Reflections

I joined this blog for two reasons: (1) because I wanted to explore using blog groups as a teaching tool and (2) because I wanted to start seriously thinking about the book I said I would write after I finished my dissertation. First, I really like social networking tools because they are both educational and empowering. Behind my online identity I have power! I feel confident and supported by my "net" groups - I don't feel this way face to face (f2f). F2f conversations and support are usually abrupt and ill conceived where as feedback from an online venue is thoughtful and calculated (in a good way :-)).

I think the majority of folks still see this venue as impersonal and cold. "How can you teach online when you can't have a f2f conversation?" It's hard to explain. I think they see it as time-consuming rather than an expedited process in which you can shift effortlessly when necessary then come back when you have the time and/or are emotionally equipped to express your thoughts truthfully and sincerely. I wish people would give it a shot because this is where our students live. This is the world they live in!

The upside is that I have started the thought process - I know now what this book will look like. I have started making connections, doing research, inquiring about education trips, etc. that will result in a publishable piece of work. I also have four friends who are concerned about the same things (roadblocks, time constraints, etc.) I am and we can talk about it via this blog.

The downside is the same downside I have with EVERYTHING! I always have way too many irons in the fire and I do everything about half-assed. One thing that I can say that has truly "turned a negative into a positive" from the experience is that I need to get some focus in my life - make everything connect. If doesn't connect then stop doing it!

Lesson learned...

Networking

I joined a group called The Global Education Collaborative today...hmmm. It is a social networking site (like Twitter, Diigo, Zotero, etc) geared toward education interested in global education. It looks way cool! I think the group can help me connect with information I am interested in for the book. What a cool world it is out there on the Net!

So, we will continue...

It looks like we will continue our writing club blogging during a portion of our winter break. I am excited about that!

I really like this forum and have been thinking of ways to tie this in with my classes next spring. I am also looking at ways of connecting Internet based social networking (Diigo, Twitter, Zotera, etc.) with the blogging environment so that bookmarks of scholarly work, tag clouds, RSS feeds, personal reflection and critical position analysis, and so on can be connected to assist groups of folks with their writing and research. While much of my online behavior has been recreational/personal the last few months, I have learned a great deal and I believe the knowledge gained can be channeled into a scholarly activity. I won't give up the recreational use but I think merging the two could be very beneficial.

Thanks to Sally for leading us through this experiment!

Monday before Thanksgiving

I haven't written anything for a few days...well, I thought I hadn't anyway. Then it occurred to me that the response I made on the WKU-voice about NAFTA was actually narrative about my idea for the introduction to my book! So, YAY, I did write something and I was thinking about my topic:


NAFTA (and CAFTA) were both popular among corporate business but laborers and many others were, and still are, in opposition. The basic purpose of NAFTA was to create combined trilateral purchase/trade group among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that would reinforce each entities GDP. Of course, many folks opposed the move for the same reasons they opposed CAFTA and the efforts of the current administration to form a free trade agreement with Columbia, Panama, and South Korea. They see both the adverse impact of moving jobs to countries where wages are low and the environmental impact of relocating factories where EPA/FDA regulations are virtually non-existent. In other words, "free" trade isn't necessarily fair, safe, or healthy trade. Some of our "free" trade agreements have been suspect of violating even very basic human rights. My guess is that we will never dissolve NAFTA or CAFTA and that many of the "free" trade agreements that have been proposed recently will be signed and passed with very little effort because corporations are far more powerful that special interest groups - despite what some people say.

The downfall to withdrawing from NAFTA is two-fold. If we move our industries back the the U. S. and abandon these countries, they are left with no source of income; hence, the global economy is weakened even future. Even if we are ripping people off, it is income that they wouldn't have otherwise (yes, harsh but true). The other problem is that U. S. prices are set based on wages payed to textile workers in other countries not here in the U. S. The luxury of purchasing a $5 t-shirt at Walmart that was made in Indonesia would cease to exist. With our economy going down the toilet, we would not be able to continue the current lifestyle most of us have set for ourselves. For example, Americans drink Folgers coffee at $3.00+/- a pound because corporate coffee importers pay farmers substandard wages for their coffee. At fair-trade prices, coffee is more like $12-$14/lb after importing, packaging, and roasting. While some of us don't mind to pay that for good fair-trade/organic coffee, most will not and/or cannot. Can we afford what it would cost to pay American workers to produce all of our goods and abide by EPA and FDA regulations? Probably not. I think that's a sad reality. We have the resources we need to provide for ourselves but it is more cost affective to send our raw materials to other countries, have them manufacture/produce the finished product, then import it back to the U.S. I do believe, however, we can make a gradually shift back to free enterprise here in the U.S. but it can't happen over night without collapsing the global economy. The small business owners, local farmers, etc. really are the backbone of our future. We cannot last forever at our current status by simply importing everything we use and relying on big business for economic stability - look where it got us this year.

