Austin Metblogs » aus_stephanie

Knittin’ Kittens

aus_stephanie — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:27:44 +0000

I’m a member of a private group of knitters called the Knittin’ Kittens. We meet once a week from fall to spring to work on projects & learn new things about knitting. The women in our group are from their early 20s to 40-ish and there are some men who participate also. Knitting is “cool” right now. It’s a very social craft but one you can do solo too if you wish. There are many public knitting groups around Austin. One is the Austin Stitchnbitch which meets every third Tuesday each month at Book People. Then there’s the Austin Knitters Group which also meets monthly. These groups welcome beginners but if you want more formal instruction, a variety of knitting classes are offered at Hill Country Weavers which also sells a tempting variety of yarns, equipment, and books on knitting, crocheting, etc.

Got Milk?

aus_stephanie — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 20:52:19 +0000

Because I’m currently reading Jared Diamond’s new book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, I’ve been ranting about overpopulation on my personal blog. One great thing that nursing moms can give back to the world is to donate to the Mothers’ Milk Bank here in Austin. This non-profit’s mission statement is “to accept donations of surplus milk from healthy breastfeeding women, pasteurize the milk and dispense it by prescription to premature and sick babies, primarily those in the hospital.” Learn about other ways to help Mothers’ Milk Bank.

By the way, Diamond’s Pulitzer-prize winning book, Guns, Germs and Steel has been made for television and part two is airing on PBS tonight.

Shuttle & Space Station Sightings

aus_stephanie — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 17:08:03 +0000

You’ll soon be able to catch a glimpse of the Discovery shuttle and/or the International Space Station (ISS) in the night time skies of Austin.

MoFoNoLo

aus_stephanie — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:26:41 +0000

While South Congress (SoCo) may have a larger number of shops, the 100 block of North Loop (MoFoNoLo) is my neighborhood hub of interesting retail experiences.

Last nite I attended the latest Alleycat Crit Race, this one hosted by The Peddler. The crit had 25 racers peddling as fast as they could on all kinds of bicycles around a few blocks for 20 minutes. About 100 folks gathered for beer & spectating. Unfortunately, the Austin police showed up after the first lap and the race was cut short. I hope no one got ticketed for running stop signs on their bikes and I’m looking forward to the next Alleycat. Urban bike riding is a very good thing that we should all encourage & support in whatever ways we can.

Anyway, back to the North Loop area shops, there are great vintage furniture, clothing, etc. at Room Service and Hog Wild, and you’ll find erotic novelties at Forbidden Fruit. Ararat has great middle eastern cuisine and, on some nights, belly dancer entertainment. The Parlor (aka the Punk Rock Pizza Place) serves beer, loud music, & kickass homemade pizza. And don’t forget to visit Monkey Wrench Books and the Musical Exchange. There are other shops east of the 100 block on North Loop that also should be checked out, such as Austin Modern.

CNN/Money: Best Places to Live

aus_stephanie — Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:06:23 +0000

Austin was a contender but didn’t make the top 100 best places to live in this year’s CNN/Money report. Of course, the definition of “best” differs for us all. You can see the Austin city stats.

Reduce Money Spent on Gas

aus_stephanie — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 13:16:21 +0000

Of course the best way to cut the amount of money you spend on gas is to ride your bike, use public transportation, and walk when you can. But those of us with automobiles are going to drive occasionally, especially when it’s 100+ degrees outside. Austin Gas Prices provides current lowest priced and highest priced gas stations around the Austin area. Become a gas price spotter to win prizes and help others save money.

Austin Loves the Tour

aus_stephanie — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 21:15:43 +0000

The Discovery Channel cycling team won the team time trial today in the Tour de France. Austinite Lance Armstrong now gets the yellow jersey as overall race leader. Several places around town are broadcasting the Tour, including the Crown & Anchor Pub at 2911 San Jacinto Blvd and Central Market at 4001 N. Lamar Blvd. You can also get Tour commentary via the Austin Podcasting Network.

Her Domain of Austin

aus_stephanie — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:02:27 +0000

In 1995, I worked at the first Internet directory search engine, EINet’s Galaxy, right here in Austin at UT’s MCC Research Consortium. Galaxy was launched before Yahoo!, Lycos, etc. Unfortunately, we never succeeding in making it become what we envisioned. It’s intellectual property was eventually purchased by another company and Galaxy is still online, although in a not-so-great format. Also in 1995, a networking group for women in the blooming Internet industry called Webgrrls was formed. I was one of the early members of the Austin chapter and found the group an excellent way of meeting and talking with other women in the Internet business (not many of us back then). The Austin chapter eventually broke from the Webgrrls because we wanted to remain a not-for-profit group. This led to the formation of Her Domain. While the Her Domain forum is still concerned with Austin women in the technology industry, the focus is also centered around being a virtual place for local women to network about all types of interests. Membership is free and not just for techies, so ladies, please join in the discussion.

Uchi Uchi Uchi

aus_stephanie — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 20:36:57 +0000

I took my mother out to eat at Uchi earlier this week. It’s been my favorite japanese restaurant since it opened a couple of years ago. Tyson Cole, the head chef, used to work at what was formerly my favorite japanese restaurant so I was happy to follow him to Uchi where I’ve never been disappointed by the food or the service. Mom and I started with a tall cold bamboo filled with delicious unfiltered sake (Takara Nigori $12). If you think you don’t like sake, don’t completely write it off until you’ve tried unfiltered sake. You can buy it by the bottle at Central Market too. We whetted our appetite with Brie Tempura Ringo Canapé ($9). These are tasty bites of fried brie topped with sweet apple chutney served with salty sweet potato chips for a nice contrast of flavors. Next we had Sashimi Salad ($12), mixed greens, fresh salmon, macadamia nuts, blueberries, sweet potato crisps and a delicious soy vinaigrette dressing. I want to know how to make both the dressing and the sweet potato crisps which are grated & lightly fried and seasoned. In addition to our salad, we had two types of sushi: Hamachi (baby yellowtail $3) and Binnaga (seared albacore $2.50). Both were incredibly fresh and tasty. And for desert, there was sinfully rich Chai Tea Crème Bruleé ($7).

You can find Uchi on the east side of Lamar Blvd., .2 miles south of Barton Springs Road. Get there early or be prepared to wait, sometimes for up to two hours on the weekends. It’s THAT good.

Rocky Hill Mountain Bike Ranch

aus_stephanie — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 13:38:16 +0000

A 45 minute drive from Austin will take you to one of the best mountain bike trails in central Texas, Rocky Hill Ranch. For $8, you can ride a 6 mile, 9 mile, 10 mile, 12 mile, or 18 mile loop through the piney woods just outside of Smithville. Boomer runs the shop where you check in, get a map, and talk about the trails. He’ll also be glad to help you with any minor mechanical issues you may be having with your bike. The shop is open from 7 AM until dark, Friday through Sunday, and noon to dark on Thursday. After the ride, you can shower off the dirt & sweat and have a beer and food at the Rocky Hill Ranch Saloon. You can also camp at the ranch and explore the trails after dark.

For more information about cycling in and around Austin, check out Bike Mojo and Bicycle Sport Shop.