These biographies were written using the "Who are you?" exercise on page 5 of the Membership and Outreach Manual from Cohousing Resources. During group retreats, many of us took the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator test, and those type results have been added here.
San: I'm a trained psycholinguist but did not have a strong interest in teaching, so I left academia for the software world, where I now do analytical quality assurance at ChoiceStream. I live with Kai, Emma and Pascal, and two cats in Cambridge. I like being able to walk to work, the library, and stores, but I dislike not knowing my neighbors well and having a tiny garden.
I became interested in community during college — I went to two fairly small schools, Simon's Rock (not at the same time as Cat) and Hampshire. I found out about cohousing while living in Amherst, MA, as Pioneer Valley Coho was forming.
My biggest hope for cohousing is to have an easier time creating a fulfilling social life for myself and my family members. I've been involved with Mosaic Commons since its pre-beginnings in the fall of 1999. Hobby-wise, I like to garden, knit, cook, and play. I enjoy contra dancing, but rarely make it to dances these days. I love to sing, especially campfire songs and choral pieces, and once upon a time I played piano and guitar. I am hoping that after move-in there will be more time for music in my life. My favorite element is water.
PS: San is short for Susanne. Personality: INxx.
Kai: I'm a professor of linguistics at MIT. I am very much an introvert (INTP). I thrive teaching my field (formal semantics of natural language) and writing about my scientific research. I live with my family — San, Emma, and Pascal — in Cambridge. I was born and raised in Germany. I came to the US for graduate school (UMass Amherst). I love living in the city, but cohousing will even make suburbia palatable. I found out about cohousing from my wife, San.
My biggest hope for cohousing is to build a great place to live. I've been involved since the inception of this group in January 2000. I have spent a lot of time and energy on making our dream a reality. It will happen. In my barely existent spare time, I like running (although I would prefer spending much of that time on playing soccer), doing quite a few more or less geeky things with my computers, watching sports (baseball, basketball, football), cooking, listening to an eclectic mix of music (Elvis Costello, Dusty Springfield, Thelonious Monk, Vinicius Moraes, Beach Boys, 10,000 Maniacs), reading (mystery novels, medieval logic, science in fields not related to my own).
Emma has been attending the Sudbury Valley School since the fall of 1999, when she turned 5. Some of her favorite pastimes are doing artwork, playing piano, surfing the web, swimming, and playing soccer. She loves to read and is a huge Harry Potter fan. Animals are important to her, especially dolphins, horses, and guinea pigs. She lives with cats and "they are really sweet". Her biggest hope for cohousing is being able to go out and play with other kids when she wants to. She has been involved with Mosaic Commons since the very first meeting (which was at her house). She would love for other kids her age to join the group.
Pascal loves to be fast, whether running around, riding his scooter or bicycle, or swimming. He also enjoys doing artwork and playing board games and card games. He started Sudbury Valley in the fall of 2003, just before his 5th birthday. Previously, he attended a fabulous cooperative preschool in Cambridge called Totlot. He likes to go to cohousing events to see friends, both young and old.
Cat: Now working at Bose, webmaster of this lovely website, and mom to Zach. We live in Natick. I found out about cohousing through a college class I attended at Simon's Rock in "Utopias, Dystopias, and Experimental Communities", and more recently through the web and attending the '99 North American cohousing conference and many since.
My hope for cohousing is to have a modern-day "tribe" to live in and raise our children in. My hobbies include dance, reading, science fiction, dance, the occasional computer games, web design, and dance. I'm a classic ENTJ.
Zach was born in November of 1998, and has been involved in cohousing for most of his life. He attends the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham. He enjoys riding his bike, sledding, legos, music, writing email, and reading.
He is looking forward to "just walking over to see my friends any time I want to!"
Dave: a Professional Computer Geek. I live with Cat, my wife, and my son Zach, in Natick. Cat "forced" me to go to the Cohousing Conference at Pioneer Valley in 1999 and I was hooked.
