The Swan and the Bears

Started out a sunny day with the rest of the Care Bears cartoons. One episode in particular stood out to me. "Bully Exposed" brings two kids to Care-A-Lot. Kylie loves to play the ukulele. She's enjoying her time with the Bears...until Madison arrives. Madison bullies Kaylie incessantly, taunting her when she tries to join the Bears' games and breaking her beloved instrument. Madison even goes so far as to threaten Wonderheart, who can't be more than four or five in bear years. It takes Wonderheart filming the threats and a Care Bear Stare to get Madison to reveal why she was behaving so badly.

If only someone could have helped me out like that as a kid. I still spend a lot of time feeling like Kylie. I never know what I do to people. I get scared, and I don't know how to react. If there's one thing I regret, it's that people took 30 years (and several school shootings) to figure out that bullying neither builds character nor is something that should be ignored.

Two more episodes also dealt with variations on dealing with shyness or being different. Harmony, who has been pushing rules at the Bears all day in "Over Bearing," appreciates quiet, polite Peter. That is, until Funshine and Grumpy push sugar at him and tell him that rules don't matter. He ends up running around like a crazy man until Beastly tries to talk him into a prank on Bedtime Bear. Even Peter realizes this goes too far. If Bedtime Bear doesn't get his sleep, he'll be too cranky to help the other bears get theirs!

It's The Baby Bear Who Cried Duck in "Untruth and Consequences." The Bears refuse to listen to Wonderheart's advice on dealing with an exotic baby duck after she makes up obvious fibs to get their attention. They all think that the little girl who just arrives knows what she's doing. They all learn a lesson in telling the truth when, as Peter did, the duck gets too hyper and goes crazy and no one can find Tenderheart to stop it.

Work was busy when I got in and crazy when I left, but pretty quiet for most of the afternoon. It's the middle of the week and the nicest day we've had in months. It was probably as warm as the mid-to-upper 40s, with some wind but not as bad as it's supposed to get. Originally they wanted me to stay an extra half-hour, due to my relief being late. I ended up only being slightly late - they found a college student to go in for me. I would have been fine staying the extra half-hour, but whatever.

I had a nice chat with a former co-worker who is recovering from surgery and her adorable 8-year-old daughter on the way home. It was so nice, we didn't mind standing outside for 20 minutes and talking. They were just coming from the little girl's birthday party.

When I got in, I made Pineapple Spice Cake and watched The Swan Princess. This 1994 animated feature is Swan Lake with a far less tragic ending. Princess Odette and Prince Eric are practically shoved together at birth by their parents, who are hoping to unite their kingdoms. They do finally fall for each other when they're grown, but Eric insults Odette by assuming that all he cares about is her beauty. After her carriage is attacked by the evil Rothbart, she's assumed to be dead by all except for Eric. She's really been turned into a swan. Now, she and her friends Puffin, Speed the Turtle, and Jean-Bob the Frog (who thinks he's a prince) have to convince Eric that this swan is more than it seems...and it'll take a true vow of real love to release her from the spell.

This was a favorite in my family during the mid-90's, due to Odette's strong character, the hilarious supporting cast (gotta love Jean-Bob), and some lush animation. There are at least four direct-to-home-media sequels I haven't bothered with, but you might want to look them up if you really get into this. I how Eric and Odette are set up to be lovers from the start and have known each other all their lives (making this one of the few animated fairy tales prior to Frozen to develop the romance gradually).

Too Much Experience Necessary

Started off a sunny, windy, chilly day with Brunch With the Beatles and Strawberry Pancakes for breakfast. The emphasis today was on songs released in the spring. This mostly included earlier songs like "Please Please Me" and "Help!," but I also heard "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" in there.

I didn't have much of a morning. I tried calling Mom twice, but never got her. I tried calling my friend Pattie, but her voice mail box is STILL full. I went online and debated whether or not to start a website, but then I wondered what I would write on it. I don't have a portfolio or examples of my work, unless there's a lot of fans of Monkees and Bowery Boys fanfiction in the business world. I wish freelance writing wasn't so hard to break into, especially if you're shy or have a hard time selling your work.

