So, procratination. It's almost tomorrow.
This first month has been great. It turns out that we all lov to cook so the fridge is overflowing.
I've been busy last couple days because of school, work and trying to get a second job.
My cats like the extra space. but they want to go up-stairs (they can't because Masha is allergic) They have already eaten one of Tamar's plastic flowers. Oops.
Craft circle is fun to organize.
My mom even came to the house, she said she couldn't turn down a free meal.
G'night
A
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
o, Hai Moishe hauses of the world
October is okay, November is better. I'll tell you why. First of all, as fun as Halloween may be, there are two things wrong with it. One is that you don't get time off, and by the time you get home from work you've already missed all the kids with their costumes, which leads to two, which is when you then go out and there are a lot of awesome, fun costumes. Costumes people put a lot of work into, a lot thought into, or at least they are funny, like Seymore from Little Shop of Horrors or a dirty laundry basket or Marie Antoinette, or whatever, those were just some I saw. Then there are the store bought costumes that are as uncreative as possible, like the french nurse, school girl, beerbox suit man, or dick in a box guy. I mean, come on.
Also, the weather can't decide whether to be warm or cold. I bike to work in a shirt and freeze on the way home or the other way around. At least in November you know what you're going to getting, and thanksgiving is dope. Keep your eyes out for the enormous turkey pot pie I am going to make after Thanksgiving.
Also, fall is beautiful and the cold is invigorating, and makes hot apple cider and whiskey so much more enjoyable.
This past month I did two things i've been wanting to for a long time. The first was I went to a police auction (not an event, just a few people). Nothing much to report about it, but it is pretty interesting. First of all to see all the crap people buy, like a vacuum packed bag of random woman's clothing, or three pairs of the same shoes all different sizes, but everything is also real cheap, and auctions are fun. We also went to second Fridays in Pilson (this was a house event), which is when all the galleries in the mostly Mexican neighborhood on the south side open their doors for people to come eat cheese and wine and meet the artist. It is totally unpretentious and refreshing. Probably my favorite event of the month. Afterwards we had some amazing Mexican food, hearing what sounded like an entire marching band the entire time we ate (around 11:00pm). When we left the restaurant we went to look for the music, and I'm pretty sure it was coming out of an apartment. It really sounded like a full brass band, and you could hear it for blocks, but the entire thing was inside of an apartment. Crazy.
And now a question for the readers who live in other houses: How much focus do your houses put on Tikkun Olam and what does that entail?
Also, the weather can't decide whether to be warm or cold. I bike to work in a shirt and freeze on the way home or the other way around. At least in November you know what you're going to getting, and thanksgiving is dope. Keep your eyes out for the enormous turkey pot pie I am going to make after Thanksgiving.
Also, fall is beautiful and the cold is invigorating, and makes hot apple cider and whiskey so much more enjoyable.
This past month I did two things i've been wanting to for a long time. The first was I went to a police auction (not an event, just a few people). Nothing much to report about it, but it is pretty interesting. First of all to see all the crap people buy, like a vacuum packed bag of random woman's clothing, or three pairs of the same shoes all different sizes, but everything is also real cheap, and auctions are fun. We also went to second Fridays in Pilson (this was a house event), which is when all the galleries in the mostly Mexican neighborhood on the south side open their doors for people to come eat cheese and wine and meet the artist. It is totally unpretentious and refreshing. Probably my favorite event of the month. Afterwards we had some amazing Mexican food, hearing what sounded like an entire marching band the entire time we ate (around 11:00pm). When we left the restaurant we went to look for the music, and I'm pretty sure it was coming out of an apartment. It really sounded like a full brass band, and you could hear it for blocks, but the entire thing was inside of an apartment. Crazy.
And now a question for the readers who live in other houses: How much focus do your houses put on Tikkun Olam and what does that entail?
