Friday Five:

1. What brand of toothpaste do you use?

I am a big fan of those new liquidy toothpastes that come in a squirt bottle. Anything to avoid tubes.

2. What brand of toilet paper do you prefer?

Pathetically, I've actually covered this topic in my blog before. Marcal is my favorite because it's cheap, not too soft and not too hard, and it was made from recycled paper long before any other brand could claim this.

3. What brand(s) of shoes do you wear?

I can't generalize about what brand I like, but I do believe that shoes are the rare commodity where paying more usually results in better quality. As opposed to, for instance, shampoo, where a $1.29 bottle of Suave works just as well as a $20 bottle of sheep placenta or whatever. Or, arguably, jeans.

I am currently enjoying a pair of slip-ons that I purchased a while back at Nine West in a total panic, after Coney chewed up my last functional pair of shoes.

4. What brand of soda do you drink?

Something strange and monumental has happened recently. For years, my #1 drink was Diet Coke. I even preferred it over regular Coke. Heck, I put the phrase "Diet Coke" in a song, not to praise it but to accurately reflect how essential it was to my being. But suddenly, I love Diet Pepsi. I love everything about it. I can't account for this at all.

5. What brand of gum do you chew?

I am currently so addicted to Dentyne Ice that I am considering taking up smoking to get off the gum.