Calvin and Hobbes, Eighth Wonder of the World

As with most things in my life, which I feel passionately about, I will procrastinate dealing with it or writing about it (ie dissertation, etc.) if I think I'm unable to do it justice.  This is definitely the case with posting an entry about my all-time favorite comic, Calvin and Hobbes. Or as Calvin once, and so much more eloquently, put it:  I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life ... Procrastinating and rationalizing.

Bill Watterson looks back with no regrets, Cleveland Plain Dealer article

The Tiger Strikes Again, Washington Post

Ohio's Most Famous Recluse

Why Bill Watterson is our hero
Calvin aged 26 years:  not for the feint of heart

Ironically, a Throwback Thursday entry as it was written ages ago!

Bogie & Bacall (and Malabar Farm)

I will freely admit that I am neither a Bogart nor a Bacall fan but the fact that their nuptials took place in Ohio is fascinating to me. It's strange yet charming to imagine these two movie stars in their glitzy heyday getting married on a farm very near to where I grew up in a most unobtrusive part of the Midwest.  The farm in question is Malabar Farm, which was established by Bogart's long-time friend and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Louis Bromfield. After establishing himself as a writer in NYC and spending a decade in France with his family, the Renaissance Man Bromfield decided to return to his native Ohio to set up a farm implementing sustainable farming practices.  Bromfield has since come to be recognized as a pioneer in organic and sustainable farming in the United States.  He was awarded the Audubon Medal for Conservationism in 1952 and in 1980 was posthumously inducted into the Ohio Agricultural Hall of Fame.

"Ohio is the apothesis of Americanism. The middle west begins with Indiana, the east with Pennsylvania, the south with Kentucky, and, surrounded by these sits Ohio, one of the richest spots on earth. Its contribution to music, art, literature and the theatre is far greater than any two states in the nation."

—Louis Bromfield

"We eked out every last drop of Midwestern air and sky— of farm and cooking smells—boxer dogs." -- Lauren Bacall 

Bogie and Bacall, 65 years later in Ohio
To Have and Have Not:  Vanity Fair article with Bacall
Newsreel of Bromfield and Malabar Farm

Superman is from Krypton? Nah. . . . he's from Cleveland

I have often joked with friends across the pond that all Americans want to be like Ohioans. Perhaps it's not so much that we're ideal Americans but that we do a great job of idealizing America. A case in point is "The Man of Steel", who is a universally recognized and a positive image of America created in the Buckeye State. The cultural icon that stands for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" was imagined in 1933 by two Cleveland teenage boys from Jewish immigrant families. Jerry Siegel (October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) and Joe Shuster (July 10, 1914 - July 30, 1992).  The co-creators of the DC Comics character Superman both attended Glenville High School and worked on the weekly student newspaper, The Torch. Siegel and Shuster together also published what may have been the first SF fanzine, Cosmic Stories.

Cleveland, the True Birthplace of Superman - Smithsonian article by Anne Trubeck

The Flaming Lips - Waitin' for a Superman

The Big Red S

The Wittiest American was from Mount Gilead, Ohio

I first stumbled upon Dawn Powell just a couple of days ago while reading Donald Ray Pollock's Knockemstiff, which begins with a Powell quote: All Americans come from Ohio originally, if only briefly. This quote made me chuckle since it reminded me of one of my quests this past year while in England, namely explaining the importance of my home to the rest of the world. As you can imagine, many people have no idea where my home state is located in the immense country of America, let alone would they know what was produced there other than myself standing in front of them. Don't get me wrong, some people knew of Ohio because a favorite band, sports team or actor was from there but that's usually where the recognition of the state ended. Therefore my task was typically attempted by my mentioning of famous people, companies or crops (I'm a botanist by training and worked with farmers for my Msc project) and apparently became so rampant in my chats that some friends would anticipate my interjections by saying 'Are they from Ohio too?!?!?' rather sarcastically. Thus, I thought that this particularly endearing quote must be from a fellow Ohioan since we are the only ones who truly understand or appreciate the importance of our humble little abode. This small thought eluded me until strangely enough, I just happened to catch part of a Gilmore Girls episode this morning in which Rory mentions Ms. Powell to her friend Lane. Rory has been reading Powell's Complete Novels and says that no one has heard of Powell and explains that it is a shame since some have claimed that she deserves credit for some of Dorothy Parker's best jokes. This second mention of Powell within just a span of a couple of days made me realize that I should look further into the life of this noteworthy woman. After a quick internet search, I found that this extraordinary woman was born in Mount Gilead, which is a stone's throw away from where my family hails. Although I have yet to read her writings (I have placed holds on books from my library) and learn more about what made her tick, from what I have gathered thus far makes me think that I may have stumbled upon a kindred spirit: a woman drawn to sophisticated cosmopolitans, worldly adventures and the unknown but who still cherishes small-town Ohio.

Story of a country girl