What Lucia Should Know About My Birthplace

It's been said here before, but it bears repeating: I am from Ohio. I have the tattoo to prove it, in fact. Some people think that all I do compare Misery/COMO to Ohio, but that's not necessarily true. It's just my point of reference because it's from where I came. I lived there for my first thirty years of life (sans that summer I thought I could live in Seattle). So, it's a big part of who I am.

Lucia should know this about me. It's her heritage. Ohio is in her blood. She is a Buckeye.

Below are the ten things she should know about this heritage.

1. Ohio is more part of the Great Lakes Region than it is part of the Midwest. I realize that this is splitting hairs, but there is a distinct difference in how people act and talk in Ohio/Michigan/Indiana/Illinois/Wisconsin/Pennsylvania/Minnesota than here in the true Midwest. Ohio's region is also known as Big Ten country as the members of the Big Ten (eleven, but who's counting?) all reside in these states. Anyway, the aesthetic definitely has a faster pace and a more East Coast feel than does the country's mid-section.

2. Ohio has a rich indie rock tradition. Guided By Voices, The Breeders, Brainiac, Magnolia Electric Co., Swearing at Motorists, Times New Viking , Pere Ubu, Devo, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, The New Bomb Turks, The Best Damn Band in the Land, Sinkane, etc. all come from Ohio plus many, many more. The place is so happening in the scene that bands from elsewhere like New Jersey's Yo La Tengo choose Ohio bands to sit in for them at local record stores and shoot slick, Hollywood-type videos...



3. In Ohio, football is king. I have had friends moved to Ohio in the nineties and were amazed that the local news channels would devote a half-hour-to-one-hour program after the eleven o'clock news to high school football every Friday night. Although this is fairly common everywhere these days, back then it was unheard of to devote so much air time to high school sports. That doesn't even mention the Ohio State Buckeyes or the Miami University known as the "cradle of coaches" for producing several of the great college coaches over the decades. Mizzou's own coach used to coach football in Toledo before coming here. Then there's Paul Brown and his stints with the Browns and Bengals. I could go on and on, but I can already hear you all clicking of to another blog as I type.

4. Ohio is not just full of hicks. Sure, we have plenty of rednecks and hilljacks in Ohio, but there are also three major cities there (Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland). Besides The Ohio State University, there are twelve universities with enrollments of over 10,000. Plus, there are East Coast favorite safety schools like Case Western, Oberlin, and God's Bible School and College. Dennis Kucinich is from Ohio. My point is that there are plenty of smart, sophisticated folk in Ohio.

5. Ohio is full of hicks. I can say that because I'm one of them. I grew up in and just outside of a town with three traffic lights, two gas stations, an IGA, and twenty-three churches. In between all those cities and universities are miles upon miles of farm land and small, hick towns. It's part of our heritage.

6. Ohio has a deep African-American history. While Bushwhackers and Tigers were fighting over MO's status as a slave state, the Underground Railroad passed through Ohio. Today, the lone museum commemorating the abolitionist movement and its secret network to free slaves is located in Cincinnati. Many of the routes passed right by my childhood home. The first African-American woman graduated from college at Oberlin. Traditionally black institutions at Central State and Wilberforce are also located in the Buckeye state.

7. The Gay love Ohio, particularly Columbus. It has been claimed that there are more lesbians per capita in Columbus than San Francisco. I lived there long enough to know that this is probably true. During that time in Columbus, I think I had more lesbian friends and acquaintances than straight. Ignore the fact that the state voted to ban gay marriage. I mean, we all can't be Iowa.

8. I was born in the town that stands as Ohio's highest point. The glaciers did a funny thing and left a little patch of land in west-central Ohio alone, to sit atop and look over the rest of the state. Or something like that. I was born in Bellefontaine (pronounced bell-fountain, don't ask), home of North America's first paved street and also the one-time shortest street on the planet.

9. Ohioans have a bitter rivalry with our northern neighbor Michigan. For some unknown reason, Ohio and Michigan fought over Toledo. I'm still not sure why, but there was almost a war over it. A compromise was reached at the federal level. Ohio got to keep Toledo and Michigan was awarded the Upper Peninsula, aka Wisconsin's left arm. I'm not sure who won that argument, but I do know that it's been over five years since Michigan beat Ohio State. Ironically, Lucia's mother was born in Michigan. We won't hold it against her, because she lived in Chicago (twice), Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Oxford, and Columbus. So, she's not 100% Michiganer. That and she has two degrees from Ohio State.

10. Ohio is where I met Lucia's mother. We first met online (which knows no state boundaries), but our first face-to-face encounter was at Larry's, across from Ohio State's campus. Sadly, Larry's is no more, but we will always have Columbus.

I also have a post planned to help Lu with her own birthplace, but I decided to start with what I know.