As of tonight it is exactly one year ago that I left Mansfield for the last time to move to Cincinnati. I am still in the same apartment I moved into but it is much more organized than it was a year ago. When I first moved in I could hardly navigate through the apartment and it stayed that way for quite some time. I did the best I could to find a place to sleep. Af first I tried the shorter couch of the two I have but it didn't really work well so I put out the mattress though there wasn't enough room to have it laid out flat the first night. If I recall properly I did manage to make enough space to lay it down flat. The first week, I learned that there is an outlet in the kitchen near the window that leads to the fire escape that affects the outlet on the wall near the refrigerator. For some reason when I plugged the microwave into that outlet it caused the refrigerator to turn on but it would turn off again if I unplugged the microwave. I also noticed it had issues if I plugged something else into that outlet along with the microwave. For the most part, I have had a functioning refrigerator ever since that discovery and if I were to notice it not working I just would wiggle the plug for the microwave and I don't think any of the food ever went bad.
I only had to train for the first week of my new job with Support Care so I had a little time to begin organizing the apartment into a suitable living area though that took over a month to be motivated enough to nearly finish it. That was when my parents came to visit and then my apertment ended up looking about like it does in the Apartment Tour video I posted on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/TigerRAWk) I actually have been working some on organizing the items I never unboxed in the year...I probably havent unboxed them in any of the places I have lived since college. One box is all the paperwork from college though most of those should be on my PC or a CD.
In the year I have been involved with Covenant. Abe asked me to preach twice when he was away. I enjoyed those opportunities and hope that whatever I had to say was used by God to speak to someone that was there. Other than that I have played bass in nearly every morning worship service and occasionally will pray out loud when asked to. Nearly every week I have gone with Abe to visit people that attend Covenant and some people that don't. I was given the opportunity to lead the Wednesday Bible Study for a while as well. I will admit that I wasn't sure what to do with that. Abe asked that I take the scriptures from the message on Sunday for the subject of the Bible Study but it felt like a repeat and I don't know how well it worked during that time I lead it. I also have driven people to church or church related events.
It really doesn't seem like have I done much does it?
I am willing to take on more responsibility and may need to reiterate this to Abe. It would be nice to expand the current congregation by adding some college aged people and other young adults with a desire to serve and live life in a selfless manner.
I quite often work on video projects surrounding Covenant and its events and I edit the services to make a DvD as a master for our records and to distribute to people who are unable to attend for whatever reason.
I made a number of other video projects that surrounded my life so far in Northside:
Other than Covenant I spend much of my time working with the MRDD population through SupportCare. It has been an interesting job. The individuals I work with are all traumatic brain injuries and often don't seem to realize that they are in need of assistance and certainly do not want to be called "retarded."
Who can blame them?
What has made the job more trying than it probably should be has been my co-workers but for the first time it seems that my superiors appreciate what I am doing. I am not someone seeking praise from others but it is nice to receive it. I could get into the details but maybe another time.
I also was involved with my friends Chris & Monica Human and the rest that I met at Cornerstone in their music endeavor at the Underground. It has opened up opportunities and brought about a number of new friends. It was a short lived volunteer opportunity due to things beyond my control but I returned to Cornerstone with that group again and this time I camped with them. There will be future opportunities with this group to work together.
So with all that I have loved living in Cincinnati. I think I would feel the same way with any other city of similar size that has the opportunities that I have come across so far. I think that having a riverfront adds to Cincinnati. Not that Mansfield was much of a city had only a stream going through it and a few watery areas in nearby communities (though that stream did flood the city).
There is a lot of interesting things in this city and Northside is an interesting neighborhood. I haven't felt much fear for my safety...I only had one incident involving shooting and that was when I was in the church. It happened so fast that I wasn't all that scared at the time but it certainly made me a bit nervous for a while.
There is a great pizza shop across the street called Portofinos that I frequent often. Other foods I have come to love are Skyline Chili and Habenero's Latin American food. There are two coffee shops in Cincinnati that get my business as well. In Northside is Sidewinder's and in Clifton there is Sitwell's. I started thinking seriously about trying to support local businesses over the chains while in Mansfield but coffee wise there wasn't a better alternative to Starbuck's to be found until I was getting ready to move to Cincinnati when I found Temple Court Coffee to meet my taste. In Cincinnati I have been able to buy locally more. Skyline is a chain but it originated in Cincinnati. There is a Farmer's Market in the neighborhood on Wednesdays as well so I am able to get locally grown fruits and vegetables and if ever I get to the point I take time to cook more I might buy more from that.
My concert going needs are met in Northside by a few small bars called The Northside Tavern, The Blue Rock Tavern, & The Gypsy Hut. Covenant has had a few shows but the current location does not work well for shows right now (it is quite the small facility but it does big things!). Other places I have gone to are the 20th Century Theatre, Bogarts, The Southgate House, The Undergound (though the focus seems to have changed and the bands aren't what I tend to enjoy), the Madison Theatre, and the most attended place is the Madhatter. I guess I can add Chris & Monica's home too; they have hosted Tom Conlon in their home.
I drove to Louisville, Dayton, and Columbus for a show or two as well but I love living in the same city as the shows.
A year gone and I have not gotten too restless yet. Any restlessness has been quenched by short trips to visit friends in other places.
So what comes next?
For now I plan to remain in this apartment for a while and I have felt a calling to maybe buy a home (probably a really cheap rundown place that I will have to fix up). I think I would like to create a communal living place or a place to allow for creative expression by setting up a studio area and such in the house. I am not sure how I will go about this but it has been on my heart. I don't have any plans on relocating at this point outside of Cincinnati let alone Northside. I certainly want to expand my efforts with Covenant or wherever else I might be needed or utilized as well. I hope to have more opportunities to further explore the Cincinnati culture.
Cincinnati has been good to me this past year and I hope for more to come. I have wandered it seems for the last four years but I may be ready to settle somewhere...finally.
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