Sunday, April 06, 2008
Trapped in a Bubble Gum Factory
When I was a kid, I used to love Bazooka Joe gum, mainly for the comic strips within the wrappers of each piece. The bottom of the comic contained a one-line fortune for your day -- the sort you find inside a fortune cookie. Anyway, every once and awhile, I'd get a piece with a fortune that read: "Help! I'm trapped in a bubble gum factory!" The first time I saw this, around the tender age of 8 or 9, I thought it was actually a cry for help. I envisioned some poor factory worker being held against his will, forced to crank out print after print of Bazooka Joe comic strips. And this secret message he sent out, probably made on the rare opportunity when the boss wasn't looking, was his only chance for escape. It was a message in a bottle, an S.O.S. I showed it to my parents - they assured me it was probably just a joke. But I was always skeptical. I am to this day, especially now that I'm older, and therefore get the irony.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one
In my senior year of high school, my school held a luncheon and awards ceremony in the cafeteria for graduating seniors. At the ceremony, one of my classmates sang "Imagine" by, well, you know who sang it first. It was a beautiful rendition, none of us had known we had such a gem among our graduating class, and by the end our eyes were filled with tears, our hearts swelled with joy for having reached this milestone and with hope for the exciting, unknowable future ahead. The year was 1992, just before Bill's first term in office. When he began campaigning, he was popular among many of us, including most of my friends, we found him personable, likable -- he seemed to offer us new alternatives - he seemed to care about some of the things we were taught to care about, having been raised on Sesame Street and occasionally lucky enough to have teachers still in touch with their hippie ideals: the environment, technology, education, human rights, a concern for the welfare of human beings the world over. I remember having favorable discussions about him, well into my college years. We were hopeful, we believed in the future he promised us. And for the most part, I think he did a damn fine job. As for NAFTA, well, nobody's perfect.
Unfortunately, the administration of the current Commander-in-Chief has cast a long and dark shadow over any of the progress made by the Clinton years. During the past seven years, we have been thrown into a dark age. I have hardly been able to turn on the radio or the news because of the reports from Iraq. I could hardly believe the things I was hearing from my fellow Americans. I began to lose all hope.
And then, when I began to fear all was lost, when I started signing up for language courses to go live in another country, I began to hear whispers of a name through the grassroots organizations; I began seeing this name in association with worthy causes, I began seeing this person in YouTube videos talking about these causes. I've watched this campaign grow and gain strength and momentum. The leftists are worried he's too soft, too much of a dreamer, that the Republicans are going to "chew him up." Well, maybe that's how it is, but I think it's going to take a dreamer to yank us out of the muck of the past so that we are no longer stuck in tradition.
A friend of mine had one of those quotes as the electronic signature for her email. I'm butchering the hell out of it, but the gist of it was that it is more dangerous to cling to old ideas than to take a risk on new ones. I see Obama representing these new ideas - scary, risky - in the way that change always is, but for the first time in a long time, I have hope.
Friday night, midnight, laying in my bed, I could hear the tail end of the Obama rally 17 blocks away at the corner of 11th and Lavaca. The crowd cheered, fireworks burst, a booming voice over a loudspeaker, which may have been Obama's, drifted up into the chilly, starry night. And circulating within that rally, drifting down the streets and into the night, I could hear it - a battle cry, a call for change, a rhythmic, chanting heartbeat: "yes we can! yes we can! yes we can!"
Unfortunately, the administration of the current Commander-in-Chief has cast a long and dark shadow over any of the progress made by the Clinton years. During the past seven years, we have been thrown into a dark age. I have hardly been able to turn on the radio or the news because of the reports from Iraq. I could hardly believe the things I was hearing from my fellow Americans. I began to lose all hope.
And then, when I began to fear all was lost, when I started signing up for language courses to go live in another country, I began to hear whispers of a name through the grassroots organizations; I began seeing this name in association with worthy causes, I began seeing this person in YouTube videos talking about these causes. I've watched this campaign grow and gain strength and momentum. The leftists are worried he's too soft, too much of a dreamer, that the Republicans are going to "chew him up." Well, maybe that's how it is, but I think it's going to take a dreamer to yank us out of the muck of the past so that we are no longer stuck in tradition.
