A Very Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I know a lot of people don't like this holiday. "It's only for couples!" "It exists so people will buy cards and candy!" "What if you're not in love?" "What if you're not romantic?"

The complainers are missing the point. There's many different kinds of love in the world, and many other ways of showing that you care besides a fancy card and a box of chocolates. What about getting together with your friends and having a movie night? Or doing something nice for your parents. Or tossing in an extra round of video games with your best guy or gal pal.

While I don't have a significant other, I had a fun day anyway. It was still cloudy and chilly when I got up early to go to the laundromat. I was in there around 9:30...and the place was quiet. The couple who was finishing their laundry had just gone outside. The TV wasn't even on. The manager and a repairman who needed to fix a faulty washer showed up later, but by the time they were getting  busy, I was on my way out.

I ran a couple of Valentine's Day specials this morning and after I got in. I did Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers and the two Winnie the Pooh Valentine's cartoons during breakfast. Put on Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown while I folded and returned my laundry to the drawers it belonged in.

I rode to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteer session around a quarter to 12. The clouds that made this morning so cold were clearing out by then, and it was becoming a really lovely day. It was so nice, I was too warm in my heavy black coat and new insulated gloves. Newton River Park was filled with dog-walkers, joggers, lovers going for a stroll, and little kids and their parents running around the playground. Ducks enjoyed a leisurely lunch-hour glide around the river.

The Library was also quiet, not a surprise on a nice day and a holiday. There weren't many books or DVDs for me to put away. I pulled foreign and kids' movies from the adult DVD rack and adult DVDs from the kids' racks, then turned the kids titles over to the librarian in charge of visual media to be labeled more clearly. (I also didn't take anything out myself. I have plenty to watch at home, and a lot of things going on right now anyway.)

You'd never know it was the same day when I got out of the library. The sun was shining brightly, the clouds were mostly gone, and while it was still windy, it wasn't nearly as bad as the last few days. I had a very nice ride through Westmont and Audubon over to Simply Soups. I saw a carpenter working on the floor in the storefront that had once housed Act Two Collectibles as I rode by, and I wondered who would be moving in.

I got my answer when I arrived at Simply Soups. They had signs in their window and in the restaurant saying they're moving...two doors down to the former Act Two shop! That's perfect. It's a nicer and much larger store, and being on a corner (and a block from the White Horse Pike), they'll probably get even more drive-by business.

After a delicious cup of Italian Wedding Soup and Saltines, I made a brief stop at Willie the Woodsman and Wife's in the next building over. They moved their WebKinz to the children's room in the second floor. They still didn't have any I really wanted, so I just headed out empty-handed.

I did much better at Abbie Road. Bob was having a sale on used CDs, and he had a very full rack of records, too. I ended up with two records:

The Seekers - Georgy Girl (I've never seen the movie, but I love that song and "Red Rubber Ball")

The original Broadway cast of South Pacific with Mary Martin and Enzio Pinza (also a cassette replacement)

The CD sale yielded seven discs:

The American Song Book series: Rodgers & Hart and Jules Styne (Collections of various pop vocalists singing standards by these gentlemen)

Wynton & Ellis Marsalis - Joe Cool's Blues (Classic Vince Guaraldi compositions mixed with Wynton Marsalis' own material)

George Winston - Linus & Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi

Five For Fighting - American Town and The Battle for Everything

Uncle Kracker - No Time for Shame (Yes, I'm aware of the explicit content label...but I love their version of "Drift Away")

I made it to America's Best at 3 on the dot. For once, they didn't make me wait very long. They even had good news for me. My stigmatic right eye has improved slightly, but not enough to change my prescription. I ordered my usual three months supply of contacts.

While I was there, I asked the eye doctor about the possibility of laser surgery at Will's Eye Hospital in Philly. The answer was what I expected - out of the question. My eyes are just too bad. They'd have to slice through too much cornea, and there would be too much risk involved. Oh well. I don't mind wearing contacts and glasses.

It was so beautiful when I left, I went straight home instead of to Lucile Roberts. It was just too lovely to be sitting in a gym! I went for a walk to WaWa instead. There were lots of people out and about, enjoying the weather and the holiday. Kids rode bikes together. Couples walked and chatted. People gabbed on their porches. Parents pushed children in strollers; college students walked their dogs. I treated myself to two Dark Chocolate Reeses Cups and a mix of hot chocolate and Chai tea (since the WaWa's Chai is rather weak - it came out very well) as I headed home.

I used the Duncan Hines Orange Supreme Cake Mix I bought on sale to make Orange-Strawberry-Coconut Cookies - the mix with coconut, chopped strawberries, orange concentrate, two egg whites, and slightly less vegetable oil than called for. They came out yummy, very sweet and very citrus-y!

Did A Charlie Brown Valentine while I worked on the cookies, then I Married an Angel during my dinner of Orange Chicken Stir Fry. Count Palafi (Nelson Eddy) is a high-living playboy who is supposed to be in charge of one of the biggest banks in Budapest. His second-in-command (Reginald Owen, unrecognizable in a huge beard) wants him to take a wife, but he'd rather have the chorus girls he runs around with. The night of his birthday, he dreams that the little secretary everyone at work made fun of (Jeanette MacDonald) is really an angel sent to give him the perfect mate.

The Count learns the hard way to be careful what you wish for when the angel turns out to be literally too good to be true. She objects to the real animal feathers and fur used in her new wardrobe, offends the snooty bank examiners and their wives by telling them the truth about themselves, and unknowingly flirts with the owner of the bank's rival (Douglass Dumbrille). One of the Count's former girlfriends (Binnie Barnes) makes the Angel over to be more like the chorus girls he usually dates...but the Count is even less thrilled when the makeover proves to be too successful!

I don't know why this one doesn't rank higher with fans. I thought it was adorable. MacDonald in particular has a high time playing angel and devil, and Eddy has his fun moments, too. (Him trying to get to Jeanette during her solo number is a scream.) I loved Binnie Barnes and MacDonald's little swing dance routine when Barnes is trying to teach her how to be a bit more devilish.

This was a flop when it came out in 1942, and I think the main problem may have been wrong movie at the wrong time. A fluffy romantic fantasy (set in Europe, to boot) wasn't the best thing to be releasing during the height of World War II. MacDonald and Eddy had been at the top since 1935 and had pretty much worn out their welcome, too. There's also the fact that it's a bit on the surreal side, especially the montage towards the end when Eddy keeps imagining MacDonald and Dumbrille in a series of increasingly outlandish settings.

Not the best of their movies to start out with, but if you're a fan, this is a big improvement over their previous two vehicles and a lot of fun to watch.