Mother’s Day
In lieu of Mother’s Day, my family of 10 finally resumed our Sunday lunch ritual, despite needing to separate into 2 tables due to recently enforced social distancing laws. The restaurant was packed as expected, it’s good to see businesses flourishing once again. After lunch, I went to my new place with my parents and sister to inspect the newly renovated balconies, my dad’s friend had done a great job!
My weekly studio hours also resumed to more or less normal. In fact, there were a couple of days when I arrived at the bus stop at around 6am to start work early. I’m now experimenting with larger scale prints that takes more than 10 hours to complete!
My weekly Tuesday calligraphy class also resumed, it was good seeing my teacher and classmates again. My FB reminded me yesterday that it has been 4 years since I started learning Chinese calligraphy. I’m really thankful for serendipitously enrolling into the class and continuously being fascinated by the art.
It’s been 21 days since our last local confirmed COVID-19 case was recorded, can we stop wearing masks by the time we reach 28 days? The warming weather is making it more and more uncomfortable with the mask on.
Oh Lord, thank you for continuing to help us through the pandemic and let us transition to normal life again. Please continue to look after us and see us through the very end of this long tiring battle against COVID-19. ??
100 Days
With 14 days of no COVID-19 confirmed cases locally, and over 100 days of social distancing and masking measures, our city seems to have fended off the pandemic relatively successfully.
We’re now seemingly entering a new stage of transitioning back to normal life. But is that even possible? The pandemic has killed lives and closed down businesses that will never resurrect again. Besides, there must be lessons that we have learnt during this long period of isolation and are eagerly waiting to make changes in the post-pandemic era. Change will be inevitable, but hopefully for the better. I’m actually looking forward to a new life beyond this crazy pandemic, would be a nice change if I can at least leave home without worrying about putting on a mask.
I’ve kickstarted my transition this past week by initiating the planned mass cleanup of the studio. The minor renovation at my new home is also near completion. I also dined out a couple of times, but it felt strange seeing the separating devices and tables either blocked off or having no more than 4 people at restaurants. My temporary schedule of working from home on MWF will also come to an end this week, that means less guilty pleasures of playing with plastic models and cartooning. Weekly calligraphy class is also confirmed to resume. I feel a bit like a kid readying myself for back-to-school after summer vacation.
Oh Lord, thank you for helping our city and its people in this long battle against COVID-19. Pls continue to save us (and the rest of the world) till the end of the pandemic. ??
Art for Earth
Took a week-long creative detour to participate in WWF’s Art for Earth campaign. It was the week of Earth Day 50th Anniversary, the campaign encourages artists to create and share a piece of art daily based on each day’s prompt. I took the opportunity to continue my weekly cartooning Inktober52 story. It’s a lot more tiring to do one (sometimes two) cartoon panels each day, but it was a rewarding exercise to train the creative muscles.
The number of local confirmed COVID19 cases had been staying low in single digits (actually 0 cases for three days) the past week. Seems like we’re finally seeing a glimpse of light at the end of this long pandemic tunnel. I’ve resumed renovating my new place again, plan to have it ready for move-in before June. My weekly calligraphy class is also set to resume in May. This coming week will likely be my last week of working-from-home on alternate days. Life should slowly return to normal in May.
I’m planning to make May the month of cleanup. While preparing the new place for move in, I also plan to do some big cleanups in the studio and my old place. Hope to have things ready for life to restart in June.
Oh Lord, pls continue to help us through this pandemic, be merciful to the uncountable souls lost, comfort those who had lost their loved ones, and heal those who are sick. May you continue to grant good health to the frontline medics and everyone who have been working so that we may stay safely at home. ??
WOTL
Watching (mostly just listening) the One World Together At Home while writing this post. Despite my fading trust in WHO, I think this is an incredibly creative campaign to connect and entertain people and showing appreciation for our medical staffs for fighting COVID-19 while we stay safely at home. I’m reminded once again of the power of web technologies and its importance in sharing information and connecting people globally, instantly, and simultaneously.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic at around CNY (late Jan.), I have been spending more and more time in my room at home. Little by little, it is being transformed into my tiny ark sheltering me from the virus while letting me stay sane through calligraphy and cartooning.
The pandemic is still serious and killing people by the thousands worldwide. A couple at my church in Toronto was diagnosed with COVID-19 recently, fortunately both of them are now discharged and recovering at home. Feels differently about the seriousness of the pandemic now that I can put a face on the overwhelming death toll numbers.
My daily devotion has now reached 2 Samuel. The weekly reflection noted about how David had waited on the Lord (WOTL) and disciplined himself on flute and sling shots while mundanely tending sheep as a shepherd boy. It’s a good reminder that I should be patient and proactively train and prepare myself for the post-COVID-19 era.
Oh Lord, pls be merciful to humanity Your creation and help us through this pandemic that we may come out stronger and closer to You. ??
Easter Weekend
This marathon social distancing practice is really soaking the life out of me. When can we all leave our masks behind and meet face to face again?
Have been keeping myself busy with studio work, calligraphy practice, and cartooning. One of the breakthrough this week was making a protective visor with 3D printing and standard materials like A4 transparencies and a hole-puncher. Makers in the US have been making and donating thousands of these PPE to their local frontline medics. Never thought 3D printing technology can be employed to save lives, and seeing how quickly these DIY face shields have been proliferating in response to the sharp rising demand during this pandemic was a revelation and encouraging experience. Maybe it’s time to put on my dusty engineering hard hat and iron ring and see if I can be of any use to help humanity during this dark difficult time.
Seeing how internet technologies have been used to connect and entertain ppl around the world during this social-distancing pandemic also got me thinking about getting back to doing some web programming work. I’ll probably need some time to pick up on the latest development, but I guess it’s never too late to start if the direction is right.
I’ll continue to keep my inking endeavor as a hobby. Art is not a critical sport during this pandemic, but it certainly helps me stay sane while social distancing. Art has always been my good companion when I’m alone.
I think last week’s video clip by an astronaut on social isolation had triggered the many thoughts on my “mission” in this world. It also helps to stay hopeful and prepare for the future, especially during these gloomy days. The day shall come when we’ll meet and be joyful again.
Oh Lord, my Father in heaven, You have sent Your one and only Son on a mission to die and save us sinners more than 2000 years ago. Can You also tell me my purpose on Earth?
