Good evening. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce this week’s blog. Artemis and I froze. Then she carefully climbed down from the chair.

“Do you think he’s returned?” she asked.

I hurried over to the window. I have a certain set of skills when it comes to peering out windows. Upon doing so, I saw a familiar nemesis. “No, he has not returned.”

“Who is it then?”

“Brown.”

“Brown?”

“It’s Brown.”

Artemis crept over and peered out the office window. Sure enough, a UPS delivery driver skipped up to the porch in his uniform and set a shipping box on the step. Then he hopped back into his truck, turned it around and headed right. Artemis looked at me and I looked at her. I knew what she was thinking. She knew what I was thinking. We were both thinking we needed to go get a look at that box.

Lucky for us there was a table near the door with a bowl to toss one’s keys into. Artemis jumped up on the table and flipped open the deadbolt. Then she jumped down like a gymnast, grabbed the handle and turned the knob. I pushed her back and the door opened with her. I trotted onto the steps, put my head at the back of the box and pushed it forwards until it slid inside.

“PetSmart,” I said reading the label.

“PetSmart indeed.”

“There’s cats here somewhere.”

“Shall we head downstairs this time?”

“Let’s go.”

We trotted down the stairs to find there was only one room option this time as opposed to upstairs where there were three. And it was shut. Shut and locked. We tucked our tails, sat down and pondered. And then we pondered some more.

“There must be a way to unlock the door,” I finally said.

“Hmm, yes,” Artemis said lifting her front paw and licking it.

“Do you think we could find a spare key around here somewhere?”

“Perhaps.”

“What do you think we are going to find in there?”

“Who knows?”

Suddenly, we heard a sound on the other side of the door. We both leaned in and put our ears near the door and listened. Artemis’s eyes grew large and round.

“I’d know that meow anywhere!”

Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: THE PLASTIC DETOX (2026)-NETFLIX

Believe it or not, this is a rather uplifting film about a downer of a topic. It will make you want to severely cut back on purchasing plastic in any form going forwards. Or perhaps even cut it out altogether. And halleluiah to that. Gigi and I often post about our dislike of fast fashion around school clothes shopping time every year here on the blog. And in addition, we discuss our intense dislike of man-made fabrics regardless of the brand.  

The documentary focuses on the likable and renowned Dr. Shanna Swan who decided to conduct an experiment about lowering the number of plastics in the homes of six couples who have unexplained infertility. Dr. Swan is an environmental and reproductive epidemiologist who is Professor of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She and her research team wanted to find out if switching out many plastic household items for healthier options would help the couples to conceive. Not only is this an engaging experiment, but it is also an excellent documentary on how to start ridding your own home of plastic toxins and begin to live a healthier lifestyle. Because I read there were some viewers out there who wanted more specifics on what the couples did to change their living environment, I worked with AI to provide a list of items Dr. Swan had her subjects take out of their homes and what she had the subjects replace those items with.

Here is a list of what Dr. Shanna had the couples change:

Scented products (air fresheners, candles, perfumes, fragranced lotions) → replaced with fragrance‑free alternatives

Plastic-packaged personal care items (lotions, shampoos, conditioners) → swapped for lower‑plastic or fragrance‑free versions (not always fully plastic‑free, but reduced exposure)

Plastic food containers → replaced with glass or stainless steel

Plastic‑wrapped foods → avoided when possible; couples were encouraged to choose fresh, unpackaged foods

Plastic water bottles → replaced with non‑plastic bottles (glass or metal)

Plastic‑wrapped foods → avoided when possible; couples were encouraged to choose fresh, unpackaged foods

Heating food in plastic → eliminated entirely (a major source of BPA/phthalate leaching)

Polyester and other synthetic clothing → replaced with 100% cotton clothing

Synthetic baby items → replaced with green/low‑plastic baby products (cotton clothing, non‑plastic bottles, low‑plastic gear)

Plastic baby bottles → replaced with non‑plastic bottles (glass or stainless steel)

Scented cleaning products → replaced with fragrance‑free cleaners (to reduce phthalates)

Plastic-heavy household goods (e.g., certain storage bins, organizers) → swapped for wood, metal, or glass where feasible

Plastic kitchen tools → replaced with wood, silicone, or metal (not always shown directly, but consistent with the swaps described)

Chewing gum (often contains synthetic polymers) → avoided

Books and items with plastic coatings (e.g., some children’s books) → minimized when possible

Plastic water filters, plastic kettles, and other heated-plastic appliances → replaced with stainless steel or glass versions (implied through the “remove heated plastics” guidance)

You can also get more information by going to this website: https://opsociety.org/theplasticdetox/

In addition to Dr. Swan’s study, the film also focuses on Reverand Lennox Yearwood Jr., President of Hip Hop Caucus. He is featured along with the founder of Rise St. James, Sharon Lavigne who have both worked on pushing back on petrochemical plants expanding in Louisiana in an area infamously known as Cancer Alley. You can get more information here: Resist | Rise St. James

Also featured is Lydia Wendt, a fashion model and the founder of California Cloth Foundry who designs all natural, sustainable clean and healthier clothing. You can read more about the company here: https://clothfoundry.com/

And finally, the film also features the brilliant Professor John Warner, Founder of the Institute for Green Chemistry. His website is here: https://johnwarner.org/