Balance On Ice

I ran a Pink Panther animated special as I had breakfast and prepared to go to yoga with my sister Rose. Olym-pinks has everyone's favorite rose-hued kitty heading for the 1980 Lake Placid Games. He has a close encounter with a champion skier on the train to New York...and just keeps running into him as the two compete in the downhill and ski jumping...and to see who can get the most applause!

Rose picked me up at 9. It was difficult getting downstairs. The slushy snow on my porch and steps hardened overnight, turning them into a coat of ice. When I told Rose, she insisted on getting her snow shovel from her house and shoveling them herself when class ended.

It wasn't easy to find a parking spot in Collingswood, either. The roads are largely clear, but the sides and a lot of the parking lot were icy. Rose says she's still trying to figure out Collingswood's new meter system, too. The sidewalk in front of Yogawood was also ice-covered; we went in through the back door.

Erik, Yogawood's kindly maintenance man and teacher, was in charge of today's class. (Evidently, the regular teacher was on a trip to Italy.) With Erik, you mainly work on balance (he can do amazing things with his legs) and on the basic moves...but you do them very fast! Erik is quite advanced, and his classes can be a challenge to keep up with.

When we got back to my place, Rose did shovel my porch and my steps. The porch proved to be far easier to clear. The steps were still covered with packed ice and slush from my going up and down them to work yesterday. She borrowed ice melt from Dad to clear them more.

As soon as she was gone, I finally headed out to counseling. It took me a lot longer than I'd planned. The middle of the main roads were clear, but the sides were still covered with ice and snow the plows had pushed away. Some sidewalks had been cleared, but others hadn't. I cut through Collingswood to avoid the majority of the mess on Cuthbert. Haddon Avenue in Westmont is even narrower and was more of a mess. It being cloudy for most of the day didn't help.

I did finally make it there around 12:30. I wanted to find somewhere I could have a quick lunch. Venturing around the corner from the candy store, I found a little pizzeria, Nicky B's. They were small, but cozy and warm. I bought two tasty slices of cheese and vegetable pizza and a small soda. (They have free refills!) There was an old man who wanted me to join him, but as nice as he sounded, I wanted to collect my thoughts for counseling.

I arrived at Mrs. Stahl's office right on time. I gave her the folder with Mom's Child Study Team papers and told her about my relatively quiet couple of weeks (except for the weather). I told her about my conversations with Mom, the gift card I won from work, and the big tax return I had coming.

I want out of the Acme so bad...but then what? I don't know what I want to do with myself. I'm used to being told what I should do, by other people or the voices screaming in my head. I don't know what I want. I want to make friends, but I don't know how. I want a better job, but don't have the social skills required to get to the next level. I'm not good with joining groups. The yoga classes are active and usually small; the library volunteering is solo work. Mrs. Stahl suggested starting an online book group with my three closest friends. I was scared just of the mere idea. My friends don't know each other. They live far away. I could never bring people together! I wouldn't know what to say.

After I got nervous when she brought up the book group, she said that it was probably outside my comfort zone, and that was ok. I don't think I've ever been told that. I never seemed to be enough. I was always into the wrong thing, or saying the wrong thing, or too fat, or too different from the other kids. I was told I had to change, be an adult, act like an adult. Yes, I am an adult....but one who loves dolls and bikes and who doesn't deal with relationships as well as she should. It's hard for me to accept who I am, especially since I'm not sure who that is. It was a lot easier for me in high school and college, where I could join already-established groups that did more than talk and didn't require much more than I showed up, did my job, have fun, and leave.

I don't know how to get into the stuff my peer group is supposed to be into. I tried the bar scene in Wildwood, but it was really boring. I'd dance a little while, drink a mimosa or two, then spend the rest of the night watching Fraiser re-runs at the bar. I'd come home smelling like smoke and having had no meaningful conversations or met anyone that remotely interested me. How can you make friends when you can't hear them talk?

I want to make more friends closer to home, but it's really scary for me. As Mrs. Stahl put it, it's outside my comfort zone. I know I'm an introvert, but I've always been embarrassed by that. I never seemed to meet a lot of introverts as a kid. Most of the kids never had any problems making friends. I felt better about it in high school and college, but I don't know how to meet introverted adults.

I've been listening to the Frozen soundtrack a lot since I bought it last month. Elsa's song "Let It Go" really hits me hard. I quoted some of the lines from the song to her "Let it go/the cold doesn't bother me anyway." That must have given Mrs. Stahl an idea. She said my assignment was to find songs in my vast music collection that, like "Let It Go," I found to be positive or uplifting. Now, that, I can do. I'll probably work on it this week.

I'd always wanted to check out the little shops on Haddon Avenue between King's Highway and the entrance to Westmont. I was usually in too much of a hurry, but today, I had no other plans. I first crossed over to a lovely little yarn shop, Woolplay. I found "grab bags" in a bin upstairs. I bought a bag of tiny, colorful balls of yarn that would be great accessories for the dolls, and another bag of heavier yarn I could use for dishrags.

I went back across the street and a couple of blocks down to a row of stores. There were two thrift shops in this row, both concentrating on clothes. One had nicer clothes; the other was a larger store with a better selection. The old woman who ran the smaller store must have been really bored. She was a little pushy, trying to pull out this dress or that jacket. To her credit, she did finally find a nice brick red Eddie Bauer sweater I bought for $10, half off. I didn't have as much luck at the other store. Despite them also having a half-off sale, I made no finds.

I rode a couple more blocks down Haddon Avenue to a hoagie shop and a bakery. Since I already had lunch, I decided to get myself a sweet treat. There were blocks of their cookie bars on the long metal counter to try. I finally decided on the Apricot Bars, wanting something a little lighter after two Super Bowl parties in a row.

As the girl behind the counter put my bar in a container, I noticed two familiar faces modeling chefs costumes on a shelf to the right as you walk in. Two American Girl dolls (I think they were Kit and Caroline) were acting as adorable store mascots. I mentioned how cute her girls were, and told her about my collection as I savored my cookie bar. (It was a little too sweet, but otherwise not bad.)

My last stop of the day was the Rite Aid right before the bridge into Westmont. I needed more of that inexpensive milk. As I was leaving, I saw a display with Chicken Soup books. One of them was subtitled "Find Your Happiness." I feel like I've been trying to do that since college, with only occasional success. I bought the book, along with my milk.

It was a little easier to ride home. By 4PM, the temperature had risen enough that a lot of the earlier ice and snow was melting, or was at least slushy again. Even so, it was past 4:30 when I finally got in. My porch was clear, but there was still quite a bit of ice on the steps. I tried breaking them with the broom again, but that didn't work a whole lot better than it did last time. I went to Richard's house and then Andrew's house to borrow ice melt, but neither man appeared to be home.

I jumped in the bath after I gave up on the steps. I hadn't had a bath in a while. I wanted to relax, listen to the Frozen soundtrack, and have a chance to look over the books I'd taken out of the library and the new Chicken Soup collection.

I was in there for a half-hour when the phone rang. I jumped out of the tub just in time to take a call from Rose. She wanted to know if my porch was melted. I told her that the porch itself was fine, but the steps were still icy. She brought over more ice melt from Dad a few minutes later and reminded me about the rain and sleet we were supposed to get later that night.

I hadn't intended to spend the rest of the evening reading that Chicken Soup book. I moved a couple of WebKinz from my plush chair in the music area as the Frozen soundtrack finished. I'd take a look at just a few stories, for an hour or so. Soon, an hour turned into two, and it was almost 8 before I finally got to heating up salmon cakes and slicing half a grapefruit for dinner. I'll see if I can finish it tomorrow.

Balance In a Blizzard

Rose and I did make it to Yogawood this time. Despite it just being cloudy at 9:30, it was a very small class, just three other people besides Rose, me, and the teacher Louisa. After an interesting story about how the Hindu elephant god defined "universe," we mostly worked on balance and squatting poses. I've gotten better at balancing, but squatting and kneeling isn't always so great with my bad knees. I could barely do some of those.

