A Panegyric to Cotton

From the Oxford English Dictionary:
Panegyric: A public speech or published text in praise of a person or thing; a laudatory discourse; a eulogy, an encomium. Freq. with of, on, to, upon.

Before I wax eloquent on the virtues of cotton, I wanted to mention that the Oxford English Dictionary is available online to users of the Los Angeles Public Library. You can go to .www.lapl.com and click on databases. If you enter your library card number and zip code you can access to the OED online. I think that's pretty cool.

Okay, so here is my panegyric:

The last time I went to Costco I bought a white undershirt for around $12.00. I like to wear white undershirts under my long sleeved shirts. I even bought the shirt in a larger size because I wanted it to fit loosely. Okay, so the next day I put the shirt on in the morning and as the day wore on I got crankier and crankier. The shirt was uncomfortable. It was tight but not too tight, but I was still uncomfortable. After wearing the shirt for a couple of hours I had to go and change. When I looked at the label I noticed what I had suspected all along: it was 37% polyester. I hate polyester! It makes me cranky.

When I think of things that I'm thankful for, cotton is right up there on my list. I don't like to wear anything else. My sheets are 100% cotton; even socks are uncomfortable unless they are 100% cotton. I have to remember to always check labels; little white shirts that look like they're made of cotton aren't always what they seem. And now I'm out $12.00.

If you think this is a rather lame panegyric wait until you hear my encomium of coffee