CRAIG'S LIST POSTING!
$650 looking for room/roommate starting in AUGUST (Center City, West Philly)
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Date: 2010-04-14, 2:35AM EDT
Reply to: hous-tv7xz-1691381699@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
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Hi!
I am moving to Philly in August to begin a post-bac program at UPenn. I am a 23-year old female who is socially competent and for all intents and purposes, normal, and I am looking for someone (male or female/under 30/low-key/fetish-free) who is either looking for someone to rent a room to, or is looking for a roommate to search for an apartment for next year with.
A little bit about ME: I love talking and running, experimental cooking, listening to scratched vinyl records, appreciating but not actually creating art, cheap bars with loud music, hiking, vanilla soy milk, freshly brewed drip coffee, outdoor concerts, delicious beer and cheap wine, showers, mood lighting, Red Sox baseball, salsa, selling my soul to the med school application process, and spontaneous adventures. Next year I will be taking evening classes at Penn and volunteering at a hospital/clinic during the day, so I will be pretty busy and studying a lot during the week - but hopefully I will still have fun to relax a little on weekends.
If you are interested- please drop me an email!
Best,
Lauren
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
CSA!
Our community (and my parents!!!) recently signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share here in Yakima. This means that for the whole harvest season, from June through October, we will receive a box of fresh, seasonal produce grown at a local farm. CSA shares are great, cost-efficient opportunities to support local farms and cut down on your personal carbon footprint.
Here is the link to find one in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
A few weeks ago we decided to try to eat all organic for 1 week. We went grocery shopping and we used the $120 we normally spend at Costco every week at a smaller supermarket and came out with hardly any food. Not only that, but the food that we did end up buying, while being organic, was still flown across the world to reach our plate. This has been a heated conversation in our house, because we are at odds about which is more important: organic or local. While organic and local would most likely be ideal, the majority of local farms A. do not have the money to become certified organic and/or B. are in the long, arduous process of becoming “certified”. That being said, organic DOES NOT mean “pesticide/chemical free”, in fact, there are little, or no regulations as to the amounts of these ‘organic’ pesticides and chemicals that certified organic farmers are allowed to use on their produce and in their soil, nor have there been long-term studies showing that all of them are safe and human-friendly. All of this research and super-sleuthing has brought me to the decision that, personally, local is more important than organic, and thus, we are now enrolled in a CSA.
Side note: Training is going well in Casa Grande! This weekend our house pumped out over miles on the pavement in preparation for our half marathon (and Patrick’s full marathon). It is pretty funny now to sit and listen to us chat in the kitchen. Training is an ever-increasing topic of conversation, and we casually talk about our 10 mile runs like they are a leisurely Saturday activity. Three months ago, the majority of us would have been hard-pressed to run 4 miles without serious bodily pain- so this is pretty cool and has been a great way to bond as a house. Three weeks and counting!
Here is the link to find one in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
A few weeks ago we decided to try to eat all organic for 1 week. We went grocery shopping and we used the $120 we normally spend at Costco every week at a smaller supermarket and came out with hardly any food. Not only that, but the food that we did end up buying, while being organic, was still flown across the world to reach our plate. This has been a heated conversation in our house, because we are at odds about which is more important: organic or local. While organic and local would most likely be ideal, the majority of local farms A. do not have the money to become certified organic and/or B. are in the long, arduous process of becoming “certified”. That being said, organic DOES NOT mean “pesticide/chemical free”, in fact, there are little, or no regulations as to the amounts of these ‘organic’ pesticides and chemicals that certified organic farmers are allowed to use on their produce and in their soil, nor have there been long-term studies showing that all of them are safe and human-friendly. All of this research and super-sleuthing has brought me to the decision that, personally, local is more important than organic, and thus, we are now enrolled in a CSA.
Side note: Training is going well in Casa Grande! This weekend our house pumped out over miles on the pavement in preparation for our half marathon (and Patrick’s full marathon). It is pretty funny now to sit and listen to us chat in the kitchen. Training is an ever-increasing topic of conversation, and we casually talk about our 10 mile runs like they are a leisurely Saturday activity. Three months ago, the majority of us would have been hard-pressed to run 4 miles without serious bodily pain- so this is pretty cool and has been a great way to bond as a house. Three weeks and counting!
Monday, March 15, 2010
St. Patrick's Day!!!
St. Patrick’s Day!
St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It cloaks the world in a veil of green (my favorite color) and soaks the surroundings in a puddle of Guinness and Whiskey (my favorite drinks). This year St. Patrick’s Day has a special significance to the JVs in Yakima. During every major holiday of the year, one of the regional JV houses will host an annual party- and St. Patrick’s Day is ours!
