Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas, to those who are that way inclined!

Last night, in my jet lagged stupor, I did a silly thing, and I feel I should give a brief chronology of how this silly thing came to pass. First of all, at the end of Chanukah I had another look at Tampon Crafts. They have some groovy Christmas crafts you should check out, as well as an extremely complex New Year's Eve disco ball. So I was already thinking about trying out one of crafts on there. Then I got an email forward from my mom which contained the following message and photo:

My dear friends and relatives……

Somewhat embarrassing to admit, I'm not getting an annual bonus and Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as gifts. Please let me know your sizes.

* Three convenient sizes: (1.) Regular, (2.) Light and (3.) Get out the Sand Bags.

I've attached a photo of the first pair I made so that you can see the nifty slippers for yourself....

Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each one of you.

(Thanks to whomever originally created this fwd and took the photo, by the way.)

And finally I really did actually intend to get my mom slippers as one of her Christmas presents. We have a big tradition of throwing a few cheesy gag gifts in with the real ones, particularly for my parents. So the inevitable happened, and I got to work using this stuff:



to make these:



After she had a good laugh, we gave her the real ones.

Happy holidays!


Chella

Oh yeah - for constant readers who are also observant, we do Chanukah and Christmas at my house.

Come to NYC for a reading!

We're heading to New York tomorrow morning for a couple of weeks, and I've booked a reading from Adventures in Menstruating #3 at Bluestockings on January 2nd at 7 pm.

Please pass the message on to your NYC pals, or come along yourself - we'd love the support!
Here's some more info from the listing:

Menstrual Taboos are so 2007...

Bluestockings Zine Reading: Adventures in Menstruating #3 – Funny. Period.

Wednesday, 2 January, 2008. 7 pm. FREE.

Start the year with some menstrual mayhem as Chella Quint and Sarah Thomasin launch the third issue of this popular UK comedy zine. Readings will include comic poetry, product testing, and deconstructions of vintage feminine hygiene ads. As always, Adventures in Menstruating welcomes menstruators and non-menstruators alike.

Bluestockings is located at 172 Allen Street between Rivington and Stanton, one block south of Houston and 1st Avenue. (Trains F: 2nd Avenue, JMZ: Essex/Delancey Street.) For more information call Bluestockings on (212) 777-6028.

Drop us an email if you think you can make it, or come introduce yourself if you stop by.

Chella

Happy Chanukah from Adventures in Menstruating!

No menorah?

No problem!

Tampon Crafts


For all your holiday tampon needs.

Seriously, this is a website devoted to arts and crafts made entirely of tampons and ordinary craft supplies like hot glue and poster paints. I wish I'd seen this last year when I had to make an emergency menorah out of play-doh and tin foil. This one has more panache, though, I feel, while retaining the quaint, childhood charm of those 'pull the tab of orange paper through to make the candles light' style ones from kindergarten.

There are crafts for several holidays on this website, so if you've got some tampons kicking around that you'll never use, check them out.

Heck, even if you never make 'em, they're pretty funny. That picture at the top is my menorah from last night, by the way. I found it in the attic.

Chella

Habit-forming...

Ok so I can see now that I'm going to have to label the toilet posts cos there's gonna be a whole slew of them eventually. It's becoming compulsive.

Up till now, I never saw a UK sanitary disposal unit I didn't hate. This SDU is no better or worse than its peers, but it's the placement I find could not go without comment. Yes, in a public toilet in York, amidst crazed Christmas shoppers, I found SDU nirvana. Notice the butt and leg space around the SDU, which is placed at - dare I say it - a rakish angle. I never thought I'd see that.

Sanitary disposal units are a money-making, period shaming, hygiene-fear scam at best, and, in tiny cubicles designed by people who just don't think, most are a practical irritant as well. As you can see, though, the spacious cubicles in York are worth the 20 pence entry charge. (Although both times I used the public conveniences there, a different nice old lady clandestinely held the door open so I wouldn't have to pay. Thanks for the hook ups, old ladies of York!)

You'd think that for once, I wouldn't feel I had to photograph a toilet, but my lack of ire was so thoroughly replaced by self-righteous joy that I had to take a 'well done' picture and post it here, in case any public toilet designers see this blog and take note.

Ironically, this was the only un-crowded area of York last Saturday.

Chella