Susie the Neo Consumer

Any readers of my previous blog will know that I am not wild about charity shops, despite having worked in the wonderful Chesterfield Oxfam, where the staff used to indulge the man who liked being blindfolded, but only if they were not too busy. (Quick digression. I was told for years and years of the wonderful things that could be purchased from The Art Foundation Shop in Chesterfield, and envisaged a kind of arty-type boutique like Primavera, and always wondered why I didn’t know where it was. It was because – oh that Chesterfield accent – it was actually the Heart Foundation Charity Shop, and it is down near Next and the shop that sells pies.) Anyway I am trying not to buy anything new and thus today have made an exciting excursion to Oxfam and to Cancer Research near the Grafton Centre in Cambridge, as buying from there is not buying, it is recycling, and also I am on an Epic Quest to find curtains in charming original 50s patterns from which I will sew Morsbags or an a-line skirt. I had a huge success in Cancer Research as they told me, with some enthusiasm, that they would accept donated wool, hooray, so I will be able to do a destash of the bloody Rowan Linen Drape which I have hated since the moment I bought it 5 years ago. In Oxfam I witnessed a customer have a huge fight with an assistant about whether they would accept a jacket back. She was losing when I left, but by God she was standing her ground and calling him a jobsworth. You see, you don’t get that in Marks and Spencer.

There’s a video of me now in existence giving a presentation, the one I was aiming to give at Bristol Wireless if the trains hadn’t all gone belly up. I’m very grateful to David, Laura and Rachel of our Social Enterprise Division who did a marvellous job filming and editing, and they’re going to send me the CD and I’ll upload it here. If I can get used to my strange squeaky voice. Today filming in the Social Enterprise Division in the FOF office with the printer that looks like a Dalek: tomorrow the World. Laura has also done her presentation which is great as we will now learn about the zombies . Laura and Derry who works with me are making a live appearance – yes! in Birmingham tomorrow at the Arts event giving a talk on Open Source software, so get along to their workshop, it’ll be great. I’ve been boring Derry who was very polite about it with all my thoughts about people collaborating on Open Source software being the same process as collaborating on knitting patterns on Craftster. Don’t let Derry’s patience in listening to my ramblings be in vain…