And then there was but one...

Well, here I am at the end of another year. I came into 2014 with grand aspirations of doing more blogging and was actually doing OK for the first half of the year, but that seemingly vanished for the remainder of 2014 on all of my blogs. As I've said before, perhaps my regular journal writing exhausts some kind of writing limit I apparently have. At least I've kept up on that!

Moving on, though, is it really going to be 2015 tomorrow? For real...I remember watching Back to the Future II in the late 1980s thinking it was so far away, and now, here we are about to start it. My nerdy side is quite excited about it and at some point this year (most like on or around October 21, 2015, the date Marty goes to in the BTTF2 movie) I will do a Back to the Future marathon. Great Scott! Are we supposed to see flying cars, auto-dry clothing, hover boards, and "neo-80s" style clothing? I guess we're about to find out. Considering that the current "contemporary" style in homes is just a rehash of the 1960s with different colors, it's not a far reach, at least as far as the "neo-80s" style coming out (though I realize that any vision of the future always reflects the era in which it was produced...see Star Trek in the 1960s and even The Next Generation in the 1980s).

That said, I have to say 2014, while not the extraordinary year I was hoping for, was a good year for me overall and was definitely an improvement over 2013 even without any major changes or upheavals. My hope at the beginning of this year was to finally get that break with a full-time job or other opportunity, but that never came despite my best efforts. Instead, though, I was able to take advantage of some other opportunities, and have been subbing significantly more than I did in most of 2013. My decision to switch to Rootstown, Streetsboro, and the Bio-Med Science Academy in Rootstown in the fall of 2013 was, at least up to this point, a very wise decision. I've enjoyed my time at all three overall this past year and have especially appreciated the increase in work I've received at all of them. Even so, like every year before it, I enter 2015 still on the lookout for something permanent and stable as far as a job or other occupation.

Speaking of jobs, one of my highlights of 2014 was working for the Cleveland Browns this season in Guest Services. My specific title was Suite Attendant, though in reality I really didn't spend much time in the suites themselves. For some of the games I did the pre- and post-game checks of four suites, but that wasn't every week. I initially started out on the far end of the south side 400 level just monitoring the exit to the ramp and answering any questions and addressing any concerns from fans in my immediate area. By the third or fourth game, though, I was moved to the other side of the level at the other exit to the ramps, this one on the Press Box side of the south 400 level. Monitoring this door was a tad different since it was unlocked due to the freight elevator right outside that was frequently used during the games. It was not uncommon for fans using that ramp (the southwest ramp) to walk in the door either mistakenly looking for something else, with a legitimate question for me, or to try and get in the Press Box itself (suite ticket holders rarely tried to do that, but they weren't allowed to). As such, I did see many of the coaches from both teams each week as well as the various media members we all see on TV or hear on the radio.

Overall I really enjoyed the experience of working for the Browns because I enjoy going to sporting events and have always been interested in stadiums, so being able to go in most of the stadium was really neat for me. The other thing was that I was an actual employee, so I was authorized to be in most of the stadium with no questions asked. I remember during the very first preseason game I had to go back downstairs to pick up my dinner and no one blinked when I went through places off limits to most fans since I had my ID. It was a simply, yet gratifying experience for me since, as a substitute, I don't have an ID (several schools give me a generic "Staff" tag that identifies me as a sub that I wear for that day). At the Browns games, I wasn't a sub or just there filling in for someone else; I was doing my job. Later in the season I came up during the week and helped get several suites ready for Sunday and again, because I had my ID, no one thought anything of me walking around the stadium by myself. It was cool being there when it was mostly empty too. There's something therapeutic about being in a building that a lot of people use when it's empty (same goes for church...I love cleaning it because it's empty when I do it).

Really, though, it certainly wasn't about the money (it didn't pay all that well and even if it had, I only worked about eight hours for 10 total games), it was about the experience. The schedule fit perfectly into my plans for that time (no games on holidays and away games on the dates I actually needed to be elsewhere, plus the last home game was before Christmas) and was something I wanted to try. Hopefully the 2015 season will work out for me too (and hey, as a fan I wouldn't mind if the team improved too!).

