I love my car. I think the only thing I’d really like in it that I don’t currently have is a record button. I know, I know — it’s a strange thing to want in one’s car. But here’s the thing — I am my most creative and inspired when I’m driving. My mind flits around from one idea to the next while I’m behind the wheel, and although I do try to jot down the things that pop into my head after I get home, I’m afraid to even think about how many ideas are lost on the interstate. I come up with ideas for stories, both fictional and true accounts; things I want to write about in the blog; knitting designs; web layouts or new website ideas; inventive new ways to put out a Christmas newsletter; things I want to write about to my penpal or my grandmother; stories I want to tell my mom; things I’ve forgotten to do at work; ideas for music videos (which I never do anymore, but still plan out in my head anyway); names for hand-dyed yarn; baby names for all those unborn children of mine; the list goes on and on.

And when I pull into my parking spot, all those things I came up with fly out the window. If I had a record button on the steering wheel, you’d probably see me post a little more frequently. You might see my name on the NY Times Bestsellers list. You would get tired of seeing all my patterns on Ravelry. You might see a new layout on the website every time you stopped by. Ok, ok, maybe not all of that would happen (the mere presence of a record button in my car does not decrease my need for sleep, though if it did, then I’d really want one – think of how productive I could be!

So, I’m going to use that “lack of sleep” theme to segue into my next topic. Twilight. As much as I hate to admit it, I am a Twihard. I’ve read all the books. A few times. I think it averages about once a month now. I read the 12-chapter draft of Midnight Sun when Stephenie Meyer posted it on her website (and felt a fair amount of rage at the fact that it was leaked and is now no longer a future novel). I’ve even read fanfic. I know. It’s a little pathetic. I’m entirely too enthusiastically psyched about the movie coming out this winter.

What I don’t understand is why I’m so – dare I say it – obsessed with these novels and this universe. It’s true — I tend to get a little obsessive when I find something I like. But it doesn’t usually go this far. Even my favorite novels I’ve only re-read a few times, and certainly never more than once a year. So how is it that this fairly juvenile and not especially deep series can keep me endlessly entertained over and over again? The only thing I can think of is that Stephenie Meyer knows her characters so well — I mean really knows them, as if they were real people — that it’s easy to believe they’re real, and it’s enticing to keep re-reading to see if you can find out just a little more about them each time.

I dunno. I really don’t. All I know is that I’m probably going to keep re-reading them until the movie comes out. What can I say? It’s cheaper than buying new books, I guess.

And speaking of re-reads… I am totally unembarrassed to admit that I will be watching the CW’s take on the new 90210 tonight. It could be (and probably will be) truly awful, but I’m a glutton for insubstanial, gratuitous television. It’s my guilty pleasure. Sure, I like the good stuff, too, but shows like Gossip Girl and Grey’s Anatomy are the perfect way to wind down at night. It’s pure fluff. Rough day at work? No problem. Let’s watch pretty people in pretty clothing make awful messes of their lives with sex, drugs, alcohol, and bad relationships. Makes the fact that you spilled coffee all over your white shirt right after you walked through the doors to the office not seem like such a big deal.

And on the topic of work, I hooked up a new monitor at work today. It’s glorious. A 24″ widescreen digital display – bright colors, good contrast, and a great resolution. I feel like I could create masterpieces now! Now I just have to be patient until January when I get a production-capable powerhorse of a new computer. My current computer is a standard issue laptop, and while it does have extra RAM, the hard drive is dinky and slow, the processor is old, and the thing all but crashes when I try to have too many programs open at once (like Outlook, Firefox, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign — a fairly standard lineup of programs to have open at any given point for me). I may have annoyed a few people with the stupid grin I had on my face all afternoon. But what can I say? It’s a really, really pretty new monitor. And I guess it doesn’t take too much to make me happy. Hand me a $500 piece of shiny new technology, and I’m yours for life. I promise.

Stay tuned for next time, when I write about my Labor day weekend in Asheville, where friends Dina and Chad got married. I’d write about it here and now, but (a) I’d miss the beginning of the 90210 premiere (and we can’t have that), and (b) I probably shouldn’t sully the recount of such a beautiful weekend by tacking it onto the end of such a random, windy post. I promise I’ll be a little more sane next time. And maybe I’ll even have photos to share! Imagine that! You definitely won’t want to miss it.