I don't know any writers. I don't know where they live or work or hang out. I really need to find forums for Philadelphia area writers. The only writer's group in South Jersey I could find a website for isn't accepting members right now. And I really need to check out conferences. I want to find members, "natives" who could talk to me. I just have no idea where to go with it.

And I came up with yet another idea. I still want to do copy editing and newsletters and such for local businesses. Something else I feel passionately about is bullying, especially regarding girls. Bullying and the lack of knowledge about early onset puberty in the 80s damaged my childhood and continues to haunt my life to this day, and I don't want that to happen to any other kid. I'd like to write a series of essays (including the one on my current website) and self-publish it. I don't care about making money. I care about getting demons out...and finding ways to keep other young girls facing the same problems to be as hurt as I was.

I finally got fed up around 2:30 and decided I needed chocolate. I made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins from an Alton Brown cookbook while watching the end of Around the World in 80 Days. I revised the recipe a little, replacing part of the required sugar with apple juice. They came out absolutely delicious, moist and flavorful.

The muffins came out just in time for me to head to work. I was surprised to discover that the weather, while still sunny, was quite changed from the morning. The wind was dying and it was much warmer, probably in the upper 50s. That may have effected work, too. We were steady all day, but not too busy, and it was quiet by the time I  headed out at 8. It went very fast, and there were no problems.

New Year's On the Rocks

The day began well. It was sunny, bright, and warm-out-of-the-ordinary for December, in the mid-50s. I had written in my journal and was just finished dressing when I got the dreaded call. Yes, it was the Acme. Could I come in as soon as possible? It was really busy. I told them 1PM. I had to get to the bank, if nothing else.

I did get to the bank, around quarter after 11. It wasn't busy when I was there, but the teller said it had been busy earlier. Simply Soups wasn't busy when I went there, either. I had a quick, small bowl of New England Clam Chowder, quarter of a Coke can, and a breadstick and a half.

I felt a little better when I rode down to Market Street and had a chat with Bob at Abbie Road. He not only slashed prices on a lot of CDs, but he had a pile of records for sale, too. My record finds were:

Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow

Pat Benetar - Tropico and Crimes of Passion

Belinda Carlisle - Heaven On Earth (replacing a cassette copy)


Linda Rondstat - Simple Dreams

Phil Collins - Face Value and But Seriously

The original Broadway cast album for the musical Zorba (never removed from its original plastic)

The CDs were mostly cast albums. I picked up the original casts for Company, Joseph and His Technicolor Dream Coat, and Grand Hotel: The Musical (another cassette replacement), the soundtrack for Til the Clouds Roll By, and Neil Diamond - His 12 Greatest Hits, Vol. II.

Work was a pain in the rear end all day. Yes, we were very busy. There was also a call-out. One of the older women had been sick all week. If people weren't doing their beginning-of-the-month shopping, they were buying vegetable trays and piles of chip bags for parties tonight. At one point, one very noisy man made a fuss because his check wouldn't go through. It hadn't helped that the woman in front of him got upset because he was taking the Lord's name in vain! The man was so obnoxious, even his teenage daughter said he was embarrassing her. I was frustrated, but everyone in the line after him was super-nice and complimented me on how well I handled him.

I went straight home after I finally got out of work. There was a really big package waiting for me when I arrived. My new DVD shelf unit had come! I put my things upstairs, then dragged the heavy box upstairs.

It ended up taking the better part of the night to put the shelf together. The directions weren't the greatest. I couldn't fit the sides to the bottom and top at first. Things went far faster when I finally got the sides standing upright.

It didn't help that I was trying to alternate putting up the unit with making a big New Year's Eve dinner. I eventually had ham with a sauce made from water, drippings, and fruit, steamed green beans, Strawberry Flummery, and sweet potatoes and apples. I ran Rudolph's Shiny New Year, Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, and two Bowery Boys movies while I worked and cooked. And of course, it turns out that the shelves still aren't enough to hold all of my DVDs.

Things weren't even pleasant when I got online. I had another nasty comment from that awful "jmsairforce," whom I assume is also the commenter who used to sign himself as "James" and claimed he was a psychiatrist. Now he's calling me a "creepy freak," just because I enjoy my dolls. You know why I enjoy those dolls? They don't insult me, call me names, or behave like an obnoxious boor. He says I'm a "headcase" and that I'm completely insane! I wish whomever this is would just crawl back under the rock he came from. I never did anything to him. I never called him names or hurt him in any way. He should do likewise and leave me alone.

