Monday, February 19, 2018

Red White and Sisters

Awoke late to a cloudy day. Along with a chapter of The Painted Queen, I did the material for Lincoln and Washington's birthdays from Colliers Harvest of Holidays for President's Day. I found the essay on Lincoln and his early years to be slightly more interesting than the ones on Washington. (Not much was known about his childhood in the early 60's, evidently.)

Called Rose after I finished reading. She suggested I come over for dinner around 5:30 and do the paperwork after we eat. I had no problem with that. She was making ribs in a slow-cooker. I haven't had ribs in ages, and the last time I did have them, they were grilled.

Ran an episode of Wonder Woman while eating breakfast and digging out the folder I needed to complete the application. "Screaming Javelin" from the second season is an odd episode that has Diana searching for a series of missing athletes. The loony ruler of a tiny European country is kidnapping athletes for his own all-star Olympic team...and he wants Wonder Woman to be the top contender! Diana dodges his people, including a sharp-shooting husband-wife team, in order to find a young gymnast and save her boyfriend in time for the real Olympic Games.

Headed out around quarter of 1 for a walk. I didn't really have any major plans today, so I thought I'd just stroll around Oaklyn. It started to sprinkle lightly as I made my way down Manor Avenue. We're still very much in the throws of winter here. While I have seen green grass and the shoots of spring flowers poking up in some yards, it's still mostly old dry roots and crunchy gold lawns. A few houses have winter, Valentine's Day, or St. Patrick's Day banners up; most settle for their yellow grass and black trees.

Hit the House of Fun first. They were really busy for them, with at least two dads showing their kids the toys they loved at their age, and a couple of collectors looking over the vast piles of pop culture paraphernalia After much deliberation, I ended up with a copy of the "new canon" novel Star Wars: Aftermath, a DVD of The Monster Squad, a stuffed Artemis (Minako's white kitty in Sailor Moon), and an adorable tiny stuffed Chewbacca I fished out of a dollar toy bin. Artemis was the only expensive item at 16 dollars. Everything else was under 10.

Made a few quick stops in the neighborhood next. Picked up cooking spray and canned chicken at Dollar General - they're both cheaper there. Stopped at Dad and Jodie's house to say "hi" and pick up the cake pan I used for the marble cake for their Super Bowl party. Jodie was watching something comic with mothers - I had no idea what it was. Dad was apparently at an appointment for his treatment. I picked up my pan and a small box of chocolates from Jodie and Dad as a belated Valentine's Day gift and moved on.

Spent the rest of the afternoon finishing and posting Finn and the First Order Princess. Phasma sees Finn practicing with the staff he made and says she must have it. He tell her he'll give it to her...if she gives him a hundred kisses. She's almost done when Snoke, Hux, and Prince Ben show up, shocked that she's kissing a peasant.

Fed up with Phasma and her family, Finn reveals who he really is. He brings Rose out of the stables and says he'd rather court her. She's kind, loyal, and brave...everything Phasma, despite her attractive looks, is not. He does bring her back to Atch-To, where they court each other before finally getting married. Phasma is stripped of her rank by Snoke and sentenced to take Rose's place in the stables instead.

I think that came out pretty cute, considering the original story isn't exactly high drama to begin with. I had time to get it up on my writing blog, Archive of Our Own, and Fanfiction.net before I switched to doing job research at Pinterest.

Finn and the First Order Princess - Archive of Our Own
Finn and the First Order Princess - My Writing Blog
Finn and the First Order Princess - Fanfiction.net

Craig picked me up around 6. The ribs were still cooking when I arrived. Khai was taking a nap, but Finley was awake. She is so chubby and cute! I loved watching her play with her Little People Zoo, pushing the buttons to see what sounds they made, or gnawing on an animal to see if it would move with her touch. Rose had Moana on in the background, which looked amazing on their wide-screen TV.

Dinner was ribs, green beans, drop biscuits, canned cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. It was all absolutely delicious. I don't usually make biscuits for myself. They don't taste good cold. Rose's were tasty, though, just savory enough. Khai begged to have his with strawberry jam. (I liked mine with jam at his age, too.) I didn't have a lot of the mashed potatoes because I'm just not a fan of white mashed potatoes, but the green beans were yummy and the ribs were melt-in-your-mouth tender.

I looked over the paperwork while she did the dishes. It's for that doctor she and Jodie were talking about me seeing last year. I'll still see it, if only to get a second opinion. I honestly don't remember much about who I saw as a kid. I only talked to school therapists in college. I had enough problems without dealing with that, too. I did see a therapist in Cape May Court House near the special services schools briefly in 2005. I actually liked that lady and only ended it because I moved. Took up with another in Collingswood around 2007, but I left that about two later. I didn't think the man I was seeing there was helping me. I wouldn't go back to therapy until I started with Shelly Stahl in early 2013.

One thing Rose did insist I do now was see a gynecologist. I normally only see doctors when I feel sick. Why bother unless there's something wrong with you? I am getting older, though. It wouldn't hurt. There's a gynecology office in Collingswood I could call tomorrow.

Craig and Khai finally drove me home around 8:30. (Khai tagged along so he could find more Pokemon on Pokemon Go!)  After I got in, I had the last of the cherry vanilla ice cream, then went online while watching Dave. Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs a temp agency in Washington DC. He also happens to be a dead ringer for President Bill Mitchell (also Kline), who just had a stroke. Dave is brought in by Mitchell's chief of staff Bob Alexander (Frank Langella) and communications director Alan Reed (Kevin Dunn) to replace him while he recovers. Alexander has a devious plan to implicate the genuinely good vice president Gary Nance (Ben Kingsley) in a bank scandal and take over the presidency himself. Meanwhile, Dave is more interested in Mitchell's first lady Ellen (Sigourney Weaver). She's surprised and suspicious when her husband starts taking more of an interest in the common man, visiting schools and fighting to keep homeless shelters. After actually talking to Nance, Dave realizes they've both been set up...and what he has to do now to keep Alexander from going after the Oval Office.

I remember seeing this cute political comedy a couple of times when Dad rented it in the early 90's and enjoying it. Kline is great as the everyman suddenly thrust into the role of Commander and Chief; I also liked Ving Rhames as the devoted Secret Service agent. The breezy screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. Nice cast too, including dozens of real-life politicians and journalists in cameo roles. If you're a fan of Kline, Weaver, or gentle political satire, you'll want to take a look this charmer.

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