A friend of mine had one of those quotes as the electronic signature for her email. I'm butchering the hell out of it, but the gist of it was that it is more dangerous to cling to old ideas than to take a risk on new ones. I see Obama representing these new ideas - scary, risky - in the way that change always is, but for the first time in a long time, I have hope.
Friday night, midnight, laying in my bed, I could hear the tail end of the Obama rally 17 blocks away at the corner of 11th and Lavaca. The crowd cheered, fireworks burst, a booming voice over a loudspeaker, which may have been Obama's, drifted up into the chilly, starry night. And circulating within that rally, drifting down the streets and into the night, I could hear it - a battle cry, a call for change, a rhythmic, chanting heartbeat: "yes we can! yes we can! yes we can!"
Monday, February 25, 2008
Hope in My Heart
This is a little belated - so it may have lost some of the enthusiasm initially experienced, but the sentiment is still the same. Thursday night I watched the Democratic debates between Hillary and Obama at the University of Texas. I couldn't get tickets to attend the actual debate, but this was even better because I was able to watch it, live, from the comfort of my own home office chair while also working on Walter's scarf. Thus, I was able to experience my two favorite things at the same time - politics and knitting! It felt so perfect, and not only because of the knitting. This was the first debate I actually watched -- catching only the gist of all the others on NPR the following mornings, then awaiting the results of the state primaries from the same source or a news web page. But this one, being held in my home town, at the beginning of the primary in my home state, and therefore, my turn to show up at the state primary and make my voice heard, and not to mention, being the historic event that this whole election is, I came straight home from work and sat down to watch - resolving not to get up, not to answer the phone, not to even talk to my boyfriend until it was done. And that, dear friends, is exactly what I did. I was so moved by the whole experience - not just by what they were saying, those wild, radical, liberal ideas coming out of their mouths that I was emphatically nodding my head in agreement with, but in the commercial breaks in between, by the moments I took to pause and fantasize about what it would be like to have either of those two leading the country, serving as role models for millions of Americans like myself. In Hillary, we would find a strong and powerful leader - a female role model performing the most challenging and scrutinized role in American society. A woman president of the U.S. - can you imagine it? What kind of changes would this have on our society -- on our society's view of women and their place in the world, the man-woman debate, even on popular culture? On a personal level, I think that having a woman for president, any woman, would, to some degree, legitimize my own experience as a woman in the workplace. I think for the first time ever, I wouldn't feel like I was struggling alone - out there fighting on a front line that only women could see, hear or feel. Even when I've worked where there was a group of us - men and women working together for the same cause - it has always felt like a small group, and one that had to be absolutely perfect, flawless, fierce, and unfaltering, not letting our guard down for even a split-second lest the vagaries breach the stronghold. I think if a woman were elected president, even if just as an honorary position, like our current commander-in-chief, I can only imagine that this underlying feeling would change one-hundred fold, instantly, and overnight. I can also only imagine that it will be a similar experience for African Americans, as well as other minorities (such as women!) if Barack is elected president.
And race and gender issues aside, the candidates themselves present figures of character, intelligence and substance. Both appear sincerely compassionate about the state of our nation, human affairs (both locally and globally), the health of American citizens, to name a few of the issues they have been so heatedly arguing lately. So, with not only one but two candidates so closely representing the characteristics I want to see in our next Commander-in-Chief, how does a working girl like me decide where to cast her vote? Well, the decision has not been an easy one, but after much deliberation, rumination, discussion, and research, I have decided to cast my vote with hope.
While I have no doubt that Hillary is a mover and a shaker, and I am impressed with the goals of her health plan as well as the action items she provides for achieving those goals, in my heart I believe that America is long overdue for a changing of the guard. This is still a young century, times have changed, the world is changing and changing rapidly. A host of new and unforseeable challenges lie just up ahead and we need a leader with innovation, fresh ideas, unorthodox solutions. We need a leader who inspires hope in Americans, both old and young, and at least a blossoming curiosity with the rest of the world.
