I came back to work today after two days out sick. Walking to the Metro, I realized fall finally arrived while I was tucked in my Burrow sickbed. I offer you three beautiful things from my walk:

1. The rain and the wind brought down many leaves, which I shuffle through crunchily on the sidewalk. They are beginning to moulder, and the scent takes me back to my childhood.

2. I love how even leaves do not want to die. They lose their chlorophyll from their outer edges first, crinkling delicately around the edges, but tenaciously clinging to branches and to life.

3. As I bounce from the escalator into the station, I see an elderly couple heading up and out. The woman is losing her scarf, and her husband turns to grab it for her. He lovingly wraps it around her neck and gently ties it so it will stay put.

My heart just about broke with joy.

Anything beautiful and autumnal where you live?

Thursday is almost over, but Friday isn’t allowed to come before I post my Three Beautiful Things from the past week:

1. I knew fewer Springsteen songs than I expected to (although I could identify which albums a number of unrecognizable tunes must have come from), so I was terribly grateful when they finished their set, left the stage, and returned to play songs I knew the words to.

2. Being sick makes me want to watch tv. I entertained myself with Britcoms for an hour or two yesterday and today and then switched to the computer where I caught up on Heroes and Ugly Betty.

3. Thanks to Suzanne, I was able to determine that the reason I was going to run out of yarn for my Every Day Cardigan is because I was knitting with worsted weight yarn and not sport weight. (I knit a swatch and got gauge on the smaller needles, I swear!) I’ve placed an order with Peace Fleece for two more skeins of yarn and am past the elbow on sleeve #1. If the yarn arrives by the weekend (hmmm… that’s tomorrow, isn’t it?), I might be done with the sweater by Thanksgiving!

Still sick, but I thought some tea was in order, so I’m up for a little bit. While drinking my tea I thought I’d take part in this Pew Internet and American Life Project survey that Ann linked to. I’m going to bet that many of us who blog (or read blogs) are going to find similar results:

Based on your answers to the questionnaire, you most closely resemble survey respondents within the Connectors typology group. This does not mean that you necessarily fit every group characteristic.

Connectors make up 7% of the American public.

Basic Description
The Connectors’ collection of information technology is used for a mix of one-to-one and one-to-many communication. They very much like how ICTs keep them in touch with family and friends and they like how ICTs let them work in community groups to which they belong. They are participants in cyberspace – many blog or have their own web pages – but not at the rate of Omnivores. They are not as sure-footed in their dealings with ICTs as Omnivores. Connectors suspect their gadgets could do more for them, and some need help in getting new technology to function properly.

Defining Characteristics
Connectors combine a sense that information technology is good for social purposes with a clear recognition that online resources are a great way to learn new things. Their cell phones have a lot of features, and they also try new things with technology; more than half have watched TV programming on a device like a laptop computer or cell phone.

Who They Are
Connectors, which make up 7% of the population, have a median age of 38, with a majority (54%) in the 30-49 age range. Ethnically, it is mostly white (72%); 16% are Black and 12% are English-speaking Hispanics. The typical Connector has been online for 9 years, which suggests they were a second-wave of late 1990s adopters. Most are women (55%) and they rate above average in educational attainment and income.

Uh oh.

My throat is sore. My glands are swollen. I feel tired and achy.

What are the odds that a good night’s sleep can forestall the illness that sidelined Rudi for three days last week?

Maybe this is why I’ve been so tired the last week…

Heading to bed….

Sweetpea published this meme weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do it. Since it’s almost 1 a.m., now seems as good a time as any.

Two names you go by:
1. Sprite
2. Kase

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. A twenty-year-old sweater
2. Socks knit for me by Emily

Longest car rides:
1. Eugene, OR, to Northford, CT (although I was an infant and have no recollection of it)
2. Salt Lake City, UT, to Virginia Beach, VA, to Middletown, CT

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. Read
2. Knit

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. To see my friends and family more often
2. More time to knit and read (yet still afford to pay the rent)

Two animals you have (or have had):
1. Jacks (Della’s brother and a lovely football of an orange cat who had an oral fixation)
2. Baby (Rudi’s and my first cat who went blind due to cataracts and blew out her ACL when Rudi first moved to a place with carpet)

Two people who will fill this out:
1. Jenn?
2. ???

Two things you ate today:
1. Rudi’s homemade chili
2. Willie Nelson’s Country Peach Cobbler ice cream

Two people you last talked to:
1. Rudi
2. Susan

Two things you’re doing tomorrow:
1. Knitting the cuff of my Monkeys and the first sleeve of my Everyday Cardigan
2. Laundry (because I will want to wear underwear as the week progresses)

Two favorite holidays:
1. Thanksgiving (it can be such a nice, laid-back holiday)
2. Halloween (because people feel it’s okay to be silly)

Two favorite beverages:
1. Black tea (no herbal for me, thanks)
2. Cocoa (again, no weird flavors. I want it to taste like chocolate.)

Three beautiful things from my trip to Denver:

1. My coworker Julie and I went to dinner the middle night we were in town. We wandered around a little bit before ending up at the place she’d eaten the night before — renowned for its fish. (I know! In a land-locked state!) We chattered away through quite a bit of delicious food (she had prime rib and I had nut-crusted sole) before we eventually toddled back to our respective hotels to crash. Actually conversing with someone during a meal made a pleasant change from the rest of the trip when I read my book as I ate.

2. Frontier Airlines offers satellite tv for a nominal cost. Since I am cheap, own an iPod, and wasn’t going to be on a plane for too, too long, I hadn’t planned on spending the money. Yet when my neighbors’ screens all went dark, mine continued broadcasting and I will fully admit to having watched all sorts of retro shows (like Gunsmoke and Speed Buggy) without pointing out to a stewardess that I was ripping the airline off. I just hope the passenger who had sat in my seat earlier in the day doesn’t get charged twice.

3. My hotel was only a couple of blocks from the touristy pedestrian mall in downtown Denver. Yet it was nice to know that it was a safe place to walk at night, and I enjoyed watching them prepare for the upcoming holiday season by stringing lights on the trees and hanging dangling snowflakes from buildings. I found the local independent bookstore (the Tattered Cover), several restaurants serving tasty morsels (from crepes to tacos to a pear-date salad), and enough Starbucks to keep you caffeinated for weeks. I wandered the street several times each day.

I spent far too much time sleeping (I’m blaming the altitude), but from what I saw, Denver was a lovely city. They seem to have a rampant youth homeless population, but the city was clean, there were lots of bicycles and clean-energy buses, and the food was delicious. I’d like to go back to visit when I don’t have to work and when I have the ability to get out of city boundaries to the scenic mountains.