Recently, I participated in an online writing workshop, and one of the first assignments involved listing positive and negative traits I saw in myself, and then taking them to the extreme: creating two characters, mirror images, based on those traits. Writing about two "me"s turned out to be boring, so I took a more literal approach. Apologizing for any piece was against the class rules, and so I'll try not to do that here.
-----------------------------------
Shanna and Em live in a place of light and shadow. A world parallel to our own, but with gaps and sometimes gulfs of nothingness that may be suddenly filled again, the moment light touches the space. They only have contact with the Girl through mirrors and reflections. She doesn't look at them often. They make a bit of a game of it, guessing who will see her next.
-- She's looked at me! She's here! -- Shanna is frozen in front of the bathroom mirror, holding her reddish-brown hair on top of her head, and smiling slightly. -- Oh, I hope she'll stay. I really think I could help her. -- She inspects the Girl's teeth, then turns the bathroom light off and moves to the livingroom. Her identical twin is there on the couch, reading. Depending on the Girl's mood, one of them is free to do as she pleases, while the other remains available to reflect from any mirrors or other smooth surfaces. Not a hard job at all, and lately, Em has been busier than her sister.
"All she needs is some self-confidence, and a good start. She can do this!" Shanna stands in the middle of the room, hands on her hips, surveying the mess around her. As she begins to move stacks of books and laundry, in parallel with the girl in that other world, she tries to give her movements a little extra oomph, as much as is allowed. She smiles broadly, knowing that it won't show through clearly in the reflection from the TV screen, but also knowing that she can subtly influence the Girl's state of mind as they stay in sync.
Her sister looks up from the book she is reading, and shakes her head at Shanna's antics. "Pointless!" is all she says, as she lifts her feet to allow more books to be moved. "I give her five minutes, tops."
A generous guess, because the Girl and Shanna have now found the violin tucked behind the couch, and they are off to find some music to play along with.
"Agh! No! I hid that thing." Em drags a pillow over her head. "Can't she pick something more quiet to learn?"
-- Hush, you. This is good. She hasn't picked it up in months. -- Shanna screws up her mouth and concentrates, mostly hitting the right notes. Luckily, the music is turned up loudly enough to blend in the occasional squeak. She enjoys herself thoroughly for the next half hour, then she and the Girl put down their bows together, and head off to the kitchen to make lunch.
Some days are like this, fun, full of new projects, potential. Shanna happily flits along from one to the other, inside or out, skimming across pots and pans or smiling from the windows of the greenhouse. Beekeeping, painting, gardening, and there is always some new topic to research. She sometimes gets to leave the place, visit with other Reflectors, wherever the Girl goes. She has been camping recently; even went kayaking, her face gliding across the surface of the water as the Girl watched for fish or turtles below.
She has traveled a bit, as well. This year the Girl became involved in a political cause; Shanna has been to rallies, waved signs, helped start a reading group. The Girl becomes more animated when she is out: interacting, discussing, encouraging others. Shanna can tell that she feels good at these times.
Eventually, though, the Girl becomes overwhelmed. So many projects, so little time. Being around groups of people drains her. She comes home to a messy house, and so cannot relax to read or work on something quiet, yet doesn't have the energy required to clean or organize. This is when Em's reflection is the one seen.
Em wants to be left alone, needs peace and quiet, wants to read. Em doesn't trust people, not anyone. People will eventually hurt you, she claims. They will disappoint you. Em sees no point in continuing projects, cleaning the house, or getting involved in "futile" causes. She is interested in new things, too, but why take risks? She worries when Shanna is out, but shows it through criticism, and pessimistic comments intended to keep her sister home. She cares deeply about people, too deeply, and so withdraws, to avoid seeing their pain.
The Girl (and she is no longer a girl, Em will tell you, so why keep calling her by that silly name?) hardly looks at Em; when she does, they both look away immediately. The Girl keeps only two mirrors in the house, one in the bathroom, where she looks specifically at her teeth or hair, and one on the vanity of the dresser upstairs, which she simply avoids, letting the dust build up on the glass.
