Balance On a Hot Day

Slept in and spent so much time writing in my journal and finishing Against the Currant, it was 12:30 before I got moving. Watched PAW Patrol while eating brunch. "Sea Patrol: Pirate Pups to the Rescue" has Ryder and the Pups responding to a distress message from their friend Carlos and his Chihuahua Tracker. The duo were hunting for treasure on a remote tropical island and were stranded after a booby trap left Tracker's tent at sea. They first have to get around more booby traps, then need to rescue Carlos after the song from a magic flute hypnotizes the jungle animals and they carry him away in the treasure chest.

Did some stuff online for the next hour and a half or so. The truth is, I'm bored. I'm really bored. I'm stuck at a standstill with nothing happening. If the Acme is going to continue to give me lousy hours, I need something to do. I just wish I knew what that was. I looked up yoga studios online, but I finally decided it was too hot to be doing poses in a steamy studio.

I eventually just broke for lunch at quarter after 2. Watched the 24/7 Murder She Wrote streaming channel while I ate. Jessica is upset when her friend in Texas who owns a trucking company may lose his business after a shipment of computers going to NASA is stolen. The man (Earl Holliman) is having his own problems. His son (Patrick Wayne) seemingly prefers playing with a band at a local road house than working in his father's business. He's even more devastated when his son is accused of turning the ex-husband of his waitress girlfriend into "Roadkill." Turns out the guy was involved in far more nefarious dealings than arguments over a girl, including a smuggling ring.

After lunch, I just went out for a walk in Newton Lake Park. I couldn't think of anything else to do. At least it was hot and dry, but not to the degree that it's supposed to be tomorrow, and there's still that nice breeze. I sat on a bench for a few minutes and tried to communicate with nature, listening to the animals chatter and the wind rustle the leaves over my head. I even saw a family of Canadian geese all in a row step into the water, with two parents floating out to check out the water while their goslings and two older siblings stayed in formation.

Stopped at Dollar General for a drink. I thought of buying watercolor paint, but I don't want to pick up something, then get bored and stop doing it. I'm tired of wasting time and money on things that I just don't finish. I have at least five different stories going right now that I've started, but haven't finished. I just can't figure out where to go with them. I bought a Propel and a Diet Mountain Dew for later and walked home.

Finally did yoga myself in my bedroom. I never did get rid of my yoga mat. I have that box of illustrated yoga moves, too. They don't really give you instruction on how to do them. I haven't done yoga in over a decade. I ended up looking for them online. I really had a hard time with balance. I just can't stand on one foot without wobbling and nearly falling over. I can't lift myself very well, either. I wasn't even going to try headstands! At the least, I did feel a little bit better after having done it

Watched Mo' Better Blues while I worked. I go further into this 1990 jazz drama with Denzel Washington and Wesley Snipes as rival jazz musicians at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Mo' Better Blues

It was 7:30 before I finally broke for dinner. Ate while watching Match Game '79. For some reason, Buzzr jumped way back to mid-'79. Gene reveals how out-of-touch he and Charles often were when they admit they've never heard of the song "See You In September." An audience member sings it for them, and rather well, too.

Finished the night with more of my recent CD acquisitions as I worked on my review, starting with SPF 16: Summer Party Favorites in honor of the first day of summer. The reason I bought this is the sheer variety of summer-themed songs on this disc. We get everything from "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince to "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" by Nat King Cole to "Southern Nights" by Glenn Campbell. Other unexpected tracks are "My Sharona" by the Knack, the theme from the original Hawaii 5-0 by the Ventures, and "Rio" by Duran Duran.

The Great Songs of George Gershwin features some of his most popular work in honor of his 100th birthday in 1998. This is another eclectic collection, with selections ranging from Judy Garland singing "Swanee" on the Star Is Born soundtrack to George Benson doing a jazzy "A Foggy Day" to a lovely and previously unreleased version of "The Can't Take That Away From Me" by Mildred Bailey and Her Orchestra. We also have some summer music here, too, with "Summertime" by Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra and "It Ain't Necessarily So" by Aretha Franklin.

Cannonball Adderly is one of the many jazz greats of the 50's and 60's I've been listening to on YouTube while puttering around online late at night. Most of the numbers on The Best of Cannonball Adderly: The Capitol Years are live recordings from the 1960's. I like his earlier stuff better; "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" was especially good. 

Never Land Balance

Started another warm, sunny day with this week's American Top 40 re-run. I would have been just a week from turning 8 in mid-April 1987, when this episode was first run. While I enjoyed a small family party at my parents' house, the rest of the US danced to pop, country, R&B, soul, ballads, and hard rock. Hits that week included "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, "Let's Wait Awhile" by Janet Jackson, "Looking For A New Love" by Jody Watley, the remake of "Lean On Me" by Club Nouveau, "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me" by George Michael and Aretha Franklin, "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" by Genesis, "Come Go With Me" by Expose, "Walk Down Your Street" by the Bangles, "The Final Countdown" by Europe, "The Finer Things" by Steve Winwood, "Let's Go" by Wang Chung, and "Midnight Blue" by Lou Gramm.

That week's big hit was the second #1 hit for long-running super-group Starship. "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" wound up one of the biggest songs of that year (and the movie it came from, Mannequin, didn't do too badly at the box office, either).

Started the Jake and the Never Land Pirates disc as I organized donations and made my grocery list for later. "Never Land Rescue" is something a bit different on the show. For once, it's Never Land itself that needs to be saved. Magical items in Never Land, including the ones belonging to the kids, are fading away. The Forever Tree that provided the magic is dying. Jake goes on a quest to win the Destiny Sword and restore the Forever Tree, while the other kids try to stop Hook from digging up all of Pirate Island in search of their treasure.

Headed out as soon as the episode ended. I had two full bags of donations I wanted to get over to the Logan Presbyterian Church in Audubon. I wish the two older woman I saw as I passed through to the Church hadn't referred to me as "that lady from the Acme." I HATE that. I wish people would stop thinking I'm chained to that darn store. I wasn't in a good mood when I brought my things downstairs. I didn't really have the time to look for much. I did find copies of The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult and the Thanksgiving short Molly's Pilgrim to dub, along with a paperback copy of the Lois Lenski book Strawberry Girl. I was born in Southern Florida, but I know very little about its history before the Roaring 20s building boom.

I was in an even less happy mood when I saw all the yard sales around. Audubon must have had their town wide yard-sale today, instead of waiting for the day before Easter. Not only did I not have the time to check them out, but I realized as I rode down Nicholson that I forgot to pack a lunch before I left. I was lucky to run into a church next-door to Wal-Mart selling hoagies on the sidewalk.

