Honestly, it is easy to feel a bit down when fall becomes winter, especially with the grey skies and that old Holiday Gotcha-by-the-throat feeling. And, of course, memories good and bad sometimes overwhelm. Let's have some words from Mr. S:
William Shakespeare
Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.
Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly...
Appears in As You Like It, Act II Scene VII.
A Gas-tly Statistic
These insults are from an era before the Englishlanguage got boiled down to 4-letter words and 2 are "like", for those under 25.
A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.""That depends, Sir, " said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.""He had delusions of adequacy." Walter Kerr on Justin True Dope"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices, which I admire."Winston Churchill"I have never killed a man; but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."Clarence Darrow"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." Moses Hadasslastnight"I didn't attend the funeral; but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."Mark Twain"He has no enemies; but is intensely disliked by his friends." Oscar Wilde"I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one." George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one." Winston Churchill, in response"I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." Stephen Bishop"He is a self-made man and worships his creator." John Bright"I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." Irvin S. Cobb"He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." Samuel Johnson"He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." Paul Keating"In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." Charles, Count Talleyrand"He loves nature, in spite of what it did to him." Forrest Tucker"Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?"Mark Twain"His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork"Mae West"Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go." Oscar Wilde"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts, for support rather than illumination".Andrew Lang (1844-1912)"He has Van Gogh's ear for music."Billy Wilder"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But, I'm afraid this wasn't it, as the duck did not come out of the ceiling."Groucho Marx
In 1983, the entrepreneur owned a women’s clothing store in California, per Vox. A neighboring costume store did very well during Halloween — and when that store shut down, Marver pivoted his own business to costumes.
The “Spirit” name was pure coincidence. Marver wasn’t inspired by Halloween ghosts, but by the name of his shuttered store (Spirit Women’s Discount Apparel).
That first year, Spirit Halloween made $100k in 30 days. Over the next 16 years, Marver built Spirit Halloween into 60+ locations that were only open in the months leading up to Halloween (August, September, October).
… acquired Spirit Halloween in 1999 and growth exploded. Today, it runs 1.4k pop-up stores across Canada and the US.
According to Vox, Spirit’s real estate team works year-round trying to secure the best locations. While landlords — primarily mall operators and commercial real estate holders — prefer long-term tenants (5-10yrs), many accept Spirit’s temporary leases if nothing else materializes.
SF should charge more for riding the J car with these outstanding views. Yesterday I walked and rode to meet Ken at the Wooden Spoon on Market Street. We had a lovely catch-up lunch for his birthday and I heard all about his job and applauded myself for being a retired person once again.
