In using etsy for your activism, please remember two points. 1st point: nothing on etsy can be compared to Rosa Parks unless somehow you knitted a cozy that allowed civil rights to flourish. I doubt this as most people can't even knit a decent pear cozy. 2nd point: really, shut up about China. Just shut up. You'll thank me.

Etsians learn that moral superiority points don't put 6 to 9 months of money in savings. It's good to save money, but on the other hand, there are tons of people with special needs out there. People with children often run into expenses that are unexpected. Some people have health problems and need medicine, doctors, and can't just eat rice and beans. And not to mention, some people can't get one job, let alone two or three, or don't have the physical ability or stamina to work more than one job.

Often overlooked in finger shaking watch what you say, a customer might be watching threads is the aspect of diversity. I was listening to this segment on how coming up to a coworker and asking them what are you might not be the best course of action if you want to make friends and influence people not to want to kick you in the bits. Heck, I don't like being asked about my heritage and I'm 'mixed' with black,negro and colored! [and one white guy, maybe.]

I was reading this thread and the problem with the I can offend anyone I want, and everyone should just trust my good intentions idea is the underlying assumption that everyone is either not a member of any minority groups or doesn't know anyone from any minority groups, and therefore knows that you don't 'mean' to hurt 'anyone'[unless it's people who 'get offended too easily' and therefore don't count].

Seriously, on the internet, we don't know your intentions and can only go by what you say. It's like a business transaction. If your jewelry falls apart or your soap causes my skin to break out, I'm not going to care about your intentions. I want you to make it right. And in these discussions, a lot of people are fed up with your intentions. We've heard about so many other people's good intentions. They go back and do the same things time after time. So why are you special? Do right or shut up about it, I say.

Etsy tries to change the search system up. Note that this would not have been implemented if we spent all our time trying to flatter the admin.

I'm creating a press page for my website as well.

I hate the word 'bling'. In fact, I hate any appropriated two or three or five year old hip hop slang. In the mouths of the people who originated the terms, it is terrible and degrading society. In the mouths of old suburbanites, it is cute and cheeky. I don't like folks ripping off a culture, if they are the ones who were complaining about it in the first place.

Wry and Ginger's Suck It Up Cupcake Lessons.

I'm late to the party[this whatever is from March] but I like the commentary on the idea that 1000 true fans is all one needs. Many of us get a lot of bread and butter from our repeat customers, but we need to first get those fans, and to get those fans, we need to have many more than a thousand people, say, give us $10. Sounds like hard work! *has to sell physical items to keep them from cluttering up my space too much*

The business people and the romantics seem at odds. It sounds nice to say that making a living means having fun, but really, then there's nothing to strive for is there? Having fun is easy.


Oh yummy wank.

Personally, I'm all for making money, this is why this is my hobby. When I become unable to sustain it, I'll stop. Being the sort of person who will never get married, I'll have to get an actual job eventually.

I support ya, etsians! I'll buy from you, even if you do eat liverwurst during sex You know why? It's because even if you don't say the first word about your weird and kinky sex practices, you're probably doing SOMETHING I don't like. Whether it's eating herring out of the jar to writing fanfiction that breaches the bounds of decency and good grammar, I'm sure if I stalked you enough, I'd find something. But luckily, even I don't want to stalk you. And my customers? They have lives. They are buying jewelry to go out and do things in. They go to work. They go to school. They go to parties. They don't have time to stalk everyone on etsy to see if they might have once said a bad word.

I often hear on etsy "I don't watch the news- it's too negative". I worry about this because the news broadens your world. When I turn on NPR in the car, I get information about how the economy is doing, about foreign countries, about the surprising epicness of Canada. When I switch on Rachael Maddow, I enjoy her well reasoned analysis and the interesting guests she has on. The PBS news, especially soothing, and I like at the end when they sometimes bust out random poetry.

Knowing what's going on gives me a sense of security. When I know how the wind is blowing, I can move to adjust. When I have no sense of a baseline, of what is going on every day, the big stories seem more surprising and scary. And really, don't you seem more clever talking about the pirates in Somalia than you do talking about man, it's really cold today?