The Fall Rolls In

I awoke to a wonderfully cloudy, cool day...and lots of noise and sawing downstairs. Ran cartoons about autumn and back to school while eating breakfast to drown out the noise. "Autumn" is one of the earlier, black-and-white Silly Symphonies. Animals dance to classical music as they gather (or steal) food for the winter. "Donald Applecore" has Don as an apple farmer who tries his hardest to protect his crop from a hungry Chip and Dale. Switched to Tom & Jerry for "Professor Tom." Tom wants to teach a kitten the art of chasing mice, but the adorable fellow would rather make friends with Jerry.

Headed out to do the laundry around 10:30. They were so busy, only the expensive washers were available. Good thing I didn't have a big load this week anyway. I worked on story notes and listened to Let's Make a Deal and a 70's-themed The Price Is Right.

It didn't take me long to put everything away when I got home. Instead of going out for lunch, I just had the last of the leftover chicken salad while watching Remember WENN episodes. Hilary Booth and Jeff Singer make for "Strange Bedfellows" when they both throw their hats into local politics. The staff find themselves in "Close Quarters" after Mr. Foley is diagnosed as having a rare disease and they all end up quarantined in the station.

The sun made a vague attempt to come out as I rode across Newton River Park. I wish it would rain. Everything is looking droopy again, despite the colder temperatures. I was surprised there weren't more people out. I saw a few dog-walkers and some folks out for a stroll. It was 1:30 at that point - many people had probably just finished their lunch hours.

The Haddon Township Library wasn't that busy, either. The kids being back to school were reflected in the carts. There were very few kids' books to shelve, and no kids' DVDs. All of the adult DVD titles but two fit just fine. (They FINALLY cleared out some doubles and older titles, for both adult and kids.) I had more audio books and new releases to put away than DVDs.

Made a brief stop at Rite Aid on the way home for conditioner. My last bottle of Pantene Curl Formula was just about gone. Ended up with Pantene again, which is what was on sale. They weren't any busier than the Haddon Township Library - I was in and out within minutes.

Spent the rest of the afternoon working on my fanfic. Mackie, a traveling actor, is driving his cart through the woods when he's attacked by some vicious wild boar-like monsters in armor that he can't pierce. A demon-like creature and a woman with a crystal sword appear and help him get rid of the boars. He's shocked when they get the demon into the shadows and he turns into a man, and the woman is able to heal his wounds. Mackie himself is no magician - in fact, it scares him silly - but he does offer the duo who introduce themselves as Scott and Betty a ride home in his cart.

Went into the bath around 5 PM. Ahhh. A warm bath felt so wonderful after the windy, chilly day. I kicked back, relaxed, listened to Jazz for the Quiet Times, and looked over more Christmas books to get ideas for gifts.

I decided my nice, warm bath needed to be complimented by a nice, warm dinner. I made Merlin's Magic (Baked) Chicken and mashed sweet potatoes to go with the last of the leftover yellow zucchini and tomatoes. Yum. You can never go wrong with Merlin's. It always comes out nice and juicy.

Started Ziegfeld Follies as I ate. MGM's all-star revue has the famous showman (William Powell) looking down from the heavens to decide how he'd do a show now, with the studio's famous galaxy of stars. While most of the comedy skits are only so-so (except for Red Skelton's famous Guzzler's Gin routine), some of the musical numbers are first-rate. Fred Astaire and Lucile Bremer's "This Heart of Mine," Judy Garland's "The Great Lady" comedy number, and Lena Horne's "Love" are particular favorites. Really for fans of MGM musicals or the stars involved.