Friend Requests

Every once in a while, I'll get a little notice on my Facebook homepage saying I have a new friend request. When I first see this notice my first reaction is "Yes! I wonder who finally got a Facebook," and for the first few months that reaction was the most common one. But these days, now that everyone and their dog has a Facebook profile, friend requests are scarce and when they do happen, they are usually from random people at school. Not that I have anything against random people asking me to be their friend. I consider myself a friendly person so, by all means, the more the merrier but I have to wonder, does passing on the way to Color Concept constitute friendship? Friendship in general has always been a tough subject for me. In some instances, I can be quite the extrovert. This usually happens when I am very comfortable with where I am and who I'm with. In other instances, I stay very contained and quiet.
In elementary school, I never really had a true, undeniable group of friends. I would float from clique to clique, never really fitting in with any of them. I was always on the outside of the "cool" circle but too "cool" to be accepted in the lower classes. I wasn't very fast, I hated running more that five or ten feet and I couldn't kick a kickball to save my life so friendship through sports was definitely out. By middle school, I had become a lot more outgoing, especially by eighth grade. By that time, I thought I knew who I wanted to be, and who I wanted to be with, unfortunately that person was a jerk and those people were even worse. By high school, and freshman band camp, the real me began to come into the light. Here were people who acted like me, laughed with me and genuinely wanted to be around me, an entirely new concept, to say the least.
I was (and remain to this day) apprehensive. I have a hard time justifying to myself why anyone would want to become good friends with me. When I look in the mirror, I see nothing outstanding and when I set down the mirror and look even deeper, I just see a quiet perfectionist who likes film scores, art, and Chipotle: nothing extraordinary. And yet I was surrounded by so many awesome people, people who wanted to call me friend and I often caught myself asking "why?" By my senior year of high school, my circle of friends had grown ten-fold and had come to include a singer, a dancer, a painter, a metalhead, three boyscouts, two sisters, two "sisters", a techie, a Trekkie, and a whole group of people who willingly shared parents. Looking back, I still can't believe how lucky I am. These people have come to mean so much to me, living life without them right here beside me has become a lackluster, if not unpleasant experience. Luckily, college has provided an entirely new set of friend requests to accept and spending my days with them has eased the pain of being torn from my old circle. For a while I was worried that making new friends would mean losing old ones but I have since proven that theory wrong. Actually, even from miles apart, several of my old friends have become as close as family, a fact by which I am honored and humbled. I still wonder why.

A Seemingly Random List

Breaks, Facebook, aquapasto, Dr. Pepper, Pirates of the Caribbean, my iPod, Chipotle, band, PotterCast, iChat, hoodies, my MacBook, erasers, music, spellcheck, JK Rowling, Swiffer Wet, Hans Zimmer, Lysol, dark chocolate, memories, dreams, friends, family, friends who are family1.

1 Things I'm thankful for.

SR23

Saturday, I went with some friends to see Thomas Worthington's performance of The Crucible. Having never read the play myself, I was excited to go to a show where I could be completely engaged in the story, without that little voice in the back of my head saying, "this part's coming up" or "he can't die yet, he hasn't said this line". I was very impressed with the whole production. It took place in a "black box" theater which immerses the audience in the action by placing them very close to the stage. The acting was inspiring. I have to wonder if cities like Worthington or Marysville put something in the water or if naturally gifted actors spring up in the same general vicinity on their own. The sets were clean, simple. The lighting design was fantastic (Haha)! In all it was an impressive show.
My ride home was a straight shot up High Street and SR23 which gave my mind a little room to wander (only a little because, of course, one shouldn't let one's mind wander too far when one is behind the wheel of a speeding car). Upon closer observation, SR23 has been at the root of most of my memories from high school. Obviously, Coover Road feeds directly off of 23 so virtually every memory of every trip too and from school contains a small bit of that highway. Some of my favorite memories are from Fridays driving to five o'clock call for band, the sun setting and the windows down, not a care in the world. Chipotle runs are another favorite of mine, from Dave's devirginization between exams junior year to the infamous race between the sedan and the minivan.
As with everything in life, with the happy comes the sad and while SR23 is home to many happy memories (ones of coffee runs before school and trips to Wendy’s for Frosties and French fries), it also has its fare-share of sadness. In early 2006, the road took the life of our friend and classmate Spencer Smith. The silence in the hallways after his death will ring on in the hearts of everyone who knew Spencer.
Another scary memory for me takes place on the stormy night of a jazz band gig at All Occasions, just north of BV on SR23. The clouds had been gathering all night and by the time our show was finished the sky was dark green and churning. The rain battered my windshield as I drove south toward home. Suddenly traffic came to a screeching halt and soon I could see flashing lights in the distance; there had been a crash. My mind immediately began to race. I had seen Casey and Lee pull out in front of me, and I was sure Davy had pulled out before them. What if the lights were rushing past to save one of them? Maybe it was irrational, but I had never felt fear like that before.
Through the happiness and the tears, SR23 has been there, always humming in the background, ready to take us where we need to go and, for that, I am genuinely thankful.

If you have a memory from SR23 that you are thankful for, leave it in the comments.