Spring Has Finally Arrived in Central Ohio!

Saturday April 8, 2017

Happy Birthday Colin! Today my father-in-law turned 78 and I was told they went to the city centre to see the new stained glass window in the cathedral. Sounds like as good an excuse as any to go out. Meanwhile, I was out running errands all over town including stops at two different grocery stores to stock up on Cream of Wheat. Marc’s is the only store in town that still carries banana flavored Cream of Wheat, so I went and bought a few boxes along with a few other items.

From there I went to The Andersons, which is closing in May (and is quite obvious once you enter the store and see all the empty shelves). I wanted to stock up on Cinnabon flavored Cream of Wheat. Yes, I suppose I could just add tons of cinnamon and some sugar to achieve the same flavor (which I guess I’ll have to do once I run out). I also checked out the wine selection and bought a few on sale. Our wine rack is now more or less fully stocked (with mostly whites).

After lunch I drove over to Grandview to visit my favorite (and only) used camera shop called World of Used Photography. I had a small bag of items to sell (a couple slide viewers, some knick-knacks and expired (refrigerated) film. All total I was offered $20 and we ended up doing an even trade for a movie camera I kind of fancied. I assured Andrew that I am not planning on starting a collection of those. I also struck a deal to sell a gigantic projection screen we bought off of Craig’s List a couple years ago. It’s such a huge and heavy item that we can’t see ever wanting to set it up because of the hassle, so I guess we’ll stick with my little yellowed and torn one. Hence, I am happy to hand it off in a couple weeks.

My last errand was to Acorn Books, which is one of only a few independent bookstores in central Ohio. I’ve only ever been in there perhaps a half a dozen times, but I almost always find something interesting and this time was no exception. I had a few books I thought they might be interested in, so we did an even trade for my two books for one of theirs ($8). That’s still probably tons more than Half Price Books would offer (last time I got $10 for a whole box of books & misc items), so I happily accepted.

Sunday April 9, 2017

Today Andrew and I drove to the Gateway Film Center to see the U.S. release of the hottest anime film since I don’t know what, called “Your Name.” Picture a “Quantum Leap” and “Lake House” mash-up and you have “Your Name.” A girl called Mitsuha who lives in a small lakeside town and a boy from Tokyo called Taki, start switching bodies as a comet is hurtling towards earth. For Mitsuha this appears to run in the family I think. The only problem is, once they’re back in their own body again, they have no memory of what the other person did, which comes off as amnesia to their friends and family. Somewhere along the line (I am unclear of the exact details since I may or may not have drifted off after having too many syrupy waffles for brunch) Taki and Mitsuha learn that Mitsuha’s town will be destroyed after the comet splits causing several natural disasters to engulf her town. The rest of the film is about their quest to warn the townspeople so they can be evacuated to the local high school far enough away from the disaster zone. I can’t really say any more than this without spoilers, but suffice it to say I was riveted up until the very end. Afterwards I felt both sad and happy and haven’t stopped thinking about the film. I definitely plan to acquire a copy on blu-ray or dvd later, and maybe the soundtrack too.

Looking ahead at the weather forecast for the week, it looks like spring has finally sprung here in central Ohio, so hopefully more blue skies ahead! Have a great week everyone!