Project Fear Less: Talk To My Neighbors

This is kind of a mini-deal (which is part of the reason it's getting put up quickly on a Friday night.  Got something a little more interesting for tomorrow).  I'm not completely terrified of talking to new people as I was in my teen years, but especially when I have to initiate it, the butterflies can come out.  It's really an exercise in how quickly my internal and initial nervousness can catch up with the outward projection of being cheerful and confident.  And the more I practice, the better my reaction time gets.

SIDE NOTE: It's a damn shame that there does not seem to be a single video on Youtube with the clip of "I Whistle A Happy Tune" from the movie of The King And I, because it's totally apt and I was intending to put it here.  Oh, well.  Just imagine it.

But anyways.  So I moved into my new apartment, which (thank god) already had all the utilities running...except for internet.  For a few days, I tried to make it work by solely using my phone for all interwubby stuff, but there's just something about the tackita-tackita of the keyboard when writing anything longer than a few sentences that make all the difference.  That, and the fact that I fail at learning how to successfully use the Blogger app with just my right thumb.

But when I turn on the wireless capability on my laptop, a whole new world appears in the form of a forest of wifis.  There are the normal incomprehensible strings of letters and numbers; some slightly more recognizable names and common words, and then...oh, and then.  "Pretty Fly, For A Wifi" pops out.  And also "Narnia."  And...be still my heart..."GrrArg" (major supremo bonus points of you get that one).  It suffices to say that my neighbors (or at least several of them) seem pretty damn awesome.

So I get back one night.  Everyone seems to be home, including my most immediate neighbor in the complex.  I need to do homework and the coffeeshop around the corner is closing soon.  It's time.

My next door neighbor's name is Brett.  He has an enormous and adorable dog named Indie and likes Ohio sports teams because both of his parents are from there.  He changes his wifi password just to let me use it (sadly, his is not GrrArg).  I don't know if we'll become superbestestfriendsever, but we smile and chat with each other every time we're both outside.  It's not too bad.

Next step: invite my neighbors to the Housewarming And Soup Party I'm holding in a few weeks.  It's going to be just about as epic as soup can be.

-N