understands only comma-separated CSV and tab-separated TSV files, meaning that files which use other delimiters such as pipes are not viewable in their pretty UI
I added a header row so it would look nice on GitHub
It's probably obvious just by looking at the file, but the first field on a line is the name of the state, and the second field is the tourism guide

Changes from raw source text


I changed the double quotes in the BARNUM text to be smart quotes, to side-step an issue preventing GitHub from displaying the CSV properly


## invisible_states_of_america.tsv

          
            STATE
            TOURISM GUIDE

            
              WEST DAKOTA
              Here, goblets of diesel fuel are burned in offering to the railroad gods. Locals make omelettes using the eggs of rattlesnakes.

            
              APSYLANIA
              A land of snow and rust where only water towers can survive. Their long, iron tentacles guard the tombs of forgotten presidents.

            
              AGASSIZ
              A colossal lead heart that connects all sewers throbs just beneath this state's surface. Its palpitations are felt as earthquakes.

            
              SELIMA
              Known for pan-fried hornets dipped in maple salsa. The Roosevelt National Labyrinth begins near its eastern border, and never ends.

            
              OROCROIX
              Scarecrows stuffed with telephone wire fill the few ghost towns that remain here. They subsist on our expended alkaline batteries.

            
              ELKANSAS
              In the famous Deepweather Caves, tornadoes slumber in jet-black chrysalises. Tourists can get up close and hear their heartbeats.

            
              NEW BELARUS
              Every other summer, its sun-drunken residents gather together in the countryside and burn a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground.

            
              MISUSCHAQUA
              The Sword of Chevrolet is rumored to be buried in stone behind a waterfall somewhere within its Electric Jungle National Park.

            
              PANNASOSIA
              This state has no land of its own; its borders are entirely inscribed within an underground lake. Something lives here, though.

            
              MAZO
              Naturally-occuring radio towers flank the highways with their sandstone trusses, broadcasting the mournful wails of the earth spirits.

            
              RUSKEAGAN
              Rollercoasters sprout from its pale mountains like beanstalks. They've replaced all other transportation, and won't stop growing.

            
              TAGASAW
              The American rhinoceros, native to its prairies, is poached for its thick, blue denim hide. Sunscreen is necessary to survive here.

            
              SELGANAC
              The Tomb of Paul Bunyan takes up eight hectares of this forested state. Space was folded to fit his massive brasswood sarcophagus.

            
              MAGRASSEE
              Raw freshwater jellyfish are served as a restaurant staple. Some see the faces of lost loved ones in the lysergic cranberry bogs.

            
              YALDA
              Old mirages have solidified into legal persons in the southern violet deserts. The cacti are infectious; many residents grow needles.

            
              KELLOGG
              Miles of farmland where most of America's candles are grown. Those aren't mushroom clouds— that's just what their weather is like.

            
              DAGONSA
              A desert cooked dry by the moon; there's nothing to see here but blue dunes of powdered water.

            
              MOHAVEE
              A variant of baseball is played with curved, wooden scimitars. Locals suck on gemstones like gobstoppers until they become opaque.

            
              NEUROFORNIA
              Better known as the internet. The dial-up connection sounds experienced elsewhere are actually the songs of its native birds.

            
              WENAGLIA
              In the east, all interstate highways converge into a concrete whirlpool. In the west, there is a necropolis of sacred automobiles.

            
              RUSH
              Abandoned riverboats have been made into cathedrals by mermaids. There are giant toads here, whose legs are served with rose mustard.

            
              NARAGUA
              Fourth of July fireworks are illegal here. They prefer a liquor made from crushed fireflies that causes everyone to see their own.

            
              CHENOSKA
              A near-perfect replica of Mount Rushmore exists here; the only difference is that the statues have waterfalls beneath their eyes.

            
              EDISON
              The soil has a chartreuse glow from aquifers of pressurized electricity. Many residents are blind from working in the halogen mines.

            
              BOLGANA
              These badlands of venomous sagebrush are dominated by two species: jackalopes, and the carnivorous tumbleweeds that prey upon them.

            
              WAYALA
              A benign supervolcano churns beneath its nevergreen trees. The ground oozes a harmless lava that children can sculpt like playdough.

            
              HALUTH
              A comet struck these lands thousands of years ago, but it never melted. Subterranean ski resorts have been built in its icy intrels.

            
              OUTIS
              Home of the pyramid featured on the dollar bill's obverse. The entire state is a cellphone deadzone due to colonies of magnetic ants.

            
              ASTRAGOULA
              The closest state to Mars; it appears larger than the Moon. Edgar Cayce predicted that the last Super Bowl would be fought here.

            
              REMINGTON
              The sunflowers here watch you instead of the sky, and bare their teeth if approached. Don't get pinched when picking crawberries.

