Rainy Day Women

I slept a little later than I planned...and awoke to another downpour. I was up at 9; Lauren didn't roll out until 10. That may have been a good thing. The rain was starting to slow down by the time we headed out at quarter of 11. When we made it to Collingswood, it was down to a light shower.

Our first stop was the Farm Market. Between the late hour and the weather, it was the quietest I'd ever seen it. There was barely anyone there. It's still pretty early in the growing season, too. Some tables were even packing up to leave as we arrived. I did manage to pick up asparagus and a tomato for dinner next week.

We strolled down Lee Avenue to Haddon Avenue to check out some of the stores. Started at Frugli Consignment, which is on the next block over from the Farm Market. They occasionally have interesting things, but neither of us found anything there today.

Had lunch down the street at Tortilla Press. It was quarter of noon by that point, and they were very busy. We just missed a huge party, in fact. I forgot that Tortilla Press has a popular brunch on weekends. Lauren had the brunch burritos, with black beans and mango salsa. I had the brunch quesadilla, filled with cheese, bacon, and vegetables, with salsa, sour cream, and very tasty home fries. We shared a basket of cinnamon sugar-dusted home-made tortilla chips and very much enjoyed our meal.

The rain took a temporary leave of absence after lunch, just in time for us to stroll down Haddon Avenue and check out several stores that interested us. Lauren picked up bags of Tootsie Rolls and a box of blue raspberry ring gummies at The Candy Jar; I found a bar of chocolate/vanilla/strawberry coconut candy. I ended up at InnerGroove Records to check out their dollar shelves while Lauren headed to ExtrordinaryED, a toy store a few doors down. She bought a dice and card game to play with her folks. I dug two records out of the stacks:

Linda Rondstat - Greatest Hits, Vol 2

Walt Disney Studios Presents Merry Christmas Songs - Mainly bought this for "From All of Us to All of You"

Lauren wanted to check out Rocket Fizz again - we went there last year - so we made our way down Haddon Township to Westmont around 2. Phildelity Records just opened a block from that shopping center. It's basically the same thing as InnerGroove, but in a larger, lighter store, and with CDs, Blu-Ray, and DVDs in addition to records. Lauren bought a couple of CDs for herself and one for her dad. Along with a copy of the Jennifer Lopez/George Clooney thriller Out of Sight on DVD, I found:

George Benson - In Your Eyes (record)

WOR 96.7 Studio Solid Gold - Two-disc record collection of classic rock, including some good titles I don't have elsewhere.

Original cast of Donnybrook!, a 1961 musical version of The Quiet Man. It was a major flop at the time, but I do like The Quiet Man, so I'm willing to give this rare title a try.

Rocket Fizz was our next stop. This is technically a candy store, but it specializes in practical jokes, unusual sodas and candy, and imported candy from Europe and Asia. While I found several of the British candy bars to be intriguing, most of them were expensive. Lauren found a banana nut soda with a Monkees label. (She later said it was pretty good.)

Primo's Water Ice, one of the best ice cream/water ice shops in the area, is right next door. They have unique flavors at very cheap prices. I picked up a pineapple turnover water ice (basically a creamier pineapple). Lauren had a black raspberry soft serve cone. We sat at the counter inside, avoiding the continuing humid weather and listening to the chattering young teens on the other side.

Good Samaritan Thrift Shop is across the street. They're very narrow and very busy, a jumble of clothes, knick-knacks, and some books and DVDs. I admired two lovely vintage 50's 18-inch dolls for 10 each; I would have considered buying one if I could carry it home. (Maybe next week if I have the money.) Lauren bought a shirt and a pair of shorts.

It was 3:30 by that point. Not only was it rush hour, but the day was growing more and more humid. Figured it was time to head back to Oaklyn. We dodged traffic on Cuthbert and Haddon Avenue and headed back the way we came, past Newton Lake Park and down East Clinton.

Lauren wanted to stop at Comicrypt, the comics store next-door to The House of Fun on the White Horse Pike. Turns out we picked the right time to do it. They were having a half-price sale on their older titles. I did see some Star Wars, but I'm not that into the Dark Horse titles. I prefer the ones from the 70's and 80's when the movies were originally out, or the current Marvel run, neither of which were part of the sale. I settled for petting the black and white kitty who wandered between boxes. (His white sister was napping in the window.) Lauren did much better, picking up a stack of titles that she said filled in gaps in her own collection.

It started to rain hard again when we were in Comicrypt. Thankfully, the rain was slowing down, even as we crossed the White Horse Pike to West Clinton. In fact, we noticed a Crayola-themed bounce house at the very end of the circular drive between the park and the VFW. Must have been some kind of kid party going on there.

I made us Caesar Chicken Salad (complete with home-made dressing) for dinner while we watched Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Summer Vacation. The Toons are looking forward to their time off from school, but it doesn't turn out to be what they'd hoped. Plucky finds himself on the car trip from hell when he joins Hamton's smiley-happy family on their ride to Happy World Land. Babs, Buster, and Myron spend their summer on the river, avoiding larger animals who think they're on the barbecue menu. Fifi pursues a handsome star, with little success. Elmyra terrifies the animals at a safari park. Shirley seriously regrets her movie date with Foulmouth when he talks over the film and drives everyone crazy. Fun if you're a fan of the Toons or the fast-paced, reference-filled Warners cartoons of the 90's.

Played some Wii Sports after dinner. Tried some mini-games tonight. Lauren won most of them - she beat me at the batting practice by 1 hit! - but I finally won golf Target Practice and the baseball Spin Control. We finished Raiders of the Lost Ark in Lego Indiana Jones with the long and complicated "Finding the Ark" and "Opening the Ark" rounds. Having two people really helped on these - one could jump onto things, while the other pushed levers.

Ended the night after my shower with The Last Jedi. Rey (Daisy Ridley) is determined to bring former Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to his sister Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the Resistance. Luke insists that he's retired, but he changes his mind when he sees Rey's awesome powers. Meanwhile, her buddy Finn (John Boyega) is sent to the casino planet Cantino Bight with Resistance mechanic Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) to find a master hacker who'll get them onto the First Order's ship. What they find is the disreputable DJ (Benicio Del Toro), who does as asked...but turns out to not exactly be trustworthy. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) is also struggling with his dark and light sides. He reaches out to Rey in the Force, and they start a tentative relationship that's threatened by the First Order's leader, Snoke (Andy Serkis). Rey thinks she can bring Kylo back to the light...but as Luke tries to point out (and as everyone has complained about), "this is not going to go like you think."

If you're a fan of this franchise, I say ignore all the fussing and give this movie a shot. It's not for purists or for people looking for a lighter and softer version of these characters ala Force Awakens, but if you're willing to try something different with these movies, this is far better than you may have heard.