Up On My Soap Blog

I don’t often get worked up enough about things to get preachy but I’m going to now. It’s just 3 quick things so bare with me. I know it’s “bear with me” although “bare with me” sounds like fun.

• Animal testing is bad. I have always thought animal testing meant trying out shampoo, soap, lotion, etc on animals; like shampooing them or lotioning them up. It doesn’t mean that. It means keeping animals like dogs in crates their whole lives, never loving on them or letting them outside. It means shooting chemicals right into their eyeballs to see if it irritates their eyes.  If shampoo/soap/lotion companies want to know if it irritates human’s eyes so badly, they can shoot it in their own eyes. Leapingbunny.org has a list of products that don’t test on animals and there are some that aren’t that expensive like Method and Seventh Generation. It is a little extra effort and money and I know that money is tight and I don’t buy all cruelty free  but I’m aware of it now thanks to my sister, social conscience and life coach, Molly.

Watch this video…crying warning in effect.

• Skiing is dangerous, ask Sonny Bono or Natasha Richardson. A couple of days ago, I received this email from my friend Marnie (well there was more but this part is the salient point in this blog): “Kirsten (her sister) went to Steamboat the week before and was cut off by a snowboarder who came close enough to her to cut her ski pants.  K fell over, was knocked unconscious and her helmet cracked.  She ended up being sledded down the hill and taken to the hospital to get checked out, etc.  She had a bump on her forehead the size of an orange and a massive shiner.  My cousin and husband bought helmets the next day and, for the first time since I started skiing at the age of 5, I wore a helmet in Vail.  Friends don’t let friends ski without helmets.  Pass it on… “

I’m going to go with Kirsten would be in very bad shape or dead if she hadn’t had a helmet on and I’m glad she’s not, I always liked her. Kirsten would have left behind 3 kids and a husband and family and friends.

Wear a helmet, even if you feel goofy doing it.

• Life jackets are important. This weekend there will be a funeral for a 21-year-old firefighter named Justin. Justin’s brother is married to Derwood’s sister. Justin and his brother were fishing last Saturday night, the boat capsized and Justin didn’t make it back to shore. Two families are a mess right now for what was a completely avoidable tragedy.

Wear a life jacket. They don’t look goofy, not really goofy at all. Justin would still be with his family and friends if he had put one on.

In other news, Derwood’s ex-wife had a heart attack yesterday.  A heart attack! She’s in great shape and is 42, what the hell?! Since blogging is where I can tell even the ugly truth, yesterday I did have the thought, “Well she may be tall and thin but at least I haven’t had a heart attack.” Truly had a moment of superiority for not having had a heart attack. Yep.

N. had a heart attack because a cholesterol platelet exploded in one of her ventricles. The doctor said the chances of that happening are about the same as walking out of your house and being hit my a piece of a satellite. She is alive because Deren called 911.

Just something to think about, absolutely nothing you can do to prevent a platelet explosion. But definitely call 911 if you have one.

Have a nice day. And I’m done with bummer blogs, I’ll blog happy tomorrow and I think there will be nudity.