Thankfully, work wasn't nearly as bad as it has been. The beautiful weather and many events going on must have put people in good moods. Everything went fine; my relief was a little late, but nothing outrageous.

I went right into grocery shopping after changing out of my work shirt. I was almost completely out of fresh fruit and vegetables. I couldn't find the grapefruit; replaced them with buy one, get one strawberries and a bowl of pineapple chunks. Picked up the usual apples and bananas, and bought small containers of asparagus and broccoli and a bag of spinach. Replaced the canned fruit cocktail, peaches, mandarin oranges, and chicken. Needed milk and butter; grabbed I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (I couldn't see if the Smart Balance was still on sale). I'm not in desperate need of cereal, but Oatmeal Squares almost never goes on sale with the other Quaker cereals, and it's one of my favorites. At a $1.99, I could afford to wait until I finished my Cheerios.

Once again, my schedule is a little crazy. In good news, I have three days off, including Monday to celebrate my birthday. On the other hand, I have three eight and seven hour days in a row, including an eight and a half hour day on Wednesday! I do have Friday and next Saturday off as well, but I may be too worn out to enjoy them.

When I got home, I put everything away, then vacuumed and made Betty Crocker "Cotton Candy Cookie Mix" Bars (sugar cookie mix with cotton-candy flavored sprinkles - they have a "Blue Snow Cone" version, too) while finishing out the rest of Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Instead of stealing something from the kids and them chasing after it, Hook now follows them when they go to some location that he thinks has treasure. Of course, one pirate's "treasure" is another's water slide or firefly in a lantern. Most of the time, Hook just ends up discovering he's been on a wild treasure chase. The one time he almost gets it, he has to fight female pirate Beatrice "Sneaky" LeBeak for it...and ultimately loses it.

Did yoga after the bars were in the oven. I'm going to continue to try to do this at least once a week, with or without Rose. If nothing else, it'll be a big help to my back. My back has been really sore for weeks now, probably from spending half the winter hunched over a computer.

I realized after I finished that I completely forgot to have dinner. I ate leftover Corn and Chicken Soup from last night while my Best of Linda Rondstat CD wound down.

Writing Down Balance

I spent most of the morning writing and doing things online. I've been kind of stalled on the fourth story. The action seems too coincidental, and I keep re-reading the previous three stories and finding things that don't work. I changed the characters' occupations to be less high and mighty, and switched the setting from downtrodden 1937 to (relatively) upbeat 1987. I may even go further and move the whole thing from fairy-tale kingdoms based largely on South Jersey, New England, and the south, to most of the real-life South Jersey, New England, and the south. (Except for the fictional Jersey Shore islands.) I haven't decided yet. I try to just write, but I can't focus and end up online instead.

I looked up neuropsychologists on Independence Blue Cross' website...or tried to, anyway. It was running so slow, I finally gave up. It kept showing no results anyway, even for a hundred-mile radius. How could that be? There has to be one that accepts IBC somewhere in this area! We're near one of the largest cities in the US! I'll see if I can finally get myself to call them later in the week. I now think that Linda and Shannon were right and there probably isn't anything wrong with me beyond sensitivity, but I want to make sure.

Did yoga after I got offline. It was just a quick 40-minute session, as I was running low on time by that point. I'm mostly concentrating on my back. My upper spine in particular has been very sore, probably from all the sitting I've done this month as I've worked on my stories.

Ran the two remaining My Little Pony specials as I made leftover green beans and lamb chops for lunch. "The Runaway Rainbow" is a follow-up to "Princess Promenade." Here, we're introduced to Unicornia, which produces the first rainbow of the spring. Cheerilee is trying to teach little Princess Rarity how to use the wand that creates the rainbows, but Rarity would rather have fun than pay attention to her mentor. She accidentally ends up in Ponyville after an accident with the wand. The ponies - especially Rainbow Dash - are dismayed to discover that if Rarity doesn't get her act together and get back to Unicornia in time, there will be no rainbow and no springtime color!

Likewise, "Friends are Never Far Away" is a sequel to "Dancing In the Clouds" and also introduces a new set of ponies. Here, we meet the Pegasus ponies, who live in a tropical paradise...but they're so shy, they're afraid to go down below. Sky Wishes wants them to meet her friends, but the lively and extroverted Earth Ponies almost scare their flying counterparts away! It takes a daring rescue to break the ice and remind the Pegasus that it can be fun to try new things, even when you're scared.

I found these cute and colorful, but largely underwhelming. The songs are annoying, and they lack the action and characterization that made the original series and current Friendship Is Magic popular among age groups besides little girls. For the youngest fans only; older girls and boys will want to proceed to My Little Pony and Friends or Friendship Is Magic.

Work wasn't too bad when I got in. The cloudy morning had become a bright, sunny, warmer (if windy) day. Trouble is, that beautiful day encouraged a lot of call-outs (including one college boy who claimed he just "didn't feel like coming in"), and we were extremely short-handed all night. That, coupled with this being the beginning of the month, lead to a lot of cranky people. Thank heavens it slowed down enough by 9 that I was able to leave with no relief.

Balance In the Rain

The rain was already coming down when I awoke this morning. I read The Lion In the Valley and put on this week's American Top 40 re-run. Casey danced back a decade to 1975, as country, folk, pop, and the newly emerging disco reigned supreme. Hits from late March of that year included "Express" by B.T Express, "Have You Never Been Mellow?" by Olivia Newton-John, "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" by Sugarloaf, "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John, "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Someone Wrong Song" by B.J Thomas, "Black Water" by The Doobie Brothers, "Lovin' You," by Minnie Riperton, "Snookeroo" by Ringo Starr, "My Eyes Adored You" by Frankie Valli, and "Harry Truman" by Chicago. That week's #1 hit would be one of the biggest for Patti LaBelle - "Lady Marmalade"

My original plans for today were to go to the Oaklyn Library and then go for a ride up to Haddon Heights and Barrington. I never got to any of it. It rained steadily all day long. I spent most of the morning on the computer, writing and playing WebKinz World, since I knew I wouldn't be home until late.

I went downstairs around 12:30 to see if the mail had arrived. Yes, it had, and with it came my Amazon.com order! I badly wanted Frozen, and bought the musicals Gold Diggers of 1933 and Deep In My Heart to bump the order up to 35 and get the free shipping. I hurried back upstairs with the box snug and dry under my raincoat.

