Happy Birthday to Me!

And it was a great day to celebrate my 33rd birthday, too. I awoke to bright sunshine, far less wind than earlier in the week, and temperatures that were already in the upper 50s by 8AM. Mom called me as I worked on my journal entry. She had Skylar there, but she wanted to wish me many happy returns of the day. I told her about my long and stressful week, and how much I needed the day off.

I put on today's American Top 40 rerun as I changed and had breakfast. Casey took us all the way back to mid-April 1971 this morning, as pop, R&B, and vocalists ruled the charts. Among the hits were "What Is Life" by George Harrison, "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye, "Rollin' On the River" by Ike and Tina Turner, "Another Day" by Paul McCartney, "Put Your Hand In the Hand" by Ocean, "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin, "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night, "Theme from Love Story (Where Do I Begin?)" by Andy Williams, and "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones.

For once, I didn't head out right away after the Top 40 ended. I kicked back with some chai tea and watched the original two 80s Strawberry Shortcake specials. The World of Strawberry Shortcake is set during the title character's sixth birthday; Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City has some clever country mouse/city mouse gags and a few really cute spoofs of the real Big Apple. (For instance, there's a Little Theater off Time's Square in real life - it's called the Helen Hayes, and it's the smallest major Broadway house. They may also been referring to the Ed Sullivan Theater, which does house several live TV productions, including the David Letterman show.)

Did a short version of the Saturday morning errand run first. I hit a yard sale in Oaklyn and came up with four videos, two 80s comedies, a home-recording of Jetsons: The Movie, and a really odd-looking Snow White "sequel" called Happily Ever After. I'll work on dubbing them this week. I also made a very quick stop at the Oaklyn Library to do this week's session there. Needless to say, they were quiet and there wasn't a whole lot to do, plus they had another volunteer there.

I went home to return the videos. The moment I pulled onto the path that leads to the house, I got a call on my cell phone. It was Dad. Would I like to join him and Jodie later in the evening for dinner, cards, and cake? Sure. I was going to go into Philadelphia that afternoon, but I had no dinner plans.

After I dropped the videos off, I rode over to the PATCO station in Collingswood and hopped a train to Philadelphia. I had lunch at one of my favorite places in downtown Philly, Reading Terminal Market. They were busy, but not quite as bad as on a weekday at noon. I found a booth that sold every kind of French crepe possible, in both sweet and savory varieties. I opted for a tasty Chicken Tomato Pesto crepe for lunch. Had a cup of Cherry Vanilla ice cream from Bassett's for dessert. Enjoyed it in the small park across the street from the Market, as I did last year.

My next stop was the big FYE on Broad Street. They were having a 30% off all used items sale. Since I found live-action movies to dub, I opted to buy cartoons. Finally found a good price on a Max & Ruby set none of the libraries have, Berry Bunny Adventures (the set with the three-part Ruby's birthday episode, interestingly). Got the Chuck Jones Tom & Jerry set for $10.50, Max and Ruby for $5.60, and The Bishop's Wife for $3.50 (the last named to clear out one of my remaining non-dub-able videos). I also grabbed the cast album for the Broadway version of Once on sale for $10.99. I'd enjoyed the movie and heard good things about it's adaptation.

I wanted to hit South Street next, but I never made it there. I just hiked down 13th Street to see what there was to see. Made a pit stop and a chai latte break at Starbucks before continuing. I was sipping my spicy latte when I saw a dark, non-descript door in a building that said "Moonstone Art Center - Robin's Books - 50% off all books in the store."

Now, how could I resist that? I climbed up a steep set of stairs. At first, when I peeked in, I just saw chairs, tables, and pamphlets. As I continued, I found shelves of brand-new books of various subjects and basic fiction, along with racks of magazines. I ended up with The Sea Hawk by Rafael Sabatini. I'm a sucker for an old-fashioned swashbuckler.

When I left the bookstore, I continued my walk, looking out for anything interesting. I'd just finished my chai latte when I looked across the street and saw a colorful blue sign with a guitar and the words "Rustic Music" emblazoned in bright yellow letters, next to a big yellow guitar. They had crates of records for sale for two dollars each. I found something right away, and found even more when I went inside. The fellow had every used audio and visual media you can imagine. The upstairs had mostly CDs, but there were also cassettes, audio equipment, and musical instruments. I found DVDs, videos, and more records when I made my way down the steep red steps to the basement. I ended up with two CDs

The soundtrack to Grease 2

Chicago - The Heart of Chicago (greatest hits collection)

And three records, the cast albums for The Apple Tree and the original 1950 Wonderful Town and the soundtrack for the Ken Russell The Boy Friend

(Incidentally, I am now in love with both stores, especially Rustic Music. I think I'll try to take Lauren back there when she visits next month.)

I tried to find more stores, but I got lost at Pine Street looking for Antique Row. Turned out to not matter anyway. Jodie called me around quarter after 4. Rose, Khai, and Uncle Ken were going to join them for my birthday dinner at 5PM. I turned around, headed for the 16th and Locust PATCO station, and jumped a surprisingly only half-full rush-hour train back to Collingswood.

I rode to Dad and Uncle Ken's house via Newton River Park. By 5PM, it had gotten a bit cloudier and the wind had picked up considerably, making my ride a little more difficult than this morning. I didn't get into Oaklyn until quarter after 5. No matter. Everyone was there to wish me a happy day - Dad, Jodie, Jessa, Rose, Khai, and Uncle Ken (who was watching the Phillies play the Mets). Jodie's son Jesse brought their cute new King Charles' Spaniel over to visit. He was a handsome fellow, white and brown, with shaggy, wavy fur and liquid brown eyes. Erica came by to say "hi" a bit later. We watched the first Cars (one of Khai's favorite movies) and ate pizza and rich chocolate cake with thick cream cheese icing from Desserts by Design. I received $150 from Dad, Jodie, Uncle Ken, and Dolores, and a $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble from Rose and her boys.

When I finally got home (with the last of the cake and a few stray slices of pizza), I ran some Max and Ruby as I put things away and got organized before I went online. The series' first and only three-part episode turns into a fun tale of Ruby's surprise party. Ruby knows her friends are going to give her a big surprise birthday bash, but Max leads her on a merry chase to make sure it's a real surprise! Later, Ruby and her girlfriends want to play party games, but Max is more interested in cake. And Max finds a very creative use for the wrapping paper from Ruby's gifts after she puts them aside to keep.

Some of my favorite episodes of this series (and books, too) are the fairy tale spoofs. The Big Bad Max Wolf tries to sneak cookies from his sister in "Little Red Ruby Hood." Ruby tells Max "Max and the Beanstalk" to prove to him that ordinary green beans can be pretty darn cool. It's Ruby who learns the lesson in "The Froggy Prince" when Max wants to include his frog in his sister's play. Ruby and Louise then remembers a story about a princess who made friends with a frog, and what the frog turned out to be in the end.

(Sigh. And the Phillies did end up losing to the Mets badly, 5-0. Otherwise, this was one of the nicest birthdays I've had in years.)