I know, I know, it’s still August – I’m picking tomatoes and peppers as they ripen, watching to see if the pumpkins will fruit from the blossoms, getting a kick out of the bumblebees that have been flirting with our sunflowers, and pickling the cukes for later (exciting! I’ll post pix of the jars soon). It’s garden season, right?  Absolutely.

BUT! Autumn is on the way, and if I may be completely honest, I could not be more thrilled. As much as I love the garden,watching stuff happen and change in the dirt, as much as we have enjoyed the hell out of home-grown zucchinis  and all the dreaming about how we’ll improve on it next year, I’m super tired of being hot. There it is, all of it – I can’t wait for the weather to cool off and my blood pressure to drop. And red leaves! And the  smell of autumn – zomg, the smell! And sweaters!

So, um, I’ve been knitting in anticipation. Hats. HATS WITH EARS!

Ok, ok, so some of the knitty business of the last few weeks has had a close tie to Game of Thrones being on demand on HBO again. I will totally admit to watching the season for a third time while I cranked out hats on the couch, in the blissful airconditioned paradise we like to refer to as Pretty Pretty Princessland.

I just finished A Dance With Dragons last week, having read the whole series in a big honkin’ binge, and the withdrawal is just terrible. I keep thinking I left something behind, you know, like my car keys or something. In Westeros. Or like I should drop an email to someone I haven’t seen in a while – you know, like that Arya Stark girl.  So, um, yeh – I’m glad I could sit down and watch the series again last week.* Which is also to say, I have a bunch of new bunny hats up on the Etsy, lovingly knitted while watching teevee =)

Ok, so without another George RR Martin book to read, what’s a girl to do? Well! It just so happens that my timing was pretty great on finishing ADwD. Ernest Cline, who I know a little through poetry circles,** put out a book last week!

Which I devoured in a three day binge. If you’re a child of the seventies – which is to say, a teen of the eighties, and you game at all? You’ll loff Ready Player One. It’s a dystopian novel with just a touch of a Neal Stephenson sensibility and a heaping helping of 80s era nostalgia. Having pleasant memories of the livingroom with the Atari computer and a noisy modem that you had to put the phone handset into, I totally enjoyed this book. It’s not a heavy read at all, but it doesn’t have to be – it was an osm ride*** =) But don’t just take it from me, the Ready Player One facebook page has links to all kinds of reviews  – have a looksee what people are saying.

Now onward to that China Mieville book that’s been on my bedside table, waiting patiently.

 

 

*Yes, I looked for my keys.
**Full disclosure – I know his wife, Susan, a little better. She is a delightful human being, and a fantastic poet. Go read her book Roam when you get a chance. Doctor Somers-Willett rocks my world, ok?
***The last 100pp were a total page turner – I planted myself on the couch and did not put the book down until the end. At one point I even chortled – which I do not do. I giggle, I laugh, I snort – I do not chortle. Until now, I guess.