Kat with a K

Monday Night Happy Things

1. Meet Mr. Coffee.

I know, I know, the name is totally unimaginative. But it was so perfect that I couldn't bear to change it. Besides, he feels like he is somehow in the same tradition as the great Mr. Washie, and I can't take that point of pride away from him. Defulct used to make us coffee most mornings, but he's been gone for a few months now, and it was time to deal with my coffeelessness. I was debating whether to spent the extra $10 for the programmable version - yeah, it sounded nifty, but did I really need that? - when I realized that only the programmable ones had auto shut off. Without auto shut off, I spend all day convinced that the house is burning down. (Not that I've ever actually forgotten to turn off the coffee pot. I just worry.) That peace of mind was totally worth the $10.

And you know what? Like Teddy TiVo and Aurelia iPod before him, Mr. Coffee with all his programmability is one of those things that I wasn't entirely convinced I needed - but the instant I used him I started wondering how I lived without him for so long. I cannot express my joy at finding coffee waiting for me when I got up this morning. So darn cool. (You know what else he did? He cleverly came with a bunch of filters, because he knew that I wouldn't remember to buy any.)

Pictured with Mr. Coffee is his friend the orange cat mug, which Erica brought me yesterday. They make quite a nice pair.

2. My scarf is also making me happy:

It's a little over half done now. I'm still adoring it. And still only knitting one thing. Yeah, I'm shocked too.

3. I've been convinced to leave my heat at 55. It's practically balmy in here.

4. I just signed up for Internet access on my cell phone. As with Mr. Coffee and Teddy TiVo and all my other anthropomorphized gadgets mentioned above, I fully expect that by, oh, Wednesday night at the latest, I'll be incapable of imagining life without it. (The phone's name is Pluto, for those playing along at home.)

5. I'm not going to Rhinebeck (this isn't the happy thing), but I am going to Hershey this coming weekend. I hear they have chocolate. Can't be bad.

6. Hey, remember that magazine I promised I was starting? Well! We're not officially launching until November 1, but we have the beginnings of a site! Very happy.