tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65966022009-11-09T14:14:53.254-07:00Growing the World's Cutest Free-Range Kids... and feeding them nothing but crapWacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.comBlogger1417125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-71007506156823420422009-11-09T12:17:00.004-07:002009-11-09T14:14:53.264-07:002009-11-09T14:14:53.264-07:00

Everyone should read (or, in my case, re-read) Alexis de Tocqueville's masterwork Democracy In America. In a time when we are largely disconnected with our uniquely American past, such that we are longing to be more like Europe, it is enlightening to read de Tocqueville's description of the historical differences between Americans and Europeans. From chapter 5 (emphasis mine):In certain

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/thought-of-day.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-43929916542233628162009-11-06T16:04:00.003-07:002009-11-06T16:05:41.804-07:002009-11-06T16:05:41.804-07:00

Trust me, there's no way you can think about health care when you see this.It'll do wonders for your blood pressure, though I'm not sure it'll have any effect on that feeling that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/take-your-mind-off-health-care.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-81679546774603758342009-11-05T18:33:00.007-07:002009-11-05T19:43:40.042-07:002009-11-05T19:43:40.042-07:00

I saw Dana Loesch wearing a Gadsden Flag pendant on PJTV, and it looked like the sort of thing one might find on Etsy, were there any Etsians willing to cater to the Tea Party crowd (a doubtful proposition seeing as how Etsy mostly leans left). So I thought I'd go over to Etsy and cure the high blood pressure caused by reading about the latest health care proposal with the time-honored female

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/creative-tea-party-swag.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-72496095499370195712009-11-05T06:19:00.002-07:002009-11-05T06:23:00.434-07:002009-11-05T06:23:00.434-07:00

I don't like it when people make fun of the way First Lady Michelle Obama dresses. Yeah, when I see some of her outfits-- OK, most of her outfits-- I think "That wouldn't have been my choice." But I just don't have time to choose everyone's outfits for them, and neither do most of the people criticizing her clothes. I also didn't like it when people criticized Sarah Palin's clothes, for the

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/just-for-record.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-1859883364297981302009-11-02T19:35:00.003-07:002009-11-02T19:55:30.440-07:002009-11-02T19:55:30.440-07:00

I have no idea what I just cleaned up, but I'm sure as hell glad it's gone now. If you have a weak stomach, skip to the next post.I'm usually a pretty good mess detective, and I'm usually not squeamish about cleaning up stuff. I don't even puke a little in my mouth any more when the kids puke in my bed. But the contents of this trash can made me ill. It can't have been there more than a day

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/pure-dagnasty-evil.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-9172785627734435652009-10-22T17:59:00.003-06:002009-10-22T18:14:08.883-06:002009-10-22T18:14:08.883-06:00

After some frenetic scheduling and multiple trips to the Health Department over the last couple of days, we've now got everyone* immunized against both seasonal flu and swine flu, and Princess and I had tetanus shots as well.* Except Knuckles, who is allergic to eggs and therefore can't have any of the flu immunizations. There actually is a protocol for immunizing the egg-allergic for flu, but

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/10/all-vaxed-up.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-37661598568103158532009-10-02T13:52:00.002-06:002009-10-02T14:00:06.089-06:002009-10-02T14:00:06.089-06:00

Here is my brilliant idea to improve Washington DC.First, we find a cooperative legislator willing to take part in this plan.Then we have this legislator insert language into bills requiring Nancy Pelosi's underwear to be run up the Capitol flagpole the day after the law is signed by President Obama. He might have to do it in more than one piece, so that nobody cottons on to what he's doing.

