Some Like It Humid

We slept in this morning...and were surprised to awake to sunshine, humidity, and 80-degrees temperatures. It was supposed to thunderstorm today! Lauren was asleep until almost 11:30. It was past noon when we decided that since it was actually sunny out and Lauren will be sitting for a lot of tomorrow, we'd go for one last walk.

We headed up to the White Horse Pike to check out some of the small stores there. Our first stop was The House of Fun, a collectibles and toy store. The place was even more filled with toys from the 70s and 80s, Hello Kitty merchandise, broken arcade game machines, action figures in and out of their packages, shirts with pop culture sayings on them, and books about comics and cult films than ever. They'd also added a small shelf of videos and DVDs. You won't be surprised to hear that the DVDs and videos were all anime sets, science fiction and fantasy films, and sci-fi TV shows. They also had the usual assortment of ancient video game consoles and their attachments and games, both loose and in their boxes.

I ended up with the 1980 Flash Gordon on DVD, the 1948 Superman serial on video, and a notebook featuring Sanrio character Tuxedo Sam the penguin. (Sam is prominent in Hello Kitty Furry Tale Theater, but I've never seen him on any of the multitudes of Sanrio items until today.) Lauren was intrigued by one of the Atari consoles. She bought it, all its attachments, and several games (including her favorite, Frostbite) when she discovered the store's owner was willing to ship it to Pittsfield for a very good price.

The comic book shop next door was busier, but otherwise not as interesting. The white cat sunning in the window and his black and white companion near the front entrance watched us as we browsed. On the rare occasions I read comic books, it's usually kid-oriented characters - Garfield, Looney Tunes, the Disney crew, Scooby Doo. They didn't have anything like that left. Lauren said she's so behind on her comic book reading, she has no idea what she needs or where the stories are going.

Far from the predicted thunderstorms, it was getting sunnier and hotter by the moment. We headed back to West Clinton Avenue. I dropped into Doria's Deli to introduce Lauren to Mrs. Doria and pick up lunch meat and sodas to eat when we got home. (Her husband seems to be working with their son; she says she did help her with a big catering order for Collingswood High School the day before.)

After we got in, I put my purchases away, and we had ham, provolone, and bibb lettuce on whole-wheat wraps. (I added spicy mustard and radishes.) In honor of Tuxedo Sam, I ran the action-oriented Hello Kitty Saves the Day DVD. Sam is prominent in most of these stories...and you've never lived until you've seen a laid-back blue penguin in a jaunty sailor's cap playing Tarzan or Crocodile Dundee.

Since it was still sunny outside, we went for a short walk in the park next-door. We'd seen a tree laden with blackberries (and dropping them all over the sidewalk) on the way home. There turned out to be a similar tree in the park. Alas, the branches were too high for us to fill bowls with them, but we did get enough to have a nice little snack.

(Those trees are very common in the South Jersey area. There's tons of them in Cape May County. My sisters and I used to pluck them from the trees in our neighborhoods on the way to school as kids. There was also a tree on the other side of the entrance to the mall where the North Cape May Acme is. I'd grab a few on my way to work when I was living with my folks during college.)

We took some pictures of us eating berries and among the flora, then went back to my place for the rest of the afternoon. We played our last round of games. Lauren won Memory and Pokemon Yahtzee. We each won one game of Bingo. In fact, we stopped only because we thought we'd fall asleep if we continued sitting.

Lauren put on Without a Paddle, which she bought at Rustic Music yesterday, while I made mashed turnips and sauteed turnip greens and onions to go with the leftover meat and the last of the carrot salad in the fridge. Paddle is actually less goofy than I thought it would be. A trio of long-time friends (Matthew Lillard, Seth Green, Dax Shepard) find a map that belonged to a fourth friend who just passed away. The map is a treasure map belonging to a man who once hijacked an airplane and vanished with the money. The four decide to use the map and find the loot...but they don't count on encountering a very protective bear, a pair of female hippies, a mountain man with a connection to the treasure, or a pair of drug farmers who shoot first and don't bother asking questions!

It's not nearly as bad as it sounds. It's actually rather sweet. I love how the three men, especially the very neurotic Green, finally learn that the most important thing isn't money, but their relationships with each other and the ones they love. There are a lot of goofy gags involving pot on fire, very dedicated female hippies, and angry bears, but if you enjoy the three main actors or comic treasure-hunting tales like The Goonies, you'll probably enjoy this one.

In fact, we have The Goonies on now; we've also watched Weekend at Bernie's and the Bowery Boys movie Feudin' Fools (which also involved a close encounter with hillbilly farmers on the wrong side of the law). Lauren's going  home around 12:30 tomorrow; I haven't decided what I'm doing afterwards. If my legs are up for it, I'll do yoga. Otherwise, I'll be here or return those pants to the Macy's at the Cherry Hill Mall.