Things go on like this for a while, Em and the Girl sometimes spending entire days on the couch with a stack of books and a bag of chocolate doughnuts, reading madly, searching for new knowledge, occupying their minds with anything but whatever pressure the Girl is avoiding. Then something clicks, the Girl looks up with either resolve or resignation, and the cycle begins again: it is Shanna's turn to Reflect.
At night, sometimes, when the Girl is asleep. Em and Shanna will sit up and talk about things. Shanna tries to convince Em that what the Girl needs is more encouragement, but Em will have none of it. It's reality, she counters, and she insists that the Girl must learn to deal with it.
And so there is a perpetual tug of war; but Shanna and Em are more alike than they realize. Both are the same, in fact, but for one thing: Shanna accepts herself, where Em never can.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
HR 4040 -CPSIA
Is anyone watching the new regulations on the sale of children's items? HR 4040, the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, was passed into law in August; the deadline for compliance is February 10, 2009 (now being called National Bankruptcy Day), and most people haven't even heard of it.
The CPSIA was passed with good intentions (and you know what they say about those), requiring that all children's items be certified lead- and phthlalate-free. Everyone can see the good in that, right? But there are unintended consequences.
Updates are coming in faster than I can type this up, so I will try to make corrections.
Aside from the fact that this means thrift stores, Goodwills, consignment shops, and ebay sellers will have to stop selling anything lacking that certification (for lead, even items manufactured prior to the deadline), anyone who sells their own creations (children's clothing lines, handmade toys) will also have to go through expensive testing to have their product certified, then attach, and keep records of, an official tag. Penalties for non-cooperation? Anything from huge fines, to losing your Powerseller status on ebay (okay, I'm feeling sarcastic, ebay has a history of jumping on certain bandwagons - try selling the teacher's manual for your homeschool curriculum on their site: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/teachersedition.html).
As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that the baby blankets my mother and I make would fall under this law, even if, as someone else put it, we grew the organic cotton ourselves and had it harvested by virgins. The wooden pull-toys and pop-guns that my father made to sell at local craft festivals? Illegal. And most crafters are working the winter away on this summer's products, probably unaware that they will be unable to sell them. Update: Some natural materials are apparently exempted as of a change made this week - BUT they must be undyed and not have gone through any processing that might expose them to the hazardous substances.
During all of past few years' recalls, there was a movement toward "natural", handmade, wood-and-cotton type items. Cottage businesses sprung up, using only safe materials. These same businesses will disappear, if the language of the law is not clarified to allow exceptions for smaller companies. Mattel and Hasbro will have no trouble affording the fees for testing every component of every style of every toy they produce in the millions - they'll just tack the cost onto the price tag. The home-based children's clothing designer? She may only have five items in that style.
I have just lost the freedom to make another decision for myself, and as a parent, without the risk of breaking a law. I understand the good intentions, but ironically, they may have just put another brick in the road to China.
In the spirit of redundancy, this encourages high-quality European toy manufacturers to pull out of the US market. Companies like Haba, who already have more stringent testing in place, and don't care to take on additional, pointless requirements.
It's not just toys and clothing that are regulated. ANY item intended for use by a child under the age of 12 is covered under this law, including household items like children's furniture.
There is not much media coverage of this (maybe they're waiting for the Obama fun to settle down?), and what there is is confusing. Conflicting statements in online news articles quote government representatives such as CPSC Public Affairs Director Julie Vallese as saying there are exceptions for resale and consignment. In other articles, these same representatives will say they were misquoted, there are currently NO SUCH EXCEPTIONS, although I have seen people all over the internet quoting the original articles. A press release dated January 8th says that Vallese is now leaving her position with CPSC. (Did she get sick of working with big government?)
Example: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97558 Note the conflicting quotes, and also the brackets. At least two of the articles I've seen have had "clarifying" words inserted into a quote meant to be construed as confirming an exemption.
The CPSC has tried to allow business owners to continue to sell older product, but they were sued by Natural Resouces Defense Council and Public Citizen, shutting down any loophole.
A Congressional hearing, which would have allowed witnesses to testify on the effects of the law's wording, was cancelled.
