Ladies and Balance

The morning did not begin well. I overslept and was late heading out for yoga class. As I hurried down Manor Avenue, I went over a huge bump! My basket flew off, and I rode over my purse before I could stop. Thank goodness nothing was hurt, but I realized I'd forgotten my cell phone. Oh well. I wasn't planning on needing it.

As it turned out, that wasn't the only trouble the bump caused. I realized as I made my way through Collingswood that it was getting harder and harder to ride my bike. There was something wrong with the front tire. Yes, it was deflating. It was especially infuriating because the tire is new, only a year old, and my neighbor just inflated the darn thing on Sunday! I was very upset when I finally made it to class.

I didn't have an easy time concentrating. The class being another challenging series of back-bends didn't help. I just can't lift myself off the floor easily, like so many other people can. I can't keep up with most of the class, either. And I still can't get on my head or shoulders. It's frustrating.

I was still angry after class. I was so upset, I was in tears. I know, it's childish, but I was disappointed with how badly things had gone. A kindly classmate ended up driving me home. She was a nice older woman from near Boston who was visiting her mother in Collingswood. I told her my best friend was from Pittsfield; she mentioned knowing someone who owned a costume store there.

I liked her suggestion of having a nice cup of tea and taking an hour or so to calm down when I got in. I did just that, dubbing the Lady Lovely Locks video I won on eBay to make myself feel better. This very girly fantasy show was based after the popular doll line from the mid-late 80s. I've found the episodes on YouTube, but I wanted to have copies of my own. What I found was the first two episodes, bookended by introductions with a breathy live-action Lady with extremely 80s hair. In the first, Lady Lovely Locks has to take back her kingdom after evil Duchess Raven Waves has tricked her. In the second, the Lady learns that not everyone she meets is a friend when a handsome baron isn't what he seems.

Here's the second story on YouTube:

Cruel Pretender

I lead the bike down to the Dorias to see if they could help. As it turned out, no, they couldn't. Mr. Doria wasn't in, and Mrs. Doria didn't know how to work on bikes. I did buy a Diet Pepsi and sugar for her trouble, though.

Yes, I did finally end up fixing the flat tire myself. No one else was around. Most of my neighbors work during the day. That's part of why I have a hard time relying on them. It's nice to offer, but they're usually only around on weekends and during the evening. Actually, I think I did a rather good job on the tire. At the very least, it only took me a half hour to do, as opposed to the hour it used to take me to fix flat tires. (And actually, it was a deflated inner tube. I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but I changed it anyway.)

When I got back in, I made Chocolate Chip-Coconut Muffins while watching two more 80s programs about girl power and the trouble jealousy can cause. In the later Tales of the Gold Monkey episode "Naka Jima Kill," Sarah White's old college roommate Whitney Bunting, now a newsreel reporter, wrecks havoc when she inadvertently brings an assassin to the Asian-esque island of Nakoma. And in the second season Sailor Moon episode "Jealousy's Just Reward," evil Dark Moon witch Emerald learns a rough lesson when she begs the Wise Man for the power to make Diamond notice her, instead of Sailor Moon.

Thankfully, after all the earlier disasters, work was no problem whatsoever. It was a little busier, otherwise, it was pretty much the same as yesterday, quiet when I came and left, and only really busy during rush hour. There was plenty of help and no real problems.

Oh, and speaking of girl cartoons based after toys, here's a shorter-lived girl fantasy tale from the early 90s. I was too old for Peppermint Rose when it debuted around 1992, but it seems to be something of a cross between Lady Lovely Locks and Rose Petal Place. (Very early 90s - get a load of the rap number in part 2.)

Peppermint Rose Part 1
Peppermint Rose Part 2