Windy Afternoon

Yeah, I'm still sick. While my stomach felt better, the rest of me feels like it's been outside in the crazy wind that came up today, battered and bombarded. I once again slept in and read Dashiell Hammett until I felt like I could cope with getting out from under five blankets.

Had breakfast, then curled up on the couch while watching Tangled, Disney's version of the fairy tale "Rapunzel." Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) is still locked in a tower by Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy), who wants to use her very long, golden hair to retain her youth. Instead of a prince, Rapunzel's tower is invaded by snarky thief Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi), who has just stolen the crown that belongs to the lost princess of  nearby kingdom. Rapunzel agrees to turn over the crown in return for Flynn taking her to the kingdom to see the floating lights that come out every year on her birthday. Flynn does, reluctantly. During their trip, they make unlikely friends with a group of surprisingly cuddly ruffians and Maximilian, the toughest police horse in the kingdom. Rapunzel and Flynn finally discover that some dreams are worth waiting for...especially when they're dreamed for the ones you care about.

This is one of Disney's cuter movies of the last five or six years. While I heard they changed the prince in the original story to what more-or-less amounts to a fantasy Han Solo to appeal more to boys, it's a move I applaud. I always found the prince in the original "Rapunzel" Grimm story to be especially bland anyway, and Flynn is a riot. Mother Gothel is one of Disney's best female villains, surprisingly subtle and mentally cruel. A hilarious ride with some fun characters - and you'll never look at a frying pan in the same way again.

Worked on a little bit of writing after Tangled ended. It's Alan who finally gets Lisa to admit that she wants to feel like a child...and not like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders. She gives Mr. Eldridge one more candy cane, the one Scott Sherwood gave her earlier, to finish his creation.

I was on the computer so long, I barely made it out to work on time! Yes, I did go to work. I literally can't afford to call out. I'm short on hours this week as it is. Besides, it was only a late four-hour night. It wasn't bad when I came in, but by rush hour, everyone had arrived to buy tickets for that huge billion-dollar jackpot. Talk of snow and sleet in the forecast didn't help. It was only just starting to slow down when one of the college students came in for me. Thankfully, there were no really major problems, and I was in and out.