LA Moishe Has big huvos

After a long but quite enjoyable month, I would like to sit back open a lambic and spill my guts to you bloggers out there. I wanted to write something off the wall but I think Morris said it all. This month was filled with celeb sightings, parties and raising toys for tots along with a threepeat for good old me at poker. That's right I won three times in a row and lets just say rent was on moishe this month. All in all we had a well rounded month for those of you keeping tally not to name names. (Isaac, Morris, Dave, Levi) It looks like thats just things to come. As the new year comes so too continues debauchery, so stay tuned for the next events to come and for your enjoyment hannah gets it on with nate and the gang.

Love ya all a little,

Lee Levin

this was a better post before our internet stopped working

It is January 1, 2007 - This is Maia, I'm such an idiot when it comes to computers that I didn't mean to leave this picture up when I originally apparently published it a few weeks ago. Aaron was showing me how to upload photos and we did it and then somehow it is a few weeks later and that picture is still up and my post that I actually wrote is nowhere to be found. Greaaaat. And now I can't figure out how to G.D. sign in.
Happy international hangover day, everyone....

Seatle's November

This is the first blog I've ever written, and attempting this, I don't know who to address, or who my audience is. November has concluded, and it was none to soon. Seattle had a record breaking month, turning the grey and soggy stereotype into a reality. The rain did not cease, lasting longer than it has in Seattle than in any month in history dating back to the beginning of weather record keeping. The good was in how the city came together to celebrate the dreary, but astonishing month. A woman next to me on the bus broke the unspoken rule of pure and utter silence to show me Seattle's rainy picture on the cover of the New York Times. And so it was. My life was immersed this month in the great outdoors, as I traversed the icy, slipper slopes of the Seattle hills to the downtown center where I was temping. It was just a job, and I just a temp. But sometimes it's good to have somewhere to go.

Norah

Seattle House

With the memories of the retreat fading, our house has had more bonding and enjoyed the opportunity to spend time together. We had a fun ski trip weekend and almost got snowed in at Mt. Baker. Norah's Woman up was a great start to Ladies' Night. Stephen had another game night with a new game addition: Apples to Apples. We are looking forward to a lot of fun events in December, even without a visit from the great Levi himself.

Stephen

Da Visioning Meeting...

Thought I'd post the agenda of the house visioning meeting we're having with about 20 key leaders from our community here in Boston tomorrow. Not as much fun as Borat, I admit, but with smoothies beforehand and kosher Chinese food for dinner afterwards (sandwiching a solid meeting of big ideas), we should still have some fun.

Any feedback on the agenda we've got planned...?

MEETING GOALS: not process but substance-oriented; not committee-building but team-building; articulating shared vision & concrete objectives...

4pm -- warm-up & smoothie time
4:15 -- intros
4:25 -- a bit of learning
4:35 -- different visions for the house (a few individuals' perspectives)
4:45 -- initial "dreamstorming" session: what's the kind of community we want to build? what's an ideal month with the moishe/kavod house community look like? where would we want to be at this time next year?
5:05 -- "world cafes" {the "world cafe" is a unique form of small group break-out/rotation that allows for increased dialogue with a broader group of participants that Ben will introduce} around various core themes
5:45 -- reconvene, focus in on core themes, discuss team creation
6pm -- eat dinner/discuss next steps informally

For us, the internal goals are to develop new leaders, expand the number of those involved in planning/organizing events, lessen our own workload over time, and give more people ownership over the sort of community we're building.

Feel free to comment with any thoughts on this, and I'll definitely report back to let everyone know how this baby goes down...!

The Many Faces of MHSanFran resident Isaac Zones

From Borat to Ballstars, Voter-Info Night to Very-fun Retreat - November marked an incredible month in the life of Isaac Zones.

Having already seen the movie in a sneak preview - I knew what my friends were in for when I rallied the troops for an incredible night of Borat. My girlfriend, Vivian, and I (picutured to left) dressed in character and my family even tagged along too. Wah Wah Wee Wah!

Days later we got the Matzah Ball Stars back together for a fun pick-up game which we are hoping to turn in to a monthly tradition until our season picks up again in the spring (eat that East Coasters - sports in the winter!). Inspired by the movie - my team's name was the "Back Pussies." In the evening we did a voter info night co-sponsored with the Progressive Jewish Alliance where we got everybody ready for the big election in California.

A few days later we had one of my favorite events yet - The Matzah Ballstars (Softball Team) awards dinner to recognize all of the great play we had this past fall. Some awards included a trophy with leather chaps on it commemorating East Bay Moishe resident - Brady Gill's invaluable contribution to the team on and off the field. I also received one of the best presents I ever could have hoped for - a sweatshirt with a ridiculous picture of myself on the back and the phrase "I love to huddle" on the front (which is true).

In addition to poker night, a dinner with we four San Fran residents and a couple of events that actually happened without us - I also participated heavily in the MH retreat in November! Beyond putting most of the food for the weekend on my credit card - I also organized a lot of the weekend and lead quite a bit of it too. The retreat got me re-energized for this project after doing Moishe House for an entire year (in Dec) and I now love my life more than ever!!

Oh...and - Boom Boom Yum Yum - represents America's approach toward foreign policy - bomb all the commies and then lick up the profits!

What I did last month...

Wah wah wee wah! That is about all I could say after seeing Sasha Cohen's anti-Semitic art film about modern European aristocracy. NOT!!! What a F&%#$^@ brilliant movie and it was even better to see it with fifteen or so other Moishe House faithful. Oh and the beers we sneaked in to the theater helped. But Moishe House is not all about drinking and fraternizing (only on the good days), and this was highlighted at the Moishe House retreat.

I never thought I would be a pioneer in Jewish community organizing. At our retreat at Zaca Lake I could tell that I was not alone. But the retreat invigorated me and I now see my role with a new sense of purpose and responsibility. Wah wah wee wah!

Can you name this Moishe House regular?