It didn't help that we had a major distraction half-way through the class. The snow had started. And when it started, it wouldn't stop. It was already coming down in full force when Rose and I drove home. Despite the snow-covered sidewalks and the slushy streets, I went right upstairs to my apartment...and came right back down with my laundry. I shouldn't have put off doing the laundry yesterday.

There was already at least two or three inches on the ground when I walked to the laundromat. It was rather pretty, though, with the inky slices of trees peeping through the lacy whiteness. My reverie ended when I got to the White Horse Pike and saw the traffic. People must have been let out of work early and were rushing home. It took me 10 minutes just to get across the street.

Things went better when I made it inside. Surprisingly, there were a few other people there, which is more than I thought there would be in what was shaping up to be a major storm. Thank heavens I didn't have a huge load. I read the self-help books I took out of the Haddon Township Library last week while The View and Action News (which was entirely focused on the blizzard) droned in the background.

Channel 6 had a reason to be worried. There had to be at least two or more inches of snow on the ground when I walked home. Not to mention, it was very windy and bitterly cold. It was much harder to push the cart home than it had been going there. The traffic was still pretty bad on the White Horse Pike, too. I saw kids walking home from the Oaklyn School even as I headed back to my apartment.

Ran the very strange Phineas & Ferb/Marvel Comics crossover "Mission Marvel" as I put the laundry away and had a quick leftovers lunch. Thanks to their satellite and one of Dr. Doofenschmirtz's "Inator" rays, four major Marvel heroes - The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and Spider Man - have been stripped of their powers. While the boys and their friends try to come up with a way to reverse the ray and Candace squees over having Marvel superheroes in her home, Doofenschmirtz befriends the Red Skull and several other Marvel villains...or so he thinks. While the heroes and the boys figure out how to kick rear without powers, the girls try to prove that they can help, too.

Needless to say, I didn't ride my bike to work. Dad drove me there; Rose drove me home. The snow wasn't stopping. It was still coming down hard when I started at 2:30. The traffic wasn't quite as bad by that point; we were steady at work with people who'd gotten off later in the day through about 6, after which, not surprisingly, it died very hard and very fast. I spent the last hour doing a full cart of returns.

At press time, the snow continues to fall. I stuck a ruler into the snow on my porch next to the door. As of about 10PM, there was 9 inches of snow on the porch...and it's supposed to continue until early morning.

Ladies and Balance

The morning did not begin well. I overslept and was late heading out for yoga class. As I hurried down Manor Avenue, I went over a huge bump! My basket flew off, and I rode over my purse before I could stop. Thank goodness nothing was hurt, but I realized I'd forgotten my cell phone. Oh well. I wasn't planning on needing it.

As it turned out, that wasn't the only trouble the bump caused. I realized as I made my way through Collingswood that it was getting harder and harder to ride my bike. There was something wrong with the front tire. Yes, it was deflating. It was especially infuriating because the tire is new, only a year old, and my neighbor just inflated the darn thing on Sunday! I was very upset when I finally made it to class.

I didn't have an easy time concentrating. The class being another challenging series of back-bends didn't help. I just can't lift myself off the floor easily, like so many other people can. I can't keep up with most of the class, either. And I still can't get on my head or shoulders. It's frustrating.

I was still angry after class. I was so upset, I was in tears. I know, it's childish, but I was disappointed with how badly things had gone. A kindly classmate ended up driving me home. She was a nice older woman from near Boston who was visiting her mother in Collingswood. I told her my best friend was from Pittsfield; she mentioned knowing someone who owned a costume store there.

I liked her suggestion of having a nice cup of tea and taking an hour or so to calm down when I got in. I did just that, dubbing the Lady Lovely Locks video I won on eBay to make myself feel better. This very girly fantasy show was based after the popular doll line from the mid-late 80s. I've found the episodes on YouTube, but I wanted to have copies of my own. What I found was the first two episodes, bookended by introductions with a breathy live-action Lady with extremely 80s hair. In the first, Lady Lovely Locks has to take back her kingdom after evil Duchess Raven Waves has tricked her. In the second, the Lady learns that not everyone she meets is a friend when a handsome baron isn't what he seems.

Here's the second story on YouTube:

Cruel Pretender

I lead the bike down to the Dorias to see if they could help. As it turned out, no, they couldn't. Mr. Doria wasn't in, and Mrs. Doria didn't know how to work on bikes. I did buy a Diet Pepsi and sugar for her trouble, though.

Yes, I did finally end up fixing the flat tire myself. No one else was around. Most of my neighbors work during the day. That's part of why I have a hard time relying on them. It's nice to offer, but they're usually only around on weekends and during the evening. Actually, I think I did a rather good job on the tire. At the very least, it only took me a half hour to do, as opposed to the hour it used to take me to fix flat tires. (And actually, it was a deflated inner tube. I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but I changed it anyway.)

When I got back in, I made Chocolate Chip-Coconut Muffins while watching two more 80s programs about girl power and the trouble jealousy can cause. In the later Tales of the Gold Monkey episode "Naka Jima Kill," Sarah White's old college roommate Whitney Bunting, now a newsreel reporter, wrecks havoc when she inadvertently brings an assassin to the Asian-esque island of Nakoma. And in the second season Sailor Moon episode "Jealousy's Just Reward," evil Dark Moon witch Emerald learns a rough lesson when she begs the Wise Man for the power to make Diamond notice her, instead of Sailor Moon.

Thankfully, after all the earlier disasters, work was no problem whatsoever. It was a little busier, otherwise, it was pretty much the same as yesterday, quiet when I came and left, and only really busy during rush hour. There was plenty of help and no real problems.

Oh, and speaking of girl cartoons based after toys, here's a shorter-lived girl fantasy tale from the early 90s. I was too old for Peppermint Rose when it debuted around 1992, but it seems to be something of a cross between Lady Lovely Locks and Rose Petal Place. (Very early 90s - get a load of the rap number in part 2.)

Peppermint Rose Part 1
Peppermint Rose Part 2

Balance and Those Two Guys

Started off an absolutely gorgeous spring day with yoga class. It was a little full, but not as much as it was last week. Even so, I have some rather sore joints, including my knees and knuckles, and decided I wasn't up to a lot of pushing. I did what I could with the back bends and balance poses that were being emphasized today.

I made a quick stop at WaWa after class for a bottle of Perrier, then rode home. I worked on budgeting and updating my inventories on the computer for a while, including adding Belle to the collectibles spreadsheet. I finally got off the computer to have lunch and watch Way Out West. This time, Laurel and Hardy take a recalcitrant mule out to a small gold rush town, where they have to give a young woman the deed to a mine she's inherited. The lass' guardian and his girlfriend want that deed for themselves and pass the girlfriend off as the real owner. When the duo discover their mistake, they try to break into the guardian's safe to retrieve it.

Very cute, and generally regarded as one of their better movies from the height of their talkie popularity in the early-mid 30s. I especially like their adorable rendition of "Trail of the Lonesome Pine." (And the end, when they're talking to the girl as they take her back to her hometown, provides some real life trivia. Oliver Hardy really was from the south - Georgia, to be exact - and Stan Laurel was from South London.)

Despite the nice weather, I was asked to stay later at work - there was a call-out. I told them I'd stay until 9, which makes more sense than 3 to 8:30 anyway. As it turned out, I probably could have left at the original 8:30. As with yesterday, we were busy during rush hour, but otherwise on-and-off steady.

Balance On the High Seas

I just made it to yoga today. Slid into a fairly large class, including at least one child. We all mainly worked on strengthening our core (stomach) muscles. I did what I could. I really didn't feel like trying to force things, like I did last week. I did a little better, though I'm still not all that fast.