I doubt we'll hear much about this in the MSM until at least February, but it is already affecting small businesses everywhere.
This also affects educational and science supply companies (Need light bulbs for kids's microscopes? Good luck, one company has stopped selling them - there's a dot of solder on the base.), and the book industry is concerned, as retailers are requiring information from their vendors, in order to comply with the new law.
Okay, I'll stop. But do they think this helps the economy? Really, if they would just clear up the language, and think about the consequences of implementing this law on the huge scale it would require to enforce it, they could stop now, and prevent some damage. Hopefully they will realize what they've done. Don't laugh. Please. I'm trying to hold out hope.
The CPSC is currently accepting comments until January 30th:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/ComponentPartsComments.pdf
Questions: http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
Link to CPSIA:
http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTML
A group keeping an informed eye on things:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/index.php?c=11
Big Update: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html
The CPSC has issued clarification for resellers. Still a bit confusing:
"The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties."
So...resellers don't have to test, but they can't sell something that exceeds the lead limit. How can you know this without testing? Basically seems to relieve the reseller of responsibility for testing, leaving it on the manufacturer. Crafters still bear costs then, at this point, as well.
Looks like progress, though! They're listening - keep talking!
Oh, did I mention that Ron Paul was the only state representative who voted against HR 4040? He sees what's happening, and speaks up - that's why I love the man.
The CPSIA was passed with good intentions (and you know what they say about those), requiring that all children's items be certified lead- and phthlalate-free. Everyone can see the good in that, right? But there are unintended consequences.
Updates are coming in faster than I can type this up, so I will try to make corrections.
Aside from the fact that this means thrift stores, Goodwills, consignment shops, and ebay sellers will have to stop selling anything lacking that certification (for lead, even items manufactured prior to the deadline), anyone who sells their own creations (children's clothing lines, handmade toys) will also have to go through expensive testing to have their product certified, then attach, and keep records of, an official tag. Penalties for non-cooperation? Anything from huge fines, to losing your Powerseller status on ebay (okay, I'm feeling sarcastic, ebay has a history of jumping on certain bandwagons - try selling the teacher's manual for your homeschool curriculum on their site: http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/teachersedition.html).
As I'm typing this, I'm realizing that the baby blankets my mother and I make would fall under this law, even if, as someone else put it, we grew the organic cotton ourselves and had it harvested by virgins. The wooden pull-toys and pop-guns that my father made to sell at local craft festivals? Illegal. And most crafters are working the winter away on this summer's products, probably unaware that they will be unable to sell them. Update: Some natural materials are apparently exempted as of a change made this week - BUT they must be undyed and not have gone through any processing that might expose them to the hazardous substances.
During all of past few years' recalls, there was a movement toward "natural", handmade, wood-and-cotton type items. Cottage businesses sprung up, using only safe materials. These same businesses will disappear, if the language of the law is not clarified to allow exceptions for smaller companies. Mattel and Hasbro will have no trouble affording the fees for testing every component of every style of every toy they produce in the millions - they'll just tack the cost onto the price tag. The home-based children's clothing designer? She may only have five items in that style.
I have just lost the freedom to make another decision for myself, and as a parent, without the risk of breaking a law. I understand the good intentions, but ironically, they may have just put another brick in the road to China.
In the spirit of redundancy, this encourages high-quality European toy manufacturers to pull out of the US market. Companies like Haba, who already have more stringent testing in place, and don't care to take on additional, pointless requirements.
It's not just toys and clothing that are regulated. ANY item intended for use by a child under the age of 12 is covered under this law, including household items like children's furniture.
There is not much media coverage of this (maybe they're waiting for the Obama fun to settle down?), and what there is is confusing. Conflicting statements in online news articles quote government representatives such as CPSC Public Affairs Director Julie Vallese as saying there are exceptions for resale and consignment. In other articles, these same representatives will say they were misquoted, there are currently NO SUCH EXCEPTIONS, although I have seen people all over the internet quoting the original articles. A press release dated January 8th says that Vallese is now leaving her position with CPSC. (Did she get sick of working with big government?)