Moishe House Seattle, Tamar 10/31
This last Sunday I dug a compost pit. And compiled the cone, and cut chicken wire, and dropped the whole shebang in. It was hard and long, but also, from the start I got into a zone with it: manual labour with an outcome that I knew would make my life much easier (and much more guilt free). It was calming and made me very proud when I was done.
I have recently started a job that takes 48 hours of my week. I really like it, and I think I have more energy when I work. Purposeful time leads to more purposeful time. I am still in an adjustment period. How to schedule my hours after work, how to actually go to bed early, how to use downtime at work to think about life after work, how to plan ahead. If it all works out it will be a great lesson for me.
Living in the moishe house has been wonderful, so far all housemates getting along, helping each other, being nice, thoughtful, and fun. We're still getting the hang of it, and I know I have so much to learn. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can make.
I have recently started a job that takes 48 hours of my week. I really like it, and I think I have more energy when I work. Purposeful time leads to more purposeful time. I am still in an adjustment period. How to schedule my hours after work, how to actually go to bed early, how to use downtime at work to think about life after work, how to plan ahead. If it all works out it will be a great lesson for me.
Living in the moishe house has been wonderful, so far all housemates getting along, helping each other, being nice, thoughtful, and fun. We're still getting the hang of it, and I know I have so much to learn. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can make.
Happy Halloween!
This afternoon, clad in my black and orange, I attended our Shabbat team meeting, and as usual, I come away inspired. Thanks to our beloved former housemate Ari Johnson, the Shabbat team is filled with real leaders, and each person has fashioned a specific role for him or herself. One person helps coordinate food and cleanup, another recruits people to do the various Friday night rituals like kiddush and Motzei, another recruits service leaders, and still another recruits people to talk about cool social justice efforts in our community.
In order to support one another and improve the overall Shabbat experience, at our meeting each person got the chance to talk through how to improve the role (s)he was working on, and then the group brainstormed the best next steps. For example, we decided to make signs on all of our kitchen cabinets so people know where to put away our various dishes during our rolling communal cleanup. We also decided to encourage people leading services to include English readings and/or words of wisdom beyond just reading the translation of a given prayer, to make our prayer experience more meaningful to people. We also decided that we want to build our team and our pool of service leaders by having one on one conversations with potential leaders and new guests, where we actively learn about people's skills and interests, and where appropriate, ask people to step up and volunteer for a specific task or to join our team.
It is just exciting to have so many dynamic people thinking together about how to grow our community. By valuing our specific roles and supporting one another, we are able to honor each person's skills and talents, make sure the work gets done, and create a product that reflects the values and interests of our larger group.
And the best part is, my job is just to cheer everyone else on. Go team!
This afternoon, clad in my black and orange, I attended our Shabbat team meeting, and as usual, I come away inspired. Thanks to our beloved former housemate Ari Johnson, the Shabbat team is filled with real leaders, and each person has fashioned a specific role for him or herself. One person helps coordinate food and cleanup, another recruits people to do the various Friday night rituals like kiddush and Motzei, another recruits service leaders, and still another recruits people to talk about cool social justice efforts in our community.
In order to support one another and improve the overall Shabbat experience, at our meeting each person got the chance to talk through how to improve the role (s)he was working on, and then the group brainstormed the best next steps. For example, we decided to make signs on all of our kitchen cabinets so people know where to put away our various dishes during our rolling communal cleanup. We also decided to encourage people leading services to include English readings and/or words of wisdom beyond just reading the translation of a given prayer, to make our prayer experience more meaningful to people. We also decided that we want to build our team and our pool of service leaders by having one on one conversations with potential leaders and new guests, where we actively learn about people's skills and interests, and where appropriate, ask people to step up and volunteer for a specific task or to join our team.
It is just exciting to have so many dynamic people thinking together about how to grow our community. By valuing our specific roles and supporting one another, we are able to honor each person's skills and talents, make sure the work gets done, and create a product that reflects the values and interests of our larger group.
