Writing Down Balance

I spent most of the morning writing and doing things online. I've been kind of stalled on the fourth story. The action seems too coincidental, and I keep re-reading the previous three stories and finding things that don't work. I changed the characters' occupations to be less high and mighty, and switched the setting from downtrodden 1937 to (relatively) upbeat 1987. I may even go further and move the whole thing from fairy-tale kingdoms based largely on South Jersey, New England, and the south, to most of the real-life South Jersey, New England, and the south. (Except for the fictional Jersey Shore islands.) I haven't decided yet. I try to just write, but I can't focus and end up online instead.

I looked up neuropsychologists on Independence Blue Cross' website...or tried to, anyway. It was running so slow, I finally gave up. It kept showing no results anyway, even for a hundred-mile radius. How could that be? There has to be one that accepts IBC somewhere in this area! We're near one of the largest cities in the US! I'll see if I can finally get myself to call them later in the week. I now think that Linda and Shannon were right and there probably isn't anything wrong with me beyond sensitivity, but I want to make sure.

Did yoga after I got offline. It was just a quick 40-minute session, as I was running low on time by that point. I'm mostly concentrating on my back. My upper spine in particular has been very sore, probably from all the sitting I've done this month as I've worked on my stories.

Ran the two remaining My Little Pony specials as I made leftover green beans and lamb chops for lunch. "The Runaway Rainbow" is a follow-up to "Princess Promenade." Here, we're introduced to Unicornia, which produces the first rainbow of the spring. Cheerilee is trying to teach little Princess Rarity how to use the wand that creates the rainbows, but Rarity would rather have fun than pay attention to her mentor. She accidentally ends up in Ponyville after an accident with the wand. The ponies - especially Rainbow Dash - are dismayed to discover that if Rarity doesn't get her act together and get back to Unicornia in time, there will be no rainbow and no springtime color!

Likewise, "Friends are Never Far Away" is a sequel to "Dancing In the Clouds" and also introduces a new set of ponies. Here, we meet the Pegasus ponies, who live in a tropical paradise...but they're so shy, they're afraid to go down below. Sky Wishes wants them to meet her friends, but the lively and extroverted Earth Ponies almost scare their flying counterparts away! It takes a daring rescue to break the ice and remind the Pegasus that it can be fun to try new things, even when you're scared.

I found these cute and colorful, but largely underwhelming. The songs are annoying, and they lack the action and characterization that made the original series and current Friendship Is Magic popular among age groups besides little girls. For the youngest fans only; older girls and boys will want to proceed to My Little Pony and Friends or Friendship Is Magic.

Work wasn't too bad when I got in. The cloudy morning had become a bright, sunny, warmer (if windy) day. Trouble is, that beautiful day encouraged a lot of call-outs (including one college boy who claimed he just "didn't feel like coming in"), and we were extremely short-handed all night. That, coupled with this being the beginning of the month, lead to a lot of cranky people. Thank heavens it slowed down enough by 9 that I was able to leave with no relief.