Oklahoma's Own

[PhiAlpha]

Yeah, that certainly touches on what I'm getting at. They say Oklahoma's Own Carrie Underwood but we already know that. They're preaching to the choir. Tell people outside the state that she's ours and we claim her. They may not know where she's from. It's like with their tourism commercials and energy commercials you talked about, that they're trying to convince us Oklahomans as much or more than people outside the state.

Also, Oklahoma will claim a famous person as our own if they stopped and took a leak in Oklahoma. Oklahoma tries to claim Brad Pitt even though he spent very little of any of his life here.

As far as Oklahoma shaped things, it's kind of an off shoot of what they do in Texas. In Texas, everything is either shaped like the state or has a lone star on it or both. Texans are super proud of their state. I've never seen anything like it. It goes way beyond state pride with them. And even transplants fall into it. A girl I know from Oklahoma moved to Texas after high school and she now calls herself a Texan and has that same Texas pride as if she had lived there her whole life.

Eh I think it's OK that we claim Brad Pitt. I mean, Angelina Jolie thought enough of him being born here to tattoo the coordinates of Shawnee on her arm... and anything worthy of being tattooed on Angelina Jolie's arm deserves some .

[adaniel]

I think its never a bad thing to have too much state pride. And in my time in OK I frankly felt a lot of natives needed some selling on their home state. I hate use the term "inferiority complex" but just look at this board sometimes. There is a thread about a video on OKC that was very good and for the most part recieved very well and some posters on here still got their panties in a wad become 1 or 2 youtube trolls made a nasty comment and that OKC was "trying too hard". WHAT? As someone who is now living in Texas, let me say that would NEVER happen here. Call it pride or arrogance or whatever, but most Texans wouldn't give a rats behind what someone said about their state.

I compare OK's situation to that of South Carolina. Both states have unique histories and landscapes but are a bit sullied by their current reputations. And they both lie in the shadows of much larger states (OK to TX, SC to NC and GA). And yet you got to SC and you see the Palmetto symbol and the state shape everywhere. People there are very prideful of their state but it has defintely taken some time for the general population in SC to do so...I for one find SC far more interesting than anything in NC or GA but a lot of people do take potshots at the state. I imagine the same is true for OK.

So is all this OK state pride just overcompensating in the end? Can't really say, but I definitely won't complain. The opposite is far more problematic.

[Dubya61]

Less so today than even 15 years ago, but there are still folks outside the state, and some transplants that have no clue what is interesting in and about Oklahoma. And there are a lot of folks in the state as well. There are many who will rarely, if ever venture far from their community, save for a sporting event or a trip to the big store if they do not have one in their town, and many towns do not.

The existence of numerous pitches for OK as a place to enjoy vacation is actually quite sound. So sound that even the various tribal governments are now also more actively doing this as well. We are a blend of rolling hills, desert, plains meadows, and yes, mountains, with an abundance of rivers and lakes. And yet, you have residents and visitors who quite literally ahve to be led to the shores or the trails or the vistas before they ever see.

We've transformed into being seen more and more by outside eyes. To being the Heartland, not the dust bowl of our history. To a river with top tier rowing instead of a river with constant mowing. To regular television exposure that is not focused on someone's execution or missing trailers, though of course we still have these stories as well. But these days, when a storm hits, the story is of how the people join in to overcome the destruction, not how the destruction overcame the land.

For those under 30, if you've been in Oklahoma mos of your life, there has been change happening throughout your life, sometimes fast, sometimes less so, but it has been there. For those over 30, and 40 or more, some of the change has been pure whirlwind all its own in comparison to what is remembered from younger days.

I like to see the OK pitches, in state and external to the state as well. I meet a lot of people across the state, and while most have strong local pride, the number who still today have rarely if ever cross a county line continues to amaze me.

Agree. I also like to see what's great about Oklahoma in the human interest section of the newscast. Because of that, I now know that there's a great German restaurant up in Waynoka that I need to visit. I think it's interesting that I've done a lot of sightseeing around Europe, but have missed out on a lot in the U.S. Further, I have a LOT that I still want to see and do in Oklahoma. I want to see the bat migrations near Freedom. I want to go back to the Salt Plains and dig for crystals, again. I want to see the Runestones in Heavner, again. I would love to go to Quartz Mountain, like I noticed someone posted about in OKC talk this week. I want to spend some time at Tenkiller, again. I want to see Bigfoot down by Altus (or say I did). I love the small canyon out west (Red Rock?) and want to go back. I still like floating the Illinois River (although it's been a while). I enjoy seeing all the dams the Corps of Engineers put up and seeing the history of the cities "lost" to advancing civilization. I haven't made the fall drive, yet (Talimena?) but need to. I don't mind the human interest crap promoting the state within our borders. There's still a LOT of good stuff to do here that lots of us don't know about. I was just telling a friend (who had spent 15 minutes telling me about how interesting it was to drive in a herd of buffalo (technically: bison) up in the Badlands leading up to Mount Rushmore) that I did the same thing in Bartlesville and that Woolaroc very favorably reminded me of the best of the Marland Mansion in Ponca City.
I'm equally pleased with our state shape.
http://www.okctalk.com/current-event...ape-pride.html
I feel sorry for Wyomingians (-ites?) or Coloradoans. They're stuck with a rectangle. Conversely, my friend who was born on New Years Eve says EVERYBODY celebrates her birthday, and my brit friend who was born on July 4 says all of America is in love with her. I guess Coloradoans or Wyomingites get homesick everytime they see a regular swimming pool.

[traxx]

There is a thread about a video on OKC that was very good and for the most part recieved very well and some posters on here still got their panties in a wad become 1 or 2 youtube trolls made a nasty comment and that OKC was "trying too hard". WHAT? As someone who is now living in Texas, let me say that would NEVER happen here. Call it pride or arrogance or whatever, but most Texans wouldn't give a rats behind what someone said about their state.

Absolutely. I think people on this board worry way too much about what others think of Oklahoma. Hey, we're not gonna please everyone. Let's stop being so concerned that what this person said on TV is gonn make Oklahoma look bad or worry about that Oklahoma personality or politician making Oklahoma look bad. Let's be who we are, not pretend to be something else and let the chips fall where they may. That's the way our neighbors to the south would handle it and they've got large cities visited by many people and they have lots of people move in and have several pro sports teams and a good economy.