Stories of Rags and Riches

It was still fairly sunny when I got up this morning. I had breakfast while watching the Fairie Tale Theatre version of "Cinderella." Jennifer Beals of Flashdance is the put-upon young lass who just wants a chance to go to the ball. Jean Stapleton is her goofy fairy godmother who helps her get there. Matthew Broderick is her prince. Eve Arden is the stepmother, Edie McClurg one of her sisters.

Getting the laundry done was my major concern for today. I had a huge load, including towels. I mainly worked on notes for the 80's Star Wars high school story. I'm setting this in a fictional suburb in the Philly/South Jersey area because...well, I know the area. That and I thought the Pinelands would make a great Dagobah (hey, the Jersey Devil lives there, why not Yoda). Jabba the Janitor's, ahem, "palace" will be a sleazy club in Atlantic City; Hoth and Bespin are in the Poconos. Cloud City is a mega-mall with a ballroom and an industrial park and parking garage next-door; Han and Leia are captured at a dance at the ballroom. And what are the Ewoks, but the most fearsome of all small creatures - elementary school kids in bear outfits.

Put on the original cast recording of Annie when I got home and as I ate lunch. While the story is more familiar from the 1983 film version, this one has a bit more of a connection to the Depression, along with several songs and plot points (including the sardonic "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover," sung by formerly rich hobos Annie encounters on the run from the orphanage) that don't turn up anywhere else.

Work was quiet when I came in and quiet when I left, but it got crazy during rush hour. Which turned out to be more than a bit of a pain in the rear. It's the beginning of the month, and we had a lot of customers who were demanding, obnoxious, pushy, and just plain rude. You'd think people who just got money would be in better moods. It slowed down enough by 7:30 for me to just walk out of there.

I found out why it slowed down so quickly when I got outside. It got unusually dark around 3:30, and even as I came out, it was raining. Not hard, just a nice little shower. It was slowing down even as I arrived home, but the ground was very wet, and the snow was rapidly continuing to vanish.