My hope for cohousing is that it works — mostly that we'll all be able to work together, allowing each person to be themselves as well as work together... I have many hobbies: skiing, sailing, gaming (video, computer & board), playing guitar and flute. I've been with Mosaic Commons since we started! INTP.
Stephanie: I am a Social Work Case Manager at Network Health, where I enjoy working with clients directly to advocate for and help add services to their lives. I recently returned to my career after having the fortunate opportunity to take a few years off to raise our twin sons, Alex and Drew.
My hobbies, pre-children, used to include flying with my husband in our Cessna 172, traveling, and sewing (cross-stitch, mostly), but with young twins at home there is little time for personal hobbies. Someday I'd also like to pick up playing the piano again. I live with my husband Dwight, our two Siamese cats, our boys Drew and Alex, and our friend Sarah. I've known about cohousing for several years and gradually became more interested in it as we got closer to having children.
Having grown up in a small community where children were valued and cared for by an entire neighborhood, I would like to make the same thing possible for my children. I've known about this cohousing group almost from its beginning, became involved in August 2000, and became an equity member in March 2001. INFJ.
Drew and Alex were the first children born into this community in June of 2002 and were welcomed with open and loving arms by all. Drew loves to sing, dance, and pretend to be an airplane, and loves to engage people in imaginative play. Alex is a physical comedian and artist — he especially loves to draw with markers, preferably on his body.
Dwight: I'm proud papa (with Stephanie) to twin boys, Drew and Alex, born in June '02. I'm also a self-employed Linux and Networking consultant, an amateur radio operator, and a private pilot.
I've had an interest in alternative living situations ever since my college days at the Kent State University Living/Learning Community, part of their Center for Peaceful Change (now the Center for Applied Conflict Management).
My biggest hope for cohousing is that its community-building will lead to a more humane existence for us all: a good place in which to raise kids, live life, and grow old. I've been acquainted with various members of the group since 1999, and am happy to be getting to know other members through the meetings and potlucks. INFP.
Roxanne: I do technical support at Concerto Software for a living. Born and raised in Lowell, MA, I currently live in an apartment complex in Haverhill, MA. I share my home with two kitties, Miss Mary and Princess. I have lived in group households before, but found that I wanted a bit more privacy than that provided. But I have also found living by myself in a standard apartment complex to be lacking in many ways. So cohousing strikes a good balance for me. Some of my hobbies are reading, writing, crafts, art and design, and films. I'm also an avid science fiction fan, and I am an active member of a Star Trek fan group, the U.S.S. Ronald E. McNair.
I found out about cohousing and Mosaic Commons from a former roommate. My biggest hope is to live in a place where people know about, care about, and support each other. I have been involved with Mosaic Commons since April, 2001. INFP.
Judy: I am a Clinical Psychologist and have had a private practice in my home since 1974. I also teach part-time at Boston College and UMass Boston. I have been married to John for 32 years and we have two children. Alanna is 26, living in New York City and studying at the New York School of Interior Design. Shawn is 23 and has graduated from Hampshire College. He is busy teaching theater and doing other Improv activities. The empty nest has brought many personal changes for me.
I currently am expanding my creativity with writing and acting. Both of my children are involved in theater, and now it is my turn! I also am a Hospital Volunteer Clown and am part of a troupe of wonderful creative people. I am strongly drawn to Buddhist teachings and practice, and I love the written word and read whenever I have a free minute. John and I are runners and like to be physically active. On the Myers-Briggs I am an INFJ, so I am prone to big-picture dreaming and get somewhat annoyed by detail. But I can still do it when I must! I have known about cohousing for a long time and have realized the importance of community both to learn about myself and to be of service. The idea of growing older in a multigenerational environment, especially with children around, appeals to me greatly.
John B.: I've been in New England for 26 years, and am originally from Kentucky. After four years in the military, I received my bachelor's from the University of Kentucky and then my grad degree from Northeastern in Rehab Administration. I spent several years in the non-profit sector working with state schools as well as community mental health organizations. I then moved into the business sector where I have been ever since, working for Fortune 500 companies, and until recently have had my own training/consulting business. Currently I have a job as Sales Program Manager with Cognos. I live with my wife Judy in Natick, MA. Our children, Alanna and Shawn, are out of the household.