Started with Frozen as I had lobster cakes and leftover noodle and cheese casserole for lunch. Originally Disney's attempt at The Snow Queen, this movie has sat on the back burner as far back as Walt's lifetime. Elsa (Idina Menzel) and Anna (Kristen Bell) are princesses in a Norwegian-esque kingdom called Arendelle. Elsa has snow powers she once used to amuse her sister. When Anna is hurt in an accident, Elsa's told to hide her powers and Anna is kept away from her. Matters come to a head when their parents are killed and Elsa is crowned queen. Anna wants to marry Prince Hans, but Elsa refuses to give her consent - Anna's only known him a few hours. The argument between the two accidentally unleashes Elsa's full powers. She runs off, unaware that she's placed their country under a deep freeze. Anna goes after her; she's aided by a goofy ice cutter named Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and Olaf, a sweet snowman whom the girls had made as children. Elsa wants to be alone with her powers; Anna just wants to be friends again. It'll take a deception and a heroic sacrifice to prove to these sisters that there's more than one type of true love in the world.

I'm glad Disney finally put this one out. That Oscar for Best Animated Film was deserved - this was fabulous, even if it has very little to do with its source material. It breaks with many Disney molds, from a (largely) sympathetic queen who is a major character to its sister duo to actually questioning the idea of true love, who can love, and whether falling in love in an instant is a good idea. It's also one of the few animated films I've seen where the comic sidekick had some real bearing on the plot. Highly recommended, especially for sisters, best gal friends, and musical fans (there's a reason I've been listening to the soundtrack all winter).

Joining Frozen in theaters and on DVD is the very odd Mickey Mouse cartoon Get a Horse! A spoof of the Mickey cartoons of the early 30s, this starts out with Minnie, Mickey, Horace, Clarabelle, and a couple of others out for a ride in a horse-drawn cart in black and white. Pete drives up in his car and isn't happy that he can't get past them...and then, he sees Minnie. He grabs her, Mickey tries to get her back, and the chase is on! It gets so wild, the characters literally tear down the fourth wall when they're shoved into the theater itself. Now, even the movie screen becomes a vehicle for Mickey to reclaim his girl and give Pete his.

Ok, this was...weird. Really, really weird. The historically accurate and well-done animation is probably the reason it got a Best Animated Short Subject Oscar nomination. As with Frozen, Disney's trying for something different here. It's not the most necessary viewing, but is worth checking out once, if only to see just how crazy a Mickey Mouse cartoon can get.

Switched to Deep In My Heart as I worked on crocheting a dish rag. The last of MGM's composer "biography" semi-revues takes us from the world of pop to operetta. Sigmund Romberg (Mel Ferrer) wants to write beautiful operatic songs, and even has a lovely operetta he wants to put out, Maytime. The Shubert brothers are interested in his music, but not the show. He writes basic pop tunes for them, but longs to see Maytime in lights. His friend Dorothy Donnelly (Merle Oberon) helps him make his dream come true. Maytime is a smashing success...but the need for money pushes him back to the Shuberts and their light-weight Al Jolson vehicles. When he falls for a pretty debutante (Doe Avedon), he finally has the inspiration he needs to write a series of romantic light operas in the 20s, including The Student Prince, The Desert Song, My Maryland, and New Moon.

If you've seen other composer "biographies," you know what to expect here - lots of big numbers by leading stars of the day that are barely related to the life of the composer in question. I don't know enough about Romberg to tell you how accurate this is. I can tell you there's some really fun numbers here. Gene Kelly is joined by his brother Fred for the vaudeville-esque "I Love to Go Swimmin' With Wimmin." Vic Damone and Jane Powell put over a gorgeous "Sweetheart, Will You Remember?" from Maytime. James Mitchell and Cyd Charisse dance a sensual "One Alone" pas de deux from The Desert Song.

The most notable thing about this one is some of the relatively rare material on display. My Maryland is almost never staged today, making Howard Keel's brief "Your Land and My Land" a fascinating bit of lost theater history. Though listed as being from the revue Artists and Models, Ann Miller's "It" dance routine was actually a comedy number for The Desert Song; it was dropped from all three film versions and is rarely heard in revival.

Switched to the My Little Pony specials as I did my basic yoga (mostly to stretch a back that's spent weeks crunched in a computer chair writing). Wisteria is looking forward to The Princess Promenade, which she organizes every year. When she and Pinkie Pie discover a cave under a weed, they encounter Spike the Dragon. Spike sees that Wisteria has taken his flower, which makes her princess. This is awkward for all concerned; Spike insists that Wisteria can't interact with her friends or get dirty or even sniff the flowers, while tiny Breezy wants to do the work Wisteria can no longer do, thanks to her duties. Wisteria finally decides that it's better to help out, whether one is a princess or not, and that being a princess doesn't mean you can't be yourself.

"Dancing In the Clouds" is a bit less frilly. Twinkle Twirl wants to come up with an extra-special dance for the Friendship Ball. She turns to her friend Sky Wishes for help. When Sky Wishes catches a kite, she makes as big of a wish as she can to help her friend...and meets a magical flying pony who can make her and Twinkle Twirl's wishes come true.

It was still raining when I had to leave for work, but I was working too late to call for a ride. I rode to work and got wet. I wasn't originally supposed to work tonight. I went in for a manager/cashier who had originally asked for today off to help with her father's birthday party, but for some reason, was given last Saturday off instead. I don't even need the hours. I was just doing something nice.

Work was a pain, especially early on. A woman gave me a hard time when I got flustered while I tried to call someone over to ask if we recycled other water cooler bottles besides our own brand. (We don't.) She said I had a bad attitude! I tried and tried to apologize, but I just ended up getting upset, and she moved the rest of her order to another line. I genuinely didn't mean to make her upset. I apologize because I feel bad and I did something wrong. Thank heavens things slowed down around 8; by 10:30, I was doing returns.

Balance On a Magic Carpet Ride

Started a sunny morning with the last two chapters of The Mummy's Case and this week's American Top 40 re-run. Casey hopped back a year to mid-March 1985, as pop, ballads, soul, and dance tunes dominated the charts. Hits that week included "Careless Whisper" by Wham!, "The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey from Beverly Hills Cop, "Lover Girl" by Teena Marie, "One More Night" by Phil Collins, "Private Dancer" by Tina Turner, "Too Late For Goodbyes" by Julian Lennon, David Lee Roth's version of "California Girls," and "Material Girl" by Madonna. The #1 hit that week was one of the biggest for R.E.O Speedwagon, the ballad "Can't Fight This Feeling."

I spent the rest of the morning dusting the apartment, which needed it badly. Ran Easter specials and spring-themed cartoon episodes as I cleaned. The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town is the last of the Rankin-Bass Easter specials, and the second devoted to the origins of the Easter Bunny. Here, the Easter Bunny is Sunny, who was adopted by the orphaned all-child residents of Kidville. He's determined to bring the kids' wonderful eggs to gloomy Town over the mountain, despite the laws passed by nasty Lady Lilly and the interference of grouchy Gadzooks the Bear.

