Shiny, happy paper

The catalog industry is wrestling a paper tiger. Apparently, not only is the cost of paper rising, but also the cost of mailing that paper. With postal rates set to jack up in May, some companies are trying to trim down the size and weight of their products. Less of that thick, shiny stuff and more pulped-out recycled featherweight material.

Does it matter? The environment and the economy aside, do catalog shoppers care whether LL Bean prints on 80-lb or 60-lb sheets? I don't think so - I mean we're not talking Charmin here (yet). As long as the models smile and the products glow, it's probably gonna fly under the radar for most consumers. And places that have the high-end clients, like Tiffany's and Neiman Marcus, are probably just gonna suck it up anyways.

Now, for catalog crazies like me, a thick, super-glossy, coated color sheet of paper is as good as crack. I can't wait to get my nose in it. So I expect to suffer some serious withdrawal. But, hey, there's always scrapbooking.

They call it mello yello

I've never been a big fan of the color yellow, but based on the logs I'm seeing for spring, I better reconsider. Yellow is everywhere - from Pottery Barn to Hammacher Schlemmer. I find yellow rather irritatingly bright and shiny and false. Like, I think people who really love yellow are probably the people who are really dark inside. Why else would you want to steal the sun and wear it on your chest in the form of a sweater set?

Plus, there are so many negative connotations of yellow - heck, in the Middle Ages, yellow was the color of evil! (Sorry, Old Yeller.) It's also the color of sickness as in you're looking a bit "yellow around the gills."

I guess yellow is also a wartime color thanks to Tony Orlando & Dawn and their old oak tree. Maybe that explains its current popularity the best.(And if you don't know who TO&D are, consider yourself lucky!)

Either way, the Yellow Submarine has already left the station and landed in your mailbox. So unless you're a fashion coward, it's time to get on board.