Made a few quick stops afterwards. I didn't find what I was looking for at Rite Aid, but I did pick up Entertainment Weekly's Summer Movie Preview. I've stayed away from those for the last few years, but they had the new Superman movie on the front cover. I so want to see that. There's supposed to be another Wolverine movie out later in the summer as well.

When I finally got in, I made a spinach-asparagus omelet for lunch and baked brownies while watching Romance On the High Seas. Doris Day made a smashing debut as singer Georgia Garrett, who desperately wants to go on a vacation despite being broke. Enter Elvira Pratt (Janis Page), who has tickets for a cruise but is willing to forgo it to keep an eye on her flirtatious husband (Don DeFore) and his secretary. She'll turn the tickets over to Georgia...provided she travel under Elvira's name and stay away from men to protect her reputation. Meanwhile, Elvira's husband has his own suspicions and hires a detective (Jack Carson) to follow his wife onboard. Carson falls head-over-heels with what he thinks is his boss' lady. Georgia would love to fall for him, if she didn't have someone else's name. Meanwhile, Georgia's guy friend (Oscar Levant) meets the cruise at Cuba in the hopes of wooing her, too.

If you love Doris Day, especially her early musicals, you'll probably enjoy this. The farcical plot is nonsense, and really kind of annoying. DeFore and Paige have so little chemistry, you wonder why their characters got married in the first place. Carson and Day have far more fun as the pair stuck in the middle, and even Oscar Levant is shown a little more sympathetically than usual. Day is surprisingly laid-back, especially given her later, sweeter reputation; some of her lines are a bit spicier than you'd expect for her, and it's refreshing.

The music is by far the main reason to catch this, besides a luminous Day. The score was a hit in it's own right, and no wonder. In addition to the blockbuster "It's Magic," we also have Day's frustrated "Put 'Em In a Box" when her relationships are driving her crazy, Carson's "Run, Run, Run" in Rio, and "The Tourist Trade" for a specialty performer.

Mainly for fans of Day. Musical lovers might want to check this out on TCM before they add it to their collection.

Work was quiet when I got in, and never got more than mildly busy during rush  hour. No wonder. It was gorgeous today, sunny and in the lower 60s, and is supposed to stay nice all weekend. I was in and out.

Balance and the Warrior Maiden

I finally got to yoga for the first time in weeks. I almost wish I hadn't. I'm so out of shape! I had a hard time keeping up with the class today. It wasn't even a big class. I can do pretty well when we're in the standing poses, like warrior. I have a hard time lifting myself or doing poses that involve more arm work, like upward-facing dog and many versions of headstand.

After class, I went around the front to see if Yogawood had next month's class schedules out yet. They didn't, but I noticed something else just as interesting across the street. DiBartalo Bakery was in the midst of remodeling the last time I was in Collingswood. They appear to be done now...and from the outside, they're almost totally different. The building still reeks 70s (not much anyone can do with that boxy design), but the dark maroon, brown, and beige exterior seen on the website has been replaced with bright sky blue and lemon yellow paint with white trim and no overhang. The interior has also been painted in lighter colors, but otherwise seems to be the same. I bought a tiny cupcake just a big bigger than my thumb. It was ok...but the thick icing was rich and delicious. I'm glad I just bought a small one.

Rode over to the Oaklyn Library next. There wasn't much going on there. I organized a few adult DVDs and some children's books, but I ended up reading more. It was mainly older people on the computer or reading the newspaper. When the library's internet down and most of the patrons decided to head out, I figured I'd do the same.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at my apartment. I had leftover Ground Chicken Vegetable Soup and made chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies. The remaining items from my birthday Amazon.com order, the Disney movie Mulan and the second-to-last Vesper Holly story (and the last one that I needed), The Philadelphia Adventure, arrived while I was eating. I ran Mulan while the cookies were baking.

Mulan is usually marketed as a Disney princess, but she's neither a princess, nor a typical Disney heroine. She's the daughter of an Imperial Chinese farmer and his wife who is smart and sensible but a bit clumsy. Her clumsiness (and the "lucky" cricket her grandmother gives her for a good-luck gift) gets her into trouble with the local matchmaker, who tells her that she'll never be a traditional honorable Chinese woman. To add to her troubles, her disabled father is inducted into the Army, and she embarrasses him by trying to keep him from leaving. To spare him more shame, she dresses as a man and goes in his place. At first, the other men on the Army mock her, including her handsome captain, until they see what she can do when she's determined. Will Mulan's courage and guts be enough to save her homeland and its ruler, before the Huns invade and her secret is discovered?

Mulan is a bit of an oddity in the Disney canon. While it does use some of the expected elements, like wacky sidekicks (Eddie Murphy is Mushu, the dragon who is supposed to bring Mulan home) and music that moves the plot along, they're shoved into what for Disney is a fairly dark story. The Huns aren't playing games. This is war, as Mulan and the other members of her unit discover the hard way when they encounter a village that's been destroyed. There's more action here than in any other Disney "princess" movie. Mulan herself is a great character. Unlike the other Disney ladies, she's clumsy and tries a bit too hard...but she's also very smart, sensible, and determined.

My biggest complaint here is the music. As I mentioned, it feels shoehorned in. This war-oriented tale didn't need to be a musical, and even when it came out, I wasn't a big fan of the soundtrack. (I had it on cassette for a while, but got rid of it ages ago and never missed it.) I do have a mild fondness for the goofy "I'll Make a Man Out of You," performed by Donny Osmond for the troop training montage. Otherwise, none of the songs here are terribly memorable, including the drippy "Reflections."

Beautifully done and highly recommended; like Brave, this is great for older girls who don't go in for the girlier stuff, or for mothers looking for an animated heroine who'd rather save the day than the man (though she does manage to do that, too).

Work was mildly busy all night, with no major problems and, unlike yesterday, more than enough help. One of the managers is training three of our recently-hired teen baggers as cashiers. I stocked spices while they practiced with customers. My relief, one of the few older woman who works later, was right on time, and I was in and out with no problems.

Springtime Balance

I finally got up early enough to make it to the morning yoga class today. It was pretty busy with people wanting a good work-out before they begin preparing for the spring holidays. We mainly concentrated on variations on back bends...and I felt stiff and slow. You can tell I really haven't done much of this for a few weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to attend class more frequently once my hours at work calm down a little.

After class, I rode over to the Oaklyn Library for this week's first volunteering session there. Perhaps because of the sunny, blustery day, it was very quiet. Other than the library now has a new TV set, there wasn't much going on. I re-organized a few kids' books and was on my way.

I'd settled into working on inventories, adding to my "simplify" list, and doing research on hobbies when the phone rang. It was the Acme. Could I come in at 2? For once, yeah. Computer work was all I had planned for the afternoon. I had to rush lunch and I still didn't quite get in until almost 2:15, but I did go in early.

As it turned out, I probably would have been better off going in at the original time. It was quiet when I arrived. It did pick up a little during the later part of rush hour, but it was never overwhelmingly busy. Action News mentioned that there were two major car and truck crashes, one on Route 42 near Bellmawr, one in West Deptford, that caused massive traffic jams and may have caused many customers to arrive later than usual or just skip the shopping and go home. Others may be waiting for their Good Fridays off or off early to shop. There were no major problems other than a few annoying customers, and I was in and out.

Pirates and Balance

Actually, I spent most of the morning watching Three Stooges shorts and puttering around online and with some stories I'd written with Lauren ages ago that were never meant to be posted. I haven't had a lot going on lately. I'm not sure what to do. I don't want to go out and do a lot of shopping...but if I'm not going shopping, I have no idea of what else to do with myself. I've been into movies and media and toys and collecting them for so long, now that I'm trying to save for other things, I have no idea what else I want. If I'm not into movies and toys, what am I? What else do I like?