And race and gender issues aside, the candidates themselves present figures of character, intelligence and substance. Both appear sincerely compassionate about the state of our nation, human affairs (both locally and globally), the health of American citizens, to name a few of the issues they have been so heatedly arguing lately. So, with not only one but two candidates so closely representing the characteristics I want to see in our next Commander-in-Chief, how does a working girl like me decide where to cast her vote? Well, the decision has not been an easy one, but after much deliberation, rumination, discussion, and research, I have decided to cast my vote with hope.
While I have no doubt that Hillary is a mover and a shaker, and I am impressed with the goals of her health plan as well as the action items she provides for achieving those goals, in my heart I believe that America is long overdue for a changing of the guard. This is still a young century, times have changed, the world is changing and changing rapidly. A host of new and unforseeable challenges lie just up ahead and we need a leader with innovation, fresh ideas, unorthodox solutions. We need a leader who inspires hope in Americans, both old and young, and at least a blossoming curiosity with the rest of the world.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Photos - like I need another hobby!
I don't really know what to do with these - was just messing around.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Promises, promises
Really, I have no excuse. I've had my own computer for a week now, and before that, I've had full use of a borrowed laptop and yet, still, no posts. The last one is over a month old. Looks like this is going to be harder than I thought.
And speaking of harder than I thought, turns out it's not so easy building a fair trade wardrobe either. My goal was to only buy items from companies who supported fair wages - there are few. It looks like I'm not going to be able to take the all or nothing approach I was hoping for, but at least I'm trying. For Christmas I just broke down and did some shopping at Target - lack of time and resources sort of forced the issue. I did, however, buy a few things from my friend's sale of items she had purchased fairly and brought back from S. America in her many travels there.
Back from the holidays and determined to get back on track, I got online and did some shopping with Fair Indigo. So far, the experience has been fairly pleasant. The sizes tend to run a little large and it's also hard to judge how something is going to look by viewing an online picture, so I've had to send a few items back. The nice thing is that they try to make it easy by including a return form and shipping label in the package. What's not so great is that they also deduct the cost of postage from your refund or exchange, so if you return something you have to pay for shipping twice (a fixed price for returns, though, so if you have a bulk of items the cost of returning them is cheaper than the price of shipping them to you. On the other hand, if you're only sending one thing back, it's probably cheaper to take it to the post office yourself, and of course you always have that option.)
The clothes are just lovely, and well made. The 100% cotton blue jeans I purchased were the most comfortable things I've ever worn, even pre-washed. However, I bought a 10, which was just a bit too large, so I had to return them. I think the next size down would've fit like a glove, but they were sold out of my leg length (yes, they sell by waist and leg length, a real bonus for petites). The front part around the zipper was kind of pouchy, but not especially noticeable, just as described by one of the reviewers. Each item online has a space for product reviews by customers which are extremely helpful when trying to figure out what something is actually going to look like when worn. For the most part, the reviews are positive and my experience is that they are also pretty accurate. Something else you will find in reading the product reviews are references to discussions with customer service people - real live people! People answering questions and listening to suggestions. When I made my order, I received what seemed like a personalized email thank you from one of the store representatives. It's currently a small operation, with only one store in Madison, WI and of course the online store and catalog. Time magazine has more information about the company's origins.
The items were a bit pricey, so I only shopped from the sale page, which had plenty to choose from and considering the quality, not to mention that good feeling you get from supporting a good cause, it's a pretty good deal overall.
One thing I've learned as I have delved into this journey of responsible consumerism is that this is a much bigger issue than just fair wage alone. The short film on this website: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ provides a concise run down of what else is at stake here - namely, the health of our planet and the survival of its inhabitants.
And speaking of harder than I thought, turns out it's not so easy building a fair trade wardrobe either. My goal was to only buy items from companies who supported fair wages - there are few. It looks like I'm not going to be able to take the all or nothing approach I was hoping for, but at least I'm trying. For Christmas I just broke down and did some shopping at Target - lack of time and resources sort of forced the issue. I did, however, buy a few things from my friend's sale of items she had purchased fairly and brought back from S. America in her many travels there.
