Shark fin soup and other esoteric stuff

We went to Foo Sheng last night for dinner. I had shark fin soup for the first time ever and was left wondering what the fuss was all about. Tastes the same as egg drop soup to me except for the crunchy little strings that are the cartilage of the shark's fins. A little bit of sweet vinegar does make it more interesting though. I asked KC why this delicacy is so sought after. His explanation was that it's because of the difficulty of obtaining the material and the complexity of extracting the little bits that are used. Kind of "because it's there".

I've been looking at a lot of different knitting technique books lately. I treated myself yesterday to Simple Socks by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts. Well, it was my birthday after all. And I've been trying to read it at Skein but it's kind of hard to follow sometimes, especially when the shop is busy. So I thought I'd better just get it so I could try to follow what she's talking about and try to reproduce her different cast-ons. So far it's a little like shark fin soup.

Ann Mary told me she ordered a lot of Koigu when she was at TNNA. Now that's some esoteric stuff I can get behind. I don't know when it's supposed to arrive but I've heard some grumblings from other shop owners that the Koigu people are very slow with the deliveries. I suspect it's because everything they can produce is going to Indiana and we out here in La La Land just get the leftovers. If there are any. But I'm hoping we get some soon!