No year would be complete without travel for me. Despite my limited means, I was able to make several trips thanks to a good car and free, or reasonably priced, lodging. Most of my trips were, as usual, to Valparaiso or Nashville, where my sister and brother live, respectively, which is typical. Both are well within a day's drive and I have a place to stay with people I enjoy being around! In fact, the year started in Valparaiso as I was there for the birth of my niece Lorraine on December 30, 2013. I returned to Valpo several times during the year, including a surprise visit during the spring. During one of my trips to Valpo I was able to attend a minor league baseball game for the Gary Southshore Railcats and then I was finally able to see a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. So much fun for me!

Nathan and Lorraine in Valpo in July

Historic Wrigley Field!

Becky and me at Wrigley for the Cubs vs. Padres game in July

Evelyn and Olivia during our Christmas trip to Nashville

With Ryan in Valpo this past July

With Olivia during our August trip to Nashville for Evelyn's 2nd birthday

My two long trips were also this spring. In March during Spring Break for most of the schools I sub in, I went down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for two nights. I was able to find a beachfront hotel room for about $30/night. While brief, it was well worth it and much needed after a particularly long, gray, and brutal winter (even for Ohio). In May I made a marathon trip to the Shreveport, Louisiana area for the wedding of my good friend and former missionary companion Will Graff to Megan Rikert. I made the 32-hour round trip in 4 consecutive days, stopping in Nashville on the way there and back since it's right near the midway point. Not only was it great to see my sister-in-law and nieces (albeit briefly), but of course very nice to see Will and Megan tie the knot. I even made a stop in Little Rock, Arkansas on the way back to see the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

Myrtle Beach in March

Will and Megan's wedding in Louisiana in May

Historic Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas in May

In addition to traveling, it was nice to have family visit here in Kent on several occasions. Twice this year I had all my siblings in the same room at the same time, which is actually pretty rare. I see all of them on a regular basis, but obviously at separate times. My brother and sister came to visit in March just after my birthday, and then were all here again for my grandpa's 90th birthday in October. Of course my sister and her family visited a few additional times, as they're only five hours from here. I love to travel, but it's always nice when people come here, so I very much appreciated and enjoyed it all!

With the siblings in March here in Kent, just after Katie returned from Ukraine!

All the siblings, nieces, and nephews here in Kent in March

Our traditional "Katie and the group" shot in Kent this past October

Family photo in October

2014 was also not without my share of singing, though I was not in any shows this year since This is Kirtland! is on hiatus (doesn't look like it will be back for 2015 either). I was particularly excited about some firsts in singing: in February I performed the Canadian National Anthem "O Canada" in public for the first time when I sang at the NCAA Division II Wrestling National Championships at Public Hall in Cleveland. Later this year, just last month, I finally sang for a football game when I sang prior to the game between Kent State and Akron at Dix Stadium here in Kent. I've been wanting to sing at a football game since high school and have never had the chance. Even though the crowd wasn't all that big (it was 27 degrees F at game time during Thanksgiving Break and the game had been rescheduled), it was still fun and a good experience!

Pictures from KSU photographer David Dermer from my National Anthem performance at Dix Stadium in late November

I once again sang for the Cleveland Indians, Toledo Mud Hens, Akron Rubber Ducks, and Columbus Clippers at various times during the baseball season, as well as several other Kent State events (men's and women's basketball, gymnastics, wrestling), and I even got to sing at the 2014 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships since they were hosted in Kent this year. Now, if only I could get a Cleveland Browns and/or Cavaliers game. So far, no luck there, the Cavaliers in particular.

MAC Center at Kent State prior to a men's basketball game

At the MAC Center again at KSU prior to the Mid-American Conference Wrestling Tournament in March

With Julie and Michelle at Fifth-Third Field in Toledo after singing for the Toledo Mud Hens in May

At Huntington Field in Columbus after singing for the Columbus Clippers in June

With my dad and sister at Huntington Field in June

Just before singing for the Akron Rubber Ducks at Canal Park in Akron in June

Another very enjoyable event I've been a part of this year has been the Fan Advisory Board at Kent State. It's a group of athletic staff, KSU faculty, alumni, and just general fans who meet quarterly and discuss issues related to attendance at KSU sporting events, mainly the big moneymakers of football and men's basketball. Not only have I been able to make connections with various people in athletics and at the university, but I've also learned more about what it really takes to run a Division I athletic department and the various challenges that KSU and schools like it face related to athletics. The meetings themselves are all very enjoyable and go by way too quickly. I'm definitely looking forward to the next one coming up in January.