Back from the holidays and determined to get back on track, I got online and did some shopping with Fair Indigo. So far, the experience has been fairly pleasant. The sizes tend to run a little large and it's also hard to judge how something is going to look by viewing an online picture, so I've had to send a few items back. The nice thing is that they try to make it easy by including a return form and shipping label in the package. What's not so great is that they also deduct the cost of postage from your refund or exchange, so if you return something you have to pay for shipping twice (a fixed price for returns, though, so if you have a bulk of items the cost of returning them is cheaper than the price of shipping them to you. On the other hand, if you're only sending one thing back, it's probably cheaper to take it to the post office yourself, and of course you always have that option.)
The clothes are just lovely, and well made. The 100% cotton blue jeans I purchased were the most comfortable things I've ever worn, even pre-washed. However, I bought a 10, which was just a bit too large, so I had to return them. I think the next size down would've fit like a glove, but they were sold out of my leg length (yes, they sell by waist and leg length, a real bonus for petites). The front part around the zipper was kind of pouchy, but not especially noticeable, just as described by one of the reviewers. Each item online has a space for product reviews by customers which are extremely helpful when trying to figure out what something is actually going to look like when worn. For the most part, the reviews are positive and my experience is that they are also pretty accurate. Something else you will find in reading the product reviews are references to discussions with customer service people - real live people! People answering questions and listening to suggestions. When I made my order, I received what seemed like a personalized email thank you from one of the store representatives. It's currently a small operation, with only one store in Madison, WI and of course the online store and catalog. Time magazine has more information about the company's origins.
The items were a bit pricey, so I only shopped from the sale page, which had plenty to choose from and considering the quality, not to mention that good feeling you get from supporting a good cause, it's a pretty good deal overall.
One thing I've learned as I have delved into this journey of responsible consumerism is that this is a much bigger issue than just fair wage alone. The short film on this website: http://www.storyofstuff.com/ provides a concise run down of what else is at stake here - namely, the health of our planet and the survival of its inhabitants.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Stolen Moments
My poor, neglected blog. I had such high hopes for you. You were to be the holding pen for my ideas. thoughts, ramblings, and political interests. A launch pad for creative writing and a means of promoting completed works. Sadly, due to a job change, I had to return "my" laptop to my former employers just as my inspiration to use you began to grow. Now, here I am, with no computer of my own and only limited usage of boyfriend's computer - either late at night, when my energy levels are dropping, or five minutes here and there with boyfriend standing over my shoulder sending out "are you done yet?" vibes that hinder my concentration on you. Thus, you suffer. Your posts are old, outdated, and no longer reflect my current projects and state of emotions. I now see you as an ailing pet - withering away from some incurable malady and I am at my wit's end what to do. Alas, the Christmas holidays are fast approaching, soon to be gone, and then, oh! sweet mercy! the annual after-Christmas sales! Perhaps then, prices will be low enough, I will have savings enough, to buy a computer of my very own! We must hang on till then, dear blog, we must endure. Things could be worse - at least we still can have these little stolen moments in the meantime! They will have to sustain us until then. And then, I promise you, frequent posts as long as you are free! At least once a week but possibly, on occasion, even daily! Till then my dear blog, let me use these precious moments to tell you what's going on with me now . . .
