Power-walking down icy sidewalks, bundled up in my thickest wool coat, it’s hard to believe I was in California not too long ago. Although there’s much that I miss about the West Coast, it feels good to be back home in New York. And it was especially lovely to come back to a mail box full of letters and cards!

Souvenirs from Emily’s Iceland trip: a map postcard, a found vintage landscape photograph of a village called Kirkjubæjarklaustur, and a delicate handmade ceramic cup. Ah, she knows me so well!

My talented friend Orion made this illustrated story book in Kunming. When his parcel arrived in New York, I held the book in my hands and started re-remembering Yunnan.
There was one day Taurin, Orion, and I went to eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup together. I silently followed Orion, starting to feel hangry (so hungry that you start feeling angry)–I must have been in the studio working all day.
The noodle shop had only one thing on the menu and a self-serve station with all the best fixings–all the chopped scallions, minced garlic, and hot pepper paste that you could ever want. I piled a mound of toppings on my bowl of soup and sat on a plastic stool on the sidewalk. No one talked. We just dove into that bowl and slurped away, with huge smiles on our faces.

Rina’s package was such a wonderful surprise on a cold, cold day! I love the tiny Japanese incense and paper goodies.

All the letters really do travel through space…

Charlotte hid a collection of pretty stamps in a secret pouch on the envelope. Oh, that Russian stamp! I really love stylized propaganda paper goodies.

Johanna’s handprinted zine, Colletion #1, arrived from Berlin! And psst, she just finished printing Colletion #2.

Matcha latte and sweet potato pastry, while flipping through Mika Ninagawa’s colorful photo book.
Shugo Tokumaru’s new stop motion music video is mesmerizing.

I walked around the snow covered Central Park on Saturday with my film camera. All the rolls expired in the ’80s and ’90s, so who knows how/if these shots will turn out? I can’t wait to get the rolls developed this week!

Do you remember how short my hair used to be? I’m trying to grow it out this year.
P.S. Gabriela invited me to do an interview for Vociferous magazine. I talk about my childhood, travels, current projects, and a bit about my plans for this year. She asked me such wonderful questions, I almost started writing an essay.
Which reminds me, I’m slowly doing some spring cleaning and reorganizing around the blog. I just added a couple more places on my Adventure Map.

































