Almost Sunshine

I slept until I heard Charlie cursing under the porch outside. When I did finally get up, I put on one of Scooby Doo, Where are You? while eating breakfast. Scooby and the Mystery Inc. kids wrote the book on running around in gloomy Gothic castles. Their first such encounter was in the third episode of the series, "A Hassle In the Castle." When the kids are marooned on a spooky island, they end up trying to figure out why a ghost wants to scare them away from the scary old fortress there.

Headed out to do the laundry around 11:30. The laundromat was totally dead at that point. It was still relatively sunny and warm then. It did get a little busier, but was never crowded. I didn't have a ton to do at any rate. I was out in less than an hour.

After I put my laundry away, I went right back out again. It had begun to cloud up a bit, but it remained warm, nothing like the past few weeks. I had lunch at a very busy Westmont Bagel Shop. Opted for their lunch box special, a turkey club with chipotle mayo on whole wheat bread and a tiny cup of cole slaw. The sandwich was messy but surprisingly tasty - the mayo added the right tang without being too spicy.

The Haddon Township Library wasn't busy when I arrived. There was a sign on the DVDs not to put them away, so I didn't. I concentrated on returning CDs, audio books, and new releases. (It turns out I could have. The librarian had intended to save the DVDs for a person who never appeared.) Once again, I didn't take anything out - I'm still concentrating on writing.

Made quick stops at Thriftway and Dollar Tree on the way home. Thriftway was quiet. I was able to pick up my whole wheat flour and blended cooking oil (the later on sale) with no problems. Dollar Tree didn't have the plastic scrubbers I was looking for, and it's probably just as well. The line was crazy long anyway.

It had gotten cloudier and a little windier at that point. It never rained as hard as it did yesterday (though it did spit a little), but I thought I'd be safer making for home. I did noticed that Cabana's Water Ice had replaced Kayla's on the corner of Cuthbert and the White Horse Pike. I tried their Double Chocolate Marshmallow Water Ice. No real marshmallow, but yum, was it chocolate-y! The seating area itself isn't nearly as fun as it used to be. The chrome tables and pink and yellow picnic tables are nice, but the wooden swings and goofy cow and Batman statues must have vanished with the previous owners.

Despite the fact that the sun had come out, I still spent the rest of the afternoon working on my story. The Rebels return to Endor to split into groups. The Wookie stallions, called by the Force, arrive, as do the Ewoks. We split into Lando taking Wedge, the Wookie horses, and his friend Niem Numb to attack the Imperials and get into the vault, while Han takes Luke, Leia, the servants, and Wicket the Ewok in the castle itself to open the drawbridge. Han offers Lando the Falcon, which he gratefully accepts. But Luke and Leia both feel something very wrong with the whole scenario...

Broke around 5:30 to eat leftovers for dinner and make Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins. Since it was still a bit cloudy at that point, I watched Radioland Murders while I ate. George Lucas produced this 1994 farce about a series of deaths at a newly-launched radio network in 1940. The station's writer (Brian Benben) has to solve the murders, while the cops consider him to be their number one suspect.

This is one of those movies people either love or hate. I actually think it's kind of fun, especially in the first half, where you get to meet most of the cool characters and get a better idea of the kind of shows they would have had on the air in 1940. It loses momentum badly in the second half, where the farce takes over. I get a kick out of it - if you're a fan of farce, old-time radio, or the cast, this is at the very least worth a look.