October 18, 2009
· Filed under anarchism, cooperative living, feminism
Hey everyone! This is Jenny, posting from my new collective house in West Philly. I wanted to share with you a crappy NYTimes article that was written about collective living and features my house. Several of my housemates participated in a long and thoughtful interview with a reporter to explain why we wanted to live in a space that was actively anti-oppression, the most important reason being our physical safety (we are two POC, two trans people, lots o’ queers and ladies, etc). Unfortunately the reporter took a very condescending attitude towards our politics in the article. You can read the original here, a response about anti-abelism here, and my housemate Emili’s experience at the end of this Philebrity post. In response to the article, Emili is planning a book about collective living and why/how we resist oppression in our environment. When the call for submissions goes out, I’ll make sure to send a copy to Batten– I know you all would have a lot of awesome things to say.
Hope everyone is well! I miss Batten like crazy. All my best <3
May 27, 2008
· Filed under cooperative living, environmentalism · Tagged post by Jenny
How Green Is the College? Time the Showers.
The New York Times has a great article about a new eco-house at Oberlin called SEED (Student Experiment in Ecological Design). There are some pretty interesting ideas mentioned, including shower timers (and water-saving competitions); re-using water in toilets; study parties; and thermostat monitoring. Check out the video on SEED here!
April 9, 2008
· Filed under Literature, anarchism, bitchin, cooperative living, entertainment, environmentalism, feminism, mawrtyrs, menstruation, sexism, sexual assault, the second sex, veganism, woman artist · Tagged library
Here’s some pictures from the Batten Library! About half of the house-owned material has been cataloged on-line (http://www.librarything.com/profile/BattenHouse) with even more on the way!
-Jenny
February 26, 2008
· Filed under cooperative living · Tagged Amy
Now that the excitement of Hell Week is past and the work that piled up while you were having so much fun is sardonically laughing at you from your desk, I guess there’s not too much time to write on the blog!
Luckily for you all, I have no such woes, so here I go.
First off, I’m coming to visit PA (take 2) this coming weekend and I’m going to be in Bryn Mawr on Friday for a sleep over!! So I hope that you all plan somethin’ real special for me.
Secondly, I thought I would share a few tidbits I’ve learned from living at Debs Co-op.
1) Rice vinegar, when added to frying tofu, makes the tofu firmer.
2) You can freeze earth balance, so next time you go to Whole Foods get a shit ton and stick it in the freezer = less shopping trips to WF!
3) Shortening should be stored at room temperature, not in the fridge.
4) Getting huge cans of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes is a great investment and allows for delicious Italian food etc. all winter long!
5) Batten is the freakin’ sweetest place to live and is far superior for many many reasons! (including our huge ass rooms, the soy milk maker, local produce shopping, beyond amazing cooking, and how super clean we keep the place) I miss you all!!!!
Love,
Amy