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-idea-to-improve-washington-dc.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-53675256979429152152009-10-02T06:58:00.002-06:002009-10-02T10:11:01.577-06:002009-10-02T10:11:01.577-06:00

The temperature, which as lately as this past weekend has been in the 80's, suddenly dropped down to the 50's. Yesterday morning half the leaves on our gay squash plant were dead, and it wasn't any warmer during the day, so I knew it would frost. And last night we had our first frost.Princess and I went out last night and pulled everything we could salvage from the garden. We have three

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/10/first-frost.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-85433450674343505672009-09-30T17:22:00.003-06:002009-09-30T17:24:30.023-06:002009-09-30T17:24:30.023-06:00

My eensy weensiest widdle baby brother Little D is now a shocking 19 years old, and he just got his mission call. He's going to Independence, Missouri!I had just gotten engaged to FH when Little D was born, so I've always considered Little D to be a sort of an upper bound on how old my kids could be if I'd screwed up. The thought that I could be the mother of a child going on a mission right

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-ds-mission-call.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-61521099574499359492009-09-12T17:09:00.005-06:002009-09-12T18:28:11.846-06:002009-09-12T18:28:11.846-06:00

I wondered how attendance at the 9/12 March On DC compared with other protests in DC. So I went to Wikipedia-- yes, not the most reliable source, but I was looking for back-of-the-envelope type figures-- to see if I could figure out what the largest protests there were. I figured I'd allow any sort of estimate, just for fun, including organizer estimates that tend to be on the high side. I

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/912-protests-may-set-record.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-67826281839718526772009-09-12T12:07:00.003-06:002009-09-12T12:21:07.542-06:002009-09-12T12:21:07.542-06:00

OK, so I'm a day late and a dollar short; it's the story of my life.I wanted to share with everyone, in memorial of 9/11/2001, a scripture that helped me through that time. It's from the Book of Mormon, Alma chapter 14 (emphasis mine): 8 And they brought their wives and children together, and whosoever believed or had been taught to believe in the word of God they caused that they should be

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-911-post.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-15416580602503563762009-08-27T20:31:00.002-06:002009-08-27T20:33:53.129-06:002009-08-27T20:33:53.129-06:00

Princess: "Did one of the Presidents die?"Me: "Senator Ted Kennedy died. His brother was president."Princess: "That's why the name sounded familiar!"Me: "Yes, they're a well-known political family."Princess: "So they're all crazy then?"

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/princess-is-smart.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-65447716314173171062009-08-27T12:50:00.004-06:002009-08-27T12:55:51.093-06:002009-08-27T12:55:51.093-06:00

Inquiring minds want to know what my CPSIA tracking labels look like. This is a sheet (well, most of a sheet) of labels that have been printed, ironed, and pinked about the edges. A single label that was cut from the sheet is at right.This is the label after it's been glued into a pair of sneaker soles. It is easier to do the gluing at this stage of production than after the upper's been put

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/tracking-label-pictures.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-19742093309627324342009-08-23T13:03:00.002-06:002009-08-23T13:49:59.835-06:002009-08-23T13:49:59.835-06:00

Back in May I had done some work developing a procedure to create my tracking labels. I've spent the time since August 14 doing two things: making dish scrubbers instead of baby booties, and thinking about how exactly I want to implement the whole tracking label thing.The Big Decision I had to make was production date vs. batch number. I get all my materials from the same suppliers all the time

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/refining-labeling-process.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-12340558275418753412009-08-20T15:28:00.005-06:002009-08-20T15:56:46.624-06:002009-08-20T15:56:46.624-06:00

When Princess started first grade at Thomas Edison Charter School, she had a lot of homemade uniforms. Her absolute favorite was this jumper.I know you can't see much of it under the handmade sweater she's wearing, but it was a pretty plain jumper. Basic self-lined bodice, square neckline, patch pocket centered on chest, half circle flared skirt. It's not a triumph of haute couture, but

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/princess-jumper.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-47985264938013548702009-08-20T06:41:00.002-06:002009-08-20T07:50:39.822-06:002009-08-20T07:50:39.822-06:00

What CPSC writes in its documents is important, because once it's published in the Federal Register it becomes official policy, which is a step down from law but is still very law-like. But equally important is reading what CPSC doesn't write, because from that we can get clues as to what the future regulatory landscape may look like.The trend in lawmaking is to write laws that are at once full

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/sending-message.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-81148489526963398662009-08-13T20:39:00.004-06:002009-08-13T22:24:35.994-06:002009-08-13T22:24:35.994-06:00

Today is the first day of the requirement under CPSIA for affixing tracking labels to your products, and there are a lot of small crafters* out there asking the same question: "How the @#$% am I supposed to do this?????" If you make apparel you may already have figured out what to do, since there's a well-known standard for labeling apparel and CPSIA's requirements just mean a little tweaking to