Sunny wasn't the only animal having a busy spring. It's "Spring In Acme Acres" in the first-season Tiny Toon Adventures episode. The season of renewal brings thoughts of love with the wrong species, avoiding spring cleaning at Elmyra's house, and appearing on insane stunt-filled game shows to the Toons. It's spring in Jellystone Park as well on The Yogi Bear Show. Yogi's "A Wooin' Bruin" when he steals fancy gifts to impress Cindy Bear...until Ranger Smith catches on. Snagglepuss discovers that "Spring Has Hit a Snag" when the pink lioness of his dreams turns out to be a whiny brat who repeatedly asks him to risk his hide to get her berries. Duckling Yakky Doodle has more luck dodging an Alfred Hitchcock-imitating alligator in "Duck Seasoning."

One of the night managers asked me to come in an hour early today. Sure! It also meant I'd get to finish an hour earlier, which would give me more time to do my grocery shopping. Turns out they had their reasons. There were a LOT of call-outs, and we were very busy with people picking up food for birthday and March Madness parties. Thankfully, it had slowed down enough by 5 that I was able to shut down without a relief.

Which allowed me to go right into my shopping. My order was more expensive than huge. I had several big items that needed restocking, including all-purpose flour, yogurt, and eggs. Picked up chicken legs and that buy 1, get 1 spiced meat for meals sale, too. Grabbed more bananas and grapefruit. (The latter are now 4 for $5 after being a dollar each all winter, much to my disappointment.)

When I got home, I made "Cincinnati Chili" (chili with cinnamon and allspice and no beans) from Kit's Cooking Studio for dinner while I watched Aladdin to honor the opening of the stage version at the New Amsterdam on Broadway. The title character is a street urchin in the Arabian city of Agrahbah who may be a thief, but has a heart of gold. He's tricked into finding a lamp in a cave by the evil vizier of the sultan Jafar (Johnathan Freeman), who wants the lamp's power to take over the city. When he's trapped in a cave, Aladdin discovers that the lamp holds a shape-shifting, wisecracking genie (Robin Williams) who can grant him three wishes. Aladdin wants to win the heart of the rebellious Princess Jasmine, but fears she'll never love him if she knows he's a "street rat." When Jafar finally does get the lamp, it'll take all of Aladdin's cunning to rescue everyone and prove that even an urchin can be a "diamond in the rough."

Went straight into a short yoga session after dinner. I concentrated as much as I could on stretching my back. I've done a lot of sitting in front of a computer this week, and my back is sore. Hopefully, things will get better as the weather (and my schedule) stabilizes and I'm able to do more bike and walking trips.

Balance On a Beautiful Day

Started the morning with this week's American Top 40 re-run. I was a little over a month from turning 4 years old when this episode first aired in early March 1983. Some of these songs are among the first memories I have from my childhood. Hits from that spring included "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" by Culture Club, " the duet version of "We've Got Tonight" by Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton, "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth, "Back On the Chain Gang" by The Pretenders, "All Right" by Christopher Cross, "You Are" by Lionel Richie, "Stray Cat Strut" by The Stray Cats, and "You and I" by Eddie Rabbit and Crystal Gale.

The top hit for that week would go on to be one of the biggest hits of the year, from the biggest album of the year. Michael Jackson was the name on everyone's lips. His Thriller album was selling in the millions and became one of the hottest discs of the decade. "Billie Jean" was the first of two songs from Thriller to hit number 1 that year (the other would be "Beat It").

The first thing I did this morning was take down the winter decorations and put up the St. Patrick's Day and spring items. Even Mother Nature is finally ready to change seasons. I'm having some trouble keeping a couple of the spring flower cardboard hangings on the walls. They got bent in the container and keep coming off, even with tons of tape on them. If they don't stay, they're going to have to go in the recycling. I had less trouble with most other things, including the two cute hangings of animals dressed for St. Patrick's Day I got from a local dollar store and the St. Patrick's Day tinsel garland I bought yesterday.

I had a lot of running around I wanted to get done today, and I couldn't have had a nicer day to do it in. It was sunny and breezy, and the temperatures had jumped into the lower 50s. The remaining snow was melting quickly all around me as I first headed to the Oaklyn Library to return the DVDs and do this week's volunteering there. They were in the middle of LEGO Club day, which was surprisingly busy for a morning with such gorgeous weather. I briefly organized the DVDs, but didn't do much else.

Headed to the Acme next. I had to work later, but I wanted to get my schedule and groceries early. Once again, I'm not terribly happy with my schedule. On one hand, I have a rare Sunday off (along with Friday again), and another four-hour shift on Saturday. On the other hand, I once again have several long shifts and several late shifts, including until 9 on Wednesday.

Shopping was a lot easier than last week. It was steady, but not really crazy. The Acme was having a clearance on yellow and red cherry tomatoes for 99 cents - I grabbed a container of yellow, along with an onion and the usual mushrooms, grapefruit, and bananas. Other good sales included Duncan Hines Cake Mix (which is the most expensive of the three major cake mix brands - $1.49 is a good price for them), tomato sauce, canned peaches and fruit cocktail in juice, lamb chops, chicken legs, oatmeal, and Pledge dust cleaner. (I'll be dusting sometime next week.)

When I got home, I put everything away, then ran the last of the Three Stooges cartoons as I made Oriental Chicken Salad (leftover cut-up chicken breast with canned mandarin oranges and yellow tomatoes on a bed of spinach, drizzled with home-made Orange Honey Dressing).

The trio have to avoid a bank robber who dresses as various characters to get them to stop the train carrying a huge ton of money in "Behind the 8 Ball Express." "Bridge On the River Cry" spoofs The Three Billy Goats Gruff, as the Stooges try to cross a bridge owned by a troll without paying the toll. They're "Late For Launch" when they can't launch a ship with a bottle of champagne, no matter how hard they break the bottle (or the ship). It's "A Fishy Tale" when an octopus does his best to keep them from winning a fishing contest. Larry has a strange dream that makes his best pals into comic book heroes, but he's not ready for them to be "Super Everybody." They have to stop "Rob N. Good" before he steals from innocent people, but he evades their attempts to capture him. And they have to "Get That Snack Shack Off the Track" when Get Out Of Town By Sundown Brown robs their new desert diner, and Moe uses the diner to go after him.

By 1 PM, it was so warm, the snow had totally disappeared from the porch. I was easily able to sweep up the remaining salt from last week. I think I'll try to get ice melt as early in the season as I can next year, before things start getting nasty. Rock salt makes too much of a mess.

I had to work at 2. It was still steady when I came in. It didn't pick up until rush hour. Thankfully, it had slowed down enough by 6 that I was able to do some candy shelving and leave without a relief. I was even able to pick up a few things I didn't get this morning, including tomato soup, more mandarin oranges, and Navy beans.

