Welcome!

Today, I'd like to welcome the arrival of November. I'm sure it's arrival will thrill those of you that suffered during August a couple of weeks ago. I, personally, am glad that November is here (despite the miserable wait for the bus and the pathetically drooping leaves and flower buds on the trees this morning) because it means that we're bound to eventually experience June, even if it must immediately follow January, which has been absent since the beginning of 2011.

An...Apple Cozy?

Why yes, it is!  A NINJA Apple Cozy, in fact.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62038202/brown-apple-cozy-cinnamon-fruit-cozy?ref=fp_treasury_1

Awful song

Yesterday, I decided to stop in Banana Republic (yes, I shop there; I can sometimes find worthwhile work clothing there on the sale rack...and I admit, sometimes full price) over lunch.  I was just going to check out a sale on dresses they had going.  When I stepped in, I noticed the music--a song I've heard a few times and really like.  Stereotypical music for the store, but it's cool I like this one.  I make a beeline for the dresses.  They're ho-hum, but there were some full-priced ones near the entrance that I like, so I head in that direction.  Then...a new song.  I have never heard it before and I hope to never hear it again.  It sounded like a duet between a college-age Thurston Howell III and a cheerleader about to faint over a somewhat disco-y beat.  I hustle out of there, not stopping to look at a damned thing.

Later, I've missed my bus and have to wait for the next one, so I kill some time and stop in Ann Taylor.  I mention that I'm glad the music is decent in the store.  I explain my earlier experience at BR, describing the song exactly as above, and the girl selling me the belt I've been coveting for a while (at 30% off!), grimaces.  "Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about!  We've played it in here before.  It's awful, but there's nothing we can do about it--corporate stream."

Crap.