            
              ILINACK
              Ferris wheels migrating south for winter roll across these steppes. The groaning of their iron bones drowns out the cricket choirs.

            
              NULL YORK
              The territory of this state consists of the surface area of the pupils of every American's eyes, experienced as a bottomless pit.

            
              LORALINA
              The children of the Statue of Liberty have built a monastery here. Their robes conceal the layers of patina that cover their skin.

            
              EIZALA
              The planet's westernmost point is believed to be here somewhere. Wild jacuzzis digest careless tourists slowly, like pitcher plants.

            
              VENTI
              Squid ink margaritas are served nightly at seaside resorts. It is customary to toast the thousand sharks that devour the setting sun.

            
              NORADIA
              This empty state was built as a decoy for the Soviet attack that never came. Its cornfields are concrete, its buildings windowless.

            
              OLCOTT
              An artificial, forested landscape composed of video feedback. It is in this domain that the entity known as Sasquatch is imprisoned.

            
              KUALI
              Street vendors sell stingray jerky for the brave, tails included. Surfers sharpen their boards like knives, for the waves have teeth.

            
              ABRAXAS
              The ancient volcanic calderas that pepper this landscape have been fashioned into barbecue pits where catoblepas herds are cooked.

            
              KENASUS
              A great sea of windmills tears apart the atmosphere. Astronauts are trained here, as most breathable air is lost to these machines.

            
              NEW JUTLAND
              The final destination of all train graffiti. The glyphs slither down from their cars and become three-dimensional aberrations.

            
              BARNUM
              Tycoons often meet in this desert to sip petroleum cider and place bets on how the world will end. Borders the fabled “bat country.”

            
              KILOTAH
              A player piano was elected governor nearly a century ago, and still holds the title. Although he is out of tune, all obey his song.

            
              JESSETA
              A war is being fought here between taxidermied animals and abandoned theme park animatronics, yet all we can perceive is stillness.

            
              RANDOLPH
              Geysers of sand erupt from its fault lines; some say this state is an inverted hourglass counting down to the other America's end.

            
              NEW TROY
              Quartz mountains filter the rising sun's colors. Sodas flavored by the shadows of fruit are sold here in exchange for human teeth.

            
              ERIE
              Carnegie had a secret library built here. It burned down decades ago, but the words remain suspended in midair, naked of their pages.

            
              ZALAS
              An endless shopping mall with an equally endless arcade of black neon, whose only available game is a rehearsal of thermonuclear war.

            
              HENRY
              Angry stars glow bright orange over this tall state. It consists of a solitary Rocky Mountain planned for demolition by a mortal god.