Passion frightens me. I've never really dedicated myself to something besides media. I'm not even sure how. How can I get involved with real causes without looking crazy? What do I love? I'm not sure anymore. What do you do when you don't need the things you used to need, or you have them? I don't know what I want. I don't know what I'm craving. I'm craving...something, but I'm not sure what it is. Spending all that money last year - even on things I thought I needed, like those classes - just got me into trouble. I don't always have the paychecks to sustain them. And it doesn't help that so many people I know have lost jobs or shifts or have seen major work changes in the last year or so. No one else has an answer for me, either.

I finally went to the 4PM Basics Yoga class, after spending a half-hour or so browsing around in Collingswood. While the class wasn't as full as the morning one usually is, there were more people than normal, about 7 including the teacher, Lee. We emphasized balance poses and back stretches as we worked on getting the heart pumping. I'm getting much better at the Eagle pose, and I can rock Triangle and Warrior. My balance is still shaky, but it's improving.

Went straight home after class ended. When I got in, I made Julie's Tuna Noodle Casserole (with added frozen green peppers, low fat-and-salt cream of mushroom soup instead of cheddar soup, and topped with the last of the Christmas tortilla chips instead of potato chips) and watched The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

The most recent offering from Aardman Animation (the creators of Chicken Run, the Wallace and Gromit shorts, and Sean the Sheep, among others) is...how can I say this?...very peculiar and uniquely British. The pirates of the title are a group of sea rovers in 1837 who are very bad at their job, but enjoy it just the same. The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) wants more, though. He wants to be recognized as Pirate of the Year by his fellow buccaneers. When they laugh him and his odd band of good-natured cutthroats off the stage, the Pirate Captain and his crew attempt to rob ship after ship...but only come up with struggling scientist Charles Darwin (David Tennant). Darwin, however, recognizes the pirates' pet dodo Polly as a rare bird, one of the rarest in existence, and thinks it may get them in with his fellow scientists and Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton). When the Pirate Captain gives in to the pirate-hating Queen, it makes him lose face with his crew...and learn that while recognition may be wonderful, having friends and a job you love is even more important.

This is a really, really strange animated film. Think a (somewhat) more family-friendly version of The Pyrates, or Pirates of the Caribbean meets Monty Python by way of Chicken Run. You don't see too many animated films whose soundtracks include punk-rock and reggae hits, or that mix Claymation and CGI with abandon. Or that revere Brian Blessed (who plays the Pirate King). Or where Charles Darwin is a major character who is played as a geek who just wants a woman.

Fans of British history might want go into this one with caution, since Queen Victoria is not seen in anywhere resembling the most flattering light. (Although I do like her going into Bond villain mode at the end.) Otherwise, this is a fun film for older kids, especially boys who will enjoy the action and slightly more adult humor, and adults who enjoy English comedy or other Aardman projects.

Balance On a Cold Day

It was sunny but chilly when I headed out this morning for yoga class. The class was fairly full when I just made it in, though not as bad as the last time I was there. We concentrated on Warrior poses, headstands, and balancing. I can do most of the Warrior poses just fine. I still can't balance very well, though.

Headed right back to Oaklyn after class, but made a left onto Newton Avenue instead of going straight home. I ended up at the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. There was plenty to do. Some of the DVDs still had labels to remove, and there were lots of kids books and DVDs to shelve and organize.

When I got in, I made Whiting Fillets and Brussels Sprouts in Red Wine Vinegar Sauce with an Escarole-Citrus (escarole and a sectioned blood orange) Salad and ran some of my Classic Disney music collection CDs and the Dreamgirls soundtrack. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon quietly online, playing WebKinz World and doing job research. WebKinz World just started letting people use the "hosts" (the characters in charge of various areas) as friends to complete various challenges. That's good news for me, since I try to avoid friend-ing anyone I don't know. I can finally complete these challenges, some of which have been hanging around for months.

Work was surprisingly quiet, given how busy it's been lately. It was never more than mildly busy during rush hour. By 10PM, it was so dead, I left a few minutes early.

Balance and the Sailor Man

Started out a sunny morning with my first yoga class in a couple of weeks. Perhaps because of the storm that's been threatened for tomorrow, the class was incredibly busy. I just barely squeezed in on the end. We mainly worked on balance and warrior poses. I wish I could balance better. I need to do some kind of strength training, too. I just can't lean on my shoulders for very long.

Since Yogawood is on the same block as the Hair Cuttery, I decided to get my hair done after class. They weren't nearly as busy at quarter of 11. There was only one other person there. A lovely young woman named Danielle did my hair. I got it cut shorter than I did last time, or for a while. I think I got it done too short; I can barely put it in a ponytail. That's ok. I sometimes miss just tossing it back in a headband when it gets really long, and it's cute when it's all curly. I just wanted to de-frizz it.

Considering what happened the last time I got my hair done, I figured I'd be safer just going straight home. When I got in, I made an omelet for lunch and watched more Popeye shorts. I love how many of these shorts don't always stick to the usual "Popeye rescues Olive from Bluto" routine. In "Brotherly Love," Olive's the one who helps out when Popeye tries to break up a mob, and almost gets broken himself. Popeye and Bluto trade horseplay for competing in magic tricks in "King of the Mardi Gras." "Bridge Ahoy!" has Olive, Wimpy, and Popeye working together to build a bridge when Bluto's ferry proves too expensive. Olive and Popeye also work together in "Be Kind to 'Aminals'" when they defend a horse Bluto's abusing.

Spent the rest of the afternoon doing things on the computer before heading out to the Acme. It was getting cloudy even as I rode there, and the clouds did have the pearly sheen of snow...but it wasn't really that cold. It was probably in the upper 30s-lower 40s, normal for this time of year.

I wish someone had pointed that out to my customers. We were busy for most of the night. Everyone's convinced that we're going to get hit. No, we're not. At press time, New England is supposed to get hit - Lauren said northwestern Massachusetts could get 20 inches or more. We're supposed to get 2 to 5 inches by late tomorrow night, maybe. That's not all that much more than what we've been getting on and off all winter. Thankfully, things slowed down considerably after rush hour.

Return to Balance

With my ankle better and my finances improving, I thought today would be a good time to return to yoga classes. I think I can save up for them now, especially since I'm not doing the gym anymore. This is one of the few ways I really have to meet people. It's expensive, but it's worth it.

I picked the right day to start my practice again. Today was the Thursday morning teacher Karin's last day before she goes on maternity leave. She'd announced her pregnancy just a few weeks before I got hurt! It's hard to believe it was that long ago. Needless to say, given her current condition, we didn't do a lot of jumping around. We mainly concentrated on inversions and balance poses. I did ok, considering how out of shape I am, but I'm very glad I got to say good-bye to Karin. She's been so nice to me.

Didn't have as much luck at the Collingswood Library. I probably could have returned to volunteering for them last month when I went back to the other two. The Collingswood Library is very different from the ones at Oaklyn and Haddon Township, though. Collingswood emphasizes community events and arts more than any other local town. The library is quite popular. They had a whole platoon of young college students organizing and shelving DVDs downstairs, and nothing to shelve upstairs. I hung around for a half-hour before I finally went home.

I may just drop volunteering at the Collingswood Library all together. Even when I go there on other days, they never seem to have all that much for me to do. Despite what my friend FA who works the counter says, I really don't think they need me there like they need me at the other two libraries.

Spent the rest of the afternoon indoors. I watched Thumbelina as I ate leftovers, flounder fillets, and a romaine salad for lunch. Don Bluth was known for making some pretty strange animated films in the 80s and 90s. This is the closest he ever really came to imitating Disney, even more than with Anastasia. This is a very straightforward adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. The title lass longs to meet someone as tiny as she is. She's thrilled when she encounters a fairy prince, but a series of increasingly unsuitable animals woo her and steal her away from him. In the end, she discovers that, no matter what your size, anyone can find their heart's desire...may it be large or small.

