Tony Law's Website

Work

Aug 4, 2012

Not sure what got into me this week, other than my regular painting class on Mon. and a soccer game on Wed., I had pretty much spent most of my afternoon and evening hours working in front of my computer. Last night was a record-breaker, by the time I ironed out a website layout issue, it was already close to 4am!

It’s been a long time since I last indulged myself with work like this. It feels good to be busy sometimes as it seems to give my wondering mind a little focus, moreover, the time spent away from the computer screen (painting class & soccer) now seems extra pleasurable. I think I’m starting to see God’s guidance in my career, projects seem to be coming my way one after another in a well-arranged timeline without swamping me all at once.

May God help me to continue to see more clearly His purpose in me, to live my life the way He intended me to live, to use the gifts He had so lavishly given me to serve others and to glorify His name.

Soccer

Aug 1, 2012

Checked my calendar, the last time I played soccer was back on June 6th! Felt good to once again play the sport I love most. Was a bit out of shape, but it felt good to sweat in this sweltering heat.

Had a breakthrough this afternoon, after dreading for months, I finally started a Flash game project. Took me a whole afternoon, it was only minutes before the soccer game that I was finally able to setup the development environment. I was so close to giving up the project.

The soccer game felt especially sweet after a long day of work. “Work hard, play hard(er)!”

Oil Painting

Jul 30, 2012

Started the next level of oil painting classes tonight, will be spending 3 more months of Monday nights learning how to paint! We’ll be having 12 classes, 3 classes to complete one painting, so we’ll end up with 4 completed paintings at the end of the course.

Unlike the beginner’s course in which we painted real fruits/vegetables, we’ll be painting from photos this time around. One of the photos is a frog, I can’t wait to paint my first animal portrait!

Rushed through the first class trying to follow the instructor’s directions, can barely keep up with his pace. Hopefully, it will become smoother as I progress through the classes.

Busyness

Jul 29, 2012

Felt like I had spent a little bit too much time in front of my computer this week. On my work list are a few website projects (profiting and probono), adhoc support for a CRM system, and a flash game I’m dreaded to even start. The projects aren’t particularly urgent, but I seem to have the sense that time is becoming scarce and I couldn’t afford to even take a nap.

I probably overworked a bit this week, can’t seem to stand staring at the monitors on a Sunday, so I let EVE have a good whole day of rest and never turned her on.

Rest, for the purpose of traveling a greater distance.

Fellowship

Jul 27, 2012

The volunteering team who went to Sichuan earlier shared their experience during fellowship tonight. I hardly spoke a word as I was very attentive in hearing their heart-warming experiences. I couldn’t help but recall the summer of 2008…

I remember that summer vividly. I was doing my thesis and defense that summer, and two major events happened during that course of time – the Sichuan earthquake and the Beijing Olympics. I was very saddened by the first and felt rather proud of the latter. I didn’t feel so strongly about my Chinese identity before that summer of 2008. For some reason, I felt that was a sign that God was telling me to return to my root, my family, my country.

I can still vividly remember the one time I had lunch with my research colleagues that summer, one of them was from Mainland and he told us how devastating it must be for the parents who had lost their child in the earthquake, because most people are only allowed to have only 1 child in the household due to the 1-child policy. I’m not sure what got into me that time as I suddenly told them that I wanted to teach kids in the orphanage how to draw. I said “sudden” because that thought never occurred to me prior to that lunch. That thought sounded right at that time, and I still think that would be something I want to try to do someday when I’m older and more qualified to teach.

The sharing during fellowship tonight brought me back to the summer of 2008, I was so full of dreams and hope before returning to the city I was born. I felt that God had big plans for me, He had blessed me so much that it was about time that I return the favor and use the gifts He had given me for His works. That sense of purpose seemed to have faded after returning to this city for about 3 years, but was rekindled a little bit after tonight’s fellowship.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”(Jeremiah 29:11).

Typhoon No.9

Jul 23, 2012

Crazy winds were brought to the city thanks to Typhoon Vicente, this is probably the craziest storm since I returned about 3 years ago! The typhoon came at a really bad time as tonight is the first Monday in months that I don’t have to attend painting class, and I thought I could enjoy a little soccer game with my friends. It probably has been more than a month since I last played my favorite sport!

I had a headache almost the whole day yesterday, felt dizzy, a bit like getting a heat stroke. Sometimes I think I can sense the coming of storms.

Stayed home all day, started working on a new simple website project, working somewhat harder than usual.

Update: the typhoon turned into T10 at 12:15am!

Dinner Conversation

Jul 21, 2012

My brother joined my parents and I for dinner at home tonight, a little conversation was stirred up in the usually quiet meal. I revealed to them for the first time my short term and (vague) long term career goal, something about fusing work with hobby and how I don’t put my salary as a top priority. It’s not well-received as they seem to look at a person’s worth simply by how much money they make.

I understand that being able to make a living with work is important, and I’m now learning my ways to do so in this money-centric city. But isn’t there something beyond the financial aspect of work that we should consider? What about the meaning of work? Life’s purpose?

Anyway, I think I did deliver my point clearly and calmly over the dinner table, and I’m kind of proud of that.

Cleanup

Jul 20, 2012

Went to Ikea and bought a long (150 x 28 cm) piece of shelf board after lunch. After some heavy lifting and a sweaty afternoon of reorganizing and cleanup, I was able to squeeze some extra desktop space by pulling out my desk and adding an additional slightly elevated shelf behind it. Now the 2 external monitors are more appropriately placed further and higher, and the desktop feels much less cluttered.

I think I’m finally content with my work environment setup since EVE arrived, no more excuses to slack off now!

Website Demo

Jul 18, 2012

Worked pass 2am mocking up a website to be demoed for a presentation today. It was a presentation in which my friend’s company was invited to present their proposal for a website revamp project, I was just curiously tagged along. My friend seemed a little tense for someone experienced with such settings, but he pulled it through and everything seemed good and well until someone pointed out at the end that we misinterpreted their project scope and demoed for a different site that didn’t need to be updated! Goodbye to all the work done in preparation for this presentation, I hope my friend wasn’t too disappointed.

It was an interesting experience for me nonetheless. It’s good to know how website projects are being outsourced in this city, I’ve always just depended on word-of-mouth referrals for my projects.

Last Painting Class

Jul 16, 2012

Had my last oil painting class tonight, painted my first non-fruit/veggie painting. Had spent 12 Monday nights learning and practicing on this medium. Every class (except for the first 2 classes), we would first see the instructor demonstrate for about half-an-hour how to paint a fresh fruit/veggie, then we would go to our separate painting stations and indulge ourselves with about an hour of painting. The hour of complete concentration was a wonderful experience, it’s almost as though the world around me had come to a stop, no worries, no troubles, just focus and solitude.

Had sacrificed a few soccer games to join these classes, I do miss the social aspect of the game. Will be starting my next level of painting classes at the end of the month, will then have a few more months of Monday nights indulging myself with oil painting!