In Which Ms. Bean Drives In Circles & Contemplates A Personal Slogan

/ Ally Bean

About 100 years ago this car would have been my preferred set of wheels, especially if it came standard with a dog. Obviously. { photo via Library of Congress }

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OF LATE I’VE HAD MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN USUAL TO drive to and from the airport.  Considering where we live in Ohio, our closest international airport is in Kentucky, meaning that I have to drive on an interstate highway to cross over the Ohio River to get there.

It’s all about geography.

I can do this by EITHER driving on the outer belt through Ohio, across a bridge into Kentucky.

OR, if there is an accident in my way or construction delays, I can drive in the other direction on the outer belt through Ohio, then through Indiana, across a bridge into Kentucky.

The excitement?  It never ends.

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IT IS WHILE SASHAYING AROUND THE AFOREMENTIONED INTERSTATE OUTER BELT SYSTEM THAT I’ve come to notice, on huge bridge signs, that Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana have new-to-me state slogans*.

  • Ohio, formerly “THE HEART OF IT ALL” is now “SO MUCH TO DISCOVER”
  • Kentucky, formerly “WHERE EDUCATION PAYS” is now “UNBRIDLED SPIRIT”
  • Indiana, formerly “CROSSROADS OF AMERICA” is now “HONEST-TO-GOODNESS INDIANA”

Seeing these state slogans, writ large [literally and figuratively], got me thinking about branding, albeit in a narcissistic way.  That is, what might I use as my personal slogan?

If I had to have one.  Which to my knowledge I do not.  Yet.

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THUS WANTING TO BE PREPARED FOR ANY CONTINGENCY and bored out of my gourd while driving, I compiled the following list** of potential Ally Bean slogans.

Should you be of a mind to help me decide what my personal slogan should be, please indulge me and do the following two things:

  1. Indicate your preferred slogan for moi, by answering the simple poll question below.
  2. If you have a personal slogan, I’d love to know what it is.  Yours might be better than mine and it’s not too late for me to steal it from you I could be inspired by it.

Thank you in advance for your immediate input on this totally irrelevant, but blogworthy, issue that has come to plague me as I drive hither and yon around the interstate outer belt system.

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* I’ve no idea how often these slogans change. All I know is what my addled brain remembers, a faulty system at best– and these state slogans seem different from what I remember them being before.

** Oddly enough, most of these potential slogans are ones that I’ve used in various places online over the years. Or, ideas I wrote down intending to use as topics for blog posts.

67 thoughts on “In Which Ms. Bean Drives In Circles & Contemplates A Personal Slogan”

  2. I wasn’t aware Kentucky had ever been all about education, and I still think we’re Crossroads of America, and I am very upset that Ohio isn’t The Heart of it All anymore. Where has the heart of it gone?
    I think my tagline is as close as I can get to a slogan.

    Liked by 2 people

    • joey, I don’t get why state slogans change, but I guess mottos stay the same while slogans are pure marketing. I thought about whether or not my tagline was my slogan, but I decided it was descriptive, not snappy enough to be my slogan.

      Liked by 2 people

  3. As an Ohioan, I think we really blew it when we gave up being The Heart Of It All, even though we never, ever really identified what It was in The First Place.

    I’ve had a personal slogan for awhile now, thanks to having a tagline for my blog. And an always-fully-stocked wine cellar. Nance–Uncorked And Aging Nicely.

    Liked by 3 people

    • nance, I have no idea why we’re no longer The Heart Of It All, but I feel that we still should be. I feel Heart-y, don’t you?

      I like your tagline and it makes for a good slogan too. My blog tagline doesn’t translate so well, hence my need for a real personal slogan. Need, I tell you.

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  4. Oh you came up with some good ones, making my decision tough but vote I did. When will you post your final decision?

    (meanwhile, since I didn’t have a personal slogan before, I hope you’ll allow me to um (steal) be in spired by “Putting the Irk in Quirk.” 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dana, “putting the irk in quirk” is all yours. With my blessing. I’d written that idea on a post-it note with the intention of writing something or other, but I never wrote anything more. Now I don’t remember what I was going to write about, of course.

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  5. Honestly, I can’t pick just one! As I was reading them, I thought, “Hey, what about “All of the Above.”

    But if I must pick, and the OCD in me suggests, nay, commands that I pick, it’s “Putting the Irk in Quirk.”

    Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure, I stalked you on Googgle Maps – Well, I stalked the route from Ohio to the Kentucky airport. You’ll be happy to know that the virtual reality route is indeed under construction.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Maggie, I didn’t think to add an “All of the Above” answer on the poll. That’s a good idea.