Lastly, I am most excited that I finally got a personal trainer and joined a local gym, mostly to lose a little bit of extra weight. I had been wanting to start that for some time, but money or other issues always seemed to prevent me from doing it consistently or really getting started. Well, I finally did it just before Thanksgiving and have already lost close to 20 pounds without having to make any major dietary changes. Instead, I've been more carefully monitoring what I eat and how much. That way, I can still enjoy many of the sweets and treats I like on a daily basis and not feel the need to binge on them because I completely abstain. My trainer is grounded in reality and is someone who has actually studied diet and exercise in college, so it's been a good experience so far and one I hope to continue. My main goal? Lose some weight so I don't have to buy progressively bigger pants and so the ones I have fit just a little bit better. So far so good!

Some other highlights or random occurrences in 2014:
In June, I tried out for The Voice when they held auditions in Cleveland at Public Hall. While the wait ended up being about three hours, they kept the lines moving and had everyone go to progressive sections, so it didn't seem like that long. Obviously nothing came of it, so all I got was experience. I thought I did OK, but really made me think about who actually gets on the show and why and how many truly talented people are passed over in that screening round.

Waiting in line for The Voice auditions in Cleveland

Some of the line at Public Hall in Cleveland for The Voice auditions

I was interviewed by a newspaper article in western Virginia for an article about the role I played in editing the Wikipedia article on Stephens City, Virginia, which I did back in 2010. I also did my first paid Wikipedia article, evaluating, writing, and publishing a small article about the play "Dear Mother and All".

As I mentioned a bit earlier, in October we celebrated the 90th birthday of my grandpa Ridinger. I made a quick trip to his hometown of Miamisburg, Ohio (just south of Dayton) the week before his birthday and saw a football game on the very field he played on and got some pictures of important places in his personal life and my family history.

Harmon Field in Miamisburg, where my grandpa Ridinger played football in the late 1930s and 1940

With Miamisburg High School Athletic Director

One of these two houses on Sycamore Street in Miamisburg is where my grandpa was born. The house on the left was where his mom's family lived, and the one on the right was where his dad's family lived.

I attended my first Ohio State home game since 1997 in September when OSU played Kent State. I was obviously conflicted since I'm a KSU alum and fan as well as an OSU fan, so I wore a KSU hat and shirt with an OSU fleece. It was a one-sided affair (OSU won 66-0), but I had fun with my sister Katie and enjoyed seeing the stadium again! It was all thanks to the Marsh family at church who gave us the tickets. It was quite the unexpected surprise!

With Katie outside Ohio Stadium in my "conflicted" gear :)

View from our seats. Not bad!

This year had its share of Cleveland Indians and Akron Rubber Ducks games too as tickets were easy and inexpensive to come by! It was fun to get out every once and awhile and gave my sister Katie, who was home unexpectedly from her Peace Corps duties in Ukraine because of the unrest there, something to do!

April 22 game I sang at and got my first foul ball!

Mormon Night at Progressive Field in late May!

Rubber Ducks game in June. We always had great seats!

In August, Katie and I attended a Cleveland Gladitors game at Quicken Loans Arena, the first time either of us had ever been to an arena football game (the same day we also attended the Ukrainian Festival in Parma!). Not only was it exciting (Cleveland won on a last-second field goal), but we won free passes to Castaway Bay in Sandusky after our picture was chosen as a finalist on the scoreboard and fans voted. We sent out a call to friends to text our code in so we'd win and it was readily answered and we garnered about 97% of the vote! HA! Oh, we also got free pizza coupons with the passes!

At the Ukrainian Festival in Parma with my new hat :)

Photo that got us on the scoreboard at the Gladiators game back in August...

Here we are on the scoreboard...at this point we had 94% of the vote

We went to Castaway Bay a little later in the year when Becky visited with my nephews and had a GREAT time! It was so much fun and even better because it was free!

We all had a great time at Castaway Bay in Sandusky in August!

Here's to 2015 continuing the good I had in 2014 and improving my life where needed. Happy New Year!

30 Things Ohioans Love?

Many of you have read the Buzzfeed "article" going around Facebook called "30 Things Ohioans Love", written by a New Yorker (I'm assuming New York City as opposed to someone from elsewhere in New York state) who went to college in Ohio and is dating an Ohioan. I thought I'd evaluate his/her various "discoveries" based on my own experience living in Ohio for pretty much my entire life :). Overall, there weren't that many I found that were uniquely Ohio or they were regional to part of the state but not the entire state. It would be interesting to find out where this person went to college in Ohio and where the person he/she is dating is from. Probably the biggest mistake is assuming that Ohio is rather homogeneous when it really isn't. Each section of the state has its own local customs, sayings, dialect, and preferences that can vary greatly.