Oh, BTW, buy local, eat local, live local :-)

Just one more thing for the day...

I was looking though the Wheatmark submission materials and decided that I am really selling myself short. So, I went to Rutgers, University of California, and Oxford press websites and looked at their submission guidelines! They publish in my area and they are respectable!

A new day; A new week!

I am going to take Sally's advice and try to focus on the positive this week :-). Getting started is always hard, but once you get a feel for what you want to do, things seem to fall into place pretty well. It's not like this is the first thing I have ever written for god's sake.

I decided this morning, after getting an email for my dean, that presenting my topic and research (though it's not complete, well, or started yet) might be a good place to begin. I am sitting here preparing a conference proposal for SEWSA (The Southeast Women's Studies Association). The focus of SEWSA's conference this year is gender and sustainability - WOW, right down my alley! So, I have outlined the presentation to include a brief history of CAFTA, the affects of CAFTA on Central American Coffee Farmer's, our (Greener Groundz Coffee Roasters) connection with Gun Sanpaul, our coffee importer who was in the peace corp in Central American working with coffee farmer's, and our quest to create a small, female-owned business using 100% fair trade/organic coffees that support social justice in Central America. Well, it dawned on me that I was yet one step closer to an outline and focus for this book. That's exactly the format I would like to use!

So, there you have it! I think this is a great start to the week. I am gathering my resources to write both the proposal for the conference and the intro to my book.

I also signed up for a publisher search that gives you the names of publishers who would most closely match your needs and mostly likely publish your finished product. They give you a realistic review of what you can expect given your topic and your experience - sounds fair enough, huh? They paired me up with 4 publishers I have never heard of any of them but I researched the companies and found that Wheatmark seemed the most suited for me. So, I downloaded their publishing information packet! Away we go....!

It's Friday!

My hope is to have a little time to at least look at publishers and get an rough outline together today. As usual, I have a calendar packed back to back! I am going to take Sally's advice and spend a minute scheduling in some writing time. If I don't do that, this book is never going to happen!

Yesterday :-(

As usual, I did not get time to doing anything in terms of writing yesterday. I found myself rushing to grade, sign admission forms for grad studies, prepare a quiz, print my fliers for study abroad....all before I had to spend the afternoon running folks to doctor appointments. The evening was spent roasting coffee and practicing with a band for Saturday's Greener Groundz Acoustic Coffee Break at Bread & Bagels. I didn't get home until a little after 9pm and I was pooped! So, again, the book hit the back burner. I decided to let everything go this morning and look over comments from other's in the group - both to me and what folks said to each other. Sally advised that after I get an outline I should look at forms on publisher's website for submission criteria - good idea! I also felt better when I read Jane's comment to Sally about the amount of work that can actually be accomplished using those small chunks of time we have during the day/evening/wee hours :-)

I want this to be an exercise that inspires me; not one that discourages me. Know what I'm saying?

The beginning...

Since I have completed my dissertation, I feel that I am ready to tackle writing my first book; however, I have no clue where or how to begin this process. I assume my first goal will be to clearly define my topic. I am interested in the social, economic, political, and environmental affects of CAFTA on coffee farmers in Central America. I would assume that drafting an outline might be a logical place to start? While I am extremely busy, I am convinced that if I put this on the back burner, that is where it will stay. I think it might actually be a refuge for my sanity in the days to come.

So, my first week's goal will be to take the afternoons on Monday (today), Wednesday, and Friday to begin the foundation of what will surely be one of Oprah's book club favorites!