Quiet Sunday

I way overslept this morning. I barely had enough time for a short story from the anthology Tales of Christmas Near and Far set in French Canada and eating breakfast. I had leftovers from Christmas night for breakfast. I was in too much of a hurry for pancakes! Even changing and packing lunch as fast as I could, I was still late getting out.

Work...actually could have been a lot worse. It was off and on busy. There would be long lines for a minute or two, then they'd just disappear. The weather and it being between holidays probably helped. It was misting and foggy when I rode to work this morning. The fact that the Eagles played (badly) Saturday night may have contributed as well. There were no major problems, and my relief was early. It was cloudy, windy, and a bit cooler when I headed home.

(I did get to watch some football this afternoon. Someone had the Steelers-Ravens game on in the back during my break. I saw it early in the game, so early, there was no score. When I came back later after work, the Ravens were still slightly ahead. They kept that lead and went on to win 20-17.)

When I got home, I changed, got organized, packed up my laundry, and headed to the laundromat. I'm hoping to go on my post-Christmas shopping trip into Philly tomorrow. I figured I might as well get the last load of the year done now. Thankfully, it wasn't a big load. It was really busy when I arrived...but only the driers were used. I had no problems getting a washer. By the time I was done, it was down to one family and one more person, and the driers were mostly open. I worked on story ideas and half-listened to an end-of-the-year news wrap-up on ABC.

After I put everything away, I went right into making dinner. Since I had dinner for breakfast, I opted to make the pancakes I didn't have the time for this morning. The Banana-Mini-Chocolate-Chip Pancakes weren't bad, but I think I did make them a bit thick. They took forever to cook. 

Listened to two 80's soundtracks while I ate. I'm not a big fan of the movie Dirty Dancing. It's overheated melodrama. The soundtrack, however, is an interesting mix of a couple of authentic numbers from the early 60's (including "Stay" and "Love Is Strange"), one remake of an authentic number from the early 60's ("You Don't Own Me"), and new songs written directly for the film that sound amazingly 80's. Some of those songs are damn good. There's a reason both soundtracks for this film were best-sellers and the ballad "I Had the Time of My Life" won an Oscar. My favorite numbers written for the film are the jubilant "Yes" and the touching ballad "She's Like the Wind."

Xanadu didn't do nearly as well as Dirty Dancing when it came out in 1980. In fact, the movie was a rather big flop, and with good reason - it's a campy, if cute, mess. The soundtrack's a lot of fun, though. My favorites of Olivia Newton-John's solo numbers are the lovely ballad "Suspended In Time" and her charming duet with Gene Kelly, "Whenever You're Away From Me." The ballad "Don't Walk Away" and rollicking dance number "All Over the World" are the Electric Light Orchestra's best songs.