Goodbye to California; to friends and family; to the ocean, tamales, and Barton Springs. Hello Basel! It felt a little heartbreaking to leave, but after my first day in town I can say that I'm thrilled to be back here. It's really nice.
It was kind of funny to put the blog on hold for the summer, since I had such a fantastic time and wanted to write all about it, but somehow I would have felt silly continuing this babbling from home. And frankly, there wasn't the time. At any rate, this may have been the best summer on record. Do a google search, I'm sure I'm right. How about a quick recap?
There was all that printing, of course. Hours of challenging, satisfying, absorbing typesetting, designing, and actual press time.
Gaps between printing during those three weeks were spent soberly discussing deep topics with my colleagues. Ahem. By which I mean, I ate a ton of great food, drank what must certainly have added up to gallons of various microbrews (and is it necessary to mention each of the cocktails I got to try this summer?), ate cupcakes, and got my Funny back. It only took a couple weeks to regain most of my vocabulary, and shortly thereafter the timing started to return. Thank goodness. I was nervous it (The Funny) had taken a crippling blow to the knees. Let's hope that never happens.
I was certainly helped along by the two great weeks I spent hanging out with good old Sydney The Cat, too. Best Cat Ever? Yes. It's not worth it to argue. You will be proven wrong.
Then I went sailing.
Angel Island, fog.
And my, did I get sunburned. After those 6 hours in the sun, I hitched a fun ride (Thanks H.!) down to Southern California to visit friends in Santa Barbara, some of whom miraculously arrived from Texas, others of whom happen to miraculously reside there.
We went to the beach.
I am not unlike a small car. This was on our way to my celebratory 30th birthday meal; on the way back I was a little more like a mid-sized sedan. So. Much. Delicious. Dessert.
And then to LA! I knew making these boxes would be fun. I was right. Plus, I was fortunate to work with someone who not only understood my ideas for the box and figured out ways to make them work (and look even better than I had imagined), but was able to masterfully build 24 of them. Amazing. I helped, once he showed me what to do. I don't want to brag, but I think we did a damn good job.
My goodness, look at that hinge. Epic.
We got to have a little beach time, too. How about that.
Then back to the Bay, where another generous friend helped me silkscreen the image on the front of the books. So many friends! So much help! My dad helped us with some last-minute registration issues we were having. Then, we took an amazing trip up to the Headlands. We must have hit the beginning of the Bay Area's famous Indian Summer, because it was heartbreakingly clear.
Immediately after he left, I threw a party for my book, which was fun. All my friends came! Thanks, everyone. I bought as many varieties of 2-buck Chuck as Trader Joe's had, and we all did our best to sample each one.
How about that dress? There's a Megan who is good at sewing. It is not me.
I only had a few days after the party to gather my things from where I had strewn them throughout the apartment, take most of the books to the storage unit, and, more importantly, hang out with all my dearies one more time before I headed off to Texas and what can formally be called Kitten Time.
My mom recently rescued this little kitten from an uncertain future. She (Bug, the kitten) has a ridiculous and adorable scratchy little voice, and we were trying to get her to talk for us, but she resisted our efforts. Oh well. She's pretty cute even when she's not talking.
I think my mom and I had plans to do a lot of things around Austin, but instead we ended up mostly lazing around the house. Well. That's not true! Not only did my mom sew these great muslin slipcovers for my books, we also took a day to clean out my old closet, inside which I found some relics from childhood. Here's an example:
There was a nice stack of little book projects I made as a young kid; it is somehow satisfying to know that you are the person you are even before anyone knows about it yet.
(my retainer-tightening key.)
I also managed to find the time to hang out on the East Side with some friends, and spend some very quality time floating quietly on my back in the cool, clear waters of Barton Springs. Oh ideal pool, would that you could be everywhere I am.
From Texas, I flew to Boston, then took a bus to Northampton, where I got to stay with the incredibly wonderful Ms. JB. We rode bikes around her little town of Hadley, Mass, past old houses with little farm stands in the front yards, across old bridges, and along the Connecticut river.
On the way home we stopped to look at some headstones from the mid-1700s. Look at that incredibly beautiful ligature! Rests. Gorgeous. The golden age of serif faces. Warms my heart.
Speaking of a warm heart, I was in town because two great people got married. (Sorry, M&B, I'll send you all these pictures ASAP!)
There was dancing. I did it, too.
Yes. I am wearing a gold skirt.
The ceremony was beautiful, the location was awesome, and the beer was local and delicious. (I'd recommend the Farmer's Brown Ale.) And M & B got married! One of B's friends sang them a song at the reception and I still have it stuck in my head. ("Sigel-Goss, Gossel-Sigelman... Hey, hey, hey hey.") And there was a square dance! Have I ever gotten to dance at a square dance? Not since elementary school, and I'm not sure I properly appreciated it back then. It's fun, I'll tell you. Having played at roughly a thousand dances, I knew what all the dance calls were, but somehow had never actually done any of them before. And then there I was! Helping the rest of my square with the Grand Right and Left. Everybody swing your partner! As an added bonus, the band played Indian Ate A Woodchuck, my favorite fiddle tune from the old Jades days. I told J (my old bandmate, of course!) the next day and we cheered for our shared memories, and for the brilliance of the tune.
Then, to NYC for three nights, hanging out with my oldest friend and his boyfriend and their two great cats, Walt and Tony. Walt likes to be vigorously petted and will submit to being "stretched" and scratched all over his belly, and Tony favors a good game of fetch (yes, fetch). "Go get it!" you shout as you pitch the pink folded pipe cleaner down the hall. Tony hurtles after it, then brings it back and drops it, a little wet, at your feet. Adorable.
Then a few hours in a plane (and some heavy sedatives) later, I found myself back in Basel! It's already been a busy day and a half. Bike-riding, seeing friends, playing the bass, what a relief. And look at this incredible produce I got from the market today:
All that for Fr. 10-, and take a gander at those wonderful, crisp apples. Late summer in CH seems to be my time of year. All the produce I thought I couldn't get! Chard, and butternut squash. Here it is. I even saw corn at the grocery store. Not just for pigs, as it turns out. You know what I could use, ahem, is some kind of wheel, that would show me what food was in season, and when. Gosh, that would be so great.
Anyhow. I miss everyone, so much! And I'm very happy to be back. What a wealth of good I have. Lucky, I tell you.
