Riding In the Rain

It was just starting to rain again as I headed out for today's long errand run. Started at the Oaklyn Library. (I forgot to do them last week!) For some reason, the DVDs were a mess. There were a lot of titles out of order, several new ones still had the security stickers on them, and some of the new releases had been dumped with the older ones. It took me 40 minutes to get things sorted out and give the children's area a look.

It was nearly 12:30 when I finally headed off to Haddonfield. Between the steady shower and the noon traffic, it was a bit of a haul. I didn't pull in at the bike racks next to CVS until quarter after 1. That still gave me enough time for a decent lunch at Amino Juice. Though their main dining area was busy, there was thankfully no line. I had the "petito" (small) Chicken and Guacamole Burrito and the Simply Delicious Juice. The juice was a frothy, bright orange combination of apple, carrot, orange, and lemon juices, and it was quite tasty, tart without being too tart and just sweet enough. The burrito was messy but very flavorful, with lots of guacamole and vinaigrette.

After a quick look at CVS, I headed to counseling, the main reason I was all the way up in Haddonfield on such a lousy weather day. I told her about my quiet month, the week I only had one day off at work, all the writing I've been doing. We talked about Star Wars (she saw Force Awakens and wasn't impressed - apparently, she'd been expecting more CGI effects, as in the prequels) and how I'd been effected by Han Solo's death and the enjoyable new heroes and the poorly-written villains. (Honestly, I've more-or-less accepted Han's death by now. And unlike a lot of fans online, I really don't think they're going to bring him back. No Force ghost shenanigans. Sometimes, dead is dead, even in space opera.)

Though so many of the things I've loved, in some cases since childhood - Star Wars, musicals, sitcoms, pre-70's movies, records - have seen resurgences of popularity lately, I still have a hard time admitting that it's ok to be a fan of any of these things. I've gotten so used to being tormented and teased for being "different," it's very hard for me to accept myself for what I am. I never understood all those "be yourself" messages the cartoons of the 80's dished out. If I was supposed to be myself, why did everyone around me tell me to be anything else? I never understood why they couldn't all just let me be.

The rain was slowing down a bit when I got out, but it still wasn't a pleasant day. I was thirsty, so despite the fact that the digital sign outside the Westmont Fire Department said it was 57 degrees, I opted for a treat at Primo's Water Ice. I ate my strawberry cheesecake water ice (which tasted oddly of mint) inside at the metal counter, watching the last of the rain fall.

Went straight home the way I came, across the park. Needless to say, Newton Lake Park wasn't busy today, either going to or coming from Haddonfield. In fact, pretty much the only creatures I saw besides me were a couple of Canadian geese. The park looks gorgeous right now, though. All that rain has been good for something. Every time I ride through there, I feel like Rey taking her first glimpse of Takodana - "I didn't know there was this much green in the galaxy." The trees are a shade of lime usually reserved for commercial key lime pies. The irises are a vibrant purple. The buttercups sparkle like little yellow suns.

When I got in, I went right on the computer and into writing. The group separates the next morning. Lando returns to Jabba's Palace as a guard. Cecil and Arthur go on ahead with a message from Luke, getting jobs with Jabba as a translator and repairman. Leia dresses in her mother's armor and passes herself off as a hunter, selling Chewbacca the Wookie horse to Jabba.

Late at night, after Jabba and his court is asleep, Leia creeps into his garden, where the crystal coffin containing Han is kept. She hacks through thorny desert roses to get to her beloved rogue. She's able to use her magic to open the coffin before giving him the most passionate kiss possible. It does awaken him...but first of all, it didn't end the blindness spell Vader cast. Han still can't see and is very weak. Second, Jabba catches them as they try to leave. His ugly daughters still want to marry Han, and Jabba himself finds Leia very intriguing...

Finished out An American Tail: Fivel Goes West while eating leftovers for dinner. (I started it during breakfast.) Fivel and his family leave the crowded streets of New York for the wide open spaces of the American West. They're lured there by a cat who wants the mice to build up his town before he traps them all as a meal for his goons. Fivel discovers his plan, but first he gets lost, then no one will believe him. He finally turns to his friend Tiger the cat and the legendary law dog Wylie Burp to rid the west of these feline lawbreakers once and for all. My favorite of the American Tail movies; an enjoyable western musical, with far more fun and less melodrama than the original.

Ended the evening with Chocolate-Almond Cake and an episode of Rick Steve's Europe. We got to the edge of the continent for a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. I watched this to get ideas for the Jabba's Palace sequence in my current story. I want to go for an "Arabian Knights-meets-American Southwest" aesthetic here, especially in the palace itself and some of the costumes.