Fair Trade Soapbox

So this past Friday, the crew of Pezheads - The Movie trecked to Gainesville, Florida, in the hopes of conducting an important interview. When that fell through (grumble grumble) we moved on to Plan B, which was to interview random people about their thoughts. We happened to be in Gainesville during the first week of classes at UF which means that the entrance to the Reitz Union was filled with student groups trying to recruit members. So we got to say hi to Steve Lammers from RUF in Gainesville, as well as Chris's friend Alan who works for Campus Crusade. Also, right next to where we were set up, was a group of grassroots-types who were informing people about Fair Trade. And they were giving out stickers, which is always a way to get Chris and my attention. So I went over to talk to the girl and learned all kinds of cool things about Fair Trade.

I mean, I already knew about Fair Trade with regards to coffee, especially, mainly due to an article in an old re:generation magazine. But it was good to get thinking about it again. I believe strongly that as a Christ-follower, I should be concerned for the well-being of others... and not just other people in Savannah, but other people living everywhere. That's why I think that healthcare should be more widely available, and that's why I get mad at people who support Right to Life but not Right To See A Doctor After You're Born Whether You've Got A Great Job Or Not. (yes, I am upset that I make too much money to get free healthcare but not enough see a doctor after I've paid my rent). Anyways. Back to Fair Trade.

I would do a terrible job of trying to explain the whole idea behind it, but Oxfam Fair Trade does a fabulous job for me. So you should read up about it there. The super-short version is that companies that sell coffee are buying it from the growers for less than it cost these growers to produce it, because they can. Then they sell it to us for ridiculously high prices so they can buy a new Mercedes. And I think that's disgusting. What Fair Trade does is pay growers a fair price for their coffee... above their cost of production. This still is a low enough price that companies can afford to do it without losing much by way of profit. And it's just socially responsible.

I'm really not one to rally for ... well ... anything, mainly because I'm not a big fan of debates, and rallying for something requires debating people who don't agree with you, or struggling with frustrations against people who just don't care. So I tend to just have my own convictions and stick with them, without doing much to try and do anything about it. Terrible, I know. But it's true. The same way I don't walk around trying to "evangalize" to every non-christian I meet, I also don't walk around yelling at people for drinking Starbucks coffee. But I do try to "vote" based on how I spend my money, however small a contribution that is. Chris and I, eventually, want to open a coffee shop... at which point I want to serve only Fair Trade coffee. But in the short term, I was thinking "I should only buy coffee from places that serve Fair Trade Coffee." But that opens a whole new can of worms.

The only place I know of near me that serves Fair Trade coffee is The Sentient Bean. That's great when I'm at home, because it's about a half-mile from my home. (And I MUST point out that their double espresso is 50 cents CHEAPER than the coffee shop 2 doors down from my office, and at least 25 cents CHEAPER than Starbucks, neither of which buy their coffee at a fair price. Think about that). But although there are 6 coffee shops a very short distance from my work (less than a mile, and most less than half a mile), none of them serve Fair Trade, so to say that I'll only buy Fair Trade coffee paints myself into a corner of Not Buying Coffee... an idea I'm none too fond of.

But the cute grassroots girl at the Reitz Union told me that they were able to make it a requirement for coffee shops on UF campus to sell Fair Trade... even the Starbucks that moved in! So then I thought "Well, maybe I should go into these coffee shops and suggest they buy Fair Trade. Then I would be able to get coffee downtown. And I would be doing something good. I mean, it's quite likely that these people have never thought of it before, and so they aren't consciously ripping off coffee farmers in 3rd world countries.

So that's my new plan. And by ranting about it here, I may feel a little more fire under my butt to actually do it. Stay tuned.

Oh yes, and I must point out that the Christian Study Center of Gainesville serves fair trade coffee (way to go, Dr. Horner!). And coffee shop owners can buy organic Fair Trade coffee directly from Sweetwater Coffee in Gainesville. Man, I love Gainesville.

new computer

My new apple has arrived! Finally, I'm back on a mac... and a sleek thin 15" powerbook that fits nicely in my backpack, at that. =) Much happiness. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to customizing my new extension of myself.

books

Today I finished reading Blue Like Jazz. I would definitely recommend it... the author is just really honest about his thoughts about God and spirituality, and just dealing with things in life. It was great... and awesome because he was so open to admit that he doesn't know everything, that he has faults, and here's what he's learned from some of his faults, and here's what he's learned about God and about life and about love from other people. Very great food for thought. And he's a bit of a hippie liberal, which is great too, because a lot of his non-conventional thoughts on stuff really resonated with what I think... and it's just good to remember sometimes that not every Christian is a die-hard Republican.

