As a former Clevelander, I have to mention that some parts of the state have a high concentration of literate people, that is, those who say "Ohio".

Ronald Reagan is from Illinois, not Ohio, but in philosophy and competence he resembled the Ohio presidents. They are Grant, Hayes, Garfield (that's three straight), Benjamin Harrison (who spent most of his life in Indiana), McKinley, Taft, and Harding, after whom the country wised up.

Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders is from Akron, not Cleveland. She wrote the classic Ohio song "My City was Gone" about her home town. The band Devo was from Akron too.

Other famous Ohioans include John D. Rockefeller, Sr., John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, Tracy Chapman, and Bone Thugs & Harmony. An Ohioan who should be famous was James Wright, one of my favorite poets (and really an Ahian, from Martin's Ferry, no less). In one of my brushes with greatness, Molly Shannon of Saturday Night Live and I grew up four houses away from each other.

Thanks to Gitarzan for straightening out the horse-chestnut-vs-buckeye question. Neither one is closely related to the tasty chestnuts.

'Spaw, I don't remember what Archie Bunker said. The joke I've heard about California is that it's like granola--once you get through the nuts and fruits, there's nothing left but the flakes.