I heard about cohousing from a couple of sources — first from Judy, then during our summer Family Week workshops at Omega Institute. My biggest hope for cohousing is that I can get involved in a multigenerational living experience. I don't want to spend my later years in life with only people my age. I want the richness of being involved with all ages, including children. The one thing everyone should know about me is that I'm very concrete and specific. My hobbies are exercise, genealogy research, and running (four marathons). I used to make jewelry and would like to get back to that sometime. ESTJ.
Ken: I grew up between the banks of the Yellowstone River and that long ribbon of metal called the Northern Pacific Railroad. Livingston, Montana is about an hour north on the entrance highway to Yellowstone Park and aside from the neighborhood bully it was a pretty nice place to grow up.
By day I work at Boston College as one of their "Technology Consultants." I provide direct third-level help-desk support for the Lynch School of Education. I enjoy working and teaching in that fun but occasionally traumatized arena that exists between the technological tools (like computers, software and PDAs) and a lot of really smart, highly educated folks who were hired to teach, do research and write rather than for their technical prowess.
At various times in my life I've managed to turn my hobbies into my job. I have a degree in political science and a masters in the ministry (I was a campus minister for a number of years). I paid for graduate school largely by working as the school photographer. After graduating I ended up in a college town that didn't need another minister so I became a biomedical and public relations photographer. Later, after making my way east, I was in Campus Ministry but to make financial ends meet I moonlighted in computer support after learning the technology as a hobby. Now I do the tech support full time and folks occasionally have said I'm almost "pastoral" in the way I help them. Yup.
I generally take a positive attitude in whatever I do. I'm a firm believer in what some management folks have labeled the FISH! Philosophy.
I've never turned drumming into a living and probably won't, but it is a passion. I love to drum and sing, and prefer to make music with others. I belonged to the Walkabout Clearwater Chorus from about 1993 through 1997. It's one of many music groups spawned by Pete Seeger and friends, and I've had the good fortune to have performed with Pete on many occasions. I'm a big fan of the Summer Acoustic Music Week (music camp for adults) put on every summer by WUMB — Boston's Folk Music Radio station.
Since moving to the Boston area I've played with a lot of different folks, but currently spend the majority of my musical passion with a group I helped create called New England Weather. NEW, as we abbreviate it, has a number of spin-off events, and one of my favorites is Mike Delaney's very well run "open mic" at Java Jo's in Jamaica Plain; it's across the street from the Forest Hills T stop, and happens every Thursday from 7 to 10 pm.
I found out about Mosaic Commons from my ex, Christie White, who had been dreaming about it for years. My biggest hope for cohousing is for the community. I'm a gregarious extrovert, so I'm the one in the family who's out meeting and greeting folks. I look forward to getting to know my neighbors better than just learning their names. Cohousing, among other things, enhances the likelihood that I'll know my neighbors, and hopefully at a deeper level than just being acquaintances. I've been with Mosaic Commons since April 2001.
Something useful folks might like to know about me? I'm an ENFP.
Liz: I'm a pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), currently in search of a church. On the side I facilitate anti-racism trainings, supervise trainers, and write curriculum, mostly for the Episcopal Church.
I found out about cohousing from Ken. My biggest hope for cohousing is to have someone else cook, so I can share in the community and eating! Cohousing has already provided me a community that can keep looking forward when I have trouble doing it myself. My hobbies include all sorts of crafty things — sewing, photography, painting, knitting, quilting, and other crafts, especially beading right now. I also like walks in the woods, bird watching, travels, and dinners with friends.
I'm an INTJ who plays the extrovert role pretty well, but I'm pretty stuck on having things in order and on time. I've been involved with Mosaic since the fall of 2001.