This charming musical was a victim of the same glut of animated fairy tales in the mid-late 90s that doomed The Swan Princess at the box office. I know a lot of girls who grew up during that time period have a soft spot for this one. I thought it was cute and lively, but that wasn't enough to overcome quite a few liabilities. Except for a lovely number when Thumbelina meets her prince in the beginning, the animation has dated rather badly - the CGI work is painfully obvious. The songs are very far from Barry Manilow's best work, and the characters are either bland (Thumbelina, her prince, and most of the fairies), grating (the majority of the animals), or just plain weird (a Hispanic frog voiced by Charro?). In addition to the number I mentioned, the other stand-out was the touching song for Thumbelina's mother (voice of Broadway star Barbara Cook) as she laments her lost daughter. A great voice cast (John Hurt, Gilbert Gottfried, Jodi Benson, and Carol Channing in addition to Cook and Charro) do what they can with the material.

For all that, it's harmless enough that this might be a good starter princess story for the very youngest royal girls. Fans of Bluth or young women who grew up seeing this on TV or video in the 90s and have fond memories may want to look it up as well.

After Thumbelina ended and while it was on, I did things around the apartment. I did some work online. I vacuumed everything I could. I did some vacuuming when I took the tree down last week, but it was really quick. This time, I not only re-did the music area and kitchen, but did the entertainment area and bedroom, too. I haven't really cleaned since late November, and the dust is appalling  It got to my sinuses. I've been sneezing like crazy all day.

Work was steady to busy for most of the night. We were short on help; most of the front end was putting up the tags for the new sales that start tomorrow. It just slowed down enough by 8 that I was able to leave without a relief.

Oh Mighty Balance

I slept in this morning. Read The Clue In Blue for a while, then finished Summer Magic and watched cartoons during breakfast. I didn't get to the Oaklyn Library until around 12:30. I mainly organized their DVDs, which did need it. They've dropped the "New Releases" section as too difficult to keep up with...but someone just tossed them in any old way, and they needed to be put in the right places. The board books, as usual, weren't in great shape either.

Opted to take out two DVDs (well, one DVD and a two-disc TV show set) from Oaklyn for the first time in ages. The Lorax is my favorite Dr. Seuss book and special. I've been looking forward to seeing the movie that came out in March, but the Haddon Township Library hasn't gotten it in yet, and I can't afford to buy new releases. The Oaklyn Library had just gotten it last week. Oaklyn's had the 1975 live-action kids' TV show The Secret of Isis for ages, but I've never had the time to watch the whole thing. I wasn't around when this show was on Saturday mornings, but I love the premise - a science teacher finds a 3,000 year old medallion while on a dig that endows her with the powers of the elements and animals.

I ran the first two episodes of Isis when I got in about an hour later. Andrea Thomas (Joanna Cameron) changes into Isis to save the day and help her friends, fellow teacher Rick Mason (Brian Cutler) and student Cindy Lee (Joanna Pang). The pilot episode, involving Isis discovering the secret behind an apparent UFO invasion, was the better of the two episodes I watched today. The second, where Cindy Lee is dared to climb a fence and discovers a car-theft ring, is a little preachier and less action-packed.

I finally headed out to the Collingswood Library around quarter of 3. There was even less to do there than usual, despite it being busy with kids out of school. I did get the kids' DVDs organized. They needed it rather badly. The adults' section was also organized, though they weren't quite as bad. There was nothing to shelve upstairs. I left a little early to buy a bottle of water from WaWa for yoga class.

The Gentle Yoga class was surprisingly busy today. In fact, there were at least 9 people there, counting the substitute teacher Scott, the most I've ever seen at the 4PM class. It would seem that Yogawood has started to advertise the late afternoon classes to teachers and students looking to wind down after the busy school day. I mostly talked to teachers just out of school or college kids between classes.

Scott put everyone through the gentlest paces possible and still make people sweat. I'm glad I opted for the quieter class. My heel spur is still really sore. I called the Foot and Ankle Center earlier, and they said they are once again having problems getting paperwork back from the union and Amerihealth. It'll be a few more weeks before I get my orthopedics, so I'm going to get another injection on Tuesday afternoon.

I finally sat down on the front stoop of one of the side street buildings after class and called my sister Rose. I called her twice earlier, but never heard for her. Just as I thought, she couldn't get together with me today. She had worked all day and was tired. Plus, she'd just been at Dad's...and found out our Uncle Ken, Dad's older brother, is in the hospital again. Uncle Ken is very, very sick, and this is the second time he's been in the hospital in several weeks. He's been chair-ridden since then. I'm really worried about him.

I was going to go to Haddon Hair Designs to cheer myself up and get my hair done. The girl at the desk rather brusquely told me they were closing and didn't stay open past 6. I just went down the street to the Hair Cuttery instead, as I have the past three times I've gotten my hair cut. I didn't regret it. This time, a cute college-age girl with a perky dirty blond spiral perm did my hair. She did a fabulous job. It's a bit longer than I got in February, and layered just right. (It's not always easy to get my frizzy mop layered correctly.)

After that, I strolled around a little. I peeked in a few stores, including a small thrift shop that just opened a few weeks ago, but saw nothing I liked. I stopped at Cafe Antonio's for a quick dinner of cheese and mushroom pizza slices and a fountain Diet Pepsi. Clouds built up ominously behind me, as they had off and on all day, but it remained just humid and cool.

It happened when I was walking down Haddon Avenue, on my way to the parking lot behind the stores where my bike was locked. My right ankle turned violently. I could hear the bones. I let out a scream and almost fell, but I grabbed a black post formerly used for parking meters before Collingswood put in automatic meter machines to keep myself from going down. I could walk on it, but it hurt like hell. I stumbled into one more store before finally getting to my bike and heading out of Collingswood, dodging the late rush hour traffic.

I was originally going to just go straight home and put my ankle on ice, but my thoughts kept returning to Dad and Uncle Ken. When I got on West Clinton, I swung down Newton Avenue and over to Hillcrest instead of going straight. I'm glad I did. Dad and Jodie were the only ones home when I arrived. I had a nice talk with them about Uncle Ken and everything that's going on there over green tea and slices of Cherry Cake (Rose apparently made it, and it's incredible - she doesn't give herself enough credit for being an excellent cook) and Entermann's new Cinnamon Crunch Loaf Cake.

It seems Uncle Ken was having trouble with his bowels. Not a surprise, given he spends all day in a chair. They just decided to send him to the hospital. Dad's just as upset as Rose and me about Uncle Ken, a man who has been energetic and fun-loving all his life, being confined to a chair. It doesn't help that Dad also saw my stepmother Kaye waste away from cancer before her eventual death in 1997 and has had his own experience with cancer, not to mention Uncle Ken is his brother, and he knows him better than anyone.

I'm at home now, my ankle finally on ice. Maybe it's just as well that it's supposed to pour for a lot of tomorrow. I was going to do the usual gym-groceries-paycheck run, then spend the rest of the day doing chores around the apartment and resting my heel spur. I need my paycheck badly (not to mention my schedule for next week), but I may either cut out the gym or go easy on it. I really want to lose the weight, but my feet have enough problems as it is.

Balance and My Sister

The day didn't begin well. I was awaken by the sound of the garbage truck picking up the trash...and realized I'd forgotten to take out mine. Then I was almost late for yoga class. Rose called just as we were settling into meditation. Could we switch the location from Collingswood to the Treehouse Cafe in Audubon? Fine...but I had a hard time getting back into class after her call.We worked on balance poses in class. I'm just not good with balancing. I'm better than I was, but I'm still not flexible.

