Opening Credits

Life in Ann Arbor

Starring Rachel Ferry

Behind the Scenes… Belongings have been boxed. Floorboards have been wiped. Holes in the wall have been puttied and disguised to (almost) look like they were never there. The keys have been turned in. Apartment 1912 in Austin, Texas no longer belongs (*is being leased) to me. The 1,200 mile drive has been made for the 8^th and possibly final time. That ’98 Toyota Camry is a champ, I’ll tell ya. (Celebratory side-note, the Camry aka “Green Goblin” hit his 200,000^th milestone last week! I wasn’t in the car but I made my sister record the occasion and text it to me. I gots love for the GG.)

Action! I’ve been in Ann Arbor for 6 days, the opening credits are finally/officially rolling. I like pretending like this new life-stone (life milestone) is a movie because A) I’ve always wanted be a MoVieStAr B) It’s a good excuse for yall to eat popcorn whenever you’re Chasing Chachy C) I need witnesses to these things that are happening to me because right now I don’t really have any friends and I can only talk to myself to a certain extent. (Author’s Note: This is not a cry for pity! I actually have always had a lot of fun by myself and I enjoy it quite thoroughly, I just haven’t quite ever had this much “me” time in one dose before. Ever. In my life.)

Co-Stars… more like no-stars. Even though my Camry is the only cameo (Camry-o?) in this non-fiction film (so far), I would say my opening song is less of a “Lonely” by Akon and more of a “Perfectly Lonely” by John Mayer, but because of the refrain in reference my life not the breakup going on in the verses. I am usually partial to hip-hop over pop/rock or whatevs JayMay is classified as but this is an exception to the rule baby boo. Feel free to play the YouTube video as you read the post to get a better feel for the opening credits of my life-stone.

In scenes 1-3 you will see a number of different things. You will see that I have had my first official days of work as an Admissions Counselor. You will see that I really enjoy it so far, I have learned how-much-I-need-to-learn, all of the people I’ve met on campus are incredibly kind, and my office is in the historic mansion that is a part of Concordia Ann Arbor’s campus. Yes, there is a ballroom on the third floor. Yes, there is a secret passage from the Library down to the basement. And why yes, it was Colonel Mustard with the knife in the Study, HANNAH. (My sister used to always win at Clue.)

In the opening scenes you will see some things that you might think are funny. Maybe it’s the double ee’d animals that like to stalk me on my jogs (ie deer, geese… I even found a beetle chillin in my bun when I took my hair down for a shower). Are there cheetahs in Michigan? Maybe its funny to you that I get lost driving home from the grocery store/Starbucks/lunch breaks/everywhere (GPS free is the way to be in a new ci-ty!). Maybe you thought it was funny that I peeped in the windows of my future apartment that I can’t move into until August 23^rd, which means maybe you’re laughing that I’m temporarily living in a dorm that goes by the name of my cutest baby brother “Stephen”. Maybe you think its funny that my cart at Kroger’s grocery store decided to start screeching half-way through my grocery shopping like a little girl who’s brother cut the hair of all her Barbie dolls. As if everyone wasn’t already thinking, “WHO IS THIS GIRL THAT DOESN’T KNOW ANYBODY HERE LOOKING PERFECTLY LONELY IN THE REALLY CUTE BLACK AND WHITE SWEATER?” I gotta roll through aisle 6 screeching and scrooching and drawing attention to myself. Ugh, life of a movie star, I’ll tell ya.

What to expect in scenes 4-6. I think(/hope) more characters will be introduced, no personal jabs to my guy Green Goblin. I will deefeeat the double ee’d animals. I think there’s a Tigers game written somewhere in the script (we meet again, Prince Fielder). Pretty sure I’ll finally be comfortable driving in a roundabout. Maybe when I linger on to conversation and make a joke to the restaurant cashiers because I’m starving for personal interaction they will actually laugh (tough crowd here in Ann Arbor thus far). Maybe you will see me signing for a membership card at Kroger’s despite the screechy cart calamity (and the fact that I got elevatoreyezed 3x over in the cereal aisle).

That’s what’s exciting about this movie, though. Call it a thriller, if you will. Maybe a Mystery. I don’t really know what’s going to happen. Besides going to work, which I enjoy, and meeting my coworkers, whom are wonderful, I do not know whom else is going to cross my path. I don’t know what places I’m going to discover and I don’t know what new things I will enjoy doing. Since I’m used to being stimulated by my adorable Texas friendies 24/7 or in a full house filled with my tall and lanky family members, right now may seem kinda lonely. But it’s kinda perfect.

“Nothing to do, no where to be (besides work); It’s a simple little kind of free… That’s the way, that’s the way, that’s the way that I want it.” (And cut!)