When I got in, I did a short yoga session, mostly just running through basic sun salutations and stretches. After I finished, I had the last of the leftover home-made pizza for dinner, then made Orange Muffins while watching The Princess and the Frog. Tiana (voice of Anika Noni Rose) is a waitress in 1922 New Orleans who is determined to work hard in order to buy her own restaurant. Prince Naveen, on the other hand, only wants to marry a rich girl so he can go on living the high life (his parents cut him off). Naveen is turned into a frog by the voodoo magician Dr. Facillier (Keith David) and needs a princess to kiss him. He sees Tiana in a princess costume and gets her to kiss him...but the kiss turns them both into frogs! They have to travel across the bayou, and then back to New Orleans, to find Tiana's friend Charlotte (who is Princess of the Mardi Gras Parade) and get her to kiss Naveen.

While not the masterpiece Disney was hoping for when it came out in 2009, there's still a lot to like in this enjoyable Big Easy romp. Tiana has become one of my favorite Disney princesses - she's hard-working, intelligent, and dedicates herself to her goals and the ones she loves. I'm less fond of Naveen, especially early on - he does get a bit better when it occurs to him that maybe he really does only need one woman in his life. I also love Ray, the sweet Cajun firefly whose "girlfriend," Evangeline, provides the best song of the movie. Charlotte is adorable too, not nearly as spoiled as you might think from a girl who gets everything.

Recommended for slightly older Disney princesses who can handle some violence towards the end, a slapstick sequence with a couple of frog hunters, and Dr. Facilier's freaky "friends on the other side."

Balance Before the Snow

The sun was still shining brightly when I awoke this morning and switched on the radio. This week's American Top 40 re-run danced back to 1978, when disco was king. Hits that early March included "Lay Down Sally" by Eric Clapton, "I Go Crazy" by Paul Davis, "Emotion" by Samantha Sang, "The Name of the Game" by ABBA, "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel, "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, "Happy Anniversary" by The Little River Band, "Peg" by Steely Dan, "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow, "We Are the Champions" by Queen, "Thunder Island" by Jay Ferguson, the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind by John Williams, and "How Deep Is Your Love," "Night Fever," and "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees.

The Bee Gees' numbers (along with "If I Can't Have You") came off the phenomenally popular Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. "Stayin' Alive" had been #1 for weeks; it was finally knocked out of the top spot that week by one of the biggest hits of the Gibb brothers' younger solo sibling Andy, "Love Is Thicker Than Water."

I finished out Planes while working on this week's grocery list. Disney took over from Pixar to make this tale of a cropduster who wants to fly with planes built for speed in a race around the globe. He begs for training from a downed World War II Navy plane. He won't do it at first, until he sees how determined he is. The cropduster is considered a joke by the other contestants, but first he aids the British plane during an accident, then starts beating them. Trouble is, this low-flying cropduster has a fear of heights he'll have to overcome if he wants to compete with the best...

I heard a lot of bad-mouthing about this one from critics when it came out, but my mom and nephews adored it. I'm going to side with Mom and the boys here - this was really cute. While the story is hardly original and the animation lacks the detail of the Cars films, the characters are funny and the whole thing ends up being quite touching. It's what Cars 2 would have been like if Pixar hadn't felt the need to add the overly-complicated Mater spy subplot. Disney was right in moving this to a theatrical run (it was supposed to go direct to DVD). If you have plane fans in the family of any age, or little boys looking for a good Disney movie, this wound up being the surprise of the winter and is recommended.

The weather was actually quite nice when I headed out to the Acme to do this week's grocery shopping. The sun was shining, the sky was a rich blue, and it was chilly but not nearly as cold as yesterday, probably in the upper 30s. This was probably one of the factors contributing to it being a madhouse at the store. There were long lines even as I arrived at quarter of 10. We're still supposed to be getting snow tomorrow night and Monday too, anywhere from 3 to 8 inches, according to the National Weather Service at press time. It's also the beginning of the month; many people would be doing their big grocery shopping now, no matter what the weather.

Good thing I didn't have a really long list. I was mainly restocking pantry essentials, like sugar, canned tomato sauce, buttermilk, and canned white beans. I also restocked my grapefruit and bananas and picked up a bag of Brussels sprouts for this week's dinners. Got ground chicken and packs of fish fillets on sale. They still have a ton of special edition holiday teas from Christmas on clearance. I decided to try Celestial Seasonings' Sweet Pumpkin Spice.

I'm not terribly happy with my schedule next week. While I do have Tuesday and Friday off (Tuesday for counseling) and only work 4 hours next Saturday, I work 8 hours on Monday and 7 on Wednesday...and Monday is when we're supposed to be hit by that storm! Everyone is either working other jobs, neck-deep in college courses, or on vacation.

There was a message from Rose waiting for me when I got in. She basically wanted to know what to do about the storm. If it's going to be really, really bad (rumors around here say more than a foot), she says she won't be able to drive me, and that I should call out. If it's that bad, I'll walk. (I just wish the store would, you know, CLOSE when there's a blizzard, like every other store in the area.)

I had a quick lunch of leftovers while running more Three Stooges animated shorts. They're harassed by "A Bull For Andamo" when the one they're supposed to be delivering to a bull ring gets loose. The Stooges are "The Tree Nuts" when they protect their forest from the insatiable appetite of a hungry termite. They have to "Stop Dragon Around" in order to stop a mechanical beast from robbing a village. In "Wash My Line," the trio run into trouble when they fall behind on their laundry business and start to mix-up and make a mess of several women's orders. And they wonder "Who's Lion" when the cat in question is delivered to their home, and they have to feed it hamburgers to get it to the zoo.

It was 12:30 when I finally headed out again to run some errands. After a quick stop at my landlord Andrew's house a block away to drop off this month's rent, I strolled to the Oaklyn Library. It was still a beautiful day at this point, sunny and breezy but not as bad as earlier in the week. The library was surprisingly busy; there were several people on the computers, and quite a few kids in the children's area. The children's area was so busy, I concentrated on what little there was to do with the DVDs instead. I ended up taking out four DVDs here, three movies from last summer (Turbo, The Heat, and The Great Gatsby) along with the Warner Archive release of the complete Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.

