My Going Away Party

Major thanks and shout out to Eric for planning a great farewell party for me and around 40+ guests last week at O'Bryan's Irish Pub!

It's been one week since I left my fare cities of Norwood and Cincinnati and it's only fair to pony up on the total for Eric's bet "on how many dates Alex will have his first week out there... The over/under is 32. ;-)"

Sadly for all those who voted the OVER the grand total is a big fat goose egg (meaning zero).

Thanks again, EVERYONE, who made it out to send me off. I hope everyone had a great time meeting new people and thanks for playing along with the name tags and Eric's ridiculous Over/Under bet. :-)

Enjoy the selection of photos:

A group of us at the O'Byran's Irish Pub

Elizabeth and I

Eric, the main party planner himself

Cristina and I in a great pose.

More of the group.

Phil and I

Michelle and I

Cristina, Patty, ME, Lindsey, and Casey!

Jessie, Steve Miller (not the band) and I

Patty and I - don't we look great with our name tags?

Who's not wearing their name tags?

Oliver, Tricia, and I

Alex with Nick the Barbeque Man!

Shannon, Andy, and I

Jack the future mayor of Norwood 20??, Todd, and me!

Where are all these girls coming from?!?!?

Joe Yoo!

Lyndsay, Kathy, and I, sitting outside on the deck.

See more photos via the Evite for the event.

Thanks for reading,

Alex

New blog? One is silver. The other's gold. Make new friends, but keep the old!

Welcome to the Medicine Man of Seattle blog, a sister blog to the Medicine Man of Norwood blog. Both just so happen to be run by me. :-)

On July 18th, 2009 I'm stepping out from Norwood, OH, and venturing out to Seattle, WA for my first position after residency.

I hope to stay active both in Cincinnati and in Seattle.

One of my first adventures I'm hoping to take on in Seattle is the Green Lake garage sales, found by first visiting the My Green Lake blog. I'll keep you all posted on what I found out here in Seattle.

Thanks for reading,

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

First Post

Welcome to the Medicine Man of Norwood blog!

This is an appropriately titled blog in that I live in Norwood, OH and I'm a medicine man of sorts - a pediatrician completing my training at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

I moved to Norwood in June of 2006 and have come to love Norwood and it's people. I've been heavily active in volunteer groups in the region such as Give Back Cincinnati and Cincinnati Kiwanis, but when my friend Virginia Patterson (of Norwood) told me of a a grand discovery I was sold on the Norwood Young Professional's organization, and have been all the rage since!

After never having a blog (or one that I really cared for), this will be my initial post on my infant blog. Maybe it will grow some day, maybe not... I cannot promise how often or if ever this blog will be updated. The creation of this blog and subsequent post has been influenced by the Citizens for a Better Norwood blog and so that I could feel secure in posting a reply to the latest post about the housing strategy of Norwood.

Thanks for reading,

Alex