I have made it my mission to be a conscientious consumer as much as is possible. Unforturnately, this means that I can't buy anything, and I mean anything! It seems that our entire nation is either made of corn products or made in China. The only item that seems readily available as a Made in USA product is a pair of socks. Yes, it seems the sock industry is alive and well in America. However, my goal is not so much to support the American labor market with its unions and labor laws and fair(er??) wages, but to not support the slave trade, er, I mean sweat shop industry. I have yet to look this up on the NOW website to see what they are doing to try to do away with this appalling means of production, but I hope, and to some degree I am sure, they are trying to take some action against it. Or, at least they should be, because it really is very much a woman's issue. Most of these sweat shops hire women & children - girls - because they are easier to control and the factory managers don't have to pay them as much as they would a male worker. Refer to the documentaries - China Blue and Made in China - I'm quoting actual factory owners and managers here. It's a pretty sad state of affairs - just as it was when this nation was industrializing (still doesn't make it okay though). So, in an attempt to not support this type of system, I thought I'd try a few alternatives. Here's what I've discovered so far:
First of all, you can forget about Target. Everything in there has the Made In China label on it, and since I don't know if (and seriously doubt that) Target is dealing only with Chinese factories that offer fair wages, I can't buy products from there - so, now where do I buy pj's?? Target does have a few cosmetic and bath items that are made in the USA and France (haven't heard anything about sweat shops in France), so I can shop there for mascara and deodorant.
TJ Maxx: Forget it!
J. Jill: this is a hard one for me because I've recently discovered this store and it has an excellent petite section. Pants that actually fit properly? Shirts that don't come down to my mid-thigh? No way!! I went in there this past week and started reading labels - Made in China, Made in Hong Kong, Turkey, India. I did find, and purchase, some very nice Made in USA products, though - 3 very nice pairs of socks (and the 4th pair was free!).
REI: Okay, I thought that, it being kind of a granola-ish store, it would be a fair trade type of company - ha! Made in China, Made in India etc., etc. I did find some Made in USA items and guess what? They were socks! So, I bought a pair. And, I have to confess, I did buy an REI sweater - it was made in China and on sale and it just turned cold here and I haven't bought a new sweater in a few years so I broke down and bought it. Hey, I'm human and I am weak!
I did a little searching on the Net and discovered Fair Indigo, a lovely website with some very nice, professional type of clothing that you could wear to the office. Their selection isn't huge, when I was looking at the website the other day they didn't have much by way of winter clothing, and the items are a bit pricey, but it seems like a good place to start. Another internet-based company is No Sweat, they have a lot of cute, hipster street clothes but not exactly the kind of stuff I wear and certainly not the kind of thing I would wear to the office. Next time I'm shopping for a hoodie, though, I'll make sure I check there first. There's another clothing website too but I can't remember the name of it, probably for the best though cause I thought the clothes were ugly and I'd hate to slam a fair trade organization. There's also American Apparel, which everyone mentions whenever I bring up fair trade shopping. Umm, that one isn't for me.
And of course, there's vintage! Even if it was originally made in a sweat shop, at least I'm recycling! That's not so bad - right? right? right?
Or, you could always make your own stuff. That's becoming more and more popular and, as a novice knitter & crocheter, I'm all for this one! Of course, the yarn or fabric or needles you use to make your own stuff are probably made in a sweat shop too, so I don't know how much we're helping there. It just seems impossible to not be a part of the problem, no matter what you do!
Okay, so this isn't going to be easy. But I'm not giving up! I don't think I can do the all or nothing approach I had in mind at the start, at least not right now, but I am definitely going to support those businesses and companies involved in fair trade efforts, and I'm going to make my own efforts to raise awareness and support fair trade as well. I will keep you posted and let you know how that goes. I will also start a separate section of this blog that lists links for fair trade stores, as I come across them.
I have made it my mission to be a conscientious consumer as much as is possible. Unforturnately, this means that I can't buy anything, and I mean anything! It seems that our entire nation is either made of corn products or made in China. The only item that seems readily available as a Made in USA product is a pair of socks. Yes, it seems the sock industry is alive and well in America. However, my goal is not so much to support the American labor market with its unions and labor laws and fair(er??) wages, but to not support the slave trade, er, I mean sweat shop industry. I have yet to look this up on the NOW website to see what they are doing to try to do away with this appalling means of production, but I hope, and to some degree I am sure, they are trying to take some action against it. Or, at least they should be, because it really is very much a woman's issue. Most of these sweat shops hire women & children - girls - because they are easier to control and the factory managers don't have to pay them as much as they would a male worker. Refer to the documentaries - China Blue and Made in China - I'm quoting actual factory owners and managers here. It's a pretty sad state of affairs - just as it was when this nation was industrializing (still doesn't make it okay though). So, in an attempt to not support this type of system, I thought I'd try a few alternatives. Here's what I've discovered so far:
First of all, you can forget about Target. Everything in there has the Made In China label on it, and since I don't know if (and seriously doubt that) Target is dealing only with Chinese factories that offer fair wages, I can't buy products from there - so, now where do I buy pj's?? Target does have a few cosmetic and bath items that are made in the USA and France (haven't heard anything about sweat shops in France), so I can shop there for mascara and deodorant.