I strolled down the White Horse Pike next. My first stop was The House of Fun, the collectibles/junk shop next-door to the former PNC Bank building. They were as filled with toys, books, ancient video games, stuffed animals, t-shirts with animated characters on them, and Hello Kitty products as ever...and for once, with people, too. I'd never seen it so busy in there. I'd also never seen so many young kids in there. Either a lot of kids have birthdays this week, or their parents were trying to find something for them to do before and during the storm. A girl begged for stuffed Care Bears in their original boxes; a boy wanted original 70s-80s Star Wars action figures. I don't think either counted on them being three times their original purchase prices. I ended up with a pile of kids' single book and records (mostly Disney and Strawberry Shortcake) and the video of the serial Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

My next stops were fast. I hit Family Dollar for Drano (which I forgot at the Acme; my kitchen sink has been running really slow) and garlic powder. (Couldn't find what I was looking for, which was a snow shovel.) After that, I made an even briefer stop at Dunkin' Donuts for the first Lucky Mint Coolatta of the season. When I got home, I swept all the sticker balls and sticks off the porch, while I can still see the porch.

Despite the still-nice weather, I opted to spend the rest of the afternoon indoors. I finished the positive music project (I'll type it later tonight or tomorrow), then did a short yoga routine to my Bee Gees Greatest Hits LP set. I mostly did sun salutations and whatever I could remember from classes.

I changed the American Girl dolls next. Felicity wears Elizabeth's Summer Gown. (It's green, and it has a quilted petticoat. It says more "spring" than "summer" to me.) Samantha's now in a handmade version of her ice-blue Skating Party Dress. (She's my only doll with no green clothes.) Molly looks adorable in the shamrock-print dress I found at a yard sale a few years ago. Jessa squeezed into an emerald-green tie-front blouse and the jeans from the first "Blue Jeans Basics" set. Whitney's in the green-sprigged turtleneck from the AG Girl Scout Uniform and a pair of overalls I found on eBay. (Josefina stayed in her birthday outfit.)

After I finished with the dolls, I made salmon, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, and Nutmeg Chocolate Chip Muffins for dinner while watching Monsters University.

This prequel to the popular Pixar movie Monsters Inc. also deals with an underdog story, but it goes further into the idea of being an underdog, using our skills, and what we are and aren't built to do. Mike Warkowski (Billy Crystal) has wanted to be a monster who scares and makes energy all his life and goes to the title institution to fulfill his dream. He knows every textbook inside and out, but he's...well, he's a cute little walking eyeball and about as scary as my teddy bears. Jimmy Sullivan (John Goodman), on the other hand, is a huge blue and purple furball and a natural scarer from a family of scarers, but he doesn't bother studying and doesn't know the technical jargon or how to vary his scares. When both get kicked out of the scaring program by the very strict dean (Helen Mirren), they decide that the only way to get back in is through The Scare Games. They join forces with the less-than-frightening members of Oozma Kappa (OK) and discover that, while things don't always go the way we want them or expect them to, when push comes to shove, a real friend is the one who has your back when you're down and an ear open for your troubles.

This, too, was quite a surprise. Anyone who knows even a little about Monsters Inc. can guess the ending (and that poor Mike is in for a world of disappointment). The interesting thing about this one is how it questions and plays with a lot of college movie cliches, from actually showing students in class to an underdog who not only doesn't win, but isn't even really suited for what he's competing in. There's a lot of lighter moments as well, especially from the hilariously goofy members of OK (I especially like many-eyed pink blob Squishy and crazy philosophy student Art). Not quite up to Brave or the Toy Story sequels, but certainly an improvement over Cars 2. Recommended for older kids, Pixar and animations fans, and fans of the first film.

Oh, and around the time I was doing yoga, I noticed that the blue sky had finally been replaced by dark clouds. They still don't look like snow to me, but we'll see what happens.

Balance and the Winter Storm

It was raining and snowing when I got up this morning. There was already 6 inches of snow by the time I was out of bed...and it was still coming! I ran a couple of winter-themed cartoons as I had breakfast and got ready for work. Lita's on thin ice when she falls for a gold-medal winning skater with a jealous partner who may be part of a Negaverse plot in "Ice Princess," from the first season of Sailor Moon.

The Looney Tunes deal with cold weather in two classic late 40s shorts. Bugs rescues a baby penguin from an Inuit hunter when he gets lost while on vacation in "Frigid Hare." Tweety has to dodge two hungry cats who will do anything, even chase him through the snow, to get a poultry dinner in "Putty Tat Trouble."

Rose finally drove me to work. She shoveled the porch, path, and steps. I really need to get a shovel of my own. My next door neighbor used to do it, but I guess he stopped after Miss Ellie died. The snow continued to come down, even as we rode to work. It wasn't that cold, which meant that the ride was pretty slippery.

Goes without saying that work wasn't busy today, especially in the morning, when it was still snowing. It did pick up a bit in the afternoon. I ended up spending most of the day shelving four of the seven carts filled with returns. Needless to say, half the store called out, especially anyone who lived far away. There were so few people there, the manager treated anyone who did show up to free coffee and donuts. (I went with a creme filled donut. I very rarely eat donuts, and I'm not really big on coffee.)

I figured out why it got busy when Rose picked me up at 3. By that point, the snow had vanished and was replaced by a fine, rainy mist. The roads were now just slushy, but they'd be icy after nightfall, making me glad I'd worked so early. My steps were ok when we got home, but the porch was still a slushy mess. I borrowed a shovel from my next-door neighbor and shoveled a path across the porch to my door. When I finished that, I did two paths to the mail box for the mail man and Andrew.

(I also discovered why the steps and porch haven't been shoveled. When I returned the shovel to my neighbor, she told me Andrew hired an unfamiliar man to shove the path. That would explain it. He probably told the guy to just shovel the path, but forgot that wasn't the only thing I'd be walking on. I really need to pick up my own shovel when they start restocking snow removal items after the storm again. I should be doing this myself.)

Spent the rest of the day inside. When I got in, I did some at-home yoga. Put on my two-disc album of music from the movies of the late Shirley Temple to cheer me up on a gloomy day. I didn't have the book I took out of the library, so I did all the moves I could remember from class.

When Shirley ended, I switched to Sing the Hit Songs From Sesame Street as I worked on that positive music project for Mrs. Stahl. I bought this 1974 record a couple of years ago, but never got around to listening to it until now. Needless to say, it features some of the earliest songs associated with the show, like "Sing" and "C Is for Cookie," and yes, "Rubber Duckie." I don't know how kids nowadays would enjoy it, but I recalled a lot of fond memories. (For the record, my favorite Sesame Street character has always been good ol' Bert.)

I had leftover chicken soup for dinner, then worked on crocheting another dish rag while watching Mame. This adaptation of the musical from the early 70s puts Lucile Ball in the role of Auntie Mame, the madcap New York dillitante for whom every day is a new adventure. When she adopts her nephew Patrick, she takes it on herself to show him all the fun and delights of the Big Apple in the Roaring 20s. Even the Great Depression doesn't stop Mame; she just marries a handsome southern millionaire (Robert Preston). Mame is taken aback when Patrick grows up and claims he wants to marry a snobbish young woman from an obnoxious and bigoted family. Mame turns to her friend Vera Charles (Beatrice Arthur) and maid Agnes (Jane Connell) to show Patrick that life really can be a banquet when you open up your eyes to new people and experiences.