This party is planned for this coming Saturday, but the preparations began long before. We have been hyping up the event for months, convincing houses to drive the 3, 4, or 5 hours each way to attend, but hit a major roadblock after our house was robbed and many of our support people believed we should locate the party elsewhere. The JVs have hosted this party for our coworkers, friends, and other JVs at OUR HOUSE for decades, so after long consideration and heated discussions, we decided to keep the party after-all.
Preparations began this weekend as our furniture was rearranged, our dance was choreographed, our floors were scrubbed, t-shirts were decorated, and groceries were bought – all set to a peaceful soundtrack comprised mostly of Dropkick Murphy’s and the Pogues. The preparations will continue on through the weekend, and while the conversations and the cleaning are a bit tedious at times, I think this party came at a perfect time for our community.
During the weeks following the robbing and the subsequent SWAT team arrests the community, myself included, began to check out. Allison, Grace, Chris, and I were off visiting schools around the country, Patrick and Sam were training full-time for the full/half marathon, Jaime was spending more time with her boyfriend, and Sophie spent a lot of time house-sitting. Even when we were all home, we rarely cooked and ate house meals together anymore, and we spent more time reading, doing puzzles, at the gym, etc. than communicating with each other. Many of us were too busy looking towards August to notice how quickly January and February passed us by.
This party has given us something to rally around. As a community. At first it brought us together for forced, stressful, tense conversations, but recently it has been the source of excitement, laughter, camaraderie, and teamwork. It is coming at a perfect time.
On a separate note…News from my life: 1) I was accepted 2 weeks ago to a post-bac program at the University of Pennsylvania. I accepted their offer right away, and will be back in school in Philly by the beginning of September! 2) My dad and I are still training for the half marathon on May 2nd . I can’t wait for Mom, Dad, and the Truxaws to come out to visit and run with my housemates and I. 3) Timmy is coming out to visit me soon! I can’t wait! 4) I am missing Kiirsten's birthday this year :( HAPPY BIRTHDAY REN!
St. Patrick’s Day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It cloaks the world in a veil of green (my favorite color) and soaks the surroundings in a puddle of Guinness and Whiskey (my favorite drinks). This year St. Patrick’s Day has a special significance to the JVs in Yakima. During every major holiday of the year, one of the regional JV houses will host an annual party- and St. Patrick’s Day is ours!
This party is planned for this coming Saturday, but the preparations began long before. We have been hyping up the event for months, convincing houses to drive the 3, 4, or 5 hours each way to attend, but hit a major roadblock after our house was robbed and many of our support people believed we should locate the party elsewhere. The JVs have hosted this party for our coworkers, friends, and other JVs at OUR HOUSE for decades, so after long consideration and heated discussions, we decided to keep the party after-all.
Preparations began this weekend as our furniture was rearranged, our dance was choreographed, our floors were scrubbed, t-shirts were decorated, and groceries were bought – all set to a peaceful soundtrack comprised mostly of Dropkick Murphy’s and the Pogues. The preparations will continue on through the weekend, and while the conversations and the cleaning are a bit tedious at times, I think this party came at a perfect time for our community.
During the weeks following the robbing and the subsequent SWAT team arrests the community, myself included, began to check out. Allison, Grace, Chris, and I were off visiting schools around the country, Patrick and Sam were training full-time for the full/half marathon, Jaime was spending more time with her boyfriend, and Sophie spent a lot of time house-sitting. Even when we were all home, we rarely cooked and ate house meals together anymore, and we spent more time reading, doing puzzles, at the gym, etc. than communicating with each other. Many of us were too busy looking towards August to notice how quickly January and February passed us by.
This party has given us something to rally around. As a community. At first it brought us together for forced, stressful, tense conversations, but recently it has been the source of excitement, laughter, camaraderie, and teamwork. It is coming at a perfect time.
On a separate note…News from my life: 1) I was accepted 2 weeks ago to a post-bac program at the University of Pennsylvania. I accepted their offer right away, and will be back in school in Philly by the beginning of September! 2) My dad and I are still training for the half marathon on May 2nd . I can’t wait for Mom, Dad, and the Truxaws to come out to visit and run with my housemates and I. 3) Timmy is coming out to visit me soon! I can’t wait! 4) I am missing Kiirsten's birthday this year :( HAPPY BIRTHDAY REN!
Monday, February 15, 2010
UPENN
I am currently on a bus from DC to Philly for my interview at UPenn tomorrow. I am terribly nervous- but it has been excellent to get away from Yakima and away from the drama (shooting, break-in, and robbery) that we have been dealing with in Yakima the past 2 weeks. But, on a comforting note, our drug-dealing/robbing/gang-affiliated neighbors were raided by a SWAT team on Friday. 10 people were arrested with selling, among other drugs, meth, heroine, crack, and marijuana. I think we are all going to sleep much more soundly from here on out.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Google Maps Do NOT Tell All
So, today has been a very exciting day.
