AmeriCorps - HardCorps

I just wanted to note that even though this blog seems to focus a lot on the social life of us AmeriCorps at Habitat, there is still a great deal of work being done for America behind this blog scene.  I guess the corporate cultural philosophy that says "we work hard to play hard" is appropriate.  I'm going to take a few minutes to highlight some of the things I know my roommates are doing as volunteers.  I'm sure there is a lot more going on that I'm not aware of, but they'll have to chime in and enlighten us.

I'll start off with the oldest in the house,  Karthik!  He works every Tuesday through Saturday 7a-3p on the construction site.  This is a critical role on several fronts.   He makes what everyone in the office prepares for tangible.  Karthik is not only out there building homes for families who often never imagined they could afford such a thing, but he is also working along side and building relationships with devout community members and the future residents of habitat homes.  I think some of the most thought provoking conversations I have ever had were with Kart (possibly even beyond Dr. Abell's graduate theory course on Architectural Tectonics...eeek).  He questions complacency within our culture and within himself -- and most importantly acts on his thoughts.

Bridget is the next oldest after me.  She is the marketing manager for Habitat Suffolk and has a background in graphic design and fine arts.  I'd say she works 9a-5p M-F, but no one who knows her would believe it.  She seems to be one of the first to arrive in the office and the last to leave.  She is currently in the process of re-branding HFH-S, which impacts all print and electronic material in the office and as a result coordinates with everyone in the office to meet their marketing needs.  She is also redesigning the website, which is a job in and of itself.  I get overwhelmed just thinking of what's on her plate and what she achieves each day.  I had the pleasure of working on a brochure she designed just recently where she had this cool idea of using some of my 3d models in various different stages of completion (floor plan, wood framing model, half finished house  and a complete house) for a sponsorship brochure.  It turned out great and she'll have to post some of her graphics on here!

Lindsey, the youngest of the group, is by far the most energetic (claiming the thing she hates the most is sleep).  Her energy is perfect for her job working in volunteer services.  She spends hours on end coordinating volunteer groups and gives presentations to several different volunteers/sponsors about Habitat and our role as community builders.  Her volunteer position is so important for Habitat as a not-for-profit because of how important our volunteers are to our affiliate.  The volunteers/sponsors function as the financing, the builders, and the word of mouth marketers for Habitat.  I think I'm most impressed with the fact that she is sort of a shy person and has somewhat of a fear of talking in front of large groups.  However, from what I've heard from people around the office, she is an "All Star" at what she does!  This tells me she loves what she does and it seems like she has an unquestionable passion for helping others.  Before she started her job here she was down in New Orleans building Post-Katrina houses.

I really meant to make this brief, but I really could go on a lot longer.  It is obvious from this whole bucket blog that we mesh well and are having the times of our lives out here, but I hope it is equally as obvious that our motivations for coming out here are still intact and that through fun and hard work America will continue to help one another improve

...and then there was a Cheesecake Party!

Some pretty exciting things have been going on at 643...

This picture should be pretty self explanatory.. Bridget and I started an all girls Irish Folk band and this is the cover for our first album.

We discovered, and simultaneously became quite concerned, about where Carson hangs out in his free time.

I have acquired many skills through AC , so when we had a clogged tub drain... I decided to suit up and take a look for myself. By the time I was outfitted Bridget and Karthik had already solved the problem.

Bridget is learning how to play the guitar... and pretty soon her and Carson will be playing at Acoustic Long Island. Really though, in all seriousness, we have been doing some pretty exciting things.


Last Saturday, Bridget and I, accompanied by some homeowners set up a table at the Huntington Unity in the Community fair in honor of World Habitat Day. We had a great day in the sun, learned about some other great organizations on Long Island, recruited some volunteers for Habitat and most importantly learned an age old lesson about judging a book by its cover. We were approached throughout the day by big, gruff, leather wearing, biker gang guys who don't exactly look like the community service type... and they were amazing guys with huge hearts, and an immense involvement in the Long Island Communities.