A lot of critics have problems with this one, complaining about the soft focus photography and Ball being miscast. I think she's fine, especially during the fox hunt after she's met the southerner's family. The hilarious "Bosom Buddies" number, with her and Arthur sniping at each other, is worth the DVD purchase alone.

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 and the Year of the Horse

My original plan for this morning was going to yoga with Rose. As I was getting dressed, I heard the phone ring. Yes, it was Rose. She was running late and simply couldn't make it. Could we try for Tuesday? I shrugged. Why not? Rose has done things like this before. I decided I'd just have a leisurely breakfast and do yoga at home later instead.

Ran the 1937 film version of The Prisoner of Zenda during breakfast. Pretty much the same deal as the book - minor British nobleman Rudolf Rassendyl (Ronald Colman) has to substitute for his look-a-like cousin (also Colman) to keep the throne out of the hands of his dastardly brother Michael (Raymond Massey). His duties are complicated when he falls for Princess Flavia (Madeline Carroll), the King's fiancee. C. Aubrey Smith and David Niven are Rudolf's companions, Mary Astor is Michael's mistress, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is Michael's roguish aide Rupert. If you're going to see one version of Prisoner, make it this one. It's one of the definitive swashbucklers that's been spoofed ever since, especially Colman.

Headed out as soon as Prisoner ended. It was a great day for a ride. The sun was out, the clouds were light and fleecy, and there was still no wind. Best of all, it was much warmer, into a more normal mid-to-upper 30s. Even so, I rode on the street next to Newton River Park. Many of the paths, even on the brighter side with the playgrounds and picnic area, were still covered in snow and ice.

I arrived at the Haddon Township Library around quarter of 11. They were pretty busy, once again with piles and piles of DVDs people watched over the last few cold days being returned. I managed to get all of the kids' and adult titles on their shelves, and cleared a small pile of kids' and foreign movies out of the adult section as well. Wanting to lighten up a bit after the intense dramas I took out last week, my DVD rentals this week included the Hugh Jackman Oklahoma! London stage revival, the Mark Wahlburg football tale  Invincible, the French animated film A Monster In Paris, two sets for the original 1983 DIC Care Bears, and the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic special Equestria Girls.

Went across the street to the Westmont Plaza for lunch. In honor of the Lunar New Year (generally known as Chinese New Year in the US), I opted for the Plaza's Asian restaurant, Bamboo. It was 12:30 when I arrived at the small storefront. They were crowded with groups of middle-school-aged kids from the junior high down the street. I didn't really mind the kids being there - they were noisy but pretty funny to watch. (Especially when one of the girls grabbed a container of fried rice from one of the boys and made him chase her around the room to get it back.) What did bother me was that they all kept going in and out every two seconds, letting the heat escape and making the room cold as heck. I ate my sweet and sour chicken, pork fried rice, and steamed vegetable dumplings and chuckled at the kids' antics.

Made a quick stop at Thriftway next. I picked up bamboo shoots for my dinner and those cheap brown eggs (at $2.29, cheaper than Thriftway's white eggs!), but I was mainly there to take out money for next week.

Headed straight home after that. Despite the nice day, I really wanted to get the cleaning started. Ran the 1st Broadway original cast album for The Scarlet Pimpernel as I gave the bathroom a decent scrubbing. Evidently, this show was constantly tinkered on throughout its Broadway run, so much that there was a second CD with the new material. I only have the first one, and I'm perfectly fine with it. I'm especially fond of Chauvelain's impassioned ballad "Where's the Girl?"

I ran the two Care Bears DVDs as I cleaned the kitchen. The Care Bears started their career in animation with a pair of anime-esque specials and a subsequent series. The villains Professor Cold-Heart and his dumb lackey Frostbite carry over from the specials, along with their being the only villains in any of the TV series to outright attack the kids the Bears are helping. Here, the show seems to be split between stories with Cold Heart and stories with the Bears dealing with crises at Care-a-Lot and among each other.

Two of the most bizarre stories from this series didn't involve any regular villains. "Drab City" brings some of the regular Bears and Cousins to the title town, where everyone is being rendered gray and apathetic by a huge meteorite in a park near-by. A little girl who lives outside of town and isn't effected helps bring the Bears to the park to get rid of the meteorite, before they're stripped of their colors, too. "The Cloud Worm" has the Bears defending Care-A-Lot against a huge worm-like critter whose job is to eat holes in the clouds so sunlight can shine down on Earth.

My favorite story from these discs was another villain-less tale, "The Old Man and the Lighthouse." For once, the kids are the villains here. A bunch of children take a boat to a lighthouse to see if its keeper is really as weird as he's rumored to be. The Care Bears try to stop them, but when everyone, including the Bears, get lost in a storm, it'll take help from the old man - and the Bear's signature Stare - to prove that not every old lighthouse keeper is "weird."

Switched to my Have a Nice Day! 70s CDs as I settled down to do some yoga. I'm so much better at yoga than I used to be. I thought I might be rusty after not having done it for seven months, but I'm actually managing some moves I wasn't good at before, like bridge pose. I still can't get on my head, and my balance is still shaky, but my flexibility has improved.

After yoga, I had the last of the shrimp stir fry for dinner, then made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies for the Acme's Super Bowl party tomorrow while watching the first half of Oklahoma! Hugh Jackman's performance as love-struck cowboy Curly was the biggest reason for the success of this show, but far from the only one. This is a great deal grittier and more rugged than most versions tend to be, with Earth-toned sets that look like a real Oklahoma farm house and train station. Laurey's no dainty Shirley Jones blond, either. She's a tough tomboy who only shows her feminine side when Aunt Eller gives her a dress...and her dilemma over which man to attend a local social with crops up in her dreams. Also, this is the only production I've ever seen where the Laurey and Curly who perform in the dream ballet are the same ones who do the rest of the show. Recommended for fans of Jackman, stage musicals, Rogers & Hammerstein musicals in general, and Oklahoma! in particular.

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.

Trying to Balance Again

Started off a late morning with more New Three Stooges and a short snow shower as I baked bread for breakfast. It was supposed to be Banana-Chocolate Chip Bread, but I only had one banana, so I added a carrot, cut the sugar to 1/3 cup (I'm running low on sugar, too), and put in orange juice. The next round of Stooges shorts move them to different time periods. While they strike out as knights trying to save a princess whose father is trying to marry off, they do better playing a baseball game against hungry lions during the Roman Empire.

