Howdy from the Heart of Illinois

Hey! I'm Sophie Gale; I'm 59 1/2 and I don't know what I am going to be when I grow up. My family has lived in and around Peoria for about 175 years... I spent eleven years doing vertical software support and Internet support, and another six years in a call center, enabling an unsustainable consumer society. I was an unemployment statistic for a year; then six months ago our Nanny State Government granted me a disability benefit. For the last seven years I've been volunteering part time for a non-profit Fair Trade store. I guess I am an unofficial member of the board now, handling our store presence on Facebook.

I probably starting reading TAR about a year ago. I took "10 Steps for Sustainability" from The Long Descent for my New Years Resolutions this year and have been blogging sporadically about keeping them. I find that gardening and retrofitting my apartment are pretty much at the edge of my physical abilities.... As for other crafts--truthfully, I was 10 years old before I learned how to tie my shoes. My high school gym teacher, seeking something positive she could say about my abilities, offered: "You fall really well..." However, mulling over how I could introduce myself to this forum of accomplished people, I realized that I am pollinator, not a gardener. Information sticks to me. I live to connect people and ideas. With my background in Fair Trade, I think about creating work in the coming age of de-industrialization, about entrepreneurship and micro-financing. So maybe I can bring something different and thought-provoking to the group.

By golly, I do have a profile here! It's been a long time since I looked at it, but it still fits Just for giggles here's a video I did at the shop a month ago.

https://www.facebook.com/GlobalVillagePeoria/videos/vb.373544145745/1015...

Serinde's picture

It's fun looking at the old profiles from the former site. But it's lovely to see so many old friends, too.