For starters, I woke up, turned on my computer to do some yoga, and discovered that I now get internet access in my bedroom! (THANKS NEIGHBOR!) I wasted a good part of my morning just enjoying internet and google, and the lack of strict web filters and people all around me in a coffee shop. It was blissful. Then I cooked a delicious breakfast, liked it so much I cooked it again for lunch, then decided to get my act together and go for a long run. Not knowing the area very well (still...but you know my notoriously miserable sense of direction, I'm sure...) I decided to use my handy friend GOOGLE MAPS to plan out my 7 mile route. I kept it safe and ran on the greenway for a couple miles (a run/bike track along the Yakima River - not quite as scenic as it sounds, and littered with homeless individuals, but still better than the streets), then took the roads back home. I wrote the directions out on my hand, not realizing that it took me right straight through the worst part of town. I ran past an entire street of cars converted to living quarters, houses with gunshot windows, houses without windows at all, but plastic coverings to keep out the wind.
As terrifying as this run was, it actually made me thankful to live on North Naches Ave. And believe me, that is saying a lot.
Tonight: glow bowling! hollerrr!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
SOCIAL JUSTICE IN YAKIMA?
So after the exciting weekend of Thatcher's visit (including a party in our basement - mildew included - , wine-tasting, and authentic Mexican cuisine), Sarah Kinsel, our area director - aka advisor, 'supervisor', mentor, etc. came to Yakima for another week-long visit. Last time she came her visit was interrupted by her husband's pneumonia and her own oncoming sickness.
When Sarah is here, it is a time for us to re-evaluate our priorities, habits, and lifestyles. When she comes we adhere more strictly to the four values, reminding ourselves in what areas we slack after she leaves. Well on her second night here we had a "social justice night" where we began to discuss various social justice issues in Yakima, how our perception of these injustices is colored/developed by our own history and background, root causes, and ways of working to change the patterns of injustice. We sat down to make the list and it quickly grew too long to fit on a single page: obesity, meth, gangs, domestic abuse, lack of education, racial separation, rape, murder, immigration, and on and on. Each problem seems prevalent in groups in every city in the country, but are magnified in this small city in Central Washington. All of these problems I have thought and discussed before with housemates and coworkers, except for one (thanks to Jaime): COMPLACENCY.
The problem of complacency in Yakima seems to prevent this city from improving in any way, and the complacency is a root of all the other problems as well. Take for example, the 8 YEAR OLD GIRL I mentor at the YMCA. Already, she has no plan of going to college, no plan of traveling, no desire for anything more. She wants to be married and have a child by the age of 18, There is a pervasive attitude in this city that "it is what it is" and will take too much effort to change. This includes the huge Hispanic population in town who do not try to learn English. The list could continue for pages, but it boils down to the city being stuck in one place without the inertia or proper catalyst to bring it anywhere.
On another note...there are some amazing people in this city, including Chris Cassidy, Patrick's uncle, who gives us free skiing passes, free ski equipment (brand new, and to keep!!!), rides to the mountain, après-ski beers (always Kokanee), and SO MUCH MORE. There is also a HUGE support group who we are going to visit tonight!!! Once a month they throw the JVs a potluck with wonderful food and wine and company, and so much support and love. The last time one of us mentioned at the potluck that we only had 7 bicycles at home, and within a week we had about 8 more show up on our doorstep. It is mind-blowing the love and gratitude people show to us, while in my opinion we should be the ones eternally grateful for them for opening their arms and hearts to 8 strangers who are only here for a year.
Either wayyyy. back to work! Can't wait for the potluck and for another great weekend of skiing, crab feeds, adventures, movies, and JVCing.
PS- I just finished all my grad school apps last Friday, keep your fingers crossed that one of them likes me!
When Sarah is here, it is a time for us to re-evaluate our priorities, habits, and lifestyles. When she comes we adhere more strictly to the four values, reminding ourselves in what areas we slack after she leaves. Well on her second night here we had a "social justice night" where we began to discuss various social justice issues in Yakima, how our perception of these injustices is colored/developed by our own history and background, root causes, and ways of working to change the patterns of injustice. We sat down to make the list and it quickly grew too long to fit on a single page: obesity, meth, gangs, domestic abuse, lack of education, racial separation, rape, murder, immigration, and on and on. Each problem seems prevalent in groups in every city in the country, but are magnified in this small city in Central Washington. All of these problems I have thought and discussed before with housemates and coworkers, except for one (thanks to Jaime): COMPLACENCY.
