Saturday, January 07, 2017

"The Cold Never Bothered Me, Anyway."

It was snowing lightly when I stumbled out of bed this morning. Ran a couple of winter-themed Disney shorts in honor of the weather while I ate a quick breakfast. Mickey Mouse is "The Klondike Kid" in a black-and-white spoof of historical melodrama. Pete's a trapper who kidnaps wandering waif Minnie. As usual, Mickey rescues her. "Arctic Antics" and "Winter" are snow-themed black-and-white Silly Symphonies. "Arctic" is what it says on the tin, a North Pole-set music video, with penguins and polar bears dancing and walruses attempting to sing. "Winter" is more-or-less the same thing, but this time with woodland animals trying to avoid a blizzard.

I didn't get that lucky. The snow wasn't bad when I went to work. The roads were still relatively clear. Just an hour after I arrived, it started to get worse. I spent over a hour in the first half of my shift and a half-hour in the second doing carts. It wasn't easy. The parking lot became one big ball of slush. Everything slipped and slid. We were crazy-busy for most of the afternoon, up until an hour before I left. I don't know why people felt the need to do major shopping during a blizzard. I know we were having some big weekend sales, but really, did people need bananas that badly? Thankfully, the crowds had begun to subside by 2 PM. Grabbed the Acme's generic Rice Chex (the Acme's generic cereals were 50% off) and Christmas cookies and chocolate chips on clearance on the way out.

By 2 PM, the light shower from the morning had become a windy snow storm. Not only were the roads too bad to drag anyone out, but I'd forgotten my cell phone, anyway. I just ended up walking home in the snow. At least it was pretty to look at, when you didn't look at the slushy roads.

When I finally got in, I hung up all my wet things, then changed into dry clothes. Ran an early episode of The Backyardigans while I got organized. Cave critters Tasha and Austin are holding the world's first "Cave Party." While they invent things to do along with howl at the moon (like dance and play the drums), Tyrone, Pablo, and Uniqua invent ways to get there.

Spent the rest of the evening working on my story. Han agrees to accompany Leia, Luke, and Obi-Wan to Coruscant City. He races the twins there. Leia wins...and Han's smitten. He tries to kiss her, but Luke and Obi-Wan catch them. Luke finds them very romantic and encourages them. Obi-Wan just wants to get his charges back to the palace. He offers Han money, but Han turns it down. The old man then tells him that if he ever needs any help, just ask him.

Broke for dinner around 6:30. I had eggs with spinach and cheese, then made Banana-Chocolate Chip-Coconut Muffins to clear a few things out of the fridge. Tried that rum flavoring, too. I haven't tried them yet. I will tomorrow for lunch.

Watched Frozen as I baked. Disney's biggest hit to date takes us to the Norwegian kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa (Idina Menzel) has had to hide her ice powers for years, for fear she'll hurt someone after she accidentally harms her sister Anna (Kristin Bell) as a child. Now both women are grown, and Elsa's about to take the throne. When Anna comes to her, asking her to approve her marriage to Prince Hans, she says 'no.' Anna only just met the man! Elsa accidentally uses her powers, setting off an eternal winter. Anna has to go convince her to restore their kingdom, with the help of goofy ice cutter Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, sun-loving snowman Olaf, and Kristoff's troll buddies. When Elsa hits Anna with ice, only an act of true love can melt her heart. Anna thinks it's Hans who'll do it...but he's not what he appears to be. In the end, both sisters learn that there's more than one kind of true love in the world, and that love can only come in when you don't shut it out.

While I don't adore this movie like a lot of little girls do, I still like it a lot. The sister love angle makes it fairly unique among animated films. Some fun characters, too, especially Olaf, one of the few sidekicks who actually has something to do with the plot besides make jokes.

If you have kids, especially little girls, you probably already have this...but it's worthwhile for anyone who loves animation or unique fairy-tales.

No comments: