"Yes! I have found the cure for cocklaphobia!"

-Alyn Carlson

I'm making a fresh batch of paper party hats for a little girl named Lucy. Finding some great stuff in the paper bins. She's turning six and that's the age that pink rules. So cute you just want to bite them. Is it because of the missing teeth? Eight is pretty good too. You know how everyone has an age in their mind they are eternally? Mine is eight. Got red sneakers that summer and I think that's why I can never have enough red shoes. Puts me on my bike, going down the big hill on Viceroy Road, trying not to stare at my new Keds. What my paper hats do to people has been fun to watch. Hats are tricky. Everyone says they look awful in hats. I would say 9 out of 10 people checking mine out, say that to me. Actors are the exception and will plop any hat on. But the average person needs a little coaxing. And they find the paper hats are a little more approachable. Paper hats are without question, not to be taken seriously. They aren't made of felt or fur or wool, stuff that's expensive or more enduring. Mine are ephemeral, come from what is headed for the recycling center. They give all the timid cocklaphobics permission to not take themselves seriously, either. To feel 6 or 7 or 8 again. A relief, don't you think? And all of my paper hats look great with red Keds.