Dangling

She came home from therapy in a decent mood, not suffering from the PTSD--Post Therapy Stress Disorder--which he dreaded. And he seemed to be in a good mood too, cutting veggies for a stew. "I didn't call you stupid. I said 'stew pot'!" he explained to the cookware. But then he turned to her. "I'm feeling crazy today. I'm really having a hard time."

"Maybe you're afraid of failure or something."

"Yeah, but why? How can I fail compared to where I am?" he asked gesturing vaguely at his life.

"Everything's gonna be fine! Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?"

"No, I just have to go through it. You know, this old thing again."

"Maybe you should go to the gym."

"No..."

"Maybe we should go for a bike ride."

"No, I'm fine, baby. Don't worry about it. I just need to go through it."

She took a deep breath and pulled some dead leaves off the kitchen plant.
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Later, he laid down to a nap and she went upstairs to get laundry. He was on top of the covers, naked, and she gave him a cartoon double-take.

"Great, I've shocked and horrified you. That's great."

"No, I just was surprised," she said laying down beside him. He ran his fingers slowly over her body, sliding off her shorts, positioning his face between her legs. "Maybe you shouldn't do that," she said sitting up.

"What? Why?"

"I put some medicine on myself earlier cuz of that irritation," she said referring to what she had thought was a yeast infection but the Dr. ruled it out.

"No, that's not it! There's something else. What's going on?" he said pulling away from her.

"I just need to clean it off. That's all."

"No, there's something else going on."

"What? Why? Like what?? Why do you think I'm lying? Why would I??" Then she went into the bathroom. When she returned, he was out on the deck clothed & smoking. She stood there naked with her crotch freshly washed and began to cry. "What did I do wrong? I just needed to wash up. I'm clean now. Why are you mad at me?"

"Baby, I'm sorry. You didn't do anything wrong. It's me. Ok? I'm so sorry. C'mon, let's go back to bed."

"I don't feel like it now," she said lighting a cigarette and staring at the pot of wilting basil.

"Please come join me when you're done with your cigarette," he said going inside.

So she did. And she held him wanting to feel reassured that he wasn't upset at her, that everything was ok. But then he started moving his hand over her again. She laid there trying to feel good but her mind wandered thinking about it already being 2:00 and all the things she'd wanted to do this weekend. Weekends are always much too short. Suddenly he sat up and looked at her. "Ok," he said jerking away from her. He rolled over and she laid still until she heard him snoring.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She took advantage of the peace, reading in the bath and then the phone rang, waking him. He came into the bathroom and pulled off his shorts. He walked toward her, balls swinging and she reached for them. She stood hot and pink and they held each other. Then he turned away and yanked his shorts back on. A minute later in the living room they were back off again and he walked around her, dangling out of reach, circling like a planet. "You're confusing me," she said.

"No, I'm not," he said. "You're just confused."

Curster's Designer Toys

The recent China safety issues have driven moms & grannies to look for toys made in the good ole USA. Although many designer toys aren't made or tested for children, there are many domestic designers who make their toys by hand. One of my recent favorites, is Curster.



I first spotted these on Etsy but earlier this month, the Curster site was launched, giving these menacingly adorable creatures their own home.

Cursters are artist and illustrator Erin Currie's creations which she began producing last year. Each curster is hand made with a hand-painted face and are available for sale through her web site: www.curster.com.

The Economy of Safety

80% of all toys are made in China not only because they are cheaper for the toy companies to produce, but also because they can then be sold to consumers at a reasonable price.

Consumers and retailers are squeezing manufacturers for lower prices and those prices would more than double by making toys in the U.S. In fact, I'm sure that people in the U.S. would not like to work in toy factories. I've been to some factories and although I didn't observe slave conditions, rooting a doll's hair does not look like much fun to me. So the cries for "bring back our jobs" and "made in USA" are not a solution.

The solution lies in manufacturers working not only for profit, but for the end-user---children--and being diligent about creating quality, safe products. There is no excuse for excessive lead in paint other than negligence. I suspect this negligence is occurring as corporate America relies on fewer people to do more work to increase profit margins (and reach targeted retails). U.S. toy companies design toys domestically and also have a Quality Assurance team in their U.S. office; sometimes this QA team is one person. In some cases a designer or product manager is responsible for reviewing several toys daily on top of creating new concepts.

Staff up and do it right rather than rush to the bottom line! Better products will create consumer loyalty. As a bonus, more American jobs will be created.