No more rubber ducks

A few years ago, I read and enjoyed A Year Without Made in China by Sara Bongiorni, and it made me realize how pervasive Chinese-made items were in the US. Then a good friend almost lost a cat due to tainted pet food made in China. Recently, I read Swindled, a very good and very scary book about how food has historically been adulterated and continues to be. The saddest and scariest parts were the New York swill milk scandals of the mid-1800s and the two Chinese milk scandals in the last ten years. Then came the revelation that MAC Cosmetics, which wants to sell to the growing Chinese middle class, will in fact be testing on animals, something which is required by Chinese law.

So the Chinese government does not care about food quality for either pets or babies, but requires makeup to be tested on animals? It won't make much, if any difference to the big picture, but unless it's something I need instead of something I want, I will not be buying anything Chinese-made.

I will be going through my cosmetics to see what has been made in China, and no, I won't discard anything I already have, but I won't buy more from that company. I already know that most, if not all, rubber ducks are made in China, so no more of those. For everything else, I'll look to see where it's made, and only buy it if A. I need it and B. I can't find an American-made alternative.

The things you learn on a soap forum...

I'm about the last person most people would associate with anything punk, but today I discovered I'm a huge fan of steampunk. Until today, I didn't know what it is. Then someone mentioned it on the Lush message board, and I looked it up and thought, "Oh, yeah, I love that!"

Having finished "The House that Jack Built" by Robert Asprin and , I'm currently re-reading Mercedes Lackey's novel "The Serpent's Shadow." Both Asprin's Time Scout series and Lackey's Elemental Masters series qualify as steampunk, so it was easy for me to recognize my affinity for the genre.

If there's a lifestyle as well, I'd be happy to sign up. I'm doing some serious drooling over Datamancer's keyboards and other goodies. In addition, I have a secret liking for Victorian-style corsets. Just because I can't afford any of this stuff doesn't mean I don't want all of it.