If you worry about coming back to work after a break, just remember that you are not alone, and I often find my colleagues to be still away or no more prepared.
I also no longer have to think about what to do with my time during the break.
2025-07-07
2025-07-06
Staycation with museum visits
During this week’s company summer shutdown, I did not travel afar but went out during the usual workweek (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) to visit some local museums. The exhibitions are all excellent and I experienced public transport as much as possible.
Tuesday: Isaac Julien: I Dream a World + Matisse: Jazz Unbound at the de Young Museum, taking Caltrain, BART, and MUNI bus 44.
Thursday: Wayne Thiebaud: Art Comes from Art + Printing Color: Chiaroscuro to Screenprint at the Legion of Honor, taking Caltrain, light-rail, and MUNI bus 38R.
Sunday: Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War at the Asian Art Museum, taking BART and some driving.
2025-07-05
Impression of an artist selling paintings on the street
While waiting for the traffic light near the intersection of Jefferson and El Camino Real on May 20 2025, I saw this artist in a hoodie and facial mask sitting against the wall outside a Whole Foods store, with several paintings and a sign that read “painting for sale”. I did a quick sketch on my mobile phone upon arrival at the Caltrain station, but could not figure out how to proceed it until today when I used it as a composition reference for Adobe Firefly text-to-image generation.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DLvGcf_vEdm/
2025-06-28
Calm before a break
I usually enjoy the period right before a holiday more than the holiday itself, maybe because I feel more relaxed thinking about a break than actually taking one.
2025-06-14
Flowery fire hydrant
I can see this fire hydrant across the street right outside my home office window, and recently it has been surrounded by blooming flowers.
The watercolor wet splatter brush helped me quickly create the flowers effect.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DK5-xlaOqEl/
2025-06-12
Zero price effect
My current employer has great on-site meal services with high quality, nutrition, taste, variety, and in a subsidized price. The employees usually use an app to order and pay for the meals.
But today, when I tried to pick up my ordered meal, I found the food stall already closed. I was then told that since the app is down, we can just take whatever they like without paying.
As expected, the popular food stalls either had long queues or were already closed due to running out of inventory.
So I just had some salad which seems less popular or better stocked.
2025-05-31
Persistent learning
When learning a new skill, how well we can do at the beginning or how fast we can improve over time matter less how persistent we can be.
Sometimes the progress might not be obvious in the short term but might pleasantly surprise us in the long term.
2025-05-25
Slow motion
I realized a while back (maybe during my teen years) that my brain tends to move too fast for by body to catch up, causing fast (and thus unclear) talking, hand writing, and body movements.
The instructor of one of my physical classes also made similar comments, so today I performed one these forms in a super slow motion. It was more physically demanding (as I need to hold each position longer) but also more mentally relaxing (as I can focus inside myself).
2025-05-05
Unnoticed review assignments
Upon noticing a reminder email about upcoming reviews due for a conference 3 days ago, I realized that I haven’t received any prior notifications about the assignments and thus haven’t started reading the papers yet. It is not a good form to miss reviews, especially for a conference that I previously chaired, so I spent an intense long weekend reviewing these submissions.