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The portrait of North Americans that has emerged over the last decade is not all that flattering. According to scientific studies and news reports, many of us are sleep-deprived, time-starved and over-scheduled. And ironically, in our "wired" world, we are not only tech-savvy and enabled but frenzied and hyper--the victims of too many double lattes and serious cases of cell-phonitis. The result is a world of consumers who now wear a simple, single sign around their collective necks: Help Wanted, it says.
Fortunately, if many of the new products introduced at this year's edition of the National Stationery Show are any indication, help is on the way. Among the goods offered by the show's 1,456 exhibitors to its 14,681 attendees were a wealth of "kits," "guided" journals and other items to make life just a little bit less stressful. Highlights included:
* A Thousand Cranes Inc.'s (212-233-4439) "sets," each of which is presented in a sleek bamboo box. The collection features: Golf Set, which is comprised of bottle opener, tees, divot tool, spotter, and valet brush; Cat Set, which contains a frame, brush, stuffed mouse, catnip toy, and salmon toy; and Empress Set, with a silk flaxseed eye rest, cache box, comb and green tea soap.
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* The Original Dump Kit - Simple Tools to Move On from Mudlark Papers (312-655-0500) - Targeted at women in their teens and twenties to those being served with divorce papers, it contains six "essential elements for moving on": The Stick-It-To-Him...