1. Ohio State football

Ohio State vs. Toledo in Cleveland, 2009

I'd say that's a pretty accurate assessment, though it's not universal. Places that you'll find some animosity towards Ohio State football include Athens (home of Ohio University), Cincinnati (home of the University of Cincinnati), and Toledo (just south of the Michigan border and not far from the campus of the University of Michigan), though even in those places you still have many OSU fans. It's similar in many other states that have a large flagship public university or with Mormons and BYU (though not THIS Mormon!), or Catholics and Notre Dame.  But yelling "O-H!"and getting "I-O!" back is pretty common. I had that happen to me in Salt Lake City when I was walking in the airport with my Ohio State sweatshirt on. Someone passed me and yelled "O-H!" and it took me a second to realize what they did and then I yelled back "I-O!"

2. Being a Swing State
I definitely enjoy the fact that Ohio is a swing state. Sure, it means we get TONS of political ads running for months on end and a seemingly endless stream of visits from candidates, but still, it's nice to feel like your vote really matters. Part of that is because Ohio doesn't have a dominant metro area like New York (NYC) or Illinois (Chicago), so you have a balance of rural vs. urban and a pretty even balance of conservative vs. liberal. I'm sure a lot of Ohioans, though, would rather not be in a swing state so that they don't get robocalls every 5 minutes for months before an election.

3. Ranch dressing
I fail to see how this is unique to Ohio or that Ohio has some kind of unusual affinity to Ranch dressing. I've lived in 3 other states and visited every one of them except California, Alaska, Hawaii, and Delaware, and have never noticed anything different. I mean, I like Ranch dressing, but hardly exclusively, and I've seen it in peoples' homes all over. According to this article, Ranch dressing is the top-selling salad dressing in the US, and has been since 1992, so while many of us Buckeyes do love Ranch, so does most of the rest of the country.

4. Hating LeBron
I am certainly not a fan of LeBron, but I wouldn't call that "hating". It's more because he plays for a different team than anything else. That said, I'm not really a fan of any specific player to the point I follow them if they change teams. For the most part, I think most Ohioans are indifferent to it all, particularly in his hometown of Akron where he has a fair amount of support because of charitable causes he participates in there. There is still a fair amount of animosity over how he left, but mainly with sports fans and not everyone here is a sports fan by any stretch.

5. Mountain Dew
I've seen people drinking Mountain Dew all over the country. Hardly anyone I know drinks it (LDS or not), and I certainly don't. I have never noticed any unusual love affair with Mountain Dew in Ohio. If anything, I've noticed more teenagers and college students drinking it.

6. Referring to random parts of random towns and cities as "downtown"

Downtown Kent...it's not Manhattan, but it's still
a downtown!

For the most part, Ohioans follow the national norm of calling the central business district of a town "downtown", though sometimes it is misapplied, particularly in typical suburbs that never developed around a central business district (local examples of that are Stow and Streetsboro, though I have only rarely heard people refer to the centers of those places as a "downtown"). Many of the older smaller towns, Kent included, do have central business districts that have higher density and mixed use zoning, and are often referred to as downtown. But that's not unique to Ohio by any means and is fairly standard across the US and Canada. See Wikipedia: Downtown.

7. Sperrys
I have never owned nor wish to own Sperrys, and to be honest, didn't really know what they were called until I read this. I guess I have seen a lot here, but haven't noticed anything unusual or higher than any other place. I seem to associate them with certain types of people (very laid back, easy-going) rather than places. Maybe they had a lot where the author went to school or are popular with college-aged people?

8. Donatos
This is a regional thing, not a state thing. I am familiar with Donatos, but rarely ever have pizza from them because they don't have a location near where I live. I can list several other national and local pizza chains that are probably more popular than Donatos, at least in my experience, so I'm guessing this was another item more specific to where this person went to school or he/she was just around big fans of Donatos.

9. American-made cars
Maybe because I have a Honda, but I seem to notice quite a bit of foreign-made cars here, though it should be noted even many of the "imports" are manufactured either in the US or in North America (my Honda was manufactured in Canada). It would be interesting if there were a survey done of what kinds of cars people drive and if Ohio actually does have a higher percentage of American cars. We do have assembly plants for Ford, Chrysler, and GM in northern Ohio, but we also have a Honda assembly plant in central Ohio. Again, not something I've really noticed a major difference. In my own family, only my grandparents on both sides have American-made cars (Ford and GM) and my dad has a GM. The rest of us have Hondas, a Hyundai, and a Kia.