The problem of complacency in Yakima seems to prevent this city from improving in any way, and the complacency is a root of all the other problems as well. Take for example, the 8 YEAR OLD GIRL I mentor at the YMCA. Already, she has no plan of going to college, no plan of traveling, no desire for anything more. She wants to be married and have a child by the age of 18, There is a pervasive attitude in this city that "it is what it is" and will take too much effort to change. This includes the huge Hispanic population in town who do not try to learn English. The list could continue for pages, but it boils down to the city being stuck in one place without the inertia or proper catalyst to bring it anywhere.
On another note...there are some amazing people in this city, including Chris Cassidy, Patrick's uncle, who gives us free skiing passes, free ski equipment (brand new, and to keep!!!), rides to the mountain, après-ski beers (always Kokanee), and SO MUCH MORE. There is also a HUGE support group who we are going to visit tonight!!! Once a month they throw the JVs a potluck with wonderful food and wine and company, and so much support and love. The last time one of us mentioned at the potluck that we only had 7 bicycles at home, and within a week we had about 8 more show up on our doorstep. It is mind-blowing the love and gratitude people show to us, while in my opinion we should be the ones eternally grateful for them for opening their arms and hearts to 8 strangers who are only here for a year.
Either wayyyy. back to work! Can't wait for the potluck and for another great weekend of skiing, crab feeds, adventures, movies, and JVCing.
PS- I just finished all my grad school apps last Friday, keep your fingers crossed that one of them likes me!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
An exercise in anger management
The latest community exercise:
Last night, after getting out of work at 6 and going directly to the gym, I had to wait 30 MINUTES FOR A TREADMILL. I admire people trying to get in shape during the New Year, but can't resolutions take place on the elliptical machines? There should be a room for people who workout during October. If you workout in October, you are post-bikini and pre-Christmas, so you should get a priority spot on a treadmill...maybe? But then again I have a free membership...
Then...the Riel's (our support family) brought us over a delicious dinner and we laughed over great conversation and a couple delicious bottles of wine. After conversation wound down and the lasagne polished from our plates, the Riel's began our monthly community exercise. This month marking the upcoming half-way mark of our year in JVC, our theme was ANGER. Our task last night was to sit down and write 8 notecards, one for every member of our community, including ourselves, and note what angers us about the other people. They could be trivial (like...Lauren you leave stuff everywhere (duh)) or larger, more painful criticisms on our approach to relationships or our personality. Then we had 1-on-1 meetings with every member of the community and shared these criticisms and gripes. Just hearing this proposal made my entire body drench with sweat - which is stupid considering these were coming from people I live with who, I hope, love me in some capacity (hopefully a big one?)In a word, it really sucked. Not ever taking criticism lightly, and being one who hates to hurt people, I was the one who went to her room and sat awake in bed all night while everyone else in the house moved on and played cards downstairs.
Lesson of the Day : learn to accept self-criticism with confidence. Or...drink more wine before engaging in this activity ever again.
ps- THATCHER IS COMING ON THURSDAY! OUR EX-THATCHER-GANZA IS FRIDAY NIGHT! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMPED!!!
Last night, after getting out of work at 6 and going directly to the gym, I had to wait 30 MINUTES FOR A TREADMILL. I admire people trying to get in shape during the New Year, but can't resolutions take place on the elliptical machines? There should be a room for people who workout during October. If you workout in October, you are post-bikini and pre-Christmas, so you should get a priority spot on a treadmill...maybe? But then again I have a free membership...
Then...the Riel's (our support family) brought us over a delicious dinner and we laughed over great conversation and a couple delicious bottles of wine. After conversation wound down and the lasagne polished from our plates, the Riel's began our monthly community exercise. This month marking the upcoming half-way mark of our year in JVC, our theme was ANGER. Our task last night was to sit down and write 8 notecards, one for every member of our community, including ourselves, and note what angers us about the other people. They could be trivial (like...Lauren you leave stuff everywhere (duh)) or larger, more painful criticisms on our approach to relationships or our personality. Then we had 1-on-1 meetings with every member of the community and shared these criticisms and gripes. Just hearing this proposal made my entire body drench with sweat - which is stupid considering these were coming from people I live with who, I hope, love me in some capacity (hopefully a big one?)In a word, it really sucked. Not ever taking criticism lightly, and being one who hates to hurt people, I was the one who went to her room and sat awake in bed all night while everyone else in the house moved on and played cards downstairs.
Lesson of the Day : learn to accept self-criticism with confidence. Or...drink more wine before engaging in this activity ever again.
ps- THATCHER IS COMING ON THURSDAY! OUR EX-THATCHER-GANZA IS FRIDAY NIGHT! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMPED!!!
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