CPSIA

Boy I'm really upset about this issue. Let me start at the beginning. A few years back I started making handmade children's items. Bows, etc. which gradually progressed to sewn plush toys, aprons, felt play food, and various other cute stuff. I was TIRED of all the plastic pieces of junk that was made in China and had to be recalled because they were dangerous. I am glad that the government is looking out for our kids but this new "Consumer Products Safety Information Act" doesn't appear to be well thought out. They are requiring all handmade children's items be tested by a 3rd party for lead/harmful substances for children 12 years and younger. This testing costs hundreds of dollars (thousands even) and is not a problem for large toy manufacturers. It will however DESTROY the handmade-at-home items that some of us make. We make our goods with fabric, ribbon, etc. made in the U.S.A. that was already tested for lead. As a result of this Act, many people will go out of business thus decreasing or eliminating natural handmade goods. Folks will buy toys and gifts from the large toy manufacturers. Things made of plastic that are not biodegradeable. Things made in China, who's environmental regulations are minimal. Their land and water is polluted from run-off from large factories and their people are poisoned. Nat Geo has a great article in their May 2008 issue. They state that 80% of U.S. toys are made in China.

There is nothing like the fear of "civil penalties" to distinguish the fire of creativity. My desire to create children's items is just not there anymore. But I refuse to buy toys that were created at such a cost to human life and our natural world.

Guilty Pleasures

I'm ashamed to admit that I have a weakness for vampire and/or werewolf books/movies. I'll blame that little addiction on "Scooby Doo" cartoons and "The Haunted Mansion" read-and-hear books from the 70's. I first read Anne Rice's classic "Interview With A Vampire" as a senior in high school and became an instant fan. I relish a good romantic drama, but with enough hard edges to make it believable in an escape-from-reality sort of way. So when the new "Underworld" movie came out, I convinced my non-supernatural loving husband to take me to see it. And joy upon joy, it had Vampires AND Werewolves. I was hoping we would not see anyone we knew in the theater and I kept peering over my shoulder while in line for tickets, not for a vampire mind-you but an acquaintance who might just ask "what movie are ya'll seeing tonight?". The movie was pretty good, great special effects and a non-campy plot. There is nothing like a big, greasy, pissed-off werewolf who is hell-bent on revenging his beloved's death to grab my attention. Better than a comfy couch, a bag of doritos and a large diet soda. This movie won't win any awards, but the character's plight provided a much needed time-out from my own.
Bon Appetite!

Barn Yard

As far as the title, my kids are watching the movie "Barnyard". It's pretty cute but all the cows have disturbingly placed udders made worse by the fact that the cows stand upright like humans. In order to try to forget that weirdness, I started thinking about the barn of my childhood. My dad built it himself and it was painted brick red. We had horses that lived in that big, sweet smelling barn. I still dream about that barn. There was hay stacked up in tall columns. You could crawl into the nooks and crannies and curl up for hours. Of course if it fell on you, you would be crushed to death, but back in the 80's, my mom was was working a full time job, as well as my dad, and they let me and my brother run wild in the surrounding woods and play in the barn. I don't think many parents nowadays would let their children do that, I know I won't. Too many darned predators, and it's not the wild animal variety that I'm worried about. Instead, the kiddos are stuck inside watching weird cows frolic in a computer animated barn. How will this affect them? I don't know but the real thing has got to be better.......