Rhetoric at a Glance

Irony

Pronunciation:

\ˈī-rə-nē also ˈī(-ə)r-nē\

Function:noun

The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning; a statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

The wallet is ironic humor.
The fact that it appeared in the gift guides is oxymoronic.

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A gentle word about "Environmental Friendliness"

A new treasury! A new treasury!!! Of course, I can always rely on the wonderful gift guides and front page features to find the best of the best! And just look at how the pretty, unique, and beautifully hand-crafted each and every item is! I'm tickled pink to see more mustaches and terrariums! Nobody can ever have enough of those!

There are SOOOO many talented artists and clearly only the VERY best of the best get chosen to be featured! I had a hard time stopping with just nine!

Oh, but I do hate to be a nagging noodle, but I see a wee problem with something I found in the Environmentally Friendly Gift Guide!

Vinyl Record Bowl

This is not a very environmentally friendly item. When record vinyl is heated up it releases dreadfully dangerous fumes and toxins!

Vinyl records are made from Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC. Polyvinyl chloride is produced by polymerization of the monomer vinyl chloride, and a significant proportion of its mass is chlorine. Heating up vinyl records may result in the outgassing of phthalate plasticizers as well as emissions of vinyl chloride and dioxins. Vinyl chloride is a known carcinogen that results in Angiosarcoma and hemangiosarcoma.

I know I know, you are thinking "Silly Betsy Etc is making a big mountain out of a wee little mole hill! It is just a few records! Not a big scary factory!" But think about it, the melted record bowl is being presented as an "environmentally friendly" way to recycle old record albums, and you know how those rad and trendy hipsters just love to jump on that big green gravy train. After a while, it won't just be one or two people doing it, it will be every other person in Etc.land doing it! Maybe it won't make as big of an environmental footprint on poor Mother Earth as a mean old industrial factory, but then again, it isn't really "Earth Friendly" either, now is it?

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Hipsters in Space!

Oh teehee! What a cute, funny, AND informative cartoon! Now I can have a better handle on what all the hip and rad people are wearing so I can finally fit in! We could all learn some important fashion lessons from Hipsters in Space. Let's get some popcorn and watch it together!



Thanks to infivision for bringing this to my attention!

Etc Featured Seller!

My creative entrepreneur du jour is The72Pin. Just look what this clever boots has done with Nintendo and Atari games! He has taken the mundane and turned it into something attractive and fashionable! How creative and inventive and oh so unique! My only question is why hasn't this wonderful seller been featured yet? There are already so many creative toy upcyclers galore, even celebrities are in on this hot new trend! Surely this artist should be featured too? He takes toy upcycling to a whole new and exciting level!

I am especially fond of this tres adorable Gameboy Advance necklace!



For a romantic evening, this NES Mario 3 Cartridge Necklace would be quite alluring!



Of course my husband, Mr. Etc, would probably love this necklace on me much more. It's a Fully Functional Super Nintendo Necklace! Though truly, faux fur and pearls are much more to my taste. I've never been a fishnet kind of girl. Still, that is what I live for...to please that man of mine!


The72Pin even has his own blog, just like me and his creative lady friend has her own calendar!!! Oh please, do be sure to give this enterprising duo a few minutes of your time to check out their sites and items! It's always so wonderful to find new and original artists!

Thank you to Callin' Out on Etsy for bringing this delightful seller to my attention!

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