Why Oh Why Ohio
“2019 is going to be the year of the blog,” said nobody ever.
Still, I was looking for an outlet. A way to pass some time and exercise some muscles that had got a little rusty. A means to vent, promote, and reminisce. But what would I write about? That blank canvas question had been rolling around in my mind for a few weeks last fall when I found myself driving south on I-71. As the bumpersticker says, “My money and my kids go to the University of Cincinnati” so this is a fairly common occurrence.
It was just past the 81-mile marker when I passed the HELL IS REAL billboard. Anyone who has spent any time in Ohio knows about it. I mean, the upcoming soccer matches between the Columbus Crew SC and Cincinnati FC are going to be known (at least unofficially) as the “Hell Is Real” derby. Regardless, it made me shake my head and consider, once again, that this monument to eternal damnation is one of the most “Ohio” things I could imagine. Then my mind flashed to some of the polling numbers projected for the upcoming 2018 state elections. “Hell is Ohio,” I muttered to myself. Then my brain immediately twisted it around and I said — still to myself, yet more loudly — “Ohio is real.”
Keepin’ it real on I-71.
This is a common occurrence for me, left over from my time regularly writing for Ohio magazine, despite the fact those days can feel like a lifetime ago. I was freelancing, so I was always on the lookout for another story idea, another assignment. In the future I will write more about those days. Hell, I’ll probably recycle some of the articles. (They certainly don’t exist online anywhere so just try to get me for self-plagiarism. In those days, even the thought of putting them on a searchable CD-ROM seemed like some real Star Trek-level mumbo jumbo.)
Regardless, our unofficial mantra during those days was that Ohio was the center of the universe. Something cool or important happened? Ohio had a connection. It got so I could thumb through any almanac, encyclopedia, newspaper, etc. and the word OHIO would jump out of the dense thicket of words like it was a neon sign. I can’t begin to imagine the number of people I bored at various gatherings with my stockpile of Ohio ephemera. And now, thanks to the internet, I can bore the world.
Even if our Ohio-centric view of existence was held slightly tongue-in-cheek, it was also something we presented seriously. Long before the term “flyover country” was commonplace, we considered our dream reader someone that got on a plane on the East coast, found a copy of the magazine in the seat-back pocket (again, this was before the days of Kindles and iPhones), and would begin reading and not put it down until they landed West of the Rocky Mountains.
So, I’m jumping back in to the Ohio-ism of it all. I’m not particularly proud of the fact I’ve lived my whole life in one state. It’s certainly not the societal norm any more. But, for better or worse, Ohio is something I feel I know and understand at least on some level. I’ve travelled around the country and the world enough to confirm there are some things distinctly Ohio. Some of those qualities I can be proud of. Some of them, not-so-much.
I guess what I’m saying is, don’t think this blog is supposed to be an edgy, secret underground promotional vehicle for the state’s travel and tourism bureau (for which, yes, I did some work back in the day) nor will it be a blatant smear campaign dreamed up by a secret cartel of Ohio’s enemies (of which, I assume, some must exist).
I suppose this is also the place where I hedge my bets. I don’t proclaim myself to be the definitive authority on any subject I address, be it sports, music, politics, UFOs, or whatever else catches my eye. I have no idea how often I’ll post. Some articles may just be a video of a song I love by an Ohio musician. I’m hoping to get artist and photographer friends to share their work. I’d also like to collect some “interviews” with assorted folks (famous and not-so-much) about how Ohio has shaped them. I even may reserve some posts for things that exist beyond the state borders. (I paid for the domain. I can do whatever I want.) In the end, though, for the most part I’m going to try to explore whatever it is that makes Ohio real. Really.
