It’s amazing what just a little interior decoration can do. I replaced my dark blue comes-in-bulk office Kleenex box with a multi-colored pattern but mostly yellow box, and that corner of my desk is considerably brighter and cheerier. Ahhhh. Time to bring in some happy things for the walls.

I hadn’t noticed this before. Yahoo has a page listing the front page articles from the top U.S. papers. Very handy for comparing how the media is covering top issues (or not covering them). It can be deceptive, though. Although there is no article listed under the NY Times about the Singapore Airlines crash, their front page actually has a large (and sadly frightening) photo of the crashed plane.

The Kansas City Star reports that Beverage Digest reports that Coca-Cola plans to replace Mr. Pibb with a new “spicy cherry” brand. Coke won’t confirm this news. While researching this I found some strange information on the Ultimate Pibb Site. According to them, Dr. Pepper leases the right to bottle Dr. Pepper to various bottlers, Coke and Pepsi included. In areas where Coke has the right to bottle Dr. Pepper, they can not produce Mr. Pibb, or, perhaps the no compete states “spicy cherry soda” instead of the exact brand. If it does, I assume Coca-Cola also won’t be able to produce their new version in their Dr. Pepper areas either. The site also has a Mr. Pibb availability map. The soda industry is a strange place. But I suppose many industries have their interesting quirks. (KC Star article via /usr/bin/girl)

I now own two subwoofers, thanks to a superb Cambridge Soundworks sale (I got their silly sounding bonus dollars subtracted immediately, which made for great deals). I now worry about meeting the people who live below me.

From the department of the easily amused: The handicapped parking symbols painted on the parking spots outside my office building have little blue dots for eyes. They make me smile in the morning. (Hard to do, believe me.)

Decca has been releasing remastered “Original Cast Recordings” from their catalog of Broadway classics. Dusted off gems such as Pippin and Guys and Dolls come with interesting bonus tracks. You can hear Michael Jackson soloing on “Morning Glow” and then warbling “Corner of the Sky” with his brothers. The Guys and Dolls album includes many of the Marlon Brando vocals from the movie version. I think I’ll just stick to the concept of “Original Cast”, thank you.

Have you ever noticed that “springtime”, “summertime” and “wintertime” all sound fine, but “autumntime” and “falltime” seem strange?

Autumn has the time change that should work to my advantage. But I’ve fallen back, and I still can’t get up.

Christmas catalogs are arriving in large piles in my mail box. Apparently someone has decided that I like expensive furnishings and soft clothing. That’s probably true, but I don’t have space for more furnishings and I don’t often buy clothes without trying them on first. If they are indeed trying to get me to do Christmas shopping, they need to figure out what my relatives and friends like and send me those catalogs instead.

St. Clair Ice Cream, practically in my home town in Connecticut, makes amazing hand-molded ice creams in the shape of fruits, nuts, flowers, and other suitable items. They’ll ship ’em to you with dry ice. They look like they’d be great for stylish parties and as an easy plate and serve dessert for caterers.