We'd like to welcome the newest member of our team to BloggingOhio.com, Tom Barlow, and will let him introduce himself to everyone here at our latest Ohio 5:

I'm Ohio born and bred, originally from the heart of the steel belt in Canton, but a resident of Columbus for (mumble mumble) years. I was lucky enough to work as the original director of The Great Ohio Bicycle Adventure for ten years, so I was paid to travel the state's back roads looking for the most interesting locations. For another seven years, I was Membership Director of the American Motorcyclist Association, and spent many a pleasant day on my scoot tooling around our state.

Don't look to me for info about the big cities, but for small town Ohio, I'm your guy. Other interests- fiction writing, sports, bicycling, outdoor rec, music, Ohio history. MWM. I love long walks at sunset, tea in front of a roaring fire, and... oops- wrong site.

1) You and your town; a marriage of love, convenience, or necessity?

Momentum, mostly. I went to college at Otterbein, in Westerville, and for a long time I intended to move to a sexier location such as Colorado, but never quite got around to it. Then one day I woke up and realized Columbus was a pretty darn good home base. It's not too expensive, it's seismically stable, the traffic usually doesn't suck, and I can get almost any ethnic food I want. The library is first-class and the sewer system superb.

2) A mysterious benefactor gives you $75, with the condition that you must do nothing productive. Where in town do you go, and what do you do?

I'd head to the zoo first, to watch the manatees. They make me feel svelte by comparison. Then I'd stop by the North Market for a dish of Jeni's Fresh Ice Creams. In the afternoon, I'd buy the best seat in the house at a Clipper's baseball game (but only if the Indian's farm team was in town; I hate the Yankees, the parent club of the Clippers). Next would be a stop at Areopagitica Used Books to restock my reading shelf.

I'd take my new finds to Cup O' Joe's coffee house for a Café Americano. The rest I'd blow on Fish and Chips and a few bottles of Old Peculiar with my S.O. at the Bag O' Nails restaurant in Worthington.

Yeah, I'm a bit food motivated.

3) You are your town's tour guide, on a tight schedule. What is the
one place you show visitors? OK -- two places.

The outdoor sculpture, "Field of Corn" in Dublin is a must-see for any visitor. Then a walking tour of German Village, a bit of old Europe built by German immigrants just south of downtown, and gentrified over the past 20 years.

4) The mysterious benefactor is back, this time with $500, three days off, and the condition that you must not leave the state. What's your plan?

Yeehaw! First, a night at the Inn at Cedar Falls, in the Hocking Hills, and an evening walk through the gorge from the falls to Old Man's Cave. Then, to compare hospitality, I'd head south to Adams County, near the Ohio River, and the beautiful Murphin Ridge Inn tucked away in the hills. A walk to Buzzard's Roost Rock that afternoon would also be on the agenda.

The next morning I'd head north, stopping for a dip at the beach at Caesar Creek State Park and a rum raisin cone at Young's Dairy. I'd visit the newly- renovated Frank Lloyd Wright house in Springfield, before ending up for the night at the Inn at Versailles.

Obviously, I'd blow most of my $500 on gas.

5) You're an Ohioan. What about that makes you proudest? The flip side of pride is shame; go there too if you want.

Libraries. Fresh water. The secondary road system. The contours of the fields at harvest in Richfield County. Paint Creek gorge, just below the dam. Quarry swimming holes. Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area. Enthusiasm. Diversity.

I wish I didn't know that Ohio takes over one million tons of New York's trash each year.