            
              THIRD JERSEY
              Atomic milkshakes and deep-fried rainbows are staples of this lost state. Oz can be seen burning from its emerald skyscrapers.
	STATE	TOURISM GUIDE
	WEST DAKOTA	Here, goblets of diesel fuel are burned in offering to the railroad gods. Locals make omelettes using the eggs of rattlesnakes.
	APSYLANIA	A land of snow and rust where only water towers can survive. Their long, iron tentacles guard the tombs of forgotten presidents.
	AGASSIZ	A colossal lead heart that connects all sewers throbs just beneath this state's surface. Its palpitations are felt as earthquakes.
	SELIMA	Known for pan-fried hornets dipped in maple salsa. The Roosevelt National Labyrinth begins near its eastern border, and never ends.
	OROCROIX	Scarecrows stuffed with telephone wire fill the few ghost towns that remain here. They subsist on our expended alkaline batteries.
	ELKANSAS	In the famous Deepweather Caves, tornadoes slumber in jet-black chrysalises. Tourists can get up close and hear their heartbeats.
	NEW BELARUS	Every other summer, its sun-drunken residents gather together in the countryside and burn a cumulonimbus cloud to the ground.
	MISUSCHAQUA	The Sword of Chevrolet is rumored to be buried in stone behind a waterfall somewhere within its Electric Jungle National Park.
	PANNASOSIA	This state has no land of its own; its borders are entirely inscribed within an underground lake. Something lives here, though.
	MAZO	Naturally-occuring radio towers flank the highways with their sandstone trusses, broadcasting the mournful wails of the earth spirits.
	RUSKEAGAN	Rollercoasters sprout from its pale mountains like beanstalks. They've replaced all other transportation, and won't stop growing.
	TAGASAW	The American rhinoceros, native to its prairies, is poached for its thick, blue denim hide. Sunscreen is necessary to survive here.
	SELGANAC	The Tomb of Paul Bunyan takes up eight hectares of this forested state. Space was folded to fit his massive brasswood sarcophagus.
	MAGRASSEE	Raw freshwater jellyfish are served as a restaurant staple. Some see the faces of lost loved ones in the lysergic cranberry bogs.
	YALDA	Old mirages have solidified into legal persons in the southern violet deserts. The cacti are infectious; many residents grow needles.
	KELLOGG	Miles of farmland where most of America's candles are grown. Those aren't mushroom clouds— that's just what their weather is like.
	DAGONSA	A desert cooked dry by the moon; there's nothing to see here but blue dunes of powdered water.
	MOHAVEE	A variant of baseball is played with curved, wooden scimitars. Locals suck on gemstones like gobstoppers until they become opaque.
	NEUROFORNIA	Better known as the internet. The dial-up connection sounds experienced elsewhere are actually the songs of its native birds.
	WENAGLIA	In the east, all interstate highways converge into a concrete whirlpool. In the west, there is a necropolis of sacred automobiles.
	RUSH	Abandoned riverboats have been made into cathedrals by mermaids. There are giant toads here, whose legs are served with rose mustard.
	NARAGUA	Fourth of July fireworks are illegal here. They prefer a liquor made from crushed fireflies that causes everyone to see their own.
	CHENOSKA	A near-perfect replica of Mount Rushmore exists here; the only difference is that the statues have waterfalls beneath their eyes.
	EDISON	The soil has a chartreuse glow from aquifers of pressurized electricity. Many residents are blind from working in the halogen mines.
	BOLGANA	These badlands of venomous sagebrush are dominated by two species: jackalopes, and the carnivorous tumbleweeds that prey upon them.
	WAYALA	A benign supervolcano churns beneath its nevergreen trees. The ground oozes a harmless lava that children can sculpt like playdough.
	HALUTH	A comet struck these lands thousands of years ago, but it never melted. Subterranean ski resorts have been built in its icy intrels.
	OUTIS	Home of the pyramid featured on the dollar bill's obverse. The entire state is a cellphone deadzone due to colonies of magnetic ants.
	ASTRAGOULA	The closest state to Mars; it appears larger than the Moon. Edgar Cayce predicted that the last Super Bowl would be fought here.
	REMINGTON	The sunflowers here watch you instead of the sky, and bare their teeth if approached. Don't get pinched when picking crawberries.
	ILINACK	Ferris wheels migrating south for winter roll across these steppes. The groaning of their iron bones drowns out the cricket choirs.
	NULL YORK	The territory of this state consists of the surface area of the pupils of every American's eyes, experienced as a bottomless pit.
	LORALINA	The children of the Statue of Liberty have built a monastery here. Their robes conceal the layers of patina that cover their skin.
	EIZALA	The planet's westernmost point is believed to be here somewhere. Wild jacuzzis digest careless tourists slowly, like pitcher plants.
	VENTI	Squid ink margaritas are served nightly at seaside resorts. It is customary to toast the thousand sharks that devour the setting sun.
	NORADIA	This empty state was built as a decoy for the Soviet attack that never came. Its cornfields are concrete, its buildings windowless.
	OLCOTT	An artificial, forested landscape composed of video feedback. It is in this domain that the entity known as Sasquatch is imprisoned.
	KUALI	Street vendors sell stingray jerky for the brave, tails included. Surfers sharpen their boards like knives, for the waves have teeth.
	ABRAXAS	The ancient volcanic calderas that pepper this landscape have been fashioned into barbecue pits where catoblepas herds are cooked.
	KENASUS	A great sea of windmills tears apart the atmosphere. Astronauts are trained here, as most breathable air is lost to these machines.
	NEW JUTLAND	The final destination of all train graffiti. The glyphs slither down from their cars and become three-dimensional aberrations.
	BARNUM	Tycoons often meet in this desert to sip petroleum cider and place bets on how the world will end. Borders the fabled “bat country.”
	KILOTAH	A player piano was elected governor nearly a century ago, and still holds the title. Although he is out of tune, all obey his song.
	JESSETA	A war is being fought here between taxidermied animals and abandoned theme park animatronics, yet all we can perceive is stillness.
	RANDOLPH	Geysers of sand erupt from its fault lines; some say this state is an inverted hourglass counting down to the other America's end.
	NEW TROY	Quartz mountains filter the rising sun's colors. Sodas flavored by the shadows of fruit are sold here in exchange for human teeth.
	ERIE	Carnegie had a secret library built here. It burned down decades ago, but the words remain suspended in midair, naked of their pages.
	ZALAS	An endless shopping mall with an equally endless arcade of black neon, whose only available game is a rehearsal of thermonuclear war.
	HENRY	Angry stars glow bright orange over this tall state. It consists of a solitary Rocky Mountain planned for demolition by a mortal god.
	THIRD JERSEY	Atomic milkshakes and deep-fried rainbows are staples of this lost state. Oz can be seen burning from its emerald skyscrapers.