lives I haven't led, crafts I haven't tried

I was once accosted by a street hustler who insisted she'd known me in a past life. Every once in a while, I not only think of the right response but at the right time, and I told her she had obviously mistaken me for my evil twin, who had been a wife of Anubis. This name came to me because it had been the name of a file clerk at a former workplace, and it stuck in my mind as an unusual cognomen for our times. I don't know if the mythological Anubis ever took wives, but I and my imaginary twin certainly turned off the street person. So I added "turning off street hustlers" to my short list of practical skills. The other is "can get cabs." And another sometime skill is "finding nice presents."

but this morning I got distracted while looking for an original baby gift on Etsy, and the following thoughts came to me:

first, why should a baby gift be original? wouldn't a gift card be more practical? and if I had real confidence in the future of a certain company, wouldn't I have sent a gift card already instead of wondering whether the card might outlive the company?

next, why did the phone CS person at Crewcuts get befuddled about shipping to an APO address? Is this a reflection of a less than patriotic shipping policy, another example of poor customer service training, or a message from, well,

somewhere, not to send something that will have to be packed and repacked and shipped around until baby grows into it? best not to let thoughts go there....

so, back to Etsy, where the baby gift of choice seems to be the knitted or crocheted elf hat in a variety of thicknesses, and I have to confess that I think it's only a matter of time until we see handmade elf hats for pets, not just at holidays. Oops, just checked Etsy, there are such things.

Etsy is for me what Facebook is for Cousin Grace, the world's greatest time-waster.

Oh, I just love the combination of real talent, real creativity, marketing and dementia that's only a click away. There is a lady in Australia who makes clothes for tall adult elf females from upcycled velvet clothing, and her latest offering has thumbholes in the trailing sleeves. If you think about it, this is v. practical for cooking in cauldrons over fires, which is good of the créatrice, because her stuff is v. expensive. I love old Scout handbooks and other guides to life as it should be lived (material for another post, maybe), and they always advise you to avoid wearing robes (nighties, peignoirs, bathrobes and the like) with trailing sleeves while preparing breakfast, for reasons of safety.

have a lovely weekend...