For this

Wow. I am still recovering from a full day of teaching yesterday. In the morning, I gave a lecture to Terttu's class at ICP and then stayed to help students prepare and sew limited edition bindings. That was a hoot. After doing a quick drop of my books that will be displayed at the Living Theatre to highlight Soomi Kim's performance next week, I headed uptown to meet Paul and Maki for a private jiseung lesson. Paul is one of those longtime papermakers and paper researchers that I have always known in name only, and he was kind enough to invite me to write an article on jiseung two years ago. Even then, he mentioned hoping to learn jiseung techniques from me someday, though he lives in Japan and I haven't been in that vicinity for years. Luckily, our paths crossed yesterday! It was such a treat to have uncomplaining students, and also be able to talk shop, reminding me how important the community is to my independent work. I tried to cover a LOT of ground, which looks like not so much to the naked eye. It looks like that piece in the picture above. But to do that from scratch in four hours is asking too much. Of course, I am still a green teacher, so I ask too much all the time. Then I go home and wonder if this is how boxers feel after a match.

What I learned yesterday: gratitude. For true teachers and students. Time to send a message to my jiseung teacher thanking him again, though I could do that for the rest of my life and it would never quite be enough.