Kim: I work as our family's chief administrator which means low wages and a great benefits package. The family I speak consists of Rick, my life partner, our son Gabriel, and our kitty girl, Peanut. In my pre-administrator days I earned my BA and MFA in Theater. I will return to the theater someday. I have also worked with the elderly and mentally ill populations; I found both to be rewarding. Things I enjoy include cooking in new and healthy ways, svaroopa yoga, gardening, teaching and spending time with friends and family. My hope for cohousing is to finally feel a part of something important, true human connection. I want to be part of a community of people that gather together in times of celebration and turmoil and everything in between. I've been involved with Mosaic Commons since May, 2001. Something everyone will realize about me is I am VERY passionate. ENFP.
Gabe: I am six years old. My mama is Kim and my papa is Rick. I like to paint, ride my bike, sing, help in the garden and talk in my very own language. My one hope about cohousing is that I can go over to my friends' houses and ride bikes without a grown-up. One thing everyone should know about me is I have no volume control.
Rick: I am husband to Kim and papa to Gabriel. I am a native of Idaho but a very happy transplant in Massachusetts. I am also a veteran of the US Navy. My career path has flip-flopped between Theater and Electronics (pun intended). I am currently working as an Electrical Engineer. My hobbies include reading, gardening, biking, chess, and woodworking. I am also a bit of a videophile. I've been involved with Mosaic Commons since June, 2001. My hopes for cohousing are to have a great place to raise and teach my child(ren), and to build a kick-a-- woodworking shop. ESTP.
Sarah: I'm an actuary working for John Hancock. I grew up in Kentucky, but am a happy New England transplant now, currently living in Ashland with Dwight, Stephanie, Drew, and Alex.
My hobbies are crafts (sewing and beading mostly), reading, and creating spreadsheets :-). Someday I also hope to return to playing my violin. In case you want to know, my enneagram personality type is a 1 (Perfectionist/Reformer), and I am usually an INTJ.
I went to my first Mosaic Commons meeting in the summer of 2000. I first learned about cohousing from seeing an announcement about this community, but I have long been interested in intentional community in all its various types. My biggest hope for cohousing in general is to live in a community that helps create a better way of life environmentally, socially, and spiritually. My biggest hope for this community is that I will get to live in a caring, supportive environment with a bunch of really great people whom I can share with and learn from.
Jen: I've been at the Education Development Center since 1999. I run the ethics committee that ensures our researchers are in compliance with regulatory requirements. I live with my husband Pete and our daughters Bethan and Faye. I learned about cohousing from Mothering Magazine, and thought "Oh, that sounds fabulous! Too bad there isn't something like that near us." Then, about two weeks later, I saw a Mosaic flyer in a health food store in Boylston. (Thanks Steph!). I've been involved in Mosaic since 2002.
In my spare time I take Shotokan Karate, chair the Education Committee at my church, work on my parenting skills, hike, ride bikes, read, and ride my Honda Shadow. My hope for Mosaic is to have a neighborhood where each member of our family feels comfortable and engaged in the community. I am an INTJ. Yes, I mean I, not E. Really.
Pete: I'm a Senior Software Developer at Diversified Actuarial. I live with Jen, Bethan and Faye, as well as our cat Shelby. I learned about cohousing when Jen brought me to Mosaic's intro meeting; I've been involved since 2002. In my spare time, I'm interested in guitars, filmmaking, home improvement, SCUBA diving (just learning as of 2005), and archery. My hope for cohousing is to turn "chores" into opportunities to be social. Like my wife, I'm an INTJ, which makes for extraordinarily detailed analytical discussions about leaving the cap off the toothpaste.
Faye was born at home in March of 2004. At 18 months, she really likes balls and babies, and snuggling with her family. Just about anything her big sister does makes her laugh.
Bethan: I was born in March of 2001, and I attend the Nashoba Montessori School. I don't remember a time when I didn't know about cohousing. I live with my Mom and Dad and my cute little sissy Faye. I'm interested in art, reading, building forts, and pretend play with dolls. I want to be an astronaut, so I'm saving up my allowance to go to Space Camp when I'm 13. It's too early to say, but my mom is guessing I'm an ExTx. My hopes for Mosaic are a treehouse, and to see my friends whenever I want without having to drive first.