      Dana, who left a comment before you, has claimed “putting the irk in quirk” as her own. I dunno if I can use it now!

      Lovely to know that virtual reality and reality are both under construction. Until all the bridges are repaired, driving around here is nuts– and will be for a couple of years more.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. As this really has nothing to do with anything, but…I do wonder if that dog rode on the car that way or was simply placed there for the photo. It has the appearance of not being very comfortable up there whatever the purpose. That leads me to pondering a personal slogan, which I can’t come up with, but it would have to have something to do with my insatiable need to question everything.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Such a fun, thought-provoking post! It’s like when people ask you to describe yourself in one word….hmmm…..you know now that we all will be spending our Friday trying out different Self Slogans. 😀 Can’t wait to see what you decide!

    Liked by 1 person

    • cherylbalcom, I’ve never been able to come up with one word to describe myself, but a slogan has more words in it so I figure this might work. Of course, like every state around here I reserve the right to change my slogan whenever I feel like it. 🤓

      Liked by 1 person

  11. You’ve got lots of great ones here, but I do like the cognitive dissonance one. I don’t really have a slogan per se, but in my bios I often include this line: “I believe every experience is worthwhile, even if our paths deviate from where we started.”

    Liked by 1 person

    • Tara, I like Kentucky’s new slogan, too. Considering that horses are what many people think of when they think of Kentucky, it seems fitting. I know what you mean about snark… it comes so naturally to me and seems like good thing, too.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Carol, I never thought about this either until I was stuck in traffic, trying to get over a bridge on which there was a sign with a state slogan staring down at me. Once I got thinking about the idea of a personal slogan I was hooked on it. I’ll look forward to learning what you decide your slogan will be.

      Liked by 1 person

  15. You’re hilarious! I loved them all. Don’t make me pick one.

    Can’t you do something like – today is Friday, therefore today’s slogan is Nutty Sweet with a Hint of Snarky. Monday could be Putting the Irk in Quirk … etc 🙂

    I love the idea of a slogan …. but that means I would have to think about it and make a decision. I really can’t bear the idea of doing either.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Susan, you’re the second person to say that I should have put an “all of the above” button on the poll. I didn’t think of that, and it’s too late now. Oh well, next time I’ll do better. [In fact, that sentence could well be my slogan.]

      Like

  17. It’s so hard to choose, but I guess I have to. “Smarter than the average bean” appeals (cuz it’s true), but I do love “Putting the irk in quirk.” Maybe somehow combine the two, as in: “Putting the dip in bean dip”?

    Hmmm… I’ll have to put some thought into this, as well as come up with one of my own. Damn the laundry!

    Like

    • Janis, thanks for your suggestion. Once I started thinking about personal slogans, I went down a rabbit hole of possibilities. Your laundry can wait… think, woman, think! No doubt you’ll decide on a perfect slogan for yourself.

      Liked by 1 person

  19. I have to say “Smarter than the average bean” because I had to look up what cognitive dissonance was (not to say that I am an average bean, but you know…). My slogan, “Smiles are contagious, pass one around.”

    Liked by 1 person

  22. I was torn between “smarter than the average bean” and “irk in quirk,” but ultimately went with the one that references your screen name for that very obvious reason.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Our welcome signs coming into Illinois used to boast the current governor’s name for many years. Then we sent two consecutive governors to prison last decade, and they now just generically welcome you to the “Land of Lincoln” (At least some things never change)…

    One of my blog’s slogans is “A Treasure Trove of Absurdity” which was coined by some nuttily sweet with a hint of snarky blogger in a comment on one of my comics last year…. I can’t remember quite who that was. You can tell now which one I voted for…

    Liked by 1 person

    • evilsquirrel13, I may have missed my calling in life. I could hire out as a slogan writer who reads blogs, then tells you who you are. I’m still honored to be the one who [inadvertently] helped your find your slogan.

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  24. Well, I think they all apply in one way or another! How’s that for being helpful? I did vote … but now I forget what I picked.

    I don’t think any of those state slogans can compare to the most dire of all states, my death-defying state of New Hampshire–“Live Free or Die!” You really can’t get more to the heart of it than that.

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    • Kate, your state slogan sounds like a threat. We here in the midwest and upper south are more inclined to descriptive slogans. But New Hampshire? Kind of harsh, imho. And that’s coming from a midwestern free spirit…

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  27. No wonder many of these slogans seemed familiar! I don’t know what mine would be-probably something about angst or wondering about my place in the world. Or rants about parenting. 🙂

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    • Margaret, I love your take on what your slogan would be. I’m sure that IF you had to have one, you’d figure out exactly what to say about yourself. Maybe it could be in French…

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