There was absolutely nothing going on at the Collingswood Library, either. They already had a college student working on the DVDs. I shelved one DVD downstairs and three nonfiction books upstairs. I read a few more books, but it's just as well that I had to leave early to ride over to Audubon. As it turned out, the county was finally repairing the long-degraded wood around the train tracks on Merchant Avenue. That meant that I had to go around and down to Pine and back; thankfully, Rose was waiting for me when I arrived.

After all that, I did have a pleasant chat and lunch with my sister. She had a turkey sandwich and a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I had "Popeye's Chicken" (chicken, spinach, and red peppers) and a Gingerbread Italian Soda. (I was too hot from my ride for lattes!) We talked about everything going on at Uncle Ken's, the Secret Santa we hope to do with the Cape May side of the family this Christmas to simplify the holidays over there, my financial problems, and Rose's desire to get Khai into a program to help him with his speech. I told Rose about staying here for my vacation and what I hoped to do during it. We're going to attempt to get together again during Collingswood's big shopping night on the 27th.

(It's probably just as well that we weren't able to get together on Tuesday. The storm would have made that impossible. Rose said she had to run out in the rain to get things for dinner and wound up walking through a cold grocery store soaked and freezing.)

After I left Rose, I decided I had enough money left for a treat. I headed across the street to Desserts By Design. I bought a Strawberry Buttercream Cupcake and had a nice, long chat with the owner. I told her about my family, and we discussed the changing economy and how difficult it's been for a lot of people to cope with these changes. Many people in this area are determined to cling to the way things have always been...even if those way no longer work in the modern world.

We talked for so long, I ended up riding home and having my cupcake there. I did have enough time to do a few things around the apartment. I paged through the grocery store flyers and made my list for the Acme tomorrow. I swept the porch. It needed it badly after the storm. I did the dishes and tidied up a few things.

Work was busy when I came in, fairly quiet after rush hour ended. For once, we had so much help, I was able to spend most of the second half of my night shelving candy. There were no problems beyond a few annoying customers (and one WIC family who were confused by their checks), and I was in and out quickly after picking up contact lens solution and the Progresso's Vegetable Soup that's on sale. (I love their Hearty Tomato, which is full of big tomato pieces and makes a great sauce for meat.)

Balance Outdoors

The beautiful weather continues. It was even a bit chilly when I rode down to Collingswood for this week's yoga class. We concentrated on squats, pigeon, and the "bow" pose (lay on your stomach and grab your feet) pose. Not my best pose, and neither my sore digits nor my heel spur helped matters. I did what I could. (At least I could get on my stomach. Karin can't really join us for stomach poses anymore. She's in her second trimester, and her pregnancy is really showing.)

The Collingswood Library was even less busy than Yogawood. I organized the children's DVD shelves and shelved a few non-fiction books. That was all. I spent 20 minutes paging through magazines. I was there for less than an hour.

For once, I had enough money left by the end of the week to treat myself to a nice little lunch. I stopped at Doria's Deli for a turkey and provolone hoagie and a Diet Cherry Pepsi. The Dorias have been friends of Uncle Ken's for years. Mrs. Doria asked how he was; I told her about him being in a wheelchair now. She said to say that she and her husband say "hi."

Spent the rest of the afternoon at home. After lunch, I decided I might as well take advantage of the weather to do some more outdoor fall cleaning. I started with scrubbing the deck chairs. They were really gross. The pieces of once-white plastic were covered in cobwebs and dirt. I really need new ones - or better yet, real metal or wood deck furniture. Not only have I not had the money, I really can't get them home on my bike.

Figured while I had everything out, I might as well get the trash and recycling canisters clean, too. I did them in May, before Lauren visited. Decided to scrub them and my bike one more time before it gets too cold to use the hose. Trouble is, I completely forgot that Andrew and his relatives removed the leaves from near the back steps under my porch. The hose made the ground very muddy and messy! I had to wipe the darn trash cans off again when I got upstairs. All the mosquitoes didn't help, either. I feel like one big mosquito bite.

I listened to some of my operetta CDs while making a Peach Almond Cake (with honey and fruit concentrate instead of granulated sugar). One of my earliest CD finds was Little Mary Sunshine, an adorable 1959 off-Broadway spoof of operetta and 20s and 30s musical comedy. I picked up the original Capitol release in the mid-late 90s from a (now defunct) music store in North Cape May, and I've loved it ever since. Eileen Brennan (of Clue and Last Picture Show, among others) is the sweet title character, who owns an inn in the Colorado Rockies. John McMartin is her beloved Captain of the Rangers. There's Mary's maid, mischievous Nancy (Elmarie Wendel), five young ladies from a finishing school, a wistful opera diva, his men, and an evil (and non-PC) Indian to contend with as well. DRG apparently re-released it a few years ago, and it's available for download at Amazon as well.

Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - busy during rush hour, quiet otherwise. Once again, I was in and out with no problems.

Dusty Balance

Hit yoga class first thing in the morning. My heel spur and sore fingers are still acting up, so doing the back bends and Camel positions we emphasized today wasn't easy. Not to mention, I'm still not terribly flexible. I did the best I could. The class was fairly busy today, not as much as usual, but more than the last few weeks. Now that kids are back in school, parents and some college students probably need things to do in the morning.

Volunteering was a bust. There was absolutely nothing going on at the Collingswood Library. I organized the DVDs downstairs and shelved three non-fiction books upstairs. I browsed through a couple of Images of America books on Collingswood, Camden, and Audubon before heading out.

The Oaklyn Library had been almost completely rearranged. The adult DVDs were moved to where the oversized and reference books had been, and I don't know where those books went. Two beautiful black couches and wood tables had replaced the old adult DVD shelves. The computers, formerly stuffed into an area along the left wall next to the circulation desk, now took over where the couches, table, and newspapers were. The kids' section remained the same, and that's what I concentrated on today, especially the series titles and picture books.

I did things around the house for the next few hours. I swept the porch, which badly needed it. I hadn't done it in weeks, and there was a ton of debris leftover from the last few storms. I shook the dust out of the rag rug in my bedroom and hung it on the porch railing to air. I changed the sheets on my bed, then made it, also for the first time in ages. (Who's going to see it?) I vacuumed the entire apartment. I cleared out the vacuum cleaner's canister. I updated AVG and ran a virus search on my computer. (Didn't find anything.) I made Summer Fruit Oatmeal muffins from the muffin recipe cookbook I took out of the Haddon Township Library yesterday. (They were originally Peachy Oatmeal Muffins, but I had a few plums and an apple that were starting to get soft. I tossed them in with two peaches.)

I went for a short but pleasant walk between vacuuming and making the muffins. By late afternoon, the cloudy, cool, slightly humid day had become absolutely gorgeous. The sun was out, there was a soft breeze, and it was warm and a little humid, but not nearly as bad as earlier in the week. I even turned the air conditioner off. I strolled over to the school, passing people firing up lawnmowers to deal with grass that had gone from fried to overgrown in the space of a week. A little girl climbed on the jungle gym with her daddy at the playground behind the school. Older girls chatted about their first two days back on the swings. A group of grade-school age girls in soccer uniforms practiced as their coach directed them around the field behind the Oaklyn School.

When I got in, I made chicken burgers and steamed Chinese beans for dinner while running Supergirl. Superman's little cousin Kara got her first (and to date, only) big-screen outing in this notorious mid-80s cult favorite. Kara (Helen Slater) comes to Earth looking for a powerful sphere. She turns herself into a (brunette) prep school student, Linda Lee, to fit in. Turns out carnival sorceress Selina (Faye Dunaway) found the sphere, which she hopes will give her world domination. Dunaway also has her sights set on a hunky carpenter who has done work for the school...who falls for Linda after one of Dunaway's spells goes awry. Supergirl has to retrieve the guy and the sphere, all while dodging Selina's powers and keeping up appearances with her new best friend Lucy Lane.

