More stuff I like

For my devoted reading audience of three, these are a few of my newish favorite things (no warm woolen mittens or brown paper packages tied up with string):

Crystal Stick deodorant. My brother turned me on to this one. His darling hippie-chick girlfriend Adrienne (they are a perfect couple; he is an airline pilot, she is a bartender) recommended it. The Crystal, as we who are in the know call it, comes in lump or stick form but out here in the burbs, stick is the way we find it in the grocery or beauty supply stores. This thing looks like a tubular hunk of quartz, and David made me feel like a gullible marketing sucker when he explained to me that it's obviously factory-created and formed to look that way, as I thought perhaps it was mined from a quarry and sculpted just for me. Anyway, to use the Crystal stick you have to wet it slightly (no Lord of the Rings magic here, Jack discovered) and apply. Jack was the test subject. I figured any product that could work on a kid with a tendency to smell like a basket of onion rings left out in the sun would have my vote. When Onion Ring Boy became daisy fresh overnight, a Crystal appeared in every family member's cabinet. The only down side is that the rock-like form of Crystal makes it weigh considerably more than its competitors, so if you pack for a trip, it does feel like you stuck a rock in your overnight bag.

My other new favorite product is Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Lotion. I don't know why they even call it lotion, it's so thick you have you coax it out its bottle in lard-like, almost solid form. Since every trace of collagen my body once had has flown the coop, this stuff is a daily must!

Musical Postscript -- Kate and I love The Weepies. Their gentle folk harmonies are kind to the ear on a daily commute, and I just like to say their name.

You heard it here, folks. We'll return to Tracy's musings when we come back.