The four of us also attended our first Habitat Wall Raise. It was great to hear from a new habitat family about what their home would mean to them, and then get to see their walls go up. If you notice in the picture, apparently a memo went around the upstairs of our house to all wear matching AC sweatshirts to the worksite.... and they forgot to send the memo down to the basement. So tomorrow me... and all my roommates... in the basement are going to wear matching outfits to work.

I've also rediscovered a passion for cooking again... I was on my lonesome at the house on monday, since everyone else had to be in the office. So I made 2 (not 1, but 2) death by chocolates, one decorated for Habitat and brought over to the office, and 1 decorated for AC and saved for us for dessert. I also made garlic green beans, lemon and red pepper artichoke hearts, whole grain herb rice, and gorgonzola spinach and tomato stuffed baked chicken breasts with a shallot and red wine sauce :)





then last but not least, there was a cheesecake party! In celebration of a cheesecake we acquired after a habitat event today, we had what one can only explain as a cheesecake party. We gathered in the kitchen (which is rather small for the four of us and all of our excitement), we shut the lights, and counted down, and surprise 8 different types of cheesecake were inside this box. The excitement was so genuine, that we closed the box, shut the lights, and counted down again... and we were still just as excited. We then proceeded to have a flavor picking ceremony, where Carson ever so gingerly doled out our slices of cheesecake. It was amazing, and intense.... while we ate we questioned, if we hadn't acquired this free cheesecake.. would the four of us ever had the experience of eating cheesecake together? Who will ever know.

What is this AmeriCorps year all about?

Volunteering for a year in one of many AmeriCorps programs is proving to be a learning on many fronts. From our first day Les, our boss has encouraged us to learn new things, no, learn every possible thing you can about anything you want to. This year is a blank canvas, an open book and story not yet written. This year is space for us AmeriCrops to learn, push our limits, find a passion and run with our creativity and see what happens. And so far, this space is proving a perfect forum for this organic learning to take place. We roomates are collectively taking on challenges. We are trying everything from new recipes to new languages to job titles, and loving every second of it.

Tonight Lindsey cooked us a wonderful dinner of stuffed chicken, sauteed Artichoke heats, wild brown rice, garlic green beans and all smothered in a red wine demi-glaze.

what new things will be come up with next?

Rachel Ray, Kelly Rippa and Comic Sans

Thoughts on TV stars and Typefaces, things that effect the modern human more than we may realize.

What do Rachel Ray, Kelly Rippa and Comic Sans (the typeface) have in common? They are all sickeningly happy, joyous, and self confident. You would think being Happy, joyous and self confident are good things right? Sure, of course they are! Everyone wants to be happy. But when this boisterous joy and confidence oozes out of you through your consent endorsement of cookware lines, work out paraphernalia or becoming the default font for your business emails, your oozing goodness has the ability to make an innocent passerby come down with symptoms equivalent to the side effect listed from a five minute long medicine commercial featured during your favorite trashy Tuesday night TV show. Four minutes and 35 seconds of the five, dedicated to listing the many awful side effects of this seemingly "great" medicinal breakthrough. Although this medicine, is supported by fancy Flash graphics, a well chosen color palette, a nice logo, and a calming vioce, I still don't trust a medicine for sleep deprivation whose main side effect is "may decrease ability to fall asleep".

So Rachel Ray, Kelly Rippa, and The font Comic Sans, please tone down your oozing happiness over food and acronyms , your zest for aerobics and telling the world how great it makes your gluts on national TV at 8 am respectively. Oh and to you comic sans, since you can't tone down your playful nature, can you please come with a pop-up that automatically appears when a user is attempting to use you on a website, a business email or any document, that says, Warning: I am out dated and way too happy to be in forced retirement, Please pick another Font. -Thank you. - Management