This is what a failed product launch looks like

Meet Ismena, who cost $4.27 at Walgreen's. I think New Bratz may have flopped big time.

The rain SERIOUSLY turned that dry wash into a river in 5.6 minutes.

The backstory is that I needed ibuprofen for my monsoon-related headaches, and I figured I'd enjoy the newish tram-line extension by visiting the Walgreen's up at Northern (several stops beyond the old end of the line). In the toy aisle, behold! New Bratz marked down to $4.27. There was a Raya, but I'd already bought her for under $10 in January (she's the tanned blonde in the polka-dot skirt), and then I dug a bit and... there's Yasmin!

And, unlike many of the New Bratz, she doesn't look terrified, only mildly wary.


This one's being named Ismena, which is apparently the Polish term for a Peruvian daffodil. If you click the link, you'll see this is a flower that Bratz would approve of, though they might be disappointed it doesn't come in purple.

She comes with a bracelet (she's wearing it, below), earrings (which bent when I tried to insert the pegs), a purse that she can sort of carry, and what purports to be a guitar.

If I just shove my guitar in my purse, Frontier will accept it as carry-on, right?

The guitar is proportioned more like a ukulele, and Ismena can't really carry it in a way compatible with normal guitar-playing.

Maybe if I treat it more like a lap harp?

Since the girls were at the office, they took turns riding Seymour the Spider.

Giddy-YAP, Seymour! You've got eight legs, you can MOVE.

Seymour was a gimme from a conference (he advertises a type of exchange-traded fund called SPDR) back when the gimmes were good. That year, I scored Seymour, a half-scale Mini Cooper, and a block puzzle thing that has been converted for various furniture-making activities. The next year, it was pens, pens, pens, as far as the eye could see across the huckster's room.

Nobody ever feels bad about foot size after getting a couple New Bratz.
Or pedicures... where are Ismena's toenails?

Sharp eyes may have noticed that Yasmin, Ismena, and Raya have a friend.

Toora-loora-lulu!

Fry's had My Little Pony blind bags marked down to $2.39. I bought one.

Back in the 1980s, I referred to then ubiquitous MLPs as "damn ponies." So now I have a damn pony. If I get back to that Fry's before they run out of blind bags, I may end up with more than one damn pony.

Rain really falls sideways?