November 1st, and the Stores are Playing Christmas Music!

I was at the supermarket earlier, and I heard Christmas music, and the store staff were busy replacing all the Halloween stuff with Christmas stuff.

I suppose I shouldn't really be too surprised as I have been receiving Christmas holiday spam from online sellers for a couple of weeks, already.

No, I'm not going to moan and groan about the fact that the annual commercial festival has started... this is more a moment of reflection on the reality that virtually every moment of the year has become a "season" of some sort... a season with some kind of commercial tie-in.

All a poignant reminder, of sorts, that we live in a world were we are more likely to shop the season than to actually celebrate the season.

Whatever the season might be.

Looking back, I was in the retail trade for better than a decade and a half... and in the 1980s and 1990s we hadn't yet reached quite the level of saturation that seems prevalent today.

We'd typically be decorating the store the Thursday and Friday of the weekend before Thanksgiving... about three weeks later than most places in 2024. I'm glad I'm not in retail anymore.

That said, I am still in sales... and November and December are typically important months for selling my artwork at holiday arts and crafts fairs, and I am feeling cautiously hopeful that we will have a good season, this year... election years are usually pretty good, almost like people "relax" a bit after having held their breath for rather too long.

No, I'm not really much of a supporter of either candidate in this race... I will just be happy when this show is over, and hopefully "a decision" will not become a protracted and contested affair.

On the plus side, it does seem — historically speaking — that the crypto markets (and alt. coins, in particular) tend to rally during the year following a US Presidential election. I'm sure there are many of us who could use a bit of a boost in 2025.

2025, huh?

That means we will be a quarter century into the new millennium. There are adults walking around, who were born in this century. I'm getting old and gray, and the mind sometimes boggles!

Our grandson had his 15th birthday yesterday... again, the mind boggles...

In some way, I'm glad I didn't really set any major goals for 2024 because the "climate" has been such that I doubt I would have gotten even close to any of them. I look at my businesses, and now it seems like going sideways is actually a decent result.

Same seems pretty much true for the crypto world, although I recognize that a lot can happen in just 60 days.

Last I looked, the price of Hive basically needs to double in the next two months, just in order for us to get back to the price level we were at at 12/31/23. Of course, doubling in the world of crypto is an event barely worthy of a raised eyebrow...

Time will tell.

During many years in the past, November meant I would be taking part in the annual NaNoWriMo writing event, but I am giving it a pass this year, choosing instead to put more effort into my creative endeavors here at home, and perhaps also my art journal blog here on Hive.

Of course, lately I have also been somewhat "occupied" by the fact that we have had two new kittens in the house since late August. One of the unexpected benefits of having young cats is that they really encourage you to get rid of some of your clutter!

Well, that's about all I have, for the moment... I appreciate you stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!

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Created at 2024.11.02 00:44 PDT
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