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Click Random Memory #30 ~ Hong Kong I am sitting at a table in Mr. Lao's class with my felt cloth and a section of rice paper unfurled before me. I have been grinding ink and making horizontal and vertical lines on my rice paper over and over and over. I have been doing this for weeks. A fellow student arrives with a small package which she proudly unwraps to show Mr. Lao. It is an exquisitely carved antique ink stone, the surface smooth as silk. It is a wonderful find she purchased in one of the many fine shops in Central...it could have been a museum piece. Mr. Lao's face is a blank mask, he says, "Put it away. It belongs to a Master." It will be months before I am allowed to paint a cherry blossom.