What are the five beaches of Normandy?

In early December, I flew back to Cincinnati to clean up and clear out the Wildfell Hall.  My mom was able to join me for four days, and we made it our Christmas and Holiday time together.  Who would have known that my mom is so awesome that she knows that I love to play board games?

The last time I remember playing dominoes on a regular basis was when I was in early grade school, heading off to the library, sitting in way too small plastic chairs, and playing with my dad and sister.  My mom bought me an early Christmas gift of Chicken Foot Dominoes and she even knew games that I didn't - Mexican Train! Pretty sweet!

After a solid weekend of pitching leftover furniture into a dumpster in my driveway, we rested on Monday evening and enjoyed Quiz Night at the Pub in Rookwood (#2, #3).  Our team name: I'm so cool, I can bring my mom to Quiz Night!

My Mom and I

Elizabeth and Todd

Eric and Rachel

Eric and Janice

Amanda and I

Nick "The BBQ Man" and Rachel

Yes, I'm riding that Lion!  Also, when Eric takes your picture, you're 6 inches shorter.

Kathy and Jim

It was Brian's birthday that night too!

(We all sang to him and slightly embarrassed him as well that night)

Despite what you think, Cristina, you still look better then me in this photo!

After attending Quiz Night almost religiously for three years, I finally got my picture taken with Kelly!

The Gang at the end of Quiz Night.

And now a look at all the hard work from Amanda, Nick, Stacey, my mom, and I:

Me, outside of the Wildfell Hall.

My old bedroom...

...complete with gun cabinet!

The Peanut Butter Room.

The Pink Bedroom.

The empty "I love me wall."

How my mom and slept since the first night and after tossing out the two older beds.

Her room.  :-)

The Kitchen.  Spicken clean.

One cleared out basement.

The Office.

Good bye back yard deck...

Goodbye tulips. Goodbye daffodils. Goodbye veggie delights. Goodbye avocado tree (!?)

The aftermath!

BTW, the five beaches are Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.  Our team got 2 of the 5!

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

RE: New Kid on the Block

In response to Courtney in the Queen City's (note: may have limited access) post on Monday, June 28th, 2009, entiled New Kid on the Block, Courtney comments in her blog about moving to Cincinnati and finding herself "adapted to life in Cincinnati," and how "in 10 short months, [she knows] some of the people and places in the West side of Cincinnati better than people who have lived here all their lives."

Courtney then goes on to share her suggestions that "could work for anyone in any city!"

My feelings has been, and still is after three years, that Cincinnati is a tough city to break into if you're not from around here. I too have adopted and used similar ideas to learn my city, to get to know people, and to find events around the city.

Go to church: When I first moved to Cincinnati in June of 2006, I started church hopping on my own, starting off with Crossroads, and then my friend Jackie (#2) introduced me to The Bellarmine and St. Monica/St. George later in my first few months here. In 2007, I found my friend Erica and went with her and her brother to Guardian Angle's Church. Finally, I've attended St. Gertrudes and Holy Trinity Church in 2008. Through these adventures I've found several different 20's/30's groups that have been great way to make new friends and become back involved with ultimate Frisbee, faith sharing, and even a road trip to WV for white water rafting on the New River.

Volunteer: Since moving to Cincinnati, I've joined Give Back Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Kiwanis Club, Norwood Young Professionals, and helped out at a variety of other local agencies. All of which have really helped to make me feel like a part of the community and have allowed me to meet young and active people living in Cincinnati.

Get out and do things in your neighborhood!: My neighbors Wayne, Aubry, and Jamie are fantastic people and I talk with them whenever they are out in their yard! I frequent the local burger joint, the Quatman Cafe quite often, and more so then I really should. Through the NYP, we are sponsoring a plot in a community garden and I participated in The Norwood Spring Clean: Beautify Your Block 2009 event. I've attend local church festivals during the summer and love to run around my block, to the Norwood library branch, to Yagoot, or the Urban Active in Norwood/HP. I feel as though I know Norwood pretty well - almost like the back of my hand. :-)

Join a social organization: How about joining The Greater Cincinnati Penn State Alumni Association, The Fort Thomas Corvette Club, or joining meetup.com and explore your interests in hiking, Spanish or French conversations, a singles group, or a dinning out group (#2) that enjoys new restaurants.

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook: I don't think I'll ever get tired of Facebook. I am glad that there are a lot less quizzes and random games to waste time playing. Staying connected via "What's on your mind?," photos, and responses to people's comments, actions, and uploaded photos has helped me broaden my interests and find new connections with strangers and old friends alike.

Thanks for all the great advice Courtney! I'm sure I'll take it to heart and put it to good use when I head off to Seattle in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

I <3 The NK

June 25th, 2009 marks the opening of the new Norwood Kroger! While I didn't get up early enough to ride my bike to the Urban Active for an abs work out, I did take a bike ride down Montgomery Ave to the Grand Opening of the Kroger.

It was great seeing all the suites mixing and mingling and showing their support for the Grand Opening. I ran into my pharmacist friend and Monday night Pub Quiz friend, Casey, handing out first aid kits, and into the Anthony Duo (#1, #2) each enjoying a cookie and a stroll through the store. We caught up over our soon departures from Cincinnati. :-(

I also got an autograph from Marty Brennaman, a Cincinnati Reds announcer.

The Chiquita Banana lady was hanging out in the produce section, and I swear I saw a women on stilts making balloon animals for kids.

