Tuesday, October 26, 2021

A Dark and Cloudy Afternoon

Was lulled to sleep last night by a heavy storm. It was cloudy and gloomy when I opened my eyes this morning around 10:30, but the rain was long gone. At least it made a nice backdrop for starting Killing Thyme.  

My phone jangled less than 20 minutes after I opened the book. Rose finally got back to me. Yes, she's been busy. No, she can't take my bike to Deptford now, or at all this week. She has too much going on. Craig's busy with work at the restaurant, and she's dealing with the kids and animals. And I need to start pushing the apartment hunt harder and offering people 4 to 6 month's rent in lieu of a month-to-month lease.

Read for a little while longer before rolling out of bed around 11:30. Watched an episode of Bewitched on The Roku Channel as I made oatmeal and mandarin oranges for breakfast. Endora wants her daughter Samantha to come with her for a typical witches' Halloween party, but Darren needs here there to host a party for his costume shop-owning clients. Endora teaches him a lesson when she dresses as a little girl out for "Trick or Treat" who turns him into a werewolf just as the party begins, then refuses to change him back.

Put on Match Game '76 as I cleaned up breakfast. It was an episode I'd seen several times, the one with a contestant who resembles John Ritter and chatters about his Irish setter. That's probably why everyone gives dog answers to the next question.

Headed out for a Dollar General run shortly after the episode ended. Jodie's friend Erica who lives down the street was just pulling out of her driveway as I strolled past. She ended up giving me a ride, even though it's not far. Eggs and chocolate chips are still cheaper there, and I wanted mozzarella cheese to go with dinner. Picked up more candy and novelties to fill out the remaining Halloween bags, too, including Moon Pies. 

Worked on those bags when I got home while watching the Halloween episode of Jem on Tubi. It's "Trick or Techrat" when Eric Raymond and his lackey try to scare Jem, the Holograms, and one of the Starlight Girls away from a crumbling opera house. The girls intend to give a charity concert on Halloween to save it, but the Misfits have a competing concert going on across the street, and a corporate buddy of Eric's wants to build a high rise. The poor Starlight Girl is scared to death of everything, but she's the one who overcomes her fears and figures out what's really going on. 

Went on Zoom at 2 for counseling. To tell the truth, Mrs. Stahl didn't say much that everyone else hasn't been saying for months. Don't be hard on yourself, don't be upset, just focus on finding an apartment. She keeps recommending a place a friend owns in Mt. Ephram. They are down the street from the Audubon Acme...and right now, they're the only apartments in Mt. Ephram that are open, according to online apartment rental websites. 

I just wish I hadn't put all this off...and that everything wasn't happening at once. In the last year, I've moved, broken an elbow, lost my father, lost my only source of transportation twice, and now I have to move again. And all this on top of a world-wide pandemic. I'm tired and burnt out and overwhelmed, and no one around me understands. All I want is time to rest and really consider my next move. 

Gave up on apartment hunting for a while and switched to baking Vanilla Pear Cookies to make me feel better. Returned to Tubi for Repo! The Genetic Opera while I worked. I go further into this unique sci-fi horror rock opera at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


Went online after the movie ended. In addition to apartment hunting, I snuck in some writing. Queen Betty is fed up with everyone ignoring her and orders Richard taken to the dungeon. Lee the Cheshire Catwoman tries to distract them, to no avail. Brett first tries yelling at Betty, but then she comes up with a better distraction...eating both of the mushrooms from Nipsey the Caterpillar at once and growing ten feet tall! 

Broke for dinner at little early, at quarter after 6. Made pasta and meatballs with tomato sauce, cheese, and a salad while watching Match Game '77. Chris Cranston, the former Playboy Centerfold, continues her run in these two episodes. She was finally taken down by a pretty Japanese lady; her challenger was a rather mannish woman dressed in a suit. 

Joyce Bulifant was on fire today on Match Game PM. She got both her matches and was on the board on both Audience Matches. Meanwhile, Charles sits down with Gene so he can read him a question alone, and Brett's not happy when she has to help the contestant match "__ Advice" in the Head-to-Head.

Finished the night online after a shower with vintage Halloween shows. The Paul Lynde Halloween Special is possibly the most 1976 holiday program in existence. Lynde joins his housekeeper Margaret at a spooky mansion...and of course, she turns out to be Margaret Hamilton, aka the Witch of the West, and her sister is Billie "Witchiepoo" Hayes. They give him three wishes. The first allows him to spoof the trucker culture popular at the time, with Roz Kelly of Happy Days as his waitress girlfriend and Tim Conway as a rival trucker. The second has him as a desert shiek romancing frigid British beauty Florence Henderon, with Conway as a member of the Foreign Legion. In between, KISS play three of their biggest hits, "Detroit Rock City," "Beth," and "King of the Night Time World," Betty White appears as Miss Halloween, Kelly does disco, and the Osmonds run out to annoy Lynde. 

White wasn't the only Golden Girl to turn up in a truly nutty Halloween show. Rue McClanahan is The Wickedest Witch in a rare special from 1989. She lives with a clan of game show-obsessed lizard creatures underground and understandably will do anything to get out. Apparently, she can only break her curse and return to the surface if she gets a pure being to do an evil deed on Halloween. She gets one of the lizards to bring a kid who loves magic down to her domain, but he can't hurt his new buddies, no matter how annoying they are to her. 

The Witch Who Turned Pink is also from 1989, and sounds more like an especially weird storybook from my childhood than a typical holiday special. Four pumpkins who hate the color green turn one of the witches who live near their pumpkin patch pale pink. Her fellow witches are horrified at her pastel hue and try every spell they know to change her back. An owl is the only one who can really figure out how to set things right. 

Here's these three rare tales of witches, monsters, rock-and-rollers, and comedians who go bump in the night, for your viewing pleasure!

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