adventures of a tired coder

Those of you who know me well know that I'm pretty far from being one of those tree-hugging, bleeding-heart, hippie liberals. But as I get older, I start to feel more like a full-fledged citizen of the world, and as a result, I feel the burden of responsibility to make this a better place for everyone. I've sponsored a child through Compassion International since I was in college (she recently graduated from the program, got a job, and started taking technical classes, so I've gotten a new child). I also donate every year through my company's giving campaign. No, these dollars don't change the world, but giving a little more happiness to someone with a difficult life is always a good thing to do. I urge those of you who are not contributing to charity to find some causes that you believe in and give time, money, whatever. It only takes a quick search to find something you'll think is worthwhile.

Those of you who know me know how cluttered my living space is. =) That's where this whole blog entry got started... one day when I was looking around my kitchen and saw all the plastic bags that I'd been too lazy to pick up. Yeah, I reuse plastic bags as trash bags and lunch bags, but I don't use them nearly as fast as they come in. So I started looking around and found a recommendation for Reusable Bags. I purchased a basic set of shopping bags, including 2 long-handled bags, 2 short-handled bags, and 4 produce bags for $20. The bags are great for groceries, hauling food to work, etc. I found the produce bags to be less useful because they aren't replacements for the bags you use at the store, being neither waterproof nor transparent. They are great dirty laundry bags for traveling or the gym, though. =) Another big challenge is remembering to have the bags with you. I try to put them back in my car as soon as possible so they'll be available anytime I go shopping. Seattle's a pretty green city, so if you stick your bags in your shopping cart or basket, every single cashier knows immediately what they're for.

Especially with all the stuff in the news about a possible 20-cent fee for non-reusable bags. Time to start getting used to the cloth bags, cuz it's only a matter of time before this happens everywhere. I recently put in an order for even more bags, including two of the brown ones pictured above. These hold way more and will be great for taking to the Saturday market once that starts up again in May. I read a great suggestion for using cloth bags as "wrapping paper" for gifts to save on paper and encourage family and friends to use reusable bags. I love this idea. Wrapping presents sucks.

Oh yeah, my CSA of choice for this summer is Helsing Junction Farm. We'll see how it goes!

Man, I started this entry in February and then got really busy and never finished it. So much for posting once per month... it seems like the month of March just flew by!

It had been on my mind for awhile to seek out a sewing class, since the skill seems like something I'd enjoy as well as something that would be useful. Finally, I found one month "Sewing for Beginners" classes at Lake Washington Technical College that seemed perfect, since the college is really close to where I live.

I really liked the way the class was organized because we were able to complete at least one project each week. At the beginning of the class, I didn't know how to set up a sewing machine, and by the end, I'd completed a pillowcase, several reversible placemats, a heart-shaped potholder, and several other small projects. I liked it so much that I bought a beginner sewing machine and signed up for the second month of the class, where the main thing we did was a pair of pajama pants.

I hope to learn how to quilt in the future. Definitely have a long way to go before I'll be able to sew well, but at least my cat likes the results.