Example: http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=97558 Note the conflicting quotes, and also the brackets. At least two of the articles I've seen have had "clarifying" words inserted into a quote meant to be construed as confirming an exemption.
The CPSC has tried to allow business owners to continue to sell older product, but they were sued by Natural Resouces Defense Council and Public Citizen, shutting down any loophole.
A Congressional hearing, which would have allowed witnesses to testify on the effects of the law's wording, was cancelled.
I doubt we'll hear much about this in the MSM until at least February, but it is already affecting small businesses everywhere.
This also affects educational and science supply companies (Need light bulbs for kids's microscopes? Good luck, one company has stopped selling them - there's a dot of solder on the base.), and the book industry is concerned, as retailers are requiring information from their vendors, in order to comply with the new law.
Okay, I'll stop. But do they think this helps the economy? Really, if they would just clear up the language, and think about the consequences of implementing this law on the huge scale it would require to enforce it, they could stop now, and prevent some damage. Hopefully they will realize what they've done. Don't laugh. Please. I'm trying to hold out hope.
The CPSC is currently accepting comments until January 30th:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/ComponentPartsComments.pdf
Questions: http://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/newleg.aspx
Link to CPSIA:
http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTML
A group keeping an informed eye on things:
http://www.fashion-incubator.com/phpbb/index.php?c=11
Big Update: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html
The CPSC has issued clarification for resellers. Still a bit confusing:
"The new law requires that domestic manufacturers and importers certify that children’s products made after February 10 meet all the new safety standards and the lead ban. Sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits, phthalates standard or new toy standards.
The new safety law does not require resellers to test children’s products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children’s products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties."
So...resellers don't have to test, but they can't sell something that exceeds the lead limit. How can you know this without testing? Basically seems to relieve the reseller of responsibility for testing, leaving it on the manufacturer. Crafters still bear costs then, at this point, as well.
Looks like progress, though! They're listening - keep talking!
Oh, did I mention that Ron Paul was the only state representative who voted against HR 4040? He sees what's happening, and speaks up - that's why I love the man.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Ready...Set...use the Crock-pot!
How about a post to start off the new year?
Well, I woke up this morning to frozen pipes, which immediately took all the air out of my plans to wash the dishes and cook up something healthy...ish.
Luckily, the water is running again, and hubby is still in bed; I didn't have to stress him out with the news. We'll probably still have to check for leaks, but the day isn't ruined! Have you ever spent a day either being the person-on-your-back-in-a-frozen-mudpit-of-a-crawlspace-with-a-flashlight-and-a-hair-dryer-in-eight-degree-weather, or as the one walking around above said person, yelling status reports down through the bathroom tile?
It's a good thing we have kids, because at some point we give up on through-the-floor communication, and set up a message relay - one of us in the room with the sink, one at the door, and one poor soul at the opening to the crawlspace, shouting updates to Dad. Yes, it's Dad in the crawlspace. I ain't that crazy. (Okay, so I'm lucky that the pipes tend to freeze on days that he is home. :D )
You'd think we'd replace the insulation that a raccoon took a liking to, two winters ago. But...yeah.
Okay, so back to the cooking. I have had a love-hate relationship with Crock-pots since the first time I used one. Sort of like my issues with electric can openers, but that's another story. A Crock-pot is a wonderful thing, makes your kitchen smell divine all day, and produces a delicious meal with very little work. You do have to remember to turn it ON (coming home starving, only to find a whole, raw chicken at room temperature is my favorite way to remind myself of this fact), and worse, you do have to clean it. Eventually. And that's where the problems really start.
This is how it usually goes:
I decide to let the broth or leftovers cool down (after all, I'm going to use them for some fabulous meal tomorrow, right?). My first mistake. The food is now out of sight, but it's there, and it's watching me. It either continues to sit there throughout the night (and looks decidedly gross in the morning), or I suddenly remember and stick the whole thing in the fridge, to deal with the next day...where it looks decidedly gross in the morning. Or is forgotten. Completely. Once we have reached the point of gross, or forgotten-and-biohazardous, I continue to procrastinate, thinking, hey, there might be an apocalypse any day now, why waste my last hours dealing with this?
