11. Alabama. This is a pretty non-essential Southern state. Tell the average person to free-associate with this state, and you’ll get, “Bus boycott!” That’s a not-so-fresh feeling.

12. Wisconsin. This is a tough hit for those of us in Minnesota to take—we can run to Wisconsin for beer on Sunday, and lots of us have cabins up there. But their biggest claims to fame are cheese and, of late, breaking public unions; so we’ll take one for the team here.

13. Wyoming. This is a beautiful state, especially in the north; and my i support the cheyenne skatepark t-shirt is one of my prize possessions. But let’s get real: doesn’t the perfect rectangularity of this state creep you out a little? It’s like the state-boundary equivalent of that guy who always keeps four pencils, perfectly sharpened, lined up on his desk. Go loosen up, Cowboy State.

14. Nebraska. Tangential co-editor Katie Sisneros is a native Nebraskan and has of late been trying to sort of sing her state’s praises—but I’m not convinced that Nebraska is one of the 36 least disposable U.S. states. That bridge-over-the-highway museum is nifty and all, but…sorry, Cornhuskers, it’s time to pack your feed bags and mosey on out of here.

15. Idaho. There are some badass things about Idaho. There’s some nice varied geography, complete with lava fields (I know, right?!), and “Boise” is always a good punchline for a joke. But you know what’s fucked up about Idaho? They have a time zone line running west-east along part of their southern border. So you can drive north into Idaho, neither towards nor away from the sun, and whoops! It’s suddenly an hour later! This made me late for dinner once, and I’m still holding a grudge. Take your spuds and shove ’em, Idaho.

16. Rhode Island. You’re probably surprised that Li’l Rhody made it this far on the list: there’s pretty much nothing there except Providence, and Claus von Bülow’s alleged murder mansion. But the Talking Heads met at the Rhode Island School of Design, which makes it a sacred national landmark. I’m sorry to see it go, but…it’s time. We’ll always have the music.

17. Minnesota. No, it’s cool. We’ll go. Yeah, we’re taking Mall of America and Bob Dylan’s hometown with us—sorry. But we understand. Having contributed Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty as frontrunners in the 2010 Presidential election, the only honorable thing is for us to commit seppuku and quietly secede.

18. Hawaii. Like Alaska, Hawaii was late to the party and screws up kids’ jigsaw puzzles. But without Hawaii, we wouldn’t have plucky armless surfer girl Bethany Hamilton, and sitcoms’ hourlong vacation specials would be completely adrift. It’s been nice to have Hawaii around, but with it gone we’ll at least be spared Midwestern third-grade teachers trying awkwardly to pronounce it Ha-wuh-EE.

19. Arkansas. Another relatively non-essential Southern state, but “Little Rock” is such a goddamn cute name for a state capital, it feels mean to give Arkansas the boot. Sorry! I’m a terrible person. (Okay, not that terrible.)

20. Colorado. Those mountains are majestic—but Denver is basically Minneapolis with fewer lakes and more nosebleeds, so if we have to go, Colorado, so do you.

Yesterday: The ten most disposable states. Tomorrow: Ten states it’s a little tougher to let go of, numbers 21-30.

– Jay Gabler