I  hope all of you have a far better end of 2011 than I did.

Do You Hear the People Sing?

First of all, James, whomever you are, let's make one thing quite clear. I don't like being insulted. If you continue to send nasty messages to this blog, you will be marked as spam and reported to Blogger. I've been tolerating bullies like you since childhood. I am not tolerating them anymore. Not here. Not anywhere.

It makes me so mad when people do things like this. I'm tired of dealing with bullies. Why can't people just be pleasant? I've been bullied my whole life. By parents and teachers who meant well. By kids who didn't know the difference between "unique" and "weird." Why do people think they can hold power over others this way? It doesn't just happen to kids, either. Adults bully each other, too. Do people think that's really the only way to get anyone to do anything? I'm going to write what I want, thank you, not what some bully thinks I should write. If he doesn't like that, he can read someone else's blog.

Beyond that, I had a good day. I started it with this week's volunteering session at the Haddon Township Library. It was gorgeous, upper 50s-lower 60s, sunny, a nice breeze but none of the wind that made earlier this week so chilly. It was so nice, I rode to the Library via Newton River Park.

There were plenty of DVDs to return and organize. I was happily occupied for an hour. After I finished, I found three books and three DVDs to take out. I skipped reading Joanna Fluke's Plum Pudding Murder when it came out last year; I decided to make up for that now. I also took out a kids' crochet book and a book of Thanksgiving recipes, ideas, and stories. Found three DVDs as well - the Angelina Ballerina Christmas special, a set of Max and Ruby fall and winter-themed shorts, and the newest Barbie As special, Barbie In a Fashion Fairy Tale.

Next stop was Super Fresh. They have better prices on real maple syrup than the Acme does. I also found the Laurel and Hardy March of the Toy Soldiers there for $4.99. I've been wanting to replace that since I got rid of the video with it and Christmas In Connecticut after I bought the latter on DVD in 2008.

Headed to the Bagel Shop for lunch. I had a little more than half of a tasty Vegetable Quesedilla for lunch. It filled me up so much, I couldn't close to finish it. Couldn't finish my pickles, either.

Went straight home via Cuthbert Road after lunch. The Wachovia Bank they were building was finished a few weeks ago. It's a pretty simple building, but they did a good job, and at least it's not a fast food place. In fact, they did such a good job, it looks like they want the rest of the mall to match. There were people on a crane painting the half of the mall next to Wachovia in soft shades of white and brown when I was riding by. I actually like it better than the gray and white it was. Looks much warmer and more inviting.

Rode straight home after that. It was after 2 by the time I got in. There was a blinking light on my answering machine. The Acme had tried to call me in. By that point, it was too late and they'd already gotten someone else anyway.

I spent the next few hours raking leaves instead. I thought this week was our week for leaf pick-up. Miss Ellie told me later that it isn't...but I'm glad I got it done anyway. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Neither she nor I need to be tripping over wet leaves and sticks.

I love raking. It's such good exercise. It gets you outside and into the fresh air. It's just so much fun! Best of all, it's something that gets things done. You get instant results. You rake the leaves, put them in piles, and take them to the curb...and you don't have leaves. It's something you really do. It's real work.

After I finished with the leaves, I swept my porch. It badly needed it. The storms last week brought down piles of leaves. I think there were more leaves on my porch than in the yard! I was wading through piles of leaves literally up to my ankles as I swept them off the sides.

Still feeling vigorous, I went for a quick walk when the porch was clear. I needed to return those Winnie the Pooh Halloween videos anyway. It was still a nice day, windless but a bit colder than earlier.

Spent the rest of the evening at home. I made chicken meatloaf, steamed cauliflower, and roasted Brussels sprouts while watching Fashion Fairytale and Max and Ruby.

Fashion Fairytale pulls Barbie out of her perpetual princess stories and into the here and now. Fired from her latest movie for mouthing off at the director, Barbie decides to head for Paris to visit her Aunt Millicent, who runs a fashion house. When she arrives, she discovers that her aunt has been run out of business by a trashy designer who steals her ideas. Barbie and Alice, a young woman who works for her aunt and secretly wishes to design clothes, find three "flaries" who add glitter to Alice's new gowns...but can they do enough "glitterizing" to save Aunt Millicent's business? And what about Ken, who is having enough trouble with transportation to Paris to fill a second Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?

