Here's Grandma's old t-shirt, repurposed for the urbane young male.

You're forgetting the Mom/Dad/Grad gift corridor, followed by the usual summer lull.

PatrickRsGhost

I was at the drug store this weekend, here in Sunny California. I saw a pile of Valentine's Close-Out Krep (walked right past it, natch!). A pile of Green-Themed Shamrock Krep (again, kept on walkin'). An aisle of Bunny-Basket Krep, which I'm sure DOES see some "action." Yet, I walked on...

But I did inwardly ponder the Green Gear. Who actually BUYS this stuff? I mean, unless you're planning a St. Paddy's Brew-fest, what use does it serve??? (Although I *did* appreciate the passed-out drunken leprechaun pictured above!).

Maybe it's because we don't have a lot of "Irish" influence here (although me bloodlines indicate a wee bit o' the Irish in me 'eritage), but I just don't see the point...

Anyway, "Springtime" is in full-swing here (we've got blossoms on fruit trees and EVERYTHING! Yippeee!!!), with summer just around the corner. I'm happy to say the Gardening Gear (garden gloves, floppy-hats, pruners, flowering plants, yada yada) is all on sale so I scored some potting soil and some really nice, glazed ceramic pots (Green, I might add! ;-).

I did breeze thru the genesis of the "Summer Aisle" - but held back. It's just a leeeeetle too soon!

with imqtpi. None of this stuff is even remotely buyable to me. Just more useless krep to take up space and take $s from my wallet. No thank you. And where's the Arbor Day stuff -- which should be made entirely out of wood.

Not that I believe it's going to pan out this way, but I wonder what a civilization eons from now would think after finding some of this stuff at an archeological dig. Would they assume some profound religious significance? Which also makes me wonder if we don't have all of our interpretations of ancient civilizations completely wrong.

My ancestry is almost 100 percent Irish, and not only don't I buy this stuff, I don't know anybody who does. But there must be somebody out there who loves it.

Actually, I'd be tempted to call St. Patrick's day a 24-hour ethnic slur, what with the drunken-Irishman stereotypes and all, but fortunately, my ancestors also endowed me with the ability to lighten up :)

Just the same, as the great Ogden Nash said in regard to the annual marathon of fake accents and crappy fake Irish music: "One year I wish St. Patrick would lean down from heaven's arch/And jam the bloody airwaves on the 17th of March."

You know who buys St. Paddy's Day plasti-crap? The people who think this stuff is a great (or effort-free) gift for my non-Irish sister, Patricia, born on March 17th. This must be the bane of many holiday birthday folks. She's got shamrock-shaped lights, blinking "Kiss Me I'm Irish" buttons, Irish-themed painted particle board hanging welcome signs, mugs...the list is endless. And in the great tradition of our mom, she can't bear to throw any of it, so she trots it out every year around this time for a week or so. I plead guilty to adding to the mess (a shamrock antennae headband, maybe one or two other tchotchkes) but I was young and foolish, I swear. Now I actually put some thought and consideration into what I get her.

For solving the "Mystery!"

So YOUR SISTER is to blame for all this!!!

Who'da thunk she had so much POWER?!! ;-)