I have 3 cell phones at home...
...and my family has a lot more at our house in Cali.
If you are like us and have a bunch of used cell phones that you don't know what to do with you may find this article interesting. It is about the mining of Coltan, a mineral used in cell phones. Eighty percent of our Coltan supply comes from DR Congo, in an area where endangered gorilla's live. The article focuses on a company that has joined forces with US zoos to increase the recycling of cell phones- a process both helps the environment by keeping toxins out of the Earth and could potentially have positive affects on the gorilla population.
"Sometimes you wanna go...
...where everybody knows your name."As has been noted before on my blog, I live in lesbian, hippie central- Jamaica Plain. As also has been noted I am very, very happy with my new community. It makes me happy just to walk to the T in the morning and bask in the beautiful quaintness of my neighborhood. Last week I came to another important realization about my new home: for the first time since leaving Mount Holyoke I am actually part of my community. A couple of weekends ago I went to the JP women's block party (which happened to be like 2 feet from my front door). Maria and Chelsea (friends from MHC) and I had made plans to meet up at the block party but due to my poor communication skills they were not able to go until after I had to leave. And my friend Anastasia was also not planning on going until later. So I decided to do something I never do- go by myself. Then at the last minuet I got a phone call from another friend saying she would like to go- so we met up, paid our $10 donation to get into a roped off stretch of street with alcohol and a band. While we were there I ran into at least 10 people that I know and even made a few new friends. All told it was a very fun filled and community feeling day.Then later in the week I walked over to J.P. Licks to meet up with friends for some yummy local ice cream. And of course, I bumped into two people from one of my softball teams. Finally on Friday I decided that since the weather was finally being cooperative I would go for a jog around Jamaica Pond. As I ran and people watched (the "pond" is 1.5 mi. around and attracts many the jogger and stroller) I decided that I was definitely going to see someone I knew. But I finished the loop and still no one. Then just as I was about to leave the pond Sally, a woman I know from football, came running over- Jackpot, my hypothesis proved.That was when it hit me- community, real community. With neighbors and friends and even "free boxes" (a phenomenon I first discovered at Mount Holyoke- got something you no longer need that someone else might like? Just put it in a box with a sign that says free and someone will give it a new home. So far I got myself a spiffy new pair of sunglasses.)*I'm not happy with the flow and structure of this post, but I can't think of how to fix it. Hopefully the point I'm trying to make came across.
The "Come as Yourself in High School" house warming party
Claudia and I spent our first weeks in the new apartment settling in and decorating and then we decided it was time for the party. We found a door and Anastasia, the sculptor, helped me turn it into a beer pong table (complete with beer drainage hole), we bought lots of alcohol, Claud cooked up some goodies and the party started with a bang at 9 pm.
People came in all variety of outfits- everything from Miss. Big Spring(s) (Allison as her high school beauty pageant winning self) to tiny-tee jr. high Katie, Christine (my old roomie) even came with her authentic patched-out high school back pack. There were people smoking clove cigarettes while playing beer pong, there were 12 90's music cds, there was Zima, and Boones, and Pucker being consumed everywhere. Somehow the party managed to rattle on until around 3 am and our medical machine using neighbor didn't ever complain. Most people have no idea how 6 hours of partying were spent (especially Claud and me) so we consider the party a complete success.
I could keep rambling on trying to describe the greatness but I think in this instance pictures certainly speak louder than words:
I reverted to my catholic high school days
and Claud...well, she's from New Hampshire
Oh the days of tiny tee mid-drifts
My old roomie with her high school back pack
Rachel came in Jew school uniform and Steph created bangs
Bekka was a figure skater and Allison
was a pageant queen...amazing!