Diana: I live with my husband John and our three sons: twins Andrew and Ian (born January 2000) and Colton (born July 2002). I have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science and a Masters degree in social work, and I currently work as a trainer and curriculum developer at ATG. In my (ha ha!) free time, I enjoy reading (science fiction and mysteries), walking, movies (mostly chick flicks) and cooking.
I've known about cohousing for years, but I found out about Mosaic from Cat and Dave in 2000, and started getting involved in 2002. Almost a decade ago I did an exercise in which I envisioned my life-as-it-should-be and found that it centered around having children and living in community. I have the children; now I'm hoping that through Mosaic I can realize the rest of my vision. ENTJ.
John R.: I'm a freelance writer, marketing consultant, and sometime novelist. I live with Diana and our sons Andy, Ian and Colton. I've been in Mosaic since 2002.
I enjoy reading, writing, cooking, messing with old cars, and making music. The thing I most look forward to about living in Mosaic is having my kids grow up in a friendly, supportive neighborhood.
Tim: I'm a software engineer currently working at Akamai in Cambridge. I live with my spouse, Ellen, and two kids, Morgan and Quinn, very close to my parents in Carlisle. I have no other siblings or immediate family. My biggest hope for cohousing is a place for our kids to run around safely and where they feel part of a community that cares for their welfare. I look forward to living as part of a larger community, and not feeling isolated from close friends.
I don't have time for hobbies, because I have children. But I see movies when I can, ride my bike as often as possible, and juggle. I found out about cohousing through Cat, and have been involved with Mosaic since the summer of 2003. Personality: xNxP.
Ellen: I'm a childbirth educator, freelance editor, writer, mom, partner, and activist. I live with Tim, our kids Morgan and Quinn, and assorted pets in Carlisle; I enjoy my big house in the woods, but miss the sense of community I once felt living near friends in the city. I really look forward to having a village around us once Mosaic is built.
In my exceedingly limited spare time, I read, sing, play music, do genealogy research, and study languages and martial arts. Like Tim, I've been involved with Mosaic since the summer of 2003. I invariably fall on two boundaries when I take the Myers-Briggs, so I'm an xNFx.
Quinn is four years old, and lives with his mommy and daddy and Morgan. He attends the Carlisle Early Literacy Preschool, which he loves, and he enjoys going for walks with his daddy and swimming at Granny & Grandpa's house.
Morgan: I live in Carlisle with my mom and dad and brother, and am in the third grade. I like playing with Zach, Gabe, and Pascal, and I'll get to see them a lot when we all live in our new houses.
I like art, reading, swimming, and playing with Quinn, but what is really important about me is that I like art.
I'm the Director of Academic Services at the New England School of Acupuncture.
I currently share a house with Dave, Cat, and Zach as well as Jasmine the wonder dog, Davida the tortoise-shell pear, Callie the grey football, and Lila the small and terrorized. I like the fact that we're renting, so the minute I've got a certificate of occupancy and a mortgage, I'm ready to move! I also really enjoy having people around to eat all of the food I cook in my free time.
I joined Mosaic as an associate in the fall of 2004, and became an equity member soon after. I am an xNTJ, but the "J" really ought to be an illuminated capital five feet tall to get the right sense of scale.
Sierra: a reporter for the Eagle-Tribune newspaper in New Hampshire, and a parent to Rio and Ian. I live in Haverhill with Martin, Ian, Rio and our two cats. I like the funky character of my 125-year-old house, but I feel lonely out in the suburbs. Intentional communities have been on my radar a long time, but I first heard the word "cohousing" from Cat at a belly dancing class. My biggest hope for Mosaic is that I'll have a close-knit, safe community to raise my kids in. I love dancing, knitting, yoga, reading and movies, though I don't exactly have Copious Free Time to pursue those hobbies. I've been involved with Mosaic since August, 2004.
Martin: a staff scientist at MIT, where I work on cancer research. I live with my partner, Sierra, our daughter Rio and my son Ian. I love to cook and to play guitar, and am looking forward to jam sessions in the common house and helping whip up brunch for the whole community. My biggest hope for cohousing is that I'll get to know all my neighbors. I'm also psyched about the green aspects, and hope to have PV cells on my roof one day. I first learned about cohousing at a spiritual retreat I attended with Sierra. I've been involved with Mosaic since August, 2004.