As with fellow early and mid-80s oddities Xanadu and The Pirate Movie, your mileage will probably vary on this one depending on how cheesy you like your superhero movies. Personally, I get a big kick out of it. Slater is very cute as Supergirl and her school girl alter ego (and she manages to change hair colors in a single bound!). Dunaway chews everything in sight as the evil witch, and Peter Cook, as her mentor in evil, is only slightly less hammy. Like Flash Gordon, the colorful special effects haven't dated well, but otherwise, this remains a fun ride and one of the few times a solo superheroine has made it to the big screen.

Balance on Baking Day

Started today with the end of The Artist and two Three Stooges shorts on making movies. The Stooges invade a studio in "Movie Maniacs," hoping to become stars. They wind up in charge of the newest film when the head executive mistakes them for big shots from back east. "Three Missing Links" takes them to Africa to appear as caveman and a gorilla in jungle movie. The trouble starts when a real gorilla invades the set and wrecks havoc!

I arrived at yoga just as they were beginning. As it turned out, there was no reason to rush. Everyone must have left for the Labor Day Weekend already. There weren't nearly as many people in class as usual. We concentrated on "core" (stomach) exercises and inversions. My sore fingers weren't up to shoving my weight on my head. I did my best with the core work.

Next stop was the Collingswood Library. They were surprisingly busy, considering the holiday and the beautiful weather. I guess everyone wanted to rent movies before the library closes for the weekend. I had lots of DVDs to file, shelve, and organize. There was nothing going on upstairs, though, so I headed out a bit early.

I needed to swing by the Haddon Township Library to return The Artist, Angelina Ballerina, and Shanghai Surprise. The Camden County Library System only allows new DVDs (they call them the "Grab and Go" movies) out for four days. (I'll probably run Picnic over the weekend.) Had just enough money to stop at 7-11 for a Pina Colada/Mango Slurpee and a pretzel on the way there.

I rode home through a bustling Newton River Park. I partially wanted to avoid the lunch hour traffic on Cuthbert Road (the drive-in line for McDonald's stretched around the building), but I mostly wanted to enjoy the gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy, with nary a cloud in the soft blue sky. It was dry, and warm without being too hot, perfect weather for southern New Jersey in late August.

When I arrived at home, I took an hour for a leftovers lunch and watching black-and-white Mickey Mouse cartoons. After that, I made a trip to the gym. I timed it well. There was no one on the cardio equipment when I started a 20 minute run on an elliptical machine, but there were several people in the weight machine area. By the time I was working on my legs, the opposite was (mostly) true.

I was tired, my heel spur hurt, and I wanted to get some baking done. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home. Ran Flash Gordon while making Zucchini Muffins. I picked up the 80s movie version of the ever-popular comic book character when Lauren was visiting in May, and I finally got around to watching it. New York Jets quarterback Flash (Sam Jones), spunky travel agent Dale (Melody Anderson), and semi-mad scientist Zarcov (Topol) find themselves hurled into space when meteors begin raining down on Earth. Turns out the planet is under attack by the dastardly Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydrow, having an awful lot of fun), the ruler of the planet Mongo. Ming wants Dale; his daughter Aura (Ornella Muti) has her eyes on Flash, despite already having a lover in Prince Barrin of Araboria (Timothy Dalton). It'll take every ounce of Flash, Dale, and Zarcov's wit and courage to get past Mongo's amazing technology...not to mention their crazy Technicolor Art Deco sets and costumes.

For all the comparisons to Star Wars, this has a very different feel. The neutral tones and cool blues and reds of George Lucas' epics have here been replaced by wild costumes that look like a cross between a samurai movie and The Adventures of Robin Hood. The amazing sets recreate the feel of old-time comic books nicely, and the cast is having a ball. Special mention to Von Sydrow, enjoyably over-the-top as Ming, and Brian Blessed as the big, bawdy head of the Hawkmen. If you like your action movies bright, campy, and hilarious, this cult favorite is worth digging around for.

Switched to something intentionally goofy as I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and tilapia in lemon sauce with steamed Chinese beans and sliced tomatoes for dinner. Robin Hood: Men In Tights was probably Mel Brooks' last decent spoof. Made in 1993, it mainly pokes fun at the rather stilted Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, but does occasionally make cracks at other versions, too, including Errol Flynn's. Cary Elwes makes a hilarious Robin; watch out for the musical number to the title song mid-way through.

Swashbuckling Balance

Once again, it was hot and hazy when I awoke this morning, but not really humid. Even so, I had a hard time getting out of bed, and I was nearly late to yoga class. I'm glad I made it. We were working on twists again. I did what I could. My back and fingers remain sore, but at least I'm not stiff anymore.

For once, there was plenty to do at the Collingswood Library. I had lots of DVDs to file and shelve. The kids' and classic DVD titles needed to be organized badly, too. There was less to do upstairs; after dodging kids coming from the library's Storybook Hour, I was out by quarter of 12. Made a quick stop at WaWa for skim milk before heading home.

When I got in, I had leftovers for lunch, then put my sore fingers on ice while running the rest of the Jake and the Never Land Pirates set. Disney's Peter-Pan-themed follow-up to Little Einsteins is the tale of three Lost Kids - Jake, Izzy, and Cubby - who live on Pirate Island with their parrot mascot Skully and their beloved pirate boat Bucky. Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Hook's crew usually steal something that the kids have found or are playing with, and the kids have to chase them around Never Land to get it back. There's occasional variations, such as the kids participating in the Never Land Games (with Hook trying to show how he can do it all by himself), and Jake trying to return Hook's hat to him. If you were a Little Einsteins fan or your child loves Peter Pan or pirate stories, this is pretty cute for an interactive program.

Decided to stick to swashbuckling and switched to The Adventures of Robin Hood while baking Plum-Chocolate Chip Muffins. People who prefer their Robin Hood on the lighter side will definitely want to start with this Technicolor Errol Flynn classic, either on TCM or in its awesome two-disc DVD release. It has everything you could want in a Robin Hood story, without the darker edges that bogged down the recent Russell Crowe film.

I went for a short walk after the muffins came out of the oven. It was too nice of a day not to. I had just enough time to stroll down to the boat launch on the end of Goff Avenue and back. The water on the river was placid and still. The barest breeze left tiny ripples on the olive-green surface. I saw dragonflies buzzing and fish leaping out of the water for a snack. The laughter of children tumbled out of backyard pools; lawn mowers did their jobs.

I wish work had been so peaceful. It was a real pain. This was the final day to pick up tickets for the Giveaway Game. (The tickets and coupons can be reimbursed until early September.) A student at Temple in Philly already won the million, but other prizes are still available. People were just obnoxious, too. At least two women gave us grief about a sale that doesn't start until tomorrow but was accidentally listed as starting tonight. A man in the register in front of me threw a fit because he thought his 12 packs of soda were a dollar each. The big sign above the display hadn't been fixed properly, but a bright yellow sign did show the correct price of 3 for $11. I was happy when the crowds finally died around 8PM and I was able to get home before anyone else fussed.

Balance In the Sun

I couldn't believe how beautiful it was when I headed out for this week's yoga class. It was just about as perfect as weather gets in mid-August in Southern New Jersey - bright, sunny, breezy, without the tiniest bit of humidity or haze, probably in the lower-mid 80s. We celebrated the magnificent day by working on twists. I'm glad we did. I had been feeling rather stiff in my lower body since my gym workout yesterday. I must have overdone the leg machine work. I felt much better and less stiff after yoga.

For once, there was a lot to do at the Collingswood Library. I put away a nice stack of DVDs and organized the rest, including the children's collection, which was recently moved where they'd originally had the audio books. Nothing going on upstairs, though. I headed out around quarter of 12.

It was too nice to eat lunch inside. I had just enough money to buy a turkey hoagie and a small bottle of water from WaWa. I rode over to Newton River Park and settled down on a metal and plastic table to enjoy my impromptu picnic. Mothers watched their children chase each other around the playground. Friends strolled across the now much greener grass. People walked their dogs and pushed strollers down the winding paths. A few boats bobbed lazily along on the green river.

