Today

was nice in DC.  There were cherry blossoms and also a breeze.  Except whenever there are cherry blossoms and also a breeze in DC, there are lots of tourists too, these perfect Christian families of four from Iowa, probably, and mommy and daddy always have fanny packs, though they wear them not quite as sucessfully as Steven, and they stand on the left side of the Metro escalator so I have to ask them, "Please, kiddo, chipper, scout, sport, etc., could you move to the right-hand side, so me and my fractured but improving relationship with modernity and my decent metabolism that likes actually MOVING if I am able can walk down these here stairs and make the train that I hear arriving in the station?"

And I don't like talking to strangers.

-Adam in DC

Life is a marathon not a race

Whoaa March flew by!!! I have been away several weekends so I feel a little disconnected from the house this month. I was at the beach for two weekends and in California running my first 10 K race! I have just began to develop an appreciation for running. I was nervous for the race at first but then I realized that I was only racing against myself. I did very little training for it beforehand so it was a way of finding my base fitness level. I liked how I was able to challenge myself but did not have to worry about what other people were doing. The race had people of all ages and I was at the same level as many people who were years younger and years older than myself. Without sounding completely cliche and corny I think there are many connections to be made with life itself. I have found myself being stressed about what I am doing now that I am out of college and what I "should" be doing. I think I am stressed because I compare myself to people around me and think, I should be applying to grad school or I should be volunteering or traveling more etc... Just like in a race, when you start to look around at what people around you are doing, you lose focus on your own breathing, pace and comfort level. This is when you start to breakdown and lose your own rhythm. I enjoyed the race so much because I ignored the people who were passing me and I didn't look back to see who I was ahead of. Instead I focused on keeping my own pace steady and pushing myself when I got tired. I ended up performing much better than I had expected and I even had fun. The same is true in life. There will always be people that look like they are passing you by and accomplishing more than you. There will also be people that look like they are behind you. The bottom line is you have no idea where they started from and ultimately it doesn't matter. What is important is that you focus on your own rhythm and make sure you are living up to your own potential. I hope to start training for the half marathon for next year...

An open challenge to Summer Shaprio

At 5:23 on Sunday afternoon I here by challenge Summer Shapiro to anything. That's right... anything. I do have some preferences. One would be to play a game of backgammon which I taught her how to play some 9 years ago. I would also like to play Gin a gmae new to our rep that we have some fun times playing. We could also play and game of "Um-be-gea." A game developed in highschool involving a complex system of shouts and kung fu chops and kicks.

Of course if none of these are options we can move onto something new. Here are some suggestions:

1.) Punch for punch
2.) Race to space
3.) Horse throwing
4.) America's Next Top Bocci Baller
5.) Allergy Olympics

These are but a few of the things that we could compete in. I here by challeneg you to a game of anything. Follow your heart Summer Shapiro. I will see you in the Thunder Dome!

March in Chicago

Winter just won't leave. This passover I hope to celebrate my Freedom from winter!

On another Pesach related note, Moishe House Chicago has recently transitioned into only homemade challah, although this last Shabbat it looked a bit more like focaccia than challah. Here's a thought: it would be cool if all the houses who were doing cool things for passover shared their resources either here, on the blog, or on the discussion thing on mintranet or something. keep in mind that i say this as someone who has so far put nothing together for our seder event...

March was good for our house. We took the plastic off the windows, had a big house cleaning, and then all did yoga together. Don't make fun. I'm excited for hanging out in the front yard and grilling soon, and hopefully a few spring climbing trips. Happy April everyone!

Spring Cleaning and Passover

Even though it's still hard to tell here in Chicago, Spring has arrived. It has been a long, arduous winter here and I am relieved that Spring has decided to grace us with her presence.

Spring cleaning is a very important time of year. Purging is a release of the old to make room for the new. Here in the Chicago Moishe House we made a day of it - cleaning our home and getting down to the real nitty grittiness of it all. We signed off on jobs and spent the day cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, and tearing down all the plastic on our windows. Let the spring breeze settle in and winter dreariness be pushed out the door!

Passover is coming soon. We are all going home to our families to observe the holiday, which also recognizes the importance of spring cleaning. Even though the holiday isn't all about the importance of purging, it does help us remember the value of spring and rebirth (in many ways, as a nation, a season, as well as a community). It will be nice to return to our Moishe House after the holidays with a renewed sense of spirit for this next season of activities.

-Elana
MH Chicago

Steven "Michael Jack Schmitt" Kleinman March 5, 2008

Today is of course the first day of baseball.  I am very excited, especially after my dreams of a big five team winning the NCAA tournament were dashed last night by UNC beating NOVA.  Bummer right?  Well except that NOVA is my second least favorite big five team.  I guess the funny thing is that Drexel, St. Joes, LaSalle don't really count.  It's mainly that I like Temple, actively root against Penn, and for the most part like but don't love NOVA.  Any Philly ball team with the exception of Penn is great to root for, all I'm saying is that NOVA can also be a bit lame as a place of education, not as lame as Penn, but still up there. 

All of that seems to be a bit of a transgression.  What I really want to get at real quick is a short list of the events of our month, some things we're looking forward to, and maybe some gruff about biking.  So as far as events are concerned, we had a good month in March.  The most exciting event was our Date Auction.  I went for $45.00.  Not bad.  But I haven't gone on my date yet.  In other news, I started dating a girl who was there that night, she didn't buy me, but it was still a good event for my personal life.  I also lost my voice at the event because we had so many Gesher city Schmoes shouting.  it's like being in Old City Philadelphia on a saturday night, just about everyone was new to the environment and acting like their parents didn't teach them better.  That's one of the major reasons that I'm coming to really love our shabbat dinners.  I think we are starting to get a more regular crowd.  And while some folks still treat our house like a restaurant/bar/late night motel, we are really starting to iron out a group of folks who truly care about what we are trying to do.  For this reason March brought with her two great shabbat dinners.  They were a bit small in numbers but the people were really great at both.  

Biking stuff:  I've decided to start riding riser bars.  I know I know, too trendy right?  Well listen, mostly I ride my bike in the city, and it pays to be upright.  For longer trips I agree that drop bars are more ergonomical.  But on a shorter - say sub 10 mile - trip, it pays to not have to strain my neck.  There was talk of a riding trip with some MH guests on Friday at shabbat.  I think I'll try to debut my new style for that trip.  Also, I want to learn how to do track stands better so that I can wheelie.  I think the two go hand in hand.  

OUT.

S

Ilana Schuman Stoler; MH Chicago; MMMMMarch!

What a month. Well, I used to love March but unfortunately, not any more. Today, in Chicago it rain/hailed and was SOO cold!!!! A week ago, it SNOWED!!! This is too much for me!! Warm weather come on already!!!! Well, I was able to keep warm inside as I chopped veggies for my family's seder this Wednesday. My family does this thing called extended carpas where we eat celery and carrots, and other dip-able veggies for the duration of the meal after carpas and then we have stuff to crunch on while we do all the other seder stuff! So I must have spent three hours slicing veggies and they're going to be soooo yummy! This year, seder is going to be really nice. We're older, and have so much of a different perspective on things and I am really looking forward to it. Chag sameach everyone!!!