Stepping forward and back

Our chiritori station, where we pick the cooked bark before beating. Yes, it seems like there is way MORE bark inside the tray (on top of a light table so you can see the dark bits more easily when the light is turned on) than inside the white bucket, where the picked bark resides.

I float the bark inside the colanders and then transfer the dark bits to the tray and clean bits to the bucket. This was a solo day when my standards kept slipping as I went along because I just wanted to be done with it. The warm spell made the fiber turn in a whole different way. It's interesting to smell the difference between fiber turning slowly in cold, cold weather, and the same fiber turning right away in a day or two in warmer weather. So that's the Japanese kozo. I forgot to shoot over the last few days because of the papermaking, but it's very green. Also, lots of flocculation issues with chemicals fighting each other (retention aid, sizing, PMP, PEO). But I got a handful of nice sheets even amidst the chunky ones. Things never go as fast as I'd like, and we keep meeting roadblocks, but I'm still feeling optimistic about the whole project.

I like to go to the Chinese grocery nearby for produce and banh mi and snacks. This guy greets me every time. Do you see his gourd? Love it. This week I went to a very intense yoga class and hopefully I will get back in shape and not end up looking like him. But being happy like him, yes!

Here is Liz at Zygote giving us a great tour/talk. My students acted just like children who embarrass you would act: blank stares when asked about things I've taught them, making me look like the idiot. Sigh. But it was great to see them so attentive for once, and I wish we could have stayed longer. We had a van not show up so we were late, and then one carload of students never made it from Zygote to the Morgan, but I suppose that's how things go as we get late into the semester. Good news: I've finally booked my travel and hotel for Convergence! When I get the energy, I'll break out all the classes I'm teaching that week (four in six days on jiseung, joomchi, and artists' books).