Cabbage Patch

DAY THREE of my search for Mighty Morphin Power Ranger toys, and I grow weary. Sneering clerks in three stores behave as though I've asked for gold bullion when I inquire whether they have these items in stock.Driving home, I wonder whom to blame: retailers, manufacturers or the child who waited until November to articulate a need more profound than the need for food or water.Every Christmas there is one plaything everyone desires and no one can get. Sort of like the Hope Diamond. I will persevere.

WHAT a difference 30 years can make, as illustrated by a recent Miami Herald story comparing high school proms of 1963 and 1993. Some of the big differences, compiled by Herald reporter Liz Doup:* Transportation -- In 1963, Dad's Ford, Chevy or Plymouth. Sometimes with Mom at the wheel. The cost was gas money. In 1993, six to 12-passenger limos in black or white. Rental cars ranging from the black Lexus to the white Mitsubishi Diamante. Also, "baby" Cadillacs and Lincoln Town Cars in black or white.

New York -- They may still rely on Barbie or G.I. Joe for fun and profits, but the nation's leading toymakers are maturing into the sort of fine young adults Wall Street fancies -- diversified companies with steady income streams and good growth potential.That trend, plus the memory of strong holiday sales, are likely to spark optimism at the sold-out 90th Annual American International Toy Fair, which opens tomorrow in Manhattan. Although many small companies will be gambling -- as they do every year -- that their latest toy will see them through the year, the two biggest toymakers, Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc., are looking forward to record profits and growth.

Howard Countians have thrown their support behind one of the most bogus political fads to come along in some time, approving term limits for County Council members by a lopsided margin of 78 percent to 22 percent.I might also point out that there was a time when people put their names on waiting lists by the thousands to buy Cabbage Patch dolls.While I oppose term limits, I must confess that nine years ago I did place my name on one of those Cabbage Patch lists. So Ithink I understand why so many people fell for the allure of term limits.

REMEMBER the Cabbage Patch Kid craze of the early 1980s? The dolls were in such demand that there was a constant shortage on the shelves. Kids everywhere could be seen carrying their dolls with them. There was even a Cabbage Patch Kids cartoon.Today, Cabbage Patch Kids are virtually unheard of. Instead, a new craze is creeping in. It's on key chains, earrings, necklaces, car --boards and pencil erasers. People suction them to windows and dress them in outfits like their own.Why it's the Norfin Trolls -- gnome-like, flesh-toned dolls with beady eyes, stiff neon hair, flat noses and three fingers on each hand.

It's summertime.I know because my mailbox suddenly is filled with missives from skin care companies and dermatologists' organizations offering dire warnings about unprotected sun worship.The decision to tan or not is a personal one and probably because I still lust in my heart for a golden tan -- I try not to judge hard-core tanners too harshly.I figure part of being an adult is having the right to make our own decisions, even if they're bad for us.(Despite the current hoo-ha over the return of the pale complexion, tans are hardly out of style; only the actual tanning is. Our collective lingering desire to go for the gold is why self-tanning creams are selling so well.