In spite of the warm weather, Autumn is here! Most of the leaves have turned, and with that low, autumnal light, my drive to work is completely gorgeous! I live in an older part of town where the streets are lined with old, tall trees whose leaves have all turned yellow and gold with a few spots of brilliant red. The colors here have nothing on New England’s fall hues, but that’s okay. It’s still lovely.

And while I had to work yesterday, I did get to spend a few minutes playing with this ridiculously cute dog:

 

This was one of those weeks where, despite being tired all week, I would go to bed, fall asleep, and wake up several times each night, often for no apparent reason. This was not helped by the construction going on down the street, which seems to be starting earlier and earlier. At the beginning of the project, they would start with the machines and the beeping around 8:30. Now it seems like they’re starting at 6:30. What’s with that? It’s dark outside! I’m sure they’re trying to get the building’s walls done before the snow starts to fall, but it makes for lousy sleeping conditions for the rest of the neighborhood.

And now for stuff that’s making me happy:

I got a cold brew coffee maker from ThinkGeek.com. I make cold brew coffee every morning for work, but I didn’t have a travel mug after my last one fell apart so I had to drink all my coffee before I left. Given how I sometimes rush through getting ready, it meant I couldn’t enjoy my wonderful coffee. But now I can, because this travel mug is wonderful. There’s a screw-on lid on the bottom where the filter goes, so you can pull the grounds out and toss them, meaning that I’ll send far fewer coffee grounds down my sink! It was definitely worth the $19.99. I’m still going to use my French press to make my cold brew for Sunday mornings, because I get more coffee that way, and Sundays are laid back and made for sipping coffee and doing whatever.

 

I just finished listening to this Pop Culture Happy Hour interview with Tom Hanks. He’s promoting his new book, Uncommon Type, which is a collection of short stories. In the interview, he waxes on about the astronauts who went to the moon and typewriters, and is altogether as charming and as funny as you would expect Tom Hanks to be.

And while it’s not necessarily a happy, I have been enjoying the new Netflix show, Mindhunter, which is about the early days of the FBI’s Serial Crime Unit. It’s no Criminal Minds, and that’s fine with me. It’s a far more cerebral drama, focusing on the psychology and sociology of what the agents are doing rather than on the criminals’ violence like they do on Criminal Minds. I’ll probably finish up the season this week. Just in time for the new season of Stranger Things.

Star Trek: Discovery is still making me happy! I’m loving the characters and how they’re developing, and one of the main storylines is all sorts of science-y and fascinating. I know some people are complaining that it doesn’t feel like Star Trek to them, or that the story arcs are ‘ruining television’ or whatever, but I don’t care. It feels like Trek to me- specifically Deep Space Nine, which I’ve said before is my favorite Star Trek series so far. As long as Discovery is out there, I will watch it.

 

I finished zero books this week. I blame the insomnia. I’m still working on the audiobook version of The Alchemists of Loom, Peter Mayles’s A Year in Provence, and Kathleen Kent’s The Heretic’s Daughter. They’re all wonderful and interesting so far, but my attention span was majorly lacking. I’m hoping that will change this week. If feels weird to not finish a single book in a whole week!