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.
