Top Ten
Ten Memorable things that I made comics about in 2021. Lost count.
1. I ended up getting a mac mini. They didn’t have much choice on the monitor. I got an ASUS which seems alright. I didn’t like having to get rid of the working screen when the imac got too slow. I’m using the imac just to stream music while I exercise in the basement.
2. Although being stuck at home obviously has drawbacks, it did allow me to participate in more talks than I might otherwise and Kyo Maclear is a particularly shining role model for me.
3. Taking pills to control Diabetes (Metformin) was disappointing to myself. I have been trying to cut down on carbs and to exercise every day to help counteract that.
4. Maybe this list is going to document my general deterioration. But these office glasses do make it much easier to work on the computer. I just have to make sure I change them when I go outside.
5. Being an online appraiser for Destination Imagination was a little odd, but I like the idea of having an outlet for creativity. The issue of appraising, however, I am ambivalent about. For a creative thing, it’s just a matter of taste.
6. This was a big deal for me, being on a panel of professional cartoonists. They were nice people and it was for an audience of fellow Children’s Authors and Illustrators. I made be think about why I do what I do.
7. Getting vaccinated was a big deal. But it did not turn out to be the salvation for society I was hoping for. Unfortunately, not enough people got vaccinated in some areas I guess. Frustrating.
8. The online reunion was a bit weird but it was fun to chat and reconnect with some people I hadn’t talked to in a long time. I don’t quite remember why I did this one in a marine theme.
9. The heat dome in the summer was quite devastating. At the same time, I was surprisingly busy this year with different kinds of projects for some reason.
10. I got interviewed by CBC Radio about the Marpole Monogatari podcast I worked on for the Nikkei National Museum. I am pretty proud of that project. I don’t know how coherent I was, but it was exciting. Later, I also got interviewed about my presentation on Nikkei in Burnaby. I am getting famous.
11. I guess I will go for more than ten. The twenty anniversary was a significant milestone, although we didn’t really do much in the way of celebration with the ongoing pandemic.
12. I admire Cindy Mochizuki a lot. She created an interesting animated exhibit at the Surrey Art Gallery and was getting people who had ancestors involved in strawberry farming in Surrey to participate. It was interesting to follow instructions from a choreographer as part of interpretive dance.
13. I was asked to read a picture book of Momotaro for the Vancouver Maritime Museum online storytime co-sponsored by the Powell Street Festival. They also let me read Peach Girl as well. And we did a little drawing activity. It was fun.
14. I was quite excited to get feedback from writer-in-residence Lindsay Wong. She was very thoughtful and helpful and encouraging. So maybe there is hope for my novel yet.
15. My partner and I went to see the blooming of the Corpse Flower at the Bloedel Conservatory. We had actually gone a few weeks prior but it hadn’t bloomed yet. A friend told me that we were on the TV news as someone else was getting interviewed.
16. I was really glad to play hockey again. I had just been a spare with this group before, but now got to be a regular. I’m glad I’ve been exercising in the morning, so that it didn’t feel so bad physically, although I am still adjusting to using the pads I’d got at the beginning of the pandemic.
17. I was upset that a bird flew into our window. I was able to donate the carcass to the Candian Wildlife Service who is studying them. I have tried to make rope curtains to keep them away, but that has failed so I’m still looking for another solution.
18. We called a pest control company who checked for possible entry points and set some traps. Eventually we got one. This seems like a morbid end to the list, but I haven’t been able to post through the ipad app lately and therefore the images have not been in the library for the web site. Oh well. There you go.