Switched to Broadway's Lost Treasures I as I ate a quick lunch of leftovers. This collection of performances from various Tony Awards broadcasts makes for nice background music as I get ready for one thing or another. Favorites here include the late Bonnie Franklin's amazing performance of the title number from Applause, Barbara Harris' sweet "Movie Star Gorgeous" from The Apple Tree, and the cast of the Tommy Tune/Twiggy 80s vehicle My One and Only's incredible tap number to the Gershwin tune "Kicking the Clouds Away."

Finally headed out around 1:30-2PM. Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree for sponges, then headed to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session there. I had slightly better luck organizing the kids' DVDs than I did last week. I did manage to get all of them on, even the endless versions of SpongeBob and Scooby Doo. Ironically, I ended up with a Scooby Doo set, in this case the newest 13 episode set based around Shaggy and Scooby's enormous appetites. I also grabbed three Disney/Marvel superhero riffs: a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse superhero spoof, the first release for the newest Avengers cartoon Avengers Assemble, and a bizarre-looking Phineas & Ferb/Avengers crossover I've been trying to rent for weeks.

I also took out a pile of books on boosting your self-confidence. I've been looking over Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, which I bought a couple of years ago. I found the follow-up, Walking In This World. Found another book from Don't Sweat the Small Stuff creator Richard Carlson on making small, gradual changes, rather than big ones all at once. Found a book on stress intended for teenagers that I thought might be helpful for me too, Soul Searching. I also took out a book on yoga for women.

It took me so long to do the research, I didn't leave the library until past 4:30. It was almost worth the sunset at Newton River Park. It was surprisingly quiet for a day that had turned from cloudy to nice. This morning's snow showers did nothing but look pretty. The orange sunset reflected beautifully off the sparkling half-frozen river.

My original plan for today was to try a yoga class at Yogawood, with or without Rose. Not only did I stay at the library later than I was originally going to, but I forgot my cash. (I paid for those sponges with a debit card.) I just did the yoga moves at home instead, listening to the soft rock CD I bought at a yard sale last spring and looking over the yoga book I found at the library. I'm actually glad I did. Much to my surprise, I discovered could still do all the yoga moves I learned at Yogawood as well as I ever could, and I'm even better at some of them. I still can't do a full wheel and still can't get on my head, but I can now do a tree pose almost perfectly.

Ran Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as I sauteed asparagus, carrots, and pasta in a sauce made from leftover orange juice and baked spiced chicken legs in the oven. The first, double-length episode is simply titled "Super Adventure," and it's just what it implies. Mickey and the gang temporarily gain super powers from Professor Ludwig Von Drake when it seems like Pete is going around shrinking Clubhouse landmarks. Not only do they fail to stop Pete when they can't work together, but they discover there's an even nastier villain (for this series) behind the plump cat. When "Megamort" gets not only Pete but Mickey too, can the others work together to rescue them?

Some of the remaining episodes are cute, too. Pete's also prominent in "Mickey's Mouskercize." He's not the world's biggest fan of exercise and can't do what the other characters can do. Once again, they have to work together to prove to Pete how important and fun exercise can be.

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.

Organized Balance

Actually, I started today with a phone call. Yesterday was Mom's birthday. I called her late last night to wish her many returns of the day, but I kept getting a busy signal. She called me back this morning. As it turns out, my sister Rose and my brother Keefe called last night! She talked to both of them until 11. Dad did take her out to eat yesterday. He also gave her a Kindle. The trouble is, she doesn't have wi-fi or a data phone. She tried to hook it up to her internet but only ended up losing internet for 4 hours. (The internet connection in Cape May County is intermittent even at the best times of the year.) She says she suspects it'll just go to Dad.

(This isn't the first time Dad bought a present for Mom that was really for him. One of my earliest Christmas memories was the year in the early 80s when Dad bought Mom a waffle iron. Dad is the only person on the entire Cape May side of the family who can make waffles without burning them. Guess who ended up using it a lot more? When we finally got another waffle iron over a decade later, it went straight to Dad this time. He used to make the yummiest waffles for his big Christmas breakfast.)

Spent the rest of the morning doing things around the apartment. I'm still clearing out things that I don't need. This time, I swept through all of my media. There aren't too many cassettes left to get rid of, and I didn't see any CDs I didn't want, but I did pull records, DVDs, and paperback mysteries I don't read. They'll all go to the libraries I volunteer for. After I finished with the organizing, I did the budget and cleared the papers off the top of my printer.

Did a half-hour yoga YRG Yoga disc around 1PM, "Fat Burner." It was mainly simple moves to concentrate on the core and rear and just working up a sweat. I thought this would be a good work-out for my sore legs. I had to go really easy on the leg lifts, downward dog moves, and anything that involved knees. My knees feel stiff enough as it is.

I threw together a Bean Vegetable Soup from cans of pinto beans and tomato soup, brown rice, and whatever vegetables happened to be laying around my refrigerator for lunch while running Three Stooges shorts. The boys are "Nutty But Nice" when they try to cheer up a little girl whose dad was kidnapped by bank robbers. It's the little girl whose yodels turn out to be the biggest help of all. In "How High Is Up?," the trio end up on the 97th floor of a new skyscraper when they're on the run from angry riveters and discover that Curly's fear of heights is the least of their problems. The boys find that "No Census, No Feeling" when they try to take census numbers from everyone they know, including football players...during the game! And Curly goes "From Nurse to Worse" when Larry and Moe try to pass him off as crazy as part of an insurance scam and the doctor wants to operate on his mind.

Work wasn't too bad. It was on-and-off busy for most of the night, busier than last night, but not as bad as last week. The store is still in the midst of spring cleaning. They were scrubbing the bottoms of the registers. I had to abandon mine and do returns for the last half-hour. Other than that, there were no major problems, and I was in and out after picking up powdered sugar.

Balance at Work

Since I had a long, relatively early day at work, I decided to just do yoga at home today. I used the DDP Yoga "Fat Burner" disc, which emphasized the stomach and rear muscles and continuous movement. Not bad. I probably needed to push a little harder to really break a sweat, since it was only a 25-minute DVD, but not only were my knees not up to it, I wanted to save some energy for later.

As it turned out, the worst of the winter storm missed us completely. By the time I was heading for work, it was sunny and windy, but dry. The ground was barely even wet. There certainly wasn't any snow. I've heard rumors of possible snow for tonight...but the weekend and most of next week is supposed to be in the 50s and nice as can be. If we get any snow tonight at all, it'll probably be gone by the time I go grocery shopping.

Today was one of my two 7-hour days. It was surprisingly busy for a Thursday. Today is the last day of our sales. I guess everyone wanted to grab some things while they still have beginning-of-the-month money. My day went very quickly, especially for such a long shift. Thankfully, it had quieted down enough that I was able to sign out with no relief besides a cashier who was late returning from break.

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.