Eventually, the crock and I take a trip Outside, where the contents can be disposed of without any deaths being caused by fumes. The last time I tried this, I could not get the lid off to save my life. Yes, I know I could have used a knife. Or heated things back up (!), and that I could have avoided this whole thing, if I'd used one of those nifty liners I'd bought. But I was TIRED of this crock-pot. It was a hand-me-down, with a broken knob and a plastic lid, and an 80s color scheme. We were in a harmful relationship, and it was just best if we parted ways. So we did. That's all I'll say.
Fast forward to the final days of 2008, and I am inspired to try it again. The Crockpot Lady at A Year of Crockpotting has posted some delicious looking meals (and desserts! and crafts! and...) that she made during a year-long challenge to herself: to cook something every day in a Crock-pot. I've been drooling for days, and finally convinced hubby to bring home a new friend from the favorite store to hate. I know, I know. But it's a new year! If everyone else can be in denial about their diet resolutions for 2009...
Besides, she makes it look so eeeasy...
Well, I woke up this morning to frozen pipes, which immediately took all the air out of my plans to wash the dishes and cook up something healthy...ish.
Luckily, the water is running again, and hubby is still in bed; I didn't have to stress him out with the news. We'll probably still have to check for leaks, but the day isn't ruined! Have you ever spent a day either being the person-on-your-back-in-a-frozen-mudpit-of-a-crawlspace-with-a-flashlight-and-a-hair-dryer-in-eight-degree-weather, or as the one walking around above said person, yelling status reports down through the bathroom tile?
It's a good thing we have kids, because at some point we give up on through-the-floor communication, and set up a message relay - one of us in the room with the sink, one at the door, and one poor soul at the opening to the crawlspace, shouting updates to Dad. Yes, it's Dad in the crawlspace. I ain't that crazy. (Okay, so I'm lucky that the pipes tend to freeze on days that he is home. :D )
You'd think we'd replace the insulation that a raccoon took a liking to, two winters ago. But...yeah.
Okay, so back to the cooking. I have had a love-hate relationship with Crock-pots since the first time I used one. Sort of like my issues with electric can openers, but that's another story. A Crock-pot is a wonderful thing, makes your kitchen smell divine all day, and produces a delicious meal with very little work. You do have to remember to turn it ON (coming home starving, only to find a whole, raw chicken at room temperature is my favorite way to remind myself of this fact), and worse, you do have to clean it. Eventually. And that's where the problems really start.
This is how it usually goes:
I decide to let the broth or leftovers cool down (after all, I'm going to use them for some fabulous meal tomorrow, right?). My first mistake. The food is now out of sight, but it's there, and it's watching me. It either continues to sit there throughout the night (and looks decidedly gross in the morning), or I suddenly remember and stick the whole thing in the fridge, to deal with the next day...where it looks decidedly gross in the morning. Or is forgotten. Completely. Once we have reached the point of gross, or forgotten-and-biohazardous, I continue to procrastinate, thinking, hey, there might be an apocalypse any day now, why waste my last hours dealing with this?
Eventually, the crock and I take a trip Outside, where the contents can be disposed of without any deaths being caused by fumes. The last time I tried this, I could not get the lid off to save my life. Yes, I know I could have used a knife. Or heated things back up (!), and that I could have avoided this whole thing, if I'd used one of those nifty liners I'd bought. But I was TIRED of this crock-pot. It was a hand-me-down, with a broken knob and a plastic lid, and an 80s color scheme. We were in a harmful relationship, and it was just best if we parted ways. So we did. That's all I'll say.
Fast forward to the final days of 2008, and I am inspired to try it again. The Crockpot Lady at A Year of Crockpotting has posted some delicious looking meals (and desserts! and crafts! and...) that she made during a year-long challenge to herself: to cook something every day in a Crock-pot. I've been drooling for days, and finally convinced hubby to bring home a new friend from the favorite store to hate. I know, I know. But it's a new year! If everyone else can be in denial about their diet resolutions for 2009...
Besides, she makes it look so eeeasy...
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