Trends for Dec. 2, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Dec. 2, 2002 | 8:15 a.m.

Put a sock on it

Did you brave the crowds and hit the mall Friday, the so-called "biggest shopping day of the year"?

And after several exhausting hours spent pounding the tile floors and pawing sale displays, did you stumble out to the massive, overflowing parking garage unable to remember where you left your wheels?

If only you'd had a Carsock to help your ride stick out like a sore thumb.

Don't let the name fool you: A Carsock isn't a booty for Buicks. It's a miniature windsock that adorns radio and car-phone antennas on cars, trucks, motorcycles and boats.

The 6-inch nylon socks are the brainchild of Ronald Kuczer, an aerospace engineer, and his business partner, Dan Thompson. Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the men were looking for a way to display their patriotism. And the stars-and-stripes-motif Carsocks were born.

The latest design celebrates the Christmas spirit: a bright red sock shaped like Santa's cap, emblazoned with St. Nick's cry of "Ho, Ho, Ho."

Carsocks cost $4.99 and are available by calling (800) 467-4656, or by e-mailing impulseproducts@aol.com.

Heartfelt holidays

You never know: Hanging a tiny windsock on the station wagon could become a holiday tradition for your family. Hey, a memory is a memory.

The folks overseeing the Something to Remember Me By Legacy Project are in the business of helping others preserve holiday memories.

The project, an initiative under the Washington, D.C.,- based, nonprofit organizations Parenting Coalition and Generations United, provides information, activity kits and other resources for preserving legacies to families, schools and community groups.

This holiday season the project is giving props to family traditions via its free holiday activity kit. Some of the tradition-building tips offered by its national chair, Susan Bosak, include:

Free activity kits are available at somethingtoremembermeby.org. Also on the site are details about the Legacy Project's holiday essay contest. Explain your family's favorite holiday tradition in 300 words or less for the chance to win a cedar chest filled with toys, food and other items. Entries are due Dec. 31.

Beating around Bush

For some families, it could be that sitting beside a roaring fire and talking politics is the stuff of which yuletide memories are made.

We're guessing that's not the case for the relatives of President George W. Bush assuming he's the one doing the talking, that is.

Some of the commander in chief's biggest verbal blunders are compiled in the 2003 desk calendar " 'They Misunderestimated Me!' The Very Curious Language of George W. Bush" (Outland Communications, $12.95).

The calendar features 365 quotes butchered by Bush while he served as governor of Texas, through his presidential campaign and his first year in the White House.

The offering for Jan. 15: "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family" (from a 2000 campaign speech in New Hampshire).

Remember this on Feb. 27: "The great thing about America is everybody should vote" (muttered in 2000 in Austin, Texas).

The June 5 thought is one for the troops headed to Iraq: "The reason we start a war is to fight a war, win a war, thereby causing no more war" (from 2000, during the first presidential debate in Boston).

And, finally, some reassuring words for Oct. 3: "Nobody needs to tell me what I believe. But I do need somebody to tell me where Kosovo is" (a 1999 quote from Talk magazine). For more Bush-isms and to order the calendar, visit bushcalendar.com.