No real knitting progress to speak of -- certainly not enough to post a picture. I wish I was one of those multi-WIP people, with 39 WIPs to shuffle like a deck of cards, but alas, it's just not me. So let me entertain you with some Friday Fluff:

Calling Oliver Stone or Michael Moore
I'm hot on the trail of a possible cosmetics cover-up -- a conspiracy of hygiene hijinx; a veritable depilatory debacle. It all started about a year ago when I discovered that the Great American Bastion of bulk consumerism, Costco, sold my favorite Gillette Venus razorblades in a 16-pack for about $24.00. Expensive, yes, but I have a long and boring history of whining about shaving my legs (just ask my mother or sister; they're certainly sick of hearing about it). No blade is sharp enough for me. The trees in my home state of Oregon aren't just in the forest -- they're on my legs as well and require superhuman methods of removal.

About the time I was eyeing the Ginsu knives in the kitchen, I discovered the Venus razorblade. Super-sharp, triple-blade, lubricating strip; I was in depilatory heaven. But ay, mamacita, they were expensive! Refills, even at WalMart, averaged about $7.00 for 4 blades. Ouch! So I was quite pleased to find these wicked little gems at Costco.

I happily filled my handy little Venus Shaving System razor 'n blade shower holder, slapped a sharp new blade into the Venus handle, and proceeded to completely rip up my legs. What the heck? Not wanting waste my investment, I continued shaving 'n ripping until I used up all the blades. The next Venus refill was a 4-blade pack purchased from WalMart. Ahh, here were the blades I was expecting -- smooth shave, no cuts or scrapes. Continuing with the experiment, I purchased another 24-pack of blades from Costco last weekend -- again becoming an unwilling blood bank donor in my own bathtub. Nowhere on the packaging did it say these blades were manufactured for Costco, but I suspect they're either just that, or they're inferior seconds that didn't pass Quality Control at Gillette. Pretty crummy on Gillette's part, I think.

I also had a similar experience with my favorite deodorant, Secret Sheer Dry (in my favorite perkily-named scent, "Optimism!" I shudder to think what "Despair!" smells like). Works great if I purchase it from the drugstore; crummy, inferior results from supposedly the same product purchased in a 3-pack from Costco. Oliver or Michael, can I get a film crew on this, now?

Happy Friday, everyone.