I’m discovering that blogging’s a lot like writing poetry. A lot of work, little feedback. The stats are up — thanks friends, for reading — but no comments. Is there something opaque about my writing that discourages communication? I should ask more questions, perhaps?

On the other hand, I guess it’s liberating — again like poetry — with its lack of formal constraints and economic concerns. By lack of economic concerns, I mean that there’s no money in it.

Is aversion to capitalist work criteria enough to classify me as a poet? I blog, therefore I’m a socialist writer.

But today I’ve decided: time for a lil action.

Back in February when I accidentally got into fair trade, 5 of us gals from the English department at USC met over fair trade coffee to try to do something about bringing said coffee to campus. We even sent a letter to Hospitality Services. Then quals and screening exams came up, etc etc etc…

So: What I really think we need to do is some coalition building, so it doesn’t seem so much like we’re 5 little girls attacking this behemoth of an educational institution with our soft page-turning, blog-typing hands between essay due dates. I turned to Google, looking for friends, and came up with:

1. Sean, an SC student who works with USC Costa Rica, has been directly importing fair trade from Costa Rica for what looks like a couple years.

2. Michàlle, a SC professor, has written a book called Managing diversity : toward a globally inclusive workplace, whose Statistically Improbable Phrases include “fair trade coffee.”

I wrote Sean, who’s already written back! With Michàlle — I’m wondering if maybe I should read her book first? Or is that too typical a grad student excuse for not actually taking action?

fair trade

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