Manufacturing

All week, JE and I have been plotting...
I learned last Thursday in class, that today's class would be held in Los Angeles at 10:30 this morning. We both traded out Monday's holiday so we could spend the day together and play. One of the benefits of having dad staying with us is having a rush of teenage mischievousness thinking about sneaking away without dad knowing.

My meeting with the software company this morning was really interesting. The focus of my work has been all about hand building patterns and costumes. This new software could potentially cut my patterning time and opens so many possibilities for work. Maybe my focus will be to learn the program well enough to teach it internationally. Travel sound fun. I suggested this to one of the presenters. He asked if I could travel and if I spoke any other languages. Not any well enough to teach in, but that can change. I wish I were born a language super learner...

Cities are big, loud and a little bit crazy. But today, we found a sweet spot in the heart of all that crazy. In the brilliant California winter sunlight, we ran through Elysian Park. Most of it was trail, some of it was hobbled road. All of it was beautiful and covered in new grass. I love that California turns bright green, while so much of the rest of the northern hemisphere is hunkering down for another month of winter onslaught.

After our run, we checked into a Korean Spa on Wiltshire. It was so nice to unwind, relax, and be warmed. As I sat in the hot tub, I noticed the women around me. The women's area of the spa is clothing prohibited. It isnt a big deal, just the way of things. Its comforting to look around and see all the scars, moles, flab, cellulite, veins, and things that we all share as human beings. As well as the great stuff: skin colors stretched over fat, muscles and bone to create a body as unique as fingerprints; faces, and hair. It probably sound very strange that I mention these things, but artistiacaly speaking women are beautiful. Not no mmuch in the manufactured forms in media, but just as we are and as we ever were, we are beautiful. As I was getting ready to leave, an old old woman was shoulder deep in the bubbles of the hot tub. She had been talking with someone, motioning to them to get into the tub. Almost too late, I realized she was talking to me, as I sat on the edge of the pool. I slid in, and gave her a wink. She gave me a toothless grin and winked back.

On a recommendation from Jonathan Gold, a local food critic, we went to dinner at Palsaik on Western. We waited a bit for our table, but it was worth it. This was Korean BBQ as I've never seen it done before! A one of a kind. Pork belly, seasoned eight ways and grilled, served with a pickled radish paper and chili sauce. There were other condiments on the table, of course--it is a Korean restaurant. The kimchi was served on the grill, hot. After the seafood soup, the hot dish was used to cook the remaining kimchi and bean sprouts into a fried rice dish. My only complaint? I want that fried rice for breakfast tomorrow with a couple scrambled eggs!