10. Defending the Cleveland Browns

I don't know if I'd call it "defending" the Cleveland Browns as much as it is just being a fan. We definitely have lots of loyal fans here for the Browns. Hope springs eternal every fall. But that is certainly not true in southern Ohio, which is Cincinnati Bengals territory. Parts of Ohio closer to Pittsburgh obviously have more Steelers fans, and NW Ohio has its share of Lions fans too. I would never say the Browns are "Ohio's Team" by any stretch.

11. Chinese buffets
I'm not really a fan of Chinese, so I don't go to buffets all that often. Again, this is something I can't say I've seen anything abnormal here, but who knows?

12. Dating their high school sweetheart far into college… or, eventually, just marrying them
The author must've known several people who did this. I know of some, but they're not all from Ohio. I know just a few from my own class who dated in high school and continued and got married eventually, but I also know people from other states who have done the same thing.

13. Cedar Point

Cedar Point, 2010

Yes, Ohioans love Cedar Point, but so do lots of people from around the country as Cedar Point is one of the most visited amusement parks in the US. Ohioans also love Kings Island near Cincinnati.

14. Referring to soda strictly as "pop"
I am one of those who generally use the term "pop", but my mom says "soda" and I know many people here that also use soda or they interchange "soda" and "pop" regularly (I do that sometimes). As this map shows, it's hardly unique to Ohio to use "pop" by any means...in fact, it's fairly common across the northern US.

15. Most restaurant chains (namely: Panera, Olive Garden, Chipotle, and Outback. I could go on.)
I'm guessing that since the author is from New York, he/she generally has a local place or places they frequent. In most of Ohio, and most other places outside large cities like New York, you generally don't have lots of local choices. But that's not unique to Ohio by any means (New York is hardly void of restaurant chains) and varies from place to place. Even here in Kent, we have several local places or regional chains. In all my travels around the country, mostly by car, I haven't noticed anything unusual about restaurant chains in Ohio or Ohioans preferences.

16. Their high school

If you ever see this picture out on the web, I took it in 2009!
Rah rah for Roosevelt!

I think, for the most part, this is pretty valid, though, again, it's not that unique to Ohio. I have found that many Ohioans do keep tabs on their high school and feel like it was a good place, but isn't that what we want? Even so, I would say most of the people from my own class are completely detached from high school. Some communities are more into their respective high schools than others (usually smaller communities are more into them, but that's typical across the country). I certainly fall into that, but a lot of that is because I live in the town I grew up in, so it's easy to do (same with my college). I would say Ohioans are more into high school sports collectively than most other states.

17. Wearing athletic clothing while having no intention of working out
I'll have to watch for this. I wear what, I guess, could be considered "workout clothing" when I do yardwork, but mostly in the summer because it is lighter. Workout clothing for me, though, is typically gym shorts and a t-shirt. I've seen people in the stores here in what could be considered "workout clothing", but I just assume they're coming from or headed to some kind of workout or other use for it. Since I don't follow people around, I can't comment if they actually work out or not.

18. Chicken bacon ranch pizza and sandwiches
I have never had chicken bacon ranch pizza (I like bacon, but don't really get it on my pizza very often) and have only had the chicken bacon ranch sandwich from Subway once several years ago when it first came out. I'd say buffalo chicken is more popular, but that's my observation and preference. Come to think of it, I can't even think of even seeing chicken bacon ranch pizza until I read the article, and I live in a college town!

19. Drive-thrus in general
That's typical for just about any suburban area, so I guess it would be accurate that Ohioans love drive-thrus, but so does pretty much the entire US.

20. Saying “you’re fine” instead of “no problem” or “no worries”
This is true, though, I say "no problem" and "no worries" quite frequently. I do hear "you're fine" quite often, but haven't noticed it only in Ohio.

21. Skyline Chili
Skyline Chili is mainly in central and southern Ohio. I had never even heard of it until recently when I met some friends in the Cincinnati area at a Skyline Chili there and had a nice lunch (I actually got a wrap...I'm not a chili person). There are a few Skyline Chili locations in northern Ohio now (4 in the Cleveland area including Stow and one in NW Ohio in Lima), but it's still mainly found in the Columbus area and south and is based in Cincinnati. According to the Wikipedia article, Skyline also has locations in Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida.