TJ Maxx: Forget it!
J. Jill: this is a hard one for me because I've recently discovered this store and it has an excellent petite section. Pants that actually fit properly? Shirts that don't come down to my mid-thigh? No way!! I went in there this past week and started reading labels - Made in China, Made in Hong Kong, Turkey, India. I did find, and purchase, some very nice Made in USA products, though - 3 very nice pairs of socks (and the 4th pair was free!).
REI: Okay, I thought that, it being kind of a granola-ish store, it would be a fair trade type of company - ha! Made in China, Made in India etc., etc. I did find some Made in USA items and guess what? They were socks! So, I bought a pair. And, I have to confess, I did buy an REI sweater - it was made in China and on sale and it just turned cold here and I haven't bought a new sweater in a few years so I broke down and bought it. Hey, I'm human and I am weak!
I did a little searching on the Net and discovered Fair Indigo, a lovely website with some very nice, professional type of clothing that you could wear to the office. Their selection isn't huge, when I was looking at the website the other day they didn't have much by way of winter clothing, and the items are a bit pricey, but it seems like a good place to start. Another internet-based company is No Sweat, they have a lot of cute, hipster street clothes but not exactly the kind of stuff I wear and certainly not the kind of thing I would wear to the office. Next time I'm shopping for a hoodie, though, I'll make sure I check there first. There's another clothing website too but I can't remember the name of it, probably for the best though cause I thought the clothes were ugly and I'd hate to slam a fair trade organization. There's also American Apparel, which everyone mentions whenever I bring up fair trade shopping. Umm, that one isn't for me.
And of course, there's vintage! Even if it was originally made in a sweat shop, at least I'm recycling! That's not so bad - right? right? right?
Or, you could always make your own stuff. That's becoming more and more popular and, as a novice knitter & crocheter, I'm all for this one! Of course, the yarn or fabric or needles you use to make your own stuff are probably made in a sweat shop too, so I don't know how much we're helping there. It just seems impossible to not be a part of the problem, no matter what you do!
Okay, so this isn't going to be easy. But I'm not giving up! I don't think I can do the all or nothing approach I had in mind at the start, at least not right now, but I am definitely going to support those businesses and companies involved in fair trade efforts, and I'm going to make my own efforts to raise awareness and support fair trade as well. I will keep you posted and let you know how that goes. I will also start a separate section of this blog that lists links for fair trade stores, as I come across them.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Need More Love
This book is fascinating! I first opened Need More Love in the comic books store on N. Lamar after hearing an interview with the author, Aline Crumb, and her husband, the infamous Robert Crumb, on NPR a few months ago. From the moment I started reading, I couldn't put it down. My boyfriend had to drag me from the bookstore, and I continued stealing sneak peaks during every trip to BookPeople until finally my birthday rolled around and I received (from darling boyfriend) my own copy of the book. That was less than 2 weeks ago and I'm nearly finished. I've slowed down the pace to savor it a bit longer. Consisting of pages of Aline's comics and interspersed with old photographs, paintings, and pages of autobiographical narration, the book is a quick read only if you don't take the time to appreciate the artwork. In addition to her own drawings, the book includes those of her fellow female comic authors as well as those by her husband in the collaborative pieces they drew together. (Interesting their depictions of themselves in these pieces - she draws herself so much bigger than he does his character, as if to represent how much psychic space she fulfills in the relationship - a larger than life character).
More review to come . . .
Monday, May 01, 2006
Sunday, April 30, 2006
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