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1) Thirteen Reasons Why by my favorite cross-dressing dance partner, Disco Merman Jay Asher. It arrived in my mailbox on Saturday morning and I finished it Sunday afternoon. I probably would have finished it earlier except that one of the other things I'm loving, the_webmeister was visiting from Boston for the weekend.
It's really wonderful when you read a book by someone who you adore as a person and you finish the last word and sigh, "Wow," because their book is just as awesome as they are. When you're two thirds of the way through the book and part of you wants to finish because you're desperate to know what happens but another part of you doesn't want it to end because you are so involved with these characters. You know the feeling. Jay's book reminds us of how our smallest interactions with others can have a profound affect - both for the negative and the good. So Jay - you done good.

2) My daughter decided to crack open the fantastic kids cookbook I bought her for Chanukah two years ago, and she made these yummy chocolate crossaints AND between her and The Webmeister they rustled up "Smoked Gouda and caramelized onion quesadillas", which were also scrummy, despite the slight "learn by doing" gaff of putting a tablespoon of vinegar into the caramelized onions instead of a teaspoon. The best part was that I just sat on the sofa engrossed in Jay's book while all this was going on, emerging only to taste the delicious results.

3) I've been interviewed! Check me out on Barbara Bietz's blog. (Nice alliteration there, Barbara!) It was really fun :-)

4) Even though temperatures in the 70's make it feel distinctly unseasonable, the leaves are turning and it's gorgeous.

5) It's my first Halloween in on a street where people actually go to trick or treat. (At my old house we had a total of 1 trick-or-treater in the 8 years we lived there.) My kids are really into it, and if I must be truthful, which of course I must with my dear blog readers, so am I.

I'm going to be be something writing related for Halloween. You'll have to wait and see.

Funny story though:

I was in Party City yesterday buying that fake spider web stuff for the bushes outside the house and the guy at the cashier was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, but with boobs.

I asked him if the boobs came with the costume and the cashier next to him said, "No, they're his." Hmmm. O-kay.

So as part of the checkout he asks for my phone number and when we walked away, my daughter (whom I'll remind you is 11) said, "I'm not sure I would give my phone number to a guy dressed in women's clothing."

I'm not sure how wild old me ended up with such a sensible, practically puritanical daughter.

6) The Netflix movies I watched last night: Best in Show, Christopher Guest's hilarious send-up of the dog show culture and a real surprise that I'd not even heard of prior to the Netflix recommendation, Greenfingers, starring the scrumptious Clive Owen.

7) When you've been trying to deal with a problem with your book and you're somewhere not thinking about your book and the solution pops into your head.

Speaking of which, I must get a) write my column and b) get on with said book!