22. Cornhole
It does seem popular here, so I guess it's accurate. I'm not really a fan of it, but will play it. It seems more popular with college-age and high school-aged people, though.

23. Claiming to live in a city but really living in a suburb

Yep, it's a city, like it or not!

I'm not totally sure what this means, whether it's a case of people saying they live, for instance, in Cleveland but they really live in Westlake, or a case of calling Westlake a city. Both aren't unique to Ohio. I frequently hear people say they are from a larger city, but if you ask "which part?" then they mention the more specific suburb. As for "city" vs. "suburb", a suburb often is a city, not a big city, but a city nonetheless, at least in Ohio and in the broader sense of the word. Since the author is from New York I'm not all that surprised that they make the difference, but in Ohio, any municipality over 5,000 residents is considered a "city" even if it doesn't have a central business district or is anything beyond a bedroom community. In some states, places with even just a few hundred people can be classified as a "city" since it often carries different legal definitions. "City" itself is a very ambiguous term that varies across the world and even in the US.

24. "The range"
I have never gone to and don't know anyone who goes to the range (based on the picture the author uses, I'm assuming they meant shooting range). I know people who regularly go to a driving range for golf, but not a shooting range. I'm guessing it's more of a rural thing. I can't even tell you where the nearest shooting range is off the top of my head.

25. Referring to sneakers strictly as “tennis shoes” or “tennys”
My experience has been that athletic shoes are often referred to as "tennis shoes". I hear "sneakers" a lot for shoes in general, though it's not a word I use very often since my shoes are running shoes. If I had sneakers, I'd probably just call them my shoes and then differentiate from my "running shoes". I usually call my black dress shoes "church shoes". I have never heard the term "tennys" used.

26. Graeter's Ice Cream
I had to look this one up because I've never even heard of it. Turns out, like Skyline Chili, it's based in Cincinnati, which would explain why I haven't run into it here in northern Ohio. It does have some Cleveland area locations, but none of them are anywhere close. My favorite local chain is Katie's Korner, which has a few locations in the areas around Youngstown, Ohio, including Kent.

27. Going to the beach aka Lake Erie

Lake Erie beach in Euclid, Ohio, 2013

In my experience, most people who go to the beaches along Lake Erie live fairly close to the lake (like within an hour). Many of the beaches, though, aren't bad, which is true for many of the Great Lakes, though some are rather rocky. I visited the Indiana Dunes a few weeks ago on the shore of Lake Michigan, and it was just like any ocean beach except the waves were a bit smaller (though that largely depends on the wind).

28. Referring to vacuums as “sweepers”
My grandma does this (she also calls gas stations "filling stations"), but it isn't a term that my mom adopted or that I use. Most people I know, myself included, call it a vacuum, though I do hear "sweeper" somewhat regularly. I've always considered it kind of an archaic term. If you want a unique Ohio term, try "devil strip" for the strip of grass between the sidewalk and the road. That's pretty localized to Akron and the general vicinity. Many here also call it the "tree lawn".

29. Wendy's
I enjoy going to Wendy's, but can't say I go there any more frequently than other places when I get fast food. Yes, it's based in Ohio, but it's everywhere in the US. I can't say I've noticed any greater affinity for Wendy's here than anywhere else. Maybe in Columbus where it's based... (it's actually in suburban Dublin, Ohio).

30. Being "the birthplace of aviation"

My idea for a plate

I'm actually not a fan of that slogan, though I don't think it's out of place or wrong or even questionable. The Wright Brothers were from Ohio and did a lot of their preparations for the first flight in Dayton. They chose Kitty Hawk, North Carolina because of the favorable winds and other factors, and likely slightly warmer weather since it was done in mid December. Even so, I think most Ohioans are tired of that slogan and never really identified with it. For whatever reasons, whoever's in charge of that at the BMV really likes the slogan.  I've found a lot more love for the previous slogan "the heart of it all!" I made my own license plate that draws on the many aviation and space pioneers that have come from Ohio, particularly the first person on the moon Neil Armstrong.

There you have it. I guess I was disappointed that many of the things the author attributed to Ohioans weren't unique to Ohio at all or were localized to parts of the state (in these cases, central and southern Ohio), at least in my experience, but it did stop and make me think about the many wonderful and crazy things we do in this state and why.