.::SmartyPants::.

New York is the New California

Don't get me wrong: I'm never more proud of my native state than when people start calling it socialist. Yes, the taxes are high - but have you seen those state parks they keep out in Cali? Well worth the dollar (I say, from 1500 miles away in my income tax-free state).

However, this article caused me pause. I mean, I do sometimes wonder what I'm really doing to myself when I eat a donut, and I do sometimes pretend that I'm being "good" when I get a muffin instead, but it's not like when I buy that muffin in the donut shop I actually think they're made of different substance. I know that's really a cupcake, not a muffin!

And now the state of New York is going to ruin my little fantasy life by telling me how many calories are in every little thing I eat there. Like New York is the state with the obesity problems. Hi, try going to Houston now and then, or Louisiana (yes, I know one is a city and the other is a state; try to stay with me). THEN you'll see obesity.

And so, my friends, New York is now the new California, where what's good for you will be shoved in  your face almost as fast as that cupcake muffin.

Summer of My Discontinuance

I'm trying not to take it personally that my favorite products keep getting discontinued. I mean, a woman accepts that when her favorite bra goes out, she wont' be able to find a new one anywhere near like it. Then swears that next time, she'll buy six.

Well, first it was my health insurance. Being told the United Choice 250 was being discontinued, I figured I'd go with the $100 deductable, and see every doctor under the sun this year to make the increased cost worth it. It's July. I've been for my annual, and that's it.

Then, I needed new bras, and I found a favorite. The Maidenform Smooth Bra. So a month after original purchase, realizing I really liked it, I went back to buy more. None in my size (like I needed one more thing to make me pissed off about the weight I've gained). The outlet yielded one, in white, and then two more, in beige, but none in black (which I really need) and nothing to help the sinking feeling that next time I needed a bra, the search was on all over again.

Next it was Bottlecaps - you know, blessed candy of your youth. Sweet little discs of tangy flavor - not as tangy as Sweet Tarts - no sweating face here, or puckering lips - but just enough to cut the fil blown sugar impact. Plus, with Cola and Root Beer flavors, what could be better?

Well, I don't know, but my glove  compartment has been bare of my favorite traffic jam treat for months now, and my local target shelves empty of the blissful purple box. So a substitute candy is in order.

Then I got sunburn, and the Nivea pot of Q10 with seaweed was no place to be found. There is a Nivia lotion with Q10, but not in a pot, and at the same time, my daily Suave Firming Skin Therapy and my Dove anti-cellulite cream, both gone. Dove apparently thinks they've found the pill for cellulite, but heck if I'm going to swallow in pill form material I used to rub on my leg - it's not vitamin E, for Christ's sake. And all their lotions are now tinted or glittering - Dove, fly away, I'm done with you.

So, reader, this is it. The summer of my Discontinuance - and time of my discontent with manufacturers who won't just leave good enough alone!