Cincinnati

It's taken me a while to blog about Cincinnati. I'm not really sure why.

I've been here for three weeks now. I've just been getting myself adjusted to the new environment. It's a lot different from Oregon, but not in a bad way.

I know a grand total of two people: Brad and Shelby. Brad moved to Corvallis last January and lived there for 6 months, and Shelby is his girlfriend. She came to visit him a few times last year and I got to spend some time with her then. They are the best. Shelby and I get along famously. She has millions of arts and crafts, so whenever I need a fix, I can pull out fabrics, ribbons, paint or beads to play with. I've met some of their friends, but since I'm new and don't really know anyone, I do a lot of listening rather than talking. I don't mind too much. It's kind of like detailed people watching, which is one of my favorite pastimes.


I fidget in my chair. It's shaped like a bowl and I can't decide how to sit in it without exposing these new people to my secret, second chin that hides under the first one. I'm going for a casual and mildly interested look, but with a welcoming presence that says "hey, introduce yourself to me because I want to know who you are." I pull my feet up to cross them so I can sit up straight. First impressions are important and I wouldn't want to be that boring, weird chick no one knows the name of--"Yeah, the one with the brown hair and double chin? Brad met her in Oregon, I guess."

The first two people who come in are Ty Butler and Austin Day; I've met them before. "Hey guys," I smile and my hand flies up for a quick, childish wave. Why the wave? Nobody needs you to wave at them from five feet away. Ty reciprocates my greeting and Austin says, "What's up?" I just nod and smile as other people start filling in. Austin gave me a slightly confused look that I don't quite understand. He lifts his eyebrows questioningly and I realize he's waiting for me to answer him. 'What's up' is not a question. Putting a question mark at the end of 'what's up' does not make it a question. I struggle to put a sentence together, "Oh, er-uh, nothing really. Just sitting here." He nods his approval and makes his way to one of the chairs around the coffee table.

I gave up answering to "what's up" a long time ago. Most of the time, people use it the same way they say 'hello', but before I caught on, I would reel off whatever I happen to be doing. "Oh, just shopping for groceries," and of course, I have to throw in some sarcastic comment as my voice trails off, "grocery store, right?" It usually goes one of two ways: It can make them look stupid for asking what I'm doing at the grocery store, or it can make me look like I am uncomfortable speaking to people in public. I don't enjoy making anyone feel like an idiot, so obviously I have some obscure, sub-conscious goal to make people believe that I am socially inept.

Another guy filed in and did not acknowledge my presence in the slightest. Though it's clear, from the rapt attention he gave to the window sill, two feet to my left, that he saw me from a little farther away. There is no sign that he will be looking my way anytime soon, so I consider my options with a two second, internal struggle. Do I attempt to catch his eye for a formal introduction? How much do I care about knowing this persons name? Why would you walk into a room and not introduce yourself to the people you don't know?. With a small sigh, I turn to tell him my name. He continued to look, resolutely, the other way, laughing and pretending to be a part of another conversation. I thrust my hand out towards him and fixed a convincing smile onto my face, "Hi, I'm Emily." He briefly grasps my hand, shifting his eyes uncomfortably as he tells me his name is Jamie. He seems uninteresting in making my acquaintance. I want to find out if it's because he's not very social or if he's scared of women. I made to turn to the rest of the room when I saw a girl sit down next to him. Her face is impassive. She is not excited about being here. I say hi and introduce myself. I'm not close enough to shake her hand, so I substitute with another wave. I sit on my hand, attempting to restrain it. She tells me her name is Alexis. I can tell, simply by the way they sit and interact with each other, that their relationship has a blurry definition. As everyone sits down, someone supplied the question on the tip of my tongue. "So, how do you know each other?" It's the polite way of asking two people if they are dating, just friends, siblings, etc. Jamie looked at Alexis, with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, as he explained, "Well, we dated for two years, and then broke up. But now we're just kind of," he trailed off, considering how he wants to define their relationship. Alexis offered her assistance with no trace of apprehension, "We were off and on for a while, but now we're just friends." Translation: We hook up. I turn to Shelby and raise my eyebrows, trying not to laugh. It's a bitchy girl thing to do, but I find it hard resist when I have to bite back my comments. Friends, eh? - So, you're just, buddies? - Wow, that's really more of a one-on-one, third or fourth meeting sort of response and somehow I feel like we just met.

The room disperses into individual conversation. Ty looks like he's had too much caffeine, but then again, he always looks that way. He stands up and starts talking, to no one in particular, about something he's excited for. I can hardly focus on the topic of discussion because Ty is so animated. He bounces on the spot, channeling his excitement through his hands, which are clasped together and shaking with anticipation. A wide, mischievous grin stretches across his face. "It's going to be so GOOD!" He exclaims. "I'll get the pitchers to fill with snow." He hurries out of the room. I sigh, a little defeated, at the plan that is about to unfold.

We're going to throw snowballs at cars. Again. For the third night in a row.

Since we're on the second floor and we have a big window towards the street, why wouldn't we spend all our time throwing snowballs? Now, don't get me wrong, the first night I threw a couple, and it was fun. I hit a windshield on the first try! But there were only like five people that night, and our numbers have been increasing since then. I glance at Austin, smiling with mock enthusiasm, "It's nice that this game can be fun three nights in a row." He chuckles at my sarcasm and I start to wonder if I should tone down my hostility, because let's face it, half the time I don't even say it loud enough for anyone to understand anyway.


I was on my computer the other day and I had been working on my blog entry, but I decided to take a short break. I wasn't on facebook or some computer game website. Austin Cline (different Austin than previously mentioned) was sitting in a nearby chair and somehow we began discussing what I was doing. I tried to think quickly of a believable site, but I'm a terrible lier. A small, slightly embarrassed smile played around the corners of my mouth. "I'm reading comma rules and then taking a quiz to see if I know how to use commas correctly."

Yes. I frequently google comma usage.
Yes. I should keep that sort of information to myself.