Ailana’s Journal — 2026-02-16 (Patreon)

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GOOD MORNING

Waking up here at the Hilton Garden Inn Los Angeles/Hollywood. That’s the official name from Google Maps. As you see, I’ve not made much progress on getting ready.

Today and the next few days after it are supposed to be more or less cloudy and rainy. We’re going to try to make the best of it.

Today, we’re going to Grand Central Market to look around and take it in. Low stress… Lots of photos and notes for future articles… Making the most of a situation is simply what you have to do sometimes.

Grand Central Market feels like Los Angeles under one roof. It’s been here for more than a century—rows of vendors, neon signs, coffee counters, fresh tortillas, pastries, produce, and the kind of food you can smell before you see.

It’s loud and layered and alive. Tourists and locals stand shoulder to shoulder. You don’t come for quiet—you come to wander, to taste, to sit at a long table and let the city move around you.

So that’s where we’re heading this morning. I’ll check back in from there later—see you then.

MEANWHILE IN TEXAS

Checking in from Grand Central Market… Today’s lesson is that sometimes you have to just roll with it. More specifically, Jasmine has to make something happen. She called a little while ago with a situation.

“Naomi Prior just called,” Jasmine explained. “She has a modeling thing, and she wants me to do it.”

Skipping a lot of details, a shoe company wants some of the sandals in their line pictured on dark-skinned models. It’s a business decision to position their brand into a wider demographic.

“They have three pairs of sandals, and she wants me to model them,” Jasmine explained.

This is only an issue because Jason, Geoni, and I—the normal photographers—are in L.A. Otherwise, it would be a really simple shoot. They want them pictured environmentally which, in some ways, makes things easier.

“Okay,” I answered, “this isn’t really a problem.”

I told her where she could find my camera that she’s been using, then when she had it, I went over how to set the shutter and aperture for the shot.

“Of course, you need someone to take the shot. Call Kirina… She’s been in front of a camera a lot in her music career, so she’ll have a sense of things. Then, you two can go online and find sandal ads. Take notes about angles and lighting that you like. Where was the sun? Where was the camera in relation to the feet? Don’t zoom in too closely so that the art director can crop as desired. Take a lot of images and send them all to Naomi… Let her decide what to send to the client.”

“Do you think this can work,” Jasmine asked.

“Definitely,” I said. “You’ll need to do some homework to get ready, but I think you’ve got it…”

“Okay, then,” Jasmine replied, “I’ll call when we get started and you can help via FaceTime.”

So that’s the plan. Sandal shoot, pending delivery of product.

See you then!

A MODELING JOB by Jasmine Banks

Earlier today Naomi Prior called about me modeling some sandals. I called Ailana, and she talked to me about how to do it.

After that call, I talked to Kirina Yung to see if she’d help by being the photographer. She hesitated at first, but after I told her what Ailana said, she agreed.

Just like that… I’m modeling again and Kirina is going to be the photographer.

I told Naomi what the plan was, and she said she thought it would be fine. “Just do what Ailana said… send me a lot to pick from, and I’ll forward the best ones to the client. We can make this work.”

I said she could work out sending the shoes to Ailana, but she said they were aiming for a particular market demographic and needed my complexion specifically. It was like the sweater shoot out in Colorado.

I get it. I know when I’m looking at clothes and things, I like to see how they look on someone who resembles me. Not 100% of the time, but usually.

So Kirina and I are going to try to pull this off. Just like that… One call from Naomi, a call to Ailana, and some followup—suddenly I’m back in front of the camera.

Naomi said she’d get the sandals on the way, and hopefully they’ll be here by Wednesday. So I guess we’ll wait and see.

GOOD NIGHT

Dinner tonight is at Musso & Frank Grill. It is an iconic L.A. dinner venue dating back to 1919.

When I sit in a place like this, sometimes my mind wanders. And wonders…

How many people have sat in this seat before me? What were they like? Were they soldiers having a fine dinner before going off to WWII? Artists? Actors? Writers? How many marriages began with a proposal in this booth? Or in this restaurant?

Places, to me, are anchors—points in the universe where stories are made, witnesses to life happening. If I stop and think about it, I feel amazed.

Musso & Frank has been telling its story for many years. The red leather booths, the dark wood paneling, the quiet confidence of waiters who move like they’ve done this forever—it all feels steady.

It doesn’t chase trends. It doesn’t apologize for its age. It simply exists, holding space for the next conversation, the next celebration, the next turning point. The kind of room where history doesn’t feel distant—it feels seated beside you.

So this is where we have come for dinner. I’m glad you found us here and that I was able to share the moment with you.

The night is still early here in L.A. We’ll linger here, taking our time to respect the history of this storied venue. Then we’ll make our way back to the hotel and call our day done.

May you sit in rooms that remind you how small you are—and how significant your story still is. May you pause long enough to feel the weight of the moments before you, not with pressure, but with gratitude. May you understand that your life is unfolding in places that will one day hold someone else’s memory of you. And may you never forget that you, too, are part of the story a place is quietly keeping.

Good night.

Be your best you!

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