"Are you still writing?"

That was the question a former classmate/friend from graduate school asked me last night when I went to say hi to him after his reading.  It wasn't the only question, but the question I remember most (followed closely by "Why did you move to Hamilton?").  It might seem like an innocent enough question, but it was one that made me chafe and start a small spiral of doubt.

That's why whenever I see an old writing friend, I always ask "How's your writing?"  And here's why.  Being a writer is kind of like being a pet owner.  One should always assume your pet is alive, and so it is with writing, whether that "pet" is going on long runs with you, chasing a car, or sleeping all day.  To continue that analogy, most pet owners get a new pet when old faithful ceases to be.  It's much like writing - if you're not writing the same stuff you were before, you're probably writing something else now.

Sauerkraut

Sometimes my days get away from me.  It's usually the result of an unexpected errand or responsibility.  Today has been one of those days.  Sometimes it's just better to go with it, so I continued the cooking jag making potato leek soup and sauerkraut.

I think the sauerkraut will be one of my holiday gifts (if you're on my list and hate sauerkraut, don't worry - I know).  As you might guess, I am a friend of fermentation (one of the clubs at Hampshire College where Ian went), and I"m quite excited to see how this experiment will turn out.  I followed a rather simple albeit physical (pounding cabbage for 10 minutes) recipe from Saveur which uses only cabbage and kosher salt.

Before:

(This bad boy weighed 7 pounds.)

After:

(Looks majestic, doesn't it?)

Now it's a matter of waiting and attending (but not hovering).  It'll be ready in as little as 10 days for "new" sauerkraut, described in the Saveur article as "[z]ingy and effervescent."  I'm not going to mess with it in this go-around.  Next time I'll see about adding caraway seeds or using white wine.

Next up?  Kimchi!

Poor Self-Promotion

Yes, it's poor self-promotion when you write the url for your art collective's website incorrectly.  The Shake-n-Make website is at www.shake-n-make.net.

Images from the Bay Area

There really aren't many photos from my trip to the California bay area; however, I have a few highlights.

Britex Fabrics - four floors of fabrics & notions.  I demonstrated amazing restraint in the face of so much temptation and will try to get a photo up in the next day or so of the woven silk plaid I bought (on sale).

Ian and a giant pumpkin at the Berkeley Bowl.  A fellow shopper tried to use the photo op as a pick-up opportunity.  He seemed to mistake my interest in giant squash for more than it was.

The one photo Ian was able to take of me at the marathon.  I'm headed toward the finish line so I imagine my expression is one of grim relief.

And finally, it was the birthday of one of my hosts so I made him this hat out of some Malabrigo Celine gave me.  Thanks, Celine.  The hat turned out great, and he seemed to love it.  I got the pattern from Ravelry - Irish Hiking Hat.  I made one in black for myself last year.

(Note:  His favourite colour is orange so the colour choice was not as out there as it might initially have seemed.)

I finally feel like I'm catching up on, well - everything.  I'm rested, finally, and am getting back to my routines and rituals.  I'm hoping to go for a run tomorrow.  Today I'm deep into making stock (chicken & veg).  I'm feeling a heavy week of cooking and freezing coming on (inspired, in part, by Adawg).   Even though the weather here is pretty mild, I'm getting ready for some winter nesting.

Shoe of the Week: Landgirl/Granny Chic

I love the British term "landgirl," which I translate to mean rural/country girl.  Anyway, these Chie Mihara shoes have a bit of both landgirl and granny to them, which is a sturdy, to say the least, combination.  They might be considered a fitting synthesis of rustic and refined.  Plus, I think these will look good with socks.  Yes, I'm going to wear socks with my pumps.  I don't care how old I am.

Knitspiration

Okay, it's supposed to be a combination of "knit" and "inspiration," but I could see how it might sound like a combo of "knit" and "desperation," but notice the "i" instead of the "e."  Nevertheless they are both quite familiar to me.

Anyway, this is about Lisa Anne Auerbach, who Ian's girlfriend turned me on to.  I'm still getting to know her via her blog and website, but she seems like the kind of person we all want to know - artist, foodie, Scorpio (!!!), knitter, biker, and probably more.  And when I saw "we," I mean the royal "we," mainly "me."  Check out some of her text-based work via sweaters here.

And because I keep forgetting - check out our Shake-n-Make website.  The art collective (and no, it's not just me) finally has online documentation.

Marathon Monday

No, it's not a marathon post, but a short post about the marathon yesterday.

I had three goals, two of which I met:  I finished, and I finished with a better time than my first marathon (New York) nine years ago.  My third goal was to come in under 5 hours.  My official time is 5:12:40.  I'm cool with that, and now I have a plan for the next one (!).  I know I need a) people along the course cheering me on either because they know me or I've put my name on my shirt so they can say "Go Claudia!" and b) someone to run either the entire thing with me or the last five miles.   It was a hard slog from mile 21 or so to mile 25.  Quite honestly, I didn't anticipate the profound feeling of being alone during that time despite the other runners and spectators.  I thought I could do it alone.   Thankfully a woman running by me during that last mile invited me to run with her, which made all the difference - thanks, unknown woman!

One more day in the bay area and then I head back home.