Rio: As a busy toddler, I spend my days playing with my friends and learning to speak the three languages — English, Spanish and Portuguese — that I hear every day. What I love about my current home is being able to run in circles around the kitchen island, and looking out the windows to see cars go by. My biggest hope for cohousing is that I will be able to play with my friends and not have to go to too many meetings. One thing everyone should know about me is that I love music and dancing!
Ian: I attend the Pine Hill Waldorf School, where I'm in the 6th grade. I love the outdoors and studying nature. I also love biking and hiking, and Dungeons & Dragons. I'm looking forward to mountain biking on Mosaic's land, and to long walks in the woods with my dad. My biggest hope for Mosaic is that I'll get to do biking and gaming with my friends.
I am self-employed in research to make the built environment more accessible to people who are blind or who have low vision. Most of my research is federally funded by one mechanism or another, and some of it is conducted through Boston College, where I have an adjunct appointment in Psychology. I have worked for more than 40 exciting and challenging years as a teacher, teacher-of-teachers, consultant, and researcher in the field of education and rehabilitation of people who are visually impaired.
I have lived in Berlin since 1975 and raised my fine son here. Torsten is now 27, a wildlife biologist, married, and living and doing research in Alaska. He and Rebecca live, by choice, in an old mining cabin without electricity or running water. Torsten has become a subsistence hunter, and he and Becky also catch about 100 lb. of Copper River salmon each year to fill their larder. Attending what may be the top wildlife biology program in the country, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Torsten felt that he had a better background in science from Tahanto Regional High School than most of his fellow students.
In Berlin, I have been active for many years in First Parish Church, a federated United Church of Christ / Unitarian Universalist congregation, where I sing in the choir and rotate among a number of leadership positions. I’m also active in the Berlin Art and Historical Society and am interested in historic preservation.
During the past seven years I have become involved in supporting Tibetan culture and education. I was hooked during two treks in Tibet, and have now made three trips to a part of India that has been ethnically Tibetan for centuries. I volunteer at Manjushree Vidyapith, an orphanage and school started by a Tibetan monk in a remote part of the southern Himalaya. As my professional activities decrease, I expect to be able to devote an increasing amount of time and energy to the children at Manjushree.
I have been interested in cohousing since I learned about it more than 10 years ago, but was never inclined to leave Berlin to join a cohousing community. Then I learned that cohousing was coming to Berlin! As a single person, with no relatives within a thousand miles, I look forward to being part of the close community of Mosaic Commons, while still living in Berlin and retaining the good friendships I’ve built up over many years. I’ve been a member of Mosaic since the summer of 2005.
Rich Z.: I've had a wildly diverse technical career, doing everything from building spacecraft for NASA, enterprise systems engineering for Excite@Home and Comcast, geophysics and climatology research, all the way to antique home restoration and reselling industrial equipment on eBay. I currently live in Berlin with my wife Samantha, and very much appreciate life and community here in central Massachusetts.
I first heard of cohousing while I was a student at Caltech. My experience there was just like Harry Potter's at Hogwarts: to finally find yourself feeling at home, surrounded by a community of amazing people, and discover that the Universe is filled with science and magic. My biggest hope for cohousing is to feel that spirit again, feel safe being myself, and share lots of fantastic experiences, from the extraordinary to the everyday, with my community. I lurked at the fringes of Mosaic for quite a while before taking the plunge and joining in the summer of 2005.
Aside from a zillion half-accomplished technogadget-esque projects around the house, by far my biggest hobby is being an organizer and political strategist for the Green Party. I've been deeply involved for many years at the local, state, and national level, and have lots of stories to tell! I am also 110% extreme ENFP.
Samantha: I am a professional scrapbooker, meaning I make scrapbook pages and books for others and get paid to do it. My college education is in speech, language and hearing disorders, as well as elementary education. I have taught elementary school and been a special-needs assistant, and hope to use that experience to homeschool my own children one day.