I also finished listening to the audio book of Lord of the Flies today. Good book. Disturbing. I had a friend in High School who had read it and felt it was necessary to add "I have the conch!" to many conversations, so I kept being reminded of that throughout the book. She also felt it was appropriate to interrupt conversations with "But I'm cute!" ... that has nothing to do with Lord of the Flies, I just remembered it.

I'm going to bed now.

apples and green peppers

So when I said my computer wasn't functioning well, what i really meant was that it won't boot up. I suspected it had big problems, but thought maybe, just maybe, a cord came loose and that once I dug around through all the cords, it would start up again, but I was wrong. (Sorry, John, but you can still have it if you want to try and make it boot up). So I finally bit the bullet and ordered my new laptop. I mean, I'm a web designer. I can't very well be without a computer. So I'm all kinds of excited for when my shiny new apple comes to my door. It should be soon.

In other news, I gave up on my green pepper plant about a month ago. It was crawling with bugs and flowering but not actually creating peppers, no matter how hard I tried to pollenate the flowers. So I gave up, stuck him out on our back porch where I was sure we'd forget about him (it's kind of a pain to get to our back porch, and it's nothing to look at, so basically the only person to go out there is Chris, when taking out the garbage). Well, much to my surprise, it's completely thriving out there. Chris watered it while I forgot about it, and the rain's been helping with the watering, too. Plus, green pepper plants love heat, so I guess it's having a great time in the 97 degree whether as opposed to the 78 degree weather indoors. Because, much to my surprise, I have a single solitary green pepper growing on it now. Oh joy and happiness. I can't wait for it to get big so I cut him up and eat him. Now at least I know never to try and grow a green pepper indoors. Or tomatoes, cuz that one is still gigantic but lacking in fruit... I guess they need to be outside for that stuff to happen. ::sigh::

The Sleeping Bag of Myself

So in between working, prepping for the SAT classes I'm teaching soon, and sleeping, I've been doing a lot of reading lately. That's what happens when I don't have a TV... I have to find some other form of entertainment, and reading is a long-loved pastime I haven't done enough of lately. I devoured all the Harry Potter series as audio books (so I still don't know how that chick's name is spelled, cuz I haven't seen it)... and I really enjoyed them, as well as enjoying the ability to "read" and do other things at the same time, as long as those other things didn't require thought... like laundry or crocheting. I've also been doing actual reading, too (as opposed to listening). And it's been great, I've been devouring lots of stuff... some beautiful, some just bizarre, some a little of both... but whereas watching too much TV made me stupid, all this reading is causing me to internalize a lot.

Right now, for instance, I'm reading Blue Like Jazz and although some of it is just so-so, some of it is amazing. So I have all these beautiful little stories in my head, and then I don't know what to do with them, other than go through life absorbed in the beauty of these little stories. I'm way too much in myself and not in the world, I guess. It reminds me of a phrase from a book I read earlier this summer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, where Oskar talks about "zipping up the sleeping bag of myself" ... or something like that. I thought that was a beautiful phrase, and I guess that's kind of what this is like. I'm probably not making any sense, but that probably goes along with the rest of it, too.

no interesting title

Well, let's see... i haven't posted for a while because althought I've been waxing and waning between super busy and waiting on feedback from everybody about everything (like I am now) there's not much to talk about. I'm trying to make enough $$ in freelance work to get a new apple laptop, as my 5-year-old mac has decided to pretty much quit functioning on any useful level, and considering it's so old, I've pretty much given up trying to get it to behave any better. So Chris and I have been sharing his computer, but we both need it too often so that causes problems. But I need a couple other projects to go thru before I'll be able to get a new machine... so I just dream about it a lot.

I managed to finish (barely!) crocheting a baby blanket for Luisa before her shower last Saturday. It turned out very well, i must say. I was very proud. And Luisa seemed to like it, so hooray!

And... for now that's it. Nothing exciting to share about my birds or my plants (which although they're flourishing, never did really provide me with much in the way of produce). Oh! Katie gave me a wonderful goldfish shower curtain that makes me smile. I took a picture and will have to post it soon.

So that's all for now. Sorry to be so darned boring lately.

busy again

Well, I spent the past weekend in Indiana, visiting my family up there. It was a lot of fun, and great to see everyone again. I hadn't been up there in almost two years. Since I've returned, I've been busy with work, freelance projects, and crocheting (I told Luisa that I would make her a baby blanket, and the shower is this Saturday, so I don't have much time yet to finish it). So... haven't had much time to post, and haven't thought about much other than all the things i have to do. I need to get working on prepping for the SAT classes I'm teaching next month, too. I'm feeling stressed for the first time in a long time. Not a bad feeling... just different.