I thought it was cute...but I think I like it better when Barbie isn't being herself. The "be yourself" lesson was laid on with a trowel the size of the Eiffel Tower. Ken's attempt to join her was actually a lot funnier. (And didn't she break up with him a while back?) The best part may have been the almost Pirandellian "Princess and the Pea" opening, in which we see what looks like a typical Barbie As special (even used the same character seen in a few of the princess stories as a villainous mother-type for the evil queen). It quickly gets surreal when a pack of disco-dancing zombie peas suddenly appear. Even Barbie couldn't handle that one.

The Max and Ruby episodes were a lot of fun. "Max's Christmas Passed," in which Max finds a way to cheer him and Ruby up after the Christmas decorations come down, was very sweet. So was "Max's New Year." Grandma, Max, and Ruby have a three-rabbit New Year's party...and teach Max about patience and about time when he has to wait until midnight to blow his noisemaker and have Grandma's clock-shaped cookies.

Be Careful, Words Can Hurt
By Emma

The little girl ran in the house, tears streaming down her face, sobbing as if her heart had been broken three times. She went right into the kitchen, where Mama was, stirring her home-made chicken soup.

"Mama!" she cried, rubbing her sore, red eyes. "Mama! They hate me!"

Mama looked down from her soup. "Calm down, honey. Now, who hates you?"

"The boys on the street do. I was ridin' down the street, like I always do, an' they leaned over their big bikes an' called me ugly an' stupid! They said I was a baby an' couldn't do nuthin'!"

Mama put her spoon aside and took her daughter in her warm arms. They smelled like noodles and herbs, and they were so, so warm.

"You listen to me, girl, and you listen good. Don't be listenin' to what those boys tell you. What do they know about you? You ain't ugly. Your daddy always stops when he comes home from work and tells you how pretty you are. You're not stupid, either. Didn't your teachers tell you how you got nothin' but "Above Average" and "Excellent" on your report card? What about all those ribbons you won for horse-back riding, or the time you got third place in your school's poetry contest? You're plenty smart, girl. They're just ignorant an' immature."

"Why did they say those things if they aren't true?"

"'Cause they thought it would be funny to get you mad. Ignorant and immature people get their kicks that way."

"I wish I could kick THEM! I wish I could call them names and make them feel bad!" She kicked the floor as if it really was the nasty boys.

"Honey, that wouldn't help. You'd be as bad as them. Just don't let it get to you. You're better than that. What about how you help me take care of your baby brother? You can change a diaper and make a bottle. I'll bet they'd all turn green and run if they ever had to change a dirty diaper!"

The girl laughed. "I'll bet they never changed anything worse than their socks!"

Mama put her arm around her daughter. "That's right, honey. Just remember, you're as good as you think you are." She smiled. "Now, what would you say to some home-made chicken soup and corn muffins?"

************

I was inspired to write this tonight after I was insulted riding home on my bike. I don't know what I did. I was just riding along, like normally, and a group of boys leaned out of a large car and screamed "Hey, you ugly whore!"

I cried the rest of the way home.

What led them to call me that? What was I doing that was so wrong they felt compelled to lean out of their car and into the frigid air of a New Jersey night and insult me? I was wearing bulky clothing; not a bit of skin showed. My bike is in good condition. And how could they tell if I was ugly or not? I was bundled up like Randy in A Christmas Story.

This isn't the first time I've been treated like that. I spent most of my childhood enduring variations on such taunts, and it still continues. This is the third time I've been insulted riding my bike since I moved to Oaklyn, and it happened even more often in Wildwood, especially in the summer. What makes a boy (and girls, more rarely) want to lean out of his car on a cold night and insult someone they don't know?

By the time I'd arrived at my apartment, I'd concieved this story.

I'm going to post this at my site and Writing.com as a reminder to all people of how words CAN hurt. Please, think twice before leaning out of your car and insulting somebody, or shouting nasty names to someone on your bike. It may be a mild thrill, but you'll be hurting someone else in the bargain. There are better ways of having fun than damaging someone's ego.