Seeking, Finding, Writing About Products Made in the USA
Autumn returned like an old friend. Oh, you’re back. I’ve missed you! Evening temps dipped into the 40’s. Yellowing leaves rustled in the cottonwood trees. Apples arrived: in farmers’ markets, produce sections, on teachers’ desks. Don plucked a few from a 1950’s-era tree in his mom’s backyard, arranged them on our kitchen windowsill. I pulled oneContinue Reading “Simple Sorrows, Simple Joys”
Clothing is a means of creating and communicating an identity…That’s why the attire of Olympians is so important: on the biggest stage in the world, they are constructing an identity not just for themselves, but as representatives of their country. —Prof. Michael Mamp, Central Michigan University Before the 2016 Summer Olympics fade from memory, theContinue Reading “America’s Teachable Olympic Moment”
If loyalty is, and always has been, perceived as obsolete, why do we continue to praise it? Because loyalty is essential to the most basic things that make life livable. Without loyalty there can be no love. Without loyalty there can be no family. Without loyalty there can be no friendship. Without loyalty there canContinue Reading “Oh Hey, Marine Layer? Come Home.”
“Disney needs to avoid getting lost in translation, an especially difficult proposition in China. It is a deeply American brand trying to break into a country where the government wants to suppress Western ideals.” —How China Won the Keys to Disney’s Magic Kingdom,  The New York Times, June 14, 2016 * I’m conflicted. Disney-Pixar’s FindingContinue Reading “Losing Mickey”
In researching USA-made gifts for Father’s Day, a couple of thoughts kept nagging at me: Why should anyone care where a product’s been made? Is USA-made even relevant in our increasingly globalized, border-free world? Why not shut up and stop irritating everyone, from a blameless Marine Layer employee (story to come in a future post) to myContinue Reading “Top 10 Reasons to Buy USA-Made Gifts for Dad”
“There’s a heart and soul to things. Otherwise, what’s the point? My heart and soul is in how I feel about the South. It’s what inspires me. It’s what makes me want to go back home.”—Reese Witherspoon Lunching at Carmel’s  La Bicyclette a couple of weeks ago, Don and I sat close enough to Reese WitherspoonContinue Reading “Six Degrees of Reese Witherspoon”
Shuttling among farms, mines and prison camps, he said, he was beaten…and placed in a coffinlike concrete case. He lost 75 pounds before he was released in 1979 when he was 42, three years after Mao’s death. —Harry Wu, Who Told World of Abuses in China, Dies at 79, The New York Times, April 27, 2016Continue Reading “Be Happy, America. And Vigilant.”
The flowers that bloom in the spring, Tra la, Breathe promise of merry sunshine– As we merrily dance and we sing, Tra la, We welcome the hope that they bring, Of a summer of roses and wine, Of a summer of roses and wine. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Continue Reading “Summer Roses and Sticky Wickets”
So, I’m at the skincare counter of a local department store the other day chatting with Alice, my favorite makeup / make-over miracle-worker, and she says: “Hey, what’s happening with the blog?” Seriously? She remembers it? After hibernating in my converted garage office for days, weeks, months, surrounded by newspaper clippings and books and filesContinue Reading “Make Your Holiday Shopping Red, White and Blue. Start Today. #AAMDay.”
This blog began on December 31, 2010, with a silly-sounding name: China Ate My Jeans. The idea for the name came from my days as an elementary school teacher. Kids would come up with the most outrageous excuses for not turning in their homework. And yes, on more than one occasion, the family dog was named asContinue Reading “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree in American-Made Jeans”
