Monday, April 13, 2020

My Little Matches

Began the day with work. It was raining cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens when I left, and the sky was heavy and leaden. I arrived at work soaked, and pretty much stayed that way the entire day. Though I rounded up trash in the back room and cleaned up a shampoo spill (my hands now smell like coconut-pineapple), I spent most of the day outside. It rained on-and-off, sometimes heavily, through mid-afternoon. Thankfully, the rain was off by the time I finished.

The Acme did a banner Easter, selling off almost all of its Easter merchandise but some candy, a cart filled with plastic eggs, and tons and tons of potted flowers. I guess everyone got their flowers from their own gardens this year. There were at least four carts of free potted flowers in the main lobby this morning. I chose a small purple tulip and a pretty magenta hyacinth; they fit easily in my basket, and the hyacinth smelled sweet and soft, the way spring should.

When I got home, I started my birthday carrot cake. I originally planned on making it a layer cake, but I was so tired when I got home, I decided on a sheet cake instead. Added brown sugar, pineapple, coconut, raisins, and more carrot to the Betty Crocker Carrot Cake mix. I'll make the orange cream cheese frosting tomorrow.

Watched vintage My Little Pony cartoons while I worked. "Escape from Catrina" was the second springtime special featuring the original Ponies, and the first with the Baby Ponies. Catrina is a cat witch who forces her shapeshifting brother and the little balls of fur the Bushwoolies to mine witchweed and make potions that give her powers. When the Bushwoolies rebel, she sets her sights on making the Ponies her slaves instead.

The next two episodes were shorts. The baby ponies are bored. Their mothers amuse them by saying they're going to roll a red rubber ball up the hill, and they should imagine what it might be. "A Little Piece of Magic" called their imaginations allow them to see the ball as everything from accompanying their ballet dances to taking them to a world of toys and games.

A "Would-Be Dragonslayer" tries to attack Spike, but the Ponies save their pink dragon friend. The boy is really a page who wants to be a knight, but none of his good deeds ever work out right. The ponies help the lad find a way to prove you don't have to slay anything to be a real hero.

Found a card and a package in the mail when I got in. The package is from Linda and James Young. I'll open it tomorrow. Opened the card when I got inside. Lauren and her parents gave me a cute cupcake-themed card and 20 dollars.

Finished the night with leftovers and the next Match Game marathon. Patty Duke, then Patty Duke Astin, may be the biggest star at the time to have been a semi-regular. Even today, she's still best-known for winning an Oscar as Helen Keller in the film version of The Miracle Worker and for playing twin cousins Patty and Cathy in The Patty Duke Show. She was later diagnosed as manic-depressive, and this showed in quite a few episodes where she appeared either drunk or more energetic than usual.

One such episode in 1977 had her briefly "hosting" the show when Gene asked her to read a question. In a nighttime episode, she helped a pregnant woman who looked a little like her make it to the bonus round. In later syndicated episodes, she envied the brief dress worn by Dallas actress Charlene Tilton (and the curves that filled it) and acted as another replacement for Brett when she was away doing a play. She also figured into a memorable later syndicated episode where Gene gave Charles fashion advice and everyone tried to give the contestant an answer for "The Royal ___," only for him to choose an answer on his own that really didn't make much sense.

Here's the whole marathon, so you can play along with both sides of this Oscar-winner! Tomorrow's marathon switches the focus to another MASH alumni, Gary "Radar" Burgoff.

The Best of Patty Duke Astin on Match Game Marathon 1975 - 1981

Oh, and at one point when I was baking, the storms came back with lightning and thunder reinforcements. That was the last time it's rained at press time. It looked like it might do it again around 5:30, but it never did. By 4, the sun even came out. It's supposed to be nice tomorrow, in the upper 60's.

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