Category: General

In 2007 there was a large outcry in the US when it was discovered that large toy manufacturers were importing toys from China and developing countries that contained high levels of lead and chemicals that made kids sick. The US Congress decided to beef up the authority of the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates (substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility) in children’s products, mandates third party testing and certification, and requires manufacturers of all goods for children under the age of 12 to permanently label each item with a date and batch number.
Seems like a good idea, right? And what does this have to do with books? Well, first, the new rules mandate testing for any items intended or perceived for children. So a book commonly regarded as “kids stuff,” such as comics or high-end pop-ups, even if it is intended for adults, will fall under the statute. For me personally, this might include my flip books, which while I intended them for adults, may be given to children. Second, the rules are retroactive, so after they go into effect on Feb 10, kids’ book without a certificate of lead testing can’t be sold or distributed, no matter when the book was printed. Amazon, for one, is taking the new rules seriously and sent an email to all affiliates asking them to provide the lead testing certificates for all items. Does this mean lots of already-printed copies of, say, Harry Potter, have to be destroyed?
The rules are for both selling and distributing. Reading them literally, it’s difficult to understand how they can mean anything but trouble for libraries, thrift shops like Good Will, and literacy programs that give away books. Can libraries sell donated and used children’s books at their yearly book sales?
The seller bulletin boards on Etsy have been full of posts about CPSIA, as many people with shops there make handmade kids clothes and toys, all of which will need to be tested. Third party testing looks to be expensive — there are quotes for $500 per item minimum. And apparently once isn’t enough: if I change the paper on my flip books, I’d need to get it re-tested. For me the cost of mandatory testing would force me to stop selling flip books.
While there’s been a big hue and cry about the new rules from small businesses as well as non-profits that sell used clothes and toys, it’s come very late and after the law was passed. I’m watching, but not hopeful — Congress has a lot of other pressing matters to deal with this winter, even if the rules do mean the death of many small businesses.
Here’s a lot more information, as it pertains not just to books but toys and thrift shops.

• Official government CPSIA website
• FAQ from the Consumer Products Safety Commission about the rules and what’s covered (links to the specifics about books).
• Washington Post article about the rules.
• Handmade Toy Alliance has a lot of material about the impact of the rules on small businesses and some proposals for rules changes.
• Hand-Me-Down Clothes in the Post Hand-Me-Down Era: Consumer Protectionism Gone Too Far?
• Wall Street Journal article on effect of CPSIA on thrift stores

Pantone has selected mimosa (a shade of yellow) as the color of 2009. “I think it’s just the most wonderful symbolic color of the future,” says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “It’s invariably connected to warmth, sunshine and cheer — all the good things we’re in dire need of right now.” According to Yahoo News, “The fashion world first embraced orange a few years ago and that has evolved into yellow, which had already been gaining popularity in the home market, too.” I did buy several blouses and shirts with yellow in them this fall, so maybe they’re right. (The colors from past years are listed here.)

My New Year’s resolution: “You Don’t Have to Finish…” What’s yours? We have a big change here at my house. After we lost my cat Leila, we decided our next pets would be 2 kittens. I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for another cat, but our house was feeling awfully empty, so we did a preliminary reconnaissance visit to our local animal shelter in late November. Much to my surprise, we came home with 2 7-month old males. They look very much alike, but aren’t biologically related. They’ve been making themselves at home and tearing madly around the house since. That’s Elwood on the left, and Jake on the right. [ Sets of the 8-1/2″ x 2″ letterpress-printed bookmarks above are available from thisintothat’s etsy shop.]

Seems like a good idea for small spaces. According to this website:

Bookshelves often seem to burst. You always try to squeeze in another book into the last gap which is far too narrow. “Platzhalter” gives in to force and makes space for more books by literally bursting. An initially hidden board stretches between the split halves and widens the usable surface. The more books you add to the shelf, the wider it opens. The classical rectangular shape turns into a V-shaped outline until the shelf reaches its defined limit.

Most people’s first (and maybe only) encounter with folding origami is the crane. Here’s an edible variation from this blog, courtesy of my friend Laura:

Play with your food: Edible Origami. Crane croutons for your salad. Crispy wonton wrappers add cheerful crunch to an asian salad, but shouldn’t they be… more interesting? Presented here is the ideal upgrade. No more must you clutter your salad with amorphous crispies or chow mein noodles to obtain the requisite crunch: Crane Croutons will be your piece de resistance.

The other day I met my friend Sharon at San Francisco’s Modern Museum of Art to see the 1000 Journals Project. In 2000, an anonymous SF-based artist began leaving blank journals around the city, each with a message inviting participants to draw, paste, rip, or write on its pages, and then pass it on when finished. Some of the completed books have made their way back to him, and he’s displayed the results on a website, as a book, in a documentary film, and now a museum exhibit. At the exhibition are several actual journals viewers can page through, as well as reproductions of many spreads. There’s also a table covered with pens, crayons, markers, scissors and magazines, where visitors can contribute to several on-going journals.
Last year I started a journal with the idea of making a collage a day. I kept at it a few months, although not every day. It never got easier — I hoped that I’d find them relaxing to make, but I often wasn’t able to find time in the day and constructing them seemed too much like a chore. Sharon suggested I try again, and even bought cheap blank books for both of us to use. One of her ideas is to incorporate found objects, using the found thing as a jumping off point for the collage.
What did I think of the exhibition? Looking at the pages I was struck by how messy they seemed to me and how all my own work is tidy and mostly on grids (or a least lined up) and so much more constrained and you might even say uptight. Maybe that’s why I give up on paper journals but surprise myself by continuing to blog. The blog/journal entries are neat and orderly and that all important constrained thing — which suits my temperament.