And the best part is, my job is just to cheer everyone else on. Go team!
Moishe House SAC, Elishama Goldfarb, 10/31/07
Oy, What a month. Well halloween in the best time of year to be a kid, and the costumes are ready made for any young transformer, witch, or deva? Yeah, one of my students (7years old) dressed up as a diva, and kept dancing across the room saying "I'm all over the stage" in a melodramatic voice. Frickin hilarious. In other news I dressed up as a bunny rabbit. It was a lot of fun. Oh, and the pumpkins that I carved last week got a mold attack and splooged juices all over our coffee table. Ewwww. Much love to the moishe community.
Elishama
MHSeattle, Masha Shtern, 10-31-07
The move into Moishe House went pretty smoothly, and as soon as I left my parents' house, I felt so much better! I've been basking in this shiny feeling all month, although by now the novelty is slowly starting to wear off. Still, I really like it here! It's amazing how easily we all get along, whereas with my parents every day was a struggle and a fight.
There were some difficult moments earlier in the month, where some of my crazy secular Russian-Jewish family and friends didn't understand why I wanted to do more Jewish things and deal with keeping a kosher kitchen. All they could see was that it would be a pain to keep kosher, to host guests all the time and have no privacy. It was very sad for me that they couldn't see my happiness through this, and understand that I really like doing this stuff. However, as the weeks went by and some of these people came over, they saw how great the place is and that I haven't really joined a sect (contrary to popular belief :).
Our first community dinner on Wednesday was really magical. We had people of several generations come over, they all came together beautifully in the house with our food. We were many people, but enough to sit at one table, and it made for a very cozy and intimate evening. And this keeps happening over and over, it's great! The only trouble is that we are always late in our preparations,and the beginning is always a little frantic. As is the case right now, as I have some pots in the kitchen, and we're waiting for guests for our Wednesday night community dinners and and answering the door to trick-or-treaters(they never came to my parents' house! but this is a real neighborhood:) So apologize to the readers for the harried quality of the post, and my big claim to you is that next month will be better. :)
Lehayim,
Masha
There were some difficult moments earlier in the month, where some of my crazy secular Russian-Jewish family and friends didn't understand why I wanted to do more Jewish things and deal with keeping a kosher kitchen. All they could see was that it would be a pain to keep kosher, to host guests all the time and have no privacy. It was very sad for me that they couldn't see my happiness through this, and understand that I really like doing this stuff. However, as the weeks went by and some of these people came over, they saw how great the place is and that I haven't really joined a sect (contrary to popular belief :).
Our first community dinner on Wednesday was really magical. We had people of several generations come over, they all came together beautifully in the house with our food. We were many people, but enough to sit at one table, and it made for a very cozy and intimate evening. And this keeps happening over and over, it's great! The only trouble is that we are always late in our preparations,and the beginning is always a little frantic. As is the case right now, as I have some pots in the kitchen, and we're waiting for guests for our Wednesday night community dinners and and answering the door to trick-or-treaters(they never came to my parents' house! but this is a real neighborhood:) So apologize to the readers for the harried quality of the post, and my big claim to you is that next month will be better. :)
Lehayim,
Masha
I love pumpkins. Karen L. Moishe HOUse Chicago
It is true. I love pumpkins. I love their smooth, orange spheres. I love how they grow all summer in patches and greet us abundantly in the height of autumn. I love to pick through the piles of pumpkins at the local farmer's market. I love to heave them up three flights of stairs and fill my home with them. I love to create a faux pumpkin patch in our livingroom. I love how I can gut them, cook them, and fashion them into delicious pies and toasted seeds. I love to cut their flesh open and create magnificent works of art which promptly get set aflame. I love the pumpkin faced shadows that flicker on the porch, and I love to share my love of pumpkins. So I am glad that this month we here at the chicago moishe house were able to foster this love I have for this beautiful squash. It is the time of pumpkins. It is the season of love.
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