Haken no Hinkaku

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/3.6, 1/160 sec, ISO640
“Haken no Hinkaku” Cedar Park, 2025

Mariko told me way back in 2007 that I would like Haken no Hinkaku, and here I am finally watching it eighteen years later. I am five episodes in and really enjoying it. The acting and plot are classic J-Dorama style, a little silly, a little unrealistic, and definitely over the top, but it all feels so familiar and cozy. And the best part is that there are two seasons waiting for me. I am excited to see the rest of the episodes!

Sheet Music on the iPad

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO2500
“Sheet Music” Cedar Park, 2025

I’ve started using my iPad for reading sheet music, and it has cleared so much clutter off my desk. It feels great to have fewer loose papers sitting around. When I am learning a brand-new song, I still like having a paper copy because it is easier to mark things up and see everything at a glance. But when I want to revisit an older song and refresh my memory on a section, the iPad is perfect.

I keep all my sheet music as PDFs in a OneDrive folder, and I can open them from any of my devices. I manage everything from my MacBook, and it works really well. It would be even nicer if I could create a direct shortcut to my Sheet Music folder in OneDrive, but for now the setup is still very convenient.

Roasting Peppers

Photo info: Apple iPhone 15 Pro, 6.7649998656528mm, f/1.8, 1/60 sec, ISO640
“Peppers” Cedar Park, 2025

Today I made a simple salsa that consisted of roasted jalapeño peppers, lime, and salt. It is a straightforward recipe, but the result is tangy and delicious! It was also fun to use the comal we bought in Mexico City to roast the peppers.