Groan

I spent 12 hours w/my teacher and his wife over two days and think I finally got the hang of the general idea of the twisting. I knew I didn't have it right but also that I needed time to figure it out. Yesterday was the "AHA!" day. But it's still slow going and my teacher still has to take my piece away from me every few rows to set it straight again. I have a week and a half "off" since they're busy next week, but I'm scared that it will turn into some kind of awful disaster now that I am going to be making it on my own.

Yesterday I visited the biggest army base here and was duly freaked out. I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my head around the military and its role in the nation state, especially in wartime; it's just too huge. But I did get to do tons of reading on the trip, so I finally finished Don Baker's Korean Spirituality. I'll type up notes and then get it back to Frank, who kindly lent it to me MONTHS ago. It's embarrassing how long it took to read. Also, I got a scan of the feature article on me in a local paper back home, and was mortified. Not flattering, which is a shame, b/c I could use good press. But they say bad press is better than none. In the meantime, I just want to make some art. Really, really badly.