Random Internet Amusements - Sept 2014

I realized today that it has been five WEEKS since I lasted posted anything.  I haven't even been really updating my Facebook feed that much.

The killer thing is that I haven't been doing a lot (with a few exceptions, including attending a lovely wedding).  My life lately has mostly just the routine items needed to keep things going generally smoothly.

I have, however, found a few things on the internet that have kept me amused, so I thought I would share a few links with you (keeping in mind, that these websites have no idea who I am, I just think they are neat).

A Mighty Girl - this website is full of awesome, kick-ass things.  Tons of books and movies with strong, female characters, and a great assortment of clothing in all sizes.  The clothing includes super-hero items in the colours the superhero wears in the comics/movies/other media (anyone who has stood in a store/looked at an e-store and yelled something along the lines of "BUT BATGIRL DOESN'T WEAR PINK!" will get me on this one).  I have yet to purchase anything from this site, but only through an effort of will.

In a similar vein, Her Universe is a clothing website for those of the female persuasion who appreciate some of the more major fandoms.  Currently, they are carrying items for Star Wars, Star Trek, Walking Dead, Marvel, Dr. Who, and Transformers.  I have also not purchased anything from this site, largely because of the shipping to Canada costs, but the Han Solo dress looks amaze-balls.

The food blog Amuse Your Bouche has a ton of vegetarian recipes, with Pinterest worthy photography.  Most of it sounds and looks really, really delicious.

Lastly, this video made me laugh really hard.  At work.  Fortunately, it was my lunch hour.

I'd Forgotten About the Dollar Store

February is always a busy month in this household, with multiple birthdays and Valentine's Day and the Family Day long weekend.  There's lots to do!

Part of all the busyness this month led me to rediscover the awesomeness of the dollar store.  We planned and hosted two birthday brunches, with all that entails, in addition to munchkin appropriate goody bags for her daycare class's Valentine's celebrations.

Bucket-loads of paper plates in a variety of colours and patterns? A dollar!  Disposable cutlery in packs that match the plates?  A dollar!  Goody bags, napkins, thank you cards, etc? Less than two dollars each!

Do you need items for goody bags?  Here's a list of appropriate small child items I found at the dollar store:

• glow sticks (someone did this for a birthday earlier this year and it was a big hit.  After all, to little eyes, a glow stick is nothing but a perfectly toddler sized light sabre!)
• name brand Play-Doh: our dollar store was selling it in two dollar four packs!
• old-school party noisemakers
• stickers, stickers and more stickers: all sorts of subjects and finishes, including puffy animal stickers, shiny rocketships, and branded characters
• art supplies, including crayons, finger paints and little pads of paper
• super balls
• all sorts of candy

There was a whole lot more, mostly of the small toy variety, but you get the idea.  There are tons of options!

The other thing that struck me about the grocery store, while I was getting party supplies, was the abundance of different grocery and household staples.  Baking soda, brand name soups, Kraft Dinner (and several KD rivals), pickles, dish soap, paper towels, etc.  Since the grocery store nearest our home sells Kraft Dinner for $1.60 and it is (surprise!) a dollar at the dollar store, that is not a minor savings, for just one example.

The other major item I've been stocking up on is candy bars.  The vending machine at my place of employment charges $1.50 for candy bars and $1.25 for a bag of chips.  Candy bars at the dollar store go for $0.69 and chips (which, while still small, are larger than the ones in the vending machine) are $1.00.  As a result, I loaded myself up and have stashed them in my desk so that I can avoid the overpriced vending machine at the office.

Woo hoo for saving money!

Do you have an awesome dollar store near you?  Have you found anything awesome there?

Branded Balls *Not Those Kind!

WARNING:  I'm going to say the word ball or balls a lot in this post.  Not in a dirty manner, but if you are like me, you'll giggle anyway.  Balls.

Some things that I was vaguely aware of before having a child have come closer into focus for me over the past year and a bit.

One of those things is the ever-present corporate culture in North America.  It made me annoyed before the baby, and it makes me more annoyed now, since I've discovered that there are virtually no controls on advertising to children.  Things that other people see as cute seems overwhelming to me.  It is almost like marketing departments are cowhands, wanting to brand new calves with their ranchers mark as soon as possible.*

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I think knowing a company's product and preferring it over another is fine.  Some companies make pants that fit me better than others.  However, as much as that corporation would like it, I don't want to advertise that fact to the world by having their name or logo across the butt of said pants.
I feel the same about children's wear.  A one-year old does not need a company's logo across the front of their sweat-shirt or on their diapered butt.  They can't even read!  Other companies get around the lack of literacy by putting character likenesses on *everything*.

*Get off my lawn portion of the rant:* When I was a little kid, which was not forever ago, you could get licensed lunchboxes and backpacks, superhero underoos, and a character shirt if you were lucky enough to visit a themepark.  When I hit my teen years, characters and logos started appearing on more things.
Now, you can't swing your arm without hitting something that is either logo'd or that has a licensed character printed on it, especially if it is aimed at kids.

This rant came about because I wanted to get my child a bouncy ball.  Just a plain old rubber bouncy ball.  It is one of those staple toys that I think every kid should have.

The first issue I had is that regular old rubber balls, for bouncing, that are not a sport specific ball, are really hard to find.  I'm assuming this is because marketing departments have yet to find a way to market them as 'educational' and put some sort of computer in them.  If you don't believe me, go to the Toys R Us website and search for 'ball.'  When I searched today, it pulled up 82 items and none of them were a plain old rubber ball.

I haven't had a lot of luck with other retailers either.

Imagine my surprise when I was picking up supplies from the drugstore yesterday and they had rubber balls, in a size perfect for toddlers, in their seasonal section!  For only two dollars!

Unfortunately, every single ball had a lisenced character on it.  They were also clearly intended to be gendered.  You had your choice of the very pink Barbie ball, the also very pink Hello Kitty ball, the Disney Cars ball (blue & red with only male characters on it) or the Pixar Toy Story ball (blue & green with only Buzz Lightyear & Woody on it).

At this point, I gave up and the baby in my stroller picked the Hello Kitty ball.  She knows a good deal when she sees one.  At least Hello Kitty is not terribly prevalent in North American advertising.

At this point, my kid isn't able to identify common characters.  That day is not far off judging from other kids we know.  And I don't know how capable I am of navigating a world where there is a cartoon character at every corner who wants to sell her things.

Sometimes, a toy ball just needs to be a ball and not a marketing ploy.

*I'm not going to make any excuses for this pun.  I'm not sorry.