When I got home, I spent a few hours doing chores and things around the apartment I'd put off. Two of my older farm market apples were developing brown spots. I sliced them, scooped out the bruises, and made Apple Muffins. I finally finished dusting the bedroom. I went through this week's supermarket and drug store flyers. I called the Foot and Ankle Center, whom I haven't heard from since last month. Apparently, the insurance center is now claiming they haven't gotten the forms, despite the fact that we sent them on July 19th! When Colleen called back, she said the woman at the insurance company rudely informed her that she would go through the papers and see if they had arrived. I'll try calling them again tomorrow to see if they've made any progress with these people.

I ran Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus while all this was going on. I've rented this one from the Haddon Township Library before. While this Barbie action tale touts its 3-D effects, the real stand-outs are the well-drawn characters and touching story of a young girl who seeks to create a wand that will liberate her parents and sister from a wizard's evil spell. Definitely one of the best Barbie As... fantasy films; very much worth looking for if you have a little girl.

That amazing weather beckoned, though. After Magic of the Pegasus ended and I made my call to the Foot and Ankle Center, I went for a short walk. Strolled down Manor to West Clinton, then around Landis to the playground behind the school. Another set of mothers watched a group of little kids as they flew down slides and swung across monkey bars. I went down a slide myself (despite it being awfully hot), then headed across the school's field to Kendall Boulevard, and finally down Goff to Manor.

Went to work about a half-hour later. Work was surprisingly busy for a Thursday in the middle of the month. I saw a lot of mothers and teenagers with big orders. I suspect many future college students were preparing to move into their new homes for the first time. Other than some mildly annoying customers, there were no major problems. One of the college boys who had been working on putting up next week's sale tags came in for me.

Balance With Friends and Family

It was another hot, sunny, muggy morning when I headed out for this week's yoga class. You can tell we're getting close to the end of the summer - the class was full for the first time in weeks. That didn't leave us a lot of room to work on standing poses and inversions. I did pretty good on a variation on the "legs up the wall" that we did last week. I'm not very good at splits, though. I just can't get down that far.

Headed right for the Collingswood Library afterwards. Once again, there wasn't much to do. I organized the DVDs and shelved two books upstairs. Ended up spending an hour paging through coffee table books on movie musicals.

Jody, the sweet older woman I shared a cup of tea with in March, had finally gotten back to me after being busy with work and trips for the past few months. She was going on another trip, but would have time for some more tea with me this afternoon. At least, we could have had more time if I hadn't gotten lost looking for her house! I completely forgot to bring the address with me. Had to go back to the library to get it! It did mean I was late, but we had a nice little chat over cups of herbal tea anyway, mainly about our families and my inability to sit down and start writing. I borrowed a book about writing characters and a book on writing for children.

The Pretzel Factory is down the street from Jody's house. I stopped there for a snack on the way home, since my lunch was going to be late. When I finally got in, I made fruit salad with lime-honey dressing for lunch and finished the Babar set. Of the remaining three episodes, my favorite was "The Phantom," a rather sweet take on Phantom of the Opera set during Babar's stay with Madame in the city. Babar hears a beautiful melody coming from an abandoned music hall. He discovers a former concert pianist who has been forgotten and now refuses to leave the stage where he was once a hit.

I got bored later in the afternoon and decided to go for a swim. I'm glad I did. Uncle Ken just came back from a stay at the hospital. My cousin Samantha, her husband David, and their children Ethan, Matt, and Faith were staying with him while he recovers. Dad and Jodie had an old friend, Gary, over. I swam with Matt and Ethan in the pool, laughing as they chased after a glittering, translucent ball. (I think Ethan won, 19-11 the last I'd heard.) After I got tired of swimming, I went inside to say "hi" to everyone else. Uncle Ken, Dave, Sam, and Faith were watching a special on dinosaurs on Nat Geo Wild; a neighbor came over to chat with them while I was there.

When I got home, I made Italian summer veggies and salmon while finishing Thor. The last of the three Marvel Comics movies that lead up to this year's Avengers is a bit more comic book-ish than Captain America. Cocky Thor, God of Thunder (Chris Helmsforth) is banished from his home Asgarth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) when he starts a war with the Frost Giants. He's hurled to Earth without his powers or his might hammer. He's discovered by a pack of scientists, including the lovely Jane (Natalie Portman) who want to know more about him. They're not the only ones; the government's after him, too, as is his scheming half-brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Thor is determined to prove himself worthy of his beloved hammer and his place in Asgarth, even as he learns about earthly love from Jane...

Strange stuff. Very, very strange. I still liked Captain America better, but this wasn't bad, either. More sweeping than the goofier Iron Man movies, and more comic book-ish than the Captain's slightly gritty World War II tale. Great for mythology nuts, science fiction fans, and those who saw or are planning to see The Avengers, which, like Captain America, this leads up to.

Clean Balance

Started a sunny, hazy, and hot morning with yoga class. Karin lead us in with a wonderful announcement - after she and her husband had given up on trying to have another child, Karin has learned that she's 16 weeks pregnant. She's getting her wish after all. With that in mind, and in honor of the Olympics, we worked on inversions. I've gotten really good at walking up walls, and my balance is much better than it was.

The Collingswood Library wasn't nearly as exciting. Though they were busy, with many people escaping the heat, they also had lots of help from kids out of school and adults on vacation who needed something to do. I organized the DVDs downstairs, shelved one book upstairs, and that was about it.

I made a quick ride through Newton River Park, past a dog-walker and people waiting for the bus on the White Horse Pike, to CVS. I just ran out of shaving lotion the other day, and they have the cheapest prices in the area. Also picked up razors, dishwashing liquid (good sale on Dawn), and sponges (also on sale). Rode over to the Oaklyn Library to volunteer there, but it was the same deal. They had lots of help and only a little bit more to do. I organized DVDs and series books and weeded board books out of the picture book shelves.

Headed back to my apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon doing chores. I had leftovers for lunch. I gave the kitchen a good scrub. I made the bed. I vacuumed the whole apartment. I washed the windows and the mirror on the door to my bedroom. I cleared out my Care Bears. As cute as they are, they're really another collection I don't need and don't use. I'm keeping the vintage Gram Bear, the hard-to-find Perfect Panda, the Talking Cheer Bear, the Tenderheart I won from a crane game in Wildwood, and Oopsy and True Heart (neither of whom have been revived for the current show yet). I moved one of their crates into the living room to hold holiday records. I don't know what I'll do with the other - the Disney Animator's Collection dolls are currently occupying it, but they don't really fit.

Dubbed two public domain videos as I worked. The Lady Vanishes is another British Hitchcock comic suspense film from the 30s. A young woman meets an older lady on a train...and is baffled when she suddenly disappears after relaying a mysterious message. Flying Deuces is a later-day vehicle for Laurel & Hardy. The two find themselves in the French Foreign Legion after a pretty local girl (Jean Parker) turns Ollie down. They're even worse Legionnaires than they were British Army soldiers, and soon, they're flying a plane in the hopes of escaping half the outpost. I tossed a Three Stooges short set in the Foreign Legion, "Wee Wee Monseuir," on after Flying Deuces ended as I prepared to head to Dad and Uncle Ken's for a swim.

It had cooled off a little bit by 5:30. Rose, Dad, Khai, and Jodie were just getting out as I was going in. After my swim, I joined them inside to watch Cars. Khai had a long day, though, and he was tired and very cranky. When he refused to eat his chicken nuggets or obey his mother, Rose just took him home early. I enjoyed a quiet dinner of meatloaf, broccoli, a very vinegary cucumber salad, and garlic noodles with Jodie and Dad as we watched Jeopardy's kids week together.