I love to do arts and crafts like scrapbooking, knitting, beads, making candles, making holiday decorations, stenciling, and other random crafty stuff. I also really enjoy traveling, cooking, gardening, furniture restoration, playing board games, and astronomy.
I live with my husband Rich, in a house with an enclosed wraparound three-season porch. I like that our current house is slightly smaller than our Mosaic unit will be; we have downsized significantly and will feel like we have a lot more space at Mosaic.
We went to our first intro meeting in January of 2004 and came to several general meetings and social events; then we got busy with other stuff and lost touch for a while. We started reconnecting with the community in winter/spring of 2005, and pretty quickly became equity members after that.
Among my hopes for cohousing: I want to feel completely accepted for who I am today, and who I will grow into tomorrow. I want us to strive for a rich environment where everyone, young, old and in between, can be in that place of safety to develop themselves to their fullest potential. I want to be part of a community where we can all benefit from each other's strengths, and share in our compassion for life, learning, and magic while enjoying this journey together. I want to see each other's magnificence of spirit and grow deep roots so our community may weather any storm. This will keep us open to the realm of all possibilities, so that we will understand the truth in each other's hearts, and continue to have the passion of daring to dream, build, and imagine.
A few good things to know about me: I communicate much more clearly in writing. I am a severe asthmatic and am allergic to just about anything you breathe, anything that is not food and has an odor, anything that has hair, and almost all plants. My personality type is usually Ixxx.
Erik: I work from home as a software engineer on various database and website projects. I look forward to cross-country skiing out the back door of our cozy carbon-neutral home and learning to cook for big groups!
We'll miss Western Mass., but how cool is it to know so many of our neighbors-to-be already?! It sounds like we'll probably get a car-sharing coop going too, which will be great. (My other car is a bike. :-))
Jessica: I'm a stay-at-home mom kept busy playing with our two-year-old Ansel. I love languages (I speak French and Spanish and would love to learn Norwegian) and was a French-to-English translator in Geneva, Switzerland, for three years before we moved back to Massachusetts in 2002. I look forward to ice skating on the pond in the conservation land just down the hill. What a dream! And we'll be so close to Lake Quinsigamond that I might someday have to break down and get a single scull... tempting! Anyone want to share?
Ansel: Hey, I'm only three and don't know it yet, but I'm going to love downhill skiing with my parents this winter at Wachusett Mountain... and when I'm four I'll be carpooling to Sudbury Valley School with some of the other kids from Mosaic! How great is that! Right now I just like hiking around on the trails on the land with my parents. If Mosaic was already built I'd probably ride my tricycle up and down the pedestrian paths all day long!
Sophie: I live in Somerville, MA with my hubby Rich K. I am a 3rd/4th-grade teacher in a public school. My hobbies are walking in nature, birdwatching, animal-watching, playing guitar, clowning, writing, fabric painting, yoga, reading children's literature, and playing with my cat. I first heard about cohousing in the former Sojourner newspaper, and I thought it sounded cool. Fast-forward to 15 years later; my husband and I decided to go on a cohousing bus tour and we discovered Mosaic. What draws me to Mosaic in particular is that it combines my love of nature and desire to live adjoining conservation land along with my strong desire for community. My biggest hope is that both nature and community will be right outside my door when I want it.
Rich K.: I live in Somerville, MA with my good wife, Sophie. I'm a preschool teacher at a Jewish preschool in Cambridge. My hobbies are woodworking, yoga, model rocketry, bike-riding, and walking. I first heard about cohousing through a co-op house I lived in in Somerville. I also wandered by chance into the cohousing association's office in Watertown many years ago and learned more about it. More recently, on a fabulous bus tour with the national cohousing association, we hooked up with Mosaic folks. I'm drawn to Mosaic's good consensus process, people's out-of-the-ordinary viewpoints on things, and the group's spirit of sharing and cooperation. My biggest hope is being able to join in the fun with children of all ages, right outside my door. We've been involved with Mosaic since May, 2005.