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I'm cold. Wah!

I love Fall. It's arguably my favorite month (arguable because I also love Spring). But I always forget that with the pretty changing colors comes bone-chilling temperatures. Granted, I am a wuss. And bone-chilling = 50°.

One of the nicest things about having all this excess time is snuggling with Hobbes. He's not a fan of the cold either, and since I am a miserly bastard who refuses to turn the heat on until I can see my breath, we both enjoy hibernating under the covers. Hobbes is a wonderful nap-mate. He cuddles up against my side, I throw my arm over him, he uses the arm tucked under my head as a pillow for himself. We nuzzle. We headbutt. We goddamn coo at each other.

It's a wonderful escape. I pretend there aren't dishes to be done and floors to be swept. He pretends he isn't dying of starvation for once.

Eventually guilt forces me out of bed, and Hobbes resumes his watchful position by his food bowl.

I have the random urge to read about 10 specific books, all of which I own. I want to do them all RIGHT now. Simultaneously. They are:

The Subtle Knife: His Dark Materials Series by Phillip Pullman (Finally getting around to this after decades of reading The Golden Compass, putting it away and then deciding I had to re-read it to continue on with the series).
Order of the Phoenix: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (As I've only read this one of the series once).
Eye of the World: Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (I think my bitterness about the series has chilled enough for me to want to revisit that earlier books that I genuinely loved).
Post Mortem: A Kay Scarpetta Novel by Pat Cornwell (except that I can't ever re-read this because I haven't recovered from the nightmares from the first time I read it).
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (Next bookclub book, due in November).
Wicked by Gregory Maguire (On my shelf for ages, highly recommended).
The Story of B by Daniel Quinn (Because I want to be mad about Totalitarian Agriculture again).
A Suitable Boy by Vickram Seth (Because it meant so much to me about 5 years ago and I'm in such a different place, I want to see how it comes across on a re-read).
The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun (Because it's been tucked under my sidetable forever).
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (Because it's been so highly lauded and I know I'll love it).

In other exciting news, tomorrow I get to pick up my 6 boxes of books from OB. He's going to drive the truck into Seattle and I can go get them from his office parking spot. I'm feeling a huge shelf re-organization fit coming on. I have no idea which 6 of the 10 boxes he was able to bring. I may go home for Eid in November and will have to go through the remaining 4 and package them for shipping. Tired of being without ALL of my things. Want! Want! Want!

I also just want to take a nap. Again. I wish I could just take a nap and have the words appear on my brain. Not like an audiobook. I want the visual experience without having to keep my eyes open.

freedom is messy - donald rumsfeld

So I finally watched The Daily Show. Not just a clip or two. Not just a recap. But the actual entire show.

Wow. It ruled. Jon Stewart, as reported, is utterly the shit. I want to make out with him RIGHT NOW. I can't believe it's taken me so long to watch, but really, I'd always just forget and then remember at midnight or 2am.

Tonight's show (a repeat?) had Fareed Zakaria from Newsweek. I don't have anything specific to say beyond how impressed I was with the interview. I'm also too tired to even briefly recap it. The guy was smart and informed and not just blindly biased. As depressing as the situation in Iraq is, it's nice to hear rational viewpoints.

Not a fan of the silly side stuff, though--with the guy who ran off to interview people after the debates. Yes, the debates are all about the post-debate spin. Everyone says their guy won. Got it. It's a bit too goofy for me. But the interview part? Excellent.

Best part was Zakaria's quip about Crossfire. Hee. That or Jon Stewart's reaction to the Christina "Having a MOVEMENT!" Aguilera clip. For pure poetry, I think they should have cut to a Metamucil ad. Or is that over the top?

What finally reminded me to watch the damn thing, was today's New York Time's article about Stewart and his infamous appearance on Crossfire. My favorite part:

When Mr. Carlson took the offense, charging that Mr. Stewart had no right to complain since he had asked Senator John Kerry softball questions on "The Daily Show," Mr. Stewart looked genuinely appalled. "I didn't realize - and maybe this explains quite a bit - that the news organizations look to Comedy Central for their cues on integrity." When Mr. Carlson continued to argue, Mr. Stewart shut him down hard. "You are on CNN," he said. "The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls."

Beautiful.