Hotter than a Mutant In April

Yes, it's still hot. Actually, I think it might have been slightly cooler today, into the upper 80s...but that's still too hot for this time of year. Once again, I'm glad I spent most of the day at work. Work was steady all day, with no major problems. My relief was on time, and I was able to get to and from work with no problems.

I went for a short walk to the Oaklyn Library after I got home and changed into shorts and a tank top to return X-Men: The Last Stand and Wall-E. I'm glad I did. Turns out, first of all, that the Oaklyn Library is one of the few non-residential buildings to have it's air conditioning on at this time of year. It felt GREAT in there! Second, I found a real collectible, a Whitman hard-back copy of the children's book Five Little Peppers...and How they Grew. My older friend Linda Young, who loves classic kids' literature, can tell you more about these stories at her site about them. I bought the Peppers and rented Mamma Mia! and Iron Man and headed home.

I finished X-2: Mutants United while making turkey burgers and carrots for dinner and eating my last slice of chocolate birthday cake. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with all three X-Men films. They're unusually mature and well-written for what's supposed to be shoot-em-up superhero sci-fi, even the third one that everyone fussed about. My only complaint is that, for once, there may be TOO much going on. Some characters get so little screen time. I would loved to have seen more of Alan Cummings' odd-but-sweet devil-thing Nightcrawler, or Kelsey Grammer's mutant diplomat Hank McCoy, or little Anna Paquin's troubled Rogue.

By the way, another nice touch - it's great to see a summer blockbuster series with such a diverse cast, ranging from older acting favorites Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to teenager Paquin.