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/cpsia-labeling-for-small-crafters.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-74943086792533240722009-08-11T08:31:00.002-06:002009-08-11T08:44:18.145-06:002009-08-11T08:44:18.145-06:00

We came home from church on Sunday to discover that our beloved betta fish, Kelly, had passed away.Kelly, like most store-bought bettas, was male. However, when we brought Kelly home, one of the Aspies (I forget which one) insisted the fish was female and would not be persuaded otherwise. Well, when an Aspie digs in his heels, you pretty much have to decide if it's the hill you want to die on,

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/kelly-fish-rip.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-18339408457753550362009-08-06T22:10:00.003-06:002009-08-06T23:10:41.237-06:002009-08-06T23:10:41.237-06:00

One of the lengthier segments of CPSC's new guidance document deals with books. CPSC exempts new books from third party lead testing, but not "older books" (generally regarded as those published before 1985). The exemption is new, and comes just in time for the August 14 deadline that would otherwise have required these books to have third party testing for lead. Of course, most large

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/cpsias-new-guidance-part-2-books.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-83686910310884327132009-08-06T21:21:00.006-06:002009-08-06T23:13:25.966-06:002009-08-06T23:13:25.966-06:00

Today CPSC released new guidance regarding exemptions to third party testing under CPSIA. It's a 94-page document, so I thought I'd go through it bit by bit and summarize it, but not necessarily in the order in which the items appear.First, an overview: in this document, CPSC expands their list of materials that are pre-emptively declared free from the need for third party testing. CPSIA does

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/cpsias-new-guidance-part-1-overview.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-57374671055898739092009-08-05T22:07:00.003-06:002009-08-07T21:23:44.169-06:002009-08-07T21:23:44.169-06:00

UPDATE: I wish I'd put this off 24 more hours, because now I look like an idiot. On Thursday evening the CPSC issued some guidance which pre-emptively exempted all textiles, including those that compose my booties, from third party testing. So I will not be shutting down bootie production. However, I still have some thinking to do about how exactly I'm going to continue, and I'm not going to

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/decision-to-close.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-19762740569372651812009-08-01T09:21:00.003-06:002009-08-01T09:25:34.530-06:002009-08-01T09:25:34.530-06:00

I don't hate Rep. Henry Waxman for what he did to me and my fellow crafters. If there was a huge national disaster and he came to my door in need, I'd share my oatmeal with him. I wouldn't even spit in it.But I might scrape a bit of the burnt stuff off the bottom, just because it's him.And if it weren't an emergency and he came to my door, and he wasn't there to apologize, I would seriously

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/08/no-hating-kids.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-36671552762695621982009-07-29T06:41:00.002-06:002009-07-29T07:55:30.797-06:002009-07-29T07:55:30.797-06:00

I've been following the discussions of health care and health insurance reform. One possible reform that's being discussed is opening up the market for insurance policies across state lines. Overall I think this is a good idea, but the devil is in the details. I believe it is possible that, done wrong, this could create a health care nightmare instead of a free market paradise.The problem with

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/07/health-insurance-and-problem-of.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-36848800673178993882009-07-28T10:27:00.004-06:002009-07-28T10:32:26.372-06:002009-07-28T10:32:26.372-06:00

When I was in college I had no car, so I'd ride the bus. You meet all kinds of... interesting people on the bus. One time I met this man who started to tell me all about his plan to bring free electricity to everybody in the country. We would take all the pennies out of circulation and make them into wire, because they're made of copper just like wire is. And then we could use the wire to

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/07/crazy-guy-on-bus-has-plan.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6596602.post-60929469431007360952009-07-17T13:00:00.002-06:002009-07-17T13:02:33.550-06:002009-07-17T13:02:33.550-06:00

I am in favor of mandates, especially ones with FH. Health care mandates aren't very good ones though; you're better off with a traditional dinner-and-a-movie mandate. If money is tight, a walk in the park makes a nice mandate.Aren't all straight women and gay men in favor of mandates? ;)

Wacky Hermithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05153700215201399299noreply@blogger.com0http://organicbabyfarm.blogspot.com/2009/07/wacky-hermit-on-mandates.html