Pulling up in my Fuji, I noticed the the NK will be brewing Seattle's Best Coffee (a nice alternative to the Starbucks being served at the HPK). I enjoyed the samples there were on display and running into old friends, and by the end of my trip, I was able to find everything I wanted to make my celery chicken dip.

My only two concerns with the NK are that (#1) I didn't find the bike rack for the store (if there is one, and plus I didn't look to hard), but instead secured my bike to one of the cart returns, and (#2) there's not an actual bank in the NK, bur rather the Kroger Money Store with an ATM that will start charring a transaction free in the next few days.

Otherwise I think the NK will be a big success!

Thanks for reading,

Alex

Five Guys Burger and Fries

After coming across this post from Wine Me, Dine Me in my Google Reader this morning, I got the urge try a new place for burgers. I had spent most of the morning running the OTR 5K, studying for my pediatric boards and answering multiple guess questions - testing my knowledge about the care of babies to adolescents, and pulling down pictures and packing them away in boxes in preparation for my departure from Cincinnati.

The newest location of Five Guys is down in the UC District of Cincinnati, along Calhoun St. I called my dear friend Dr. Elizabeth up and we made a plan to give the Five Guys a try this afternoon.

Overall, I thought the burgers were good. The service was friendly and polite. The place was bustling and bit too loud with background noise for my taste. I would not recommend it as a first date location, but it can make for good alternative for a lunch break if you work in the area.

Lessons learned:

1. There is no need to order the large fries - I wound up taking home a 22 oz cup brimming to the top and over flowing of Cajun flavored french fries.

2. The "Little Burgers" are not that little - one bacon cheeseburger was more then enough to fulfill my deep hunger. Why would you ever need to or want to order the regular size?

3. Check to make sure you get your bacon on your bacon cheeseburger - hard lesson learned from Dr. Elizabeth! Sadly though with the option of "adding extra bacon and/or cheese, since it's already on the burger at no additional cost" maybe the way to ensure that bacon strips make it into your mouth.

Lastly, I came across Liz's get in mah belly blog, rating her experience with burgers in the local area, and noticed that "liz's cincinnati burger rankings for march-june 2009" is clearly missing one the great contenders: Quatman's Cafe!!!

And here's you Liz - I present an open invitation to come and join Steve Miller and the gang and I at Quatman's this Monday June 22nd, 2009 at 6PM. Be there or be square.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

NYP Community Garden

Saturday, May 30th marked the launch to the Norwood Community Gardens at Linden Pointeon the Lateral.  I first heard of this idea from one of my favorite Norwood Blogs.  

Luckily the NYP was already on top of it and has secured us a plot - 12 W!  

This morning's planting and launch celebration started off with the usual invited guest speakers, the Mayor of Norwood and other local politicians, and a Neyer representative for donating the plot.  

12 W started off as a pile of dirt, but was soon transformed into a real garden.

The original planters - "Dr." Alex, Stacey, and "Norwood Adjacent" Nick

Our neighbor - His plot really loves compost!

More plots!

Our plot, completed!

Stacey was adamant about wanting to preserve all the tomato plants and make sure they all had a home - either in our garden or in one of the other gardens - despite ours not having enough trellises.

"Norwood Adjacent" Nick choose the stocky, thick carrot variety over the long and slender ones.

"Dr." Alex choose both red and orange peppers to add color to the garden.  

For those who are interested in sharing the in the NYP Community Garden experience, I've put together a very "detailed" map showing you just where plot 12 W is located at.:

Located in the Southern and Western most corner is the NYP Community Garden.

The veggies of our labor are open to all who want to help grown and tend to the soil of the plot. If you're free one evening, come and walk down to check out the NYP Community Garden and remember to give show a little love and attention.  

Thanks for reading,

Alex

A House with a Name

I've always had the strange attraction and desire to live in a house that had enough character to earn it's own name.

As, of last week, I do now.

In preparation, asked a few friends for advice on what to name my house. The list was quite impressive:

Port of Change

The Running Lilac

Wuthering Heights

Canterbury Place

Octopus Garden
House of Nevermore
Pax Domini

However, the name I chose came from the recommendation from my friend Jess. Wildfell Hall, stemming from the classic The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte after informing Jess that a young women would be renting my house for this coming year.

A brief summary of the plot:

1. Mrs. Helen Graham, a mysterious widow arrives at Wildfell Hall.
2. She is a source of curiosity for the small community.
3. Gilbert Markham begins an infatuation for Helen, and scandalous rumours and gossip about Helen run rampant amongst the people.

4. Gilbert and Helen have a misunderstanding and a small quarrel.

5. From Helen's diary we learn of her marriage to the abusive and adulterous Arthur Huntingdon.

6. Eventually, with the assistance of her brother Mr. Lawrence, Helen finds a secret refuge at Wildfell Hall, away from Huntgingdon - and later we learn of his death.
7. Years later, Gilbert and Helen reconcile and marry.

It seems that over the past three years, I've had quite a few number of tenants come to live in the house: Kristina, Sybille, Sandra, Catherine, Melissa, Mark, Becca, Joanna, Joe, Magda, and now Steve.

All of them have been great additions and have added their own personality and uniqueness to the house, helping to create and enrich my house's character.

I have similar hopes that my up and coming tenet, Chu Ri, will also continue to nurture the Wildfell Hall.


Thanks for reading,

Alex