daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
A storm rolled though the area this afternoon, with a severe weather watch in effect for a couple of hours. We had heavy rain, no hail, and an amazing showing by the storm clouds! These photos are highly stylized in Adobe Lightroom, but I really like them. They look like the undersides of ocean waves, don’t they?
I hope you had a nice day! またね～
Some of you more perceptive readers might have noticed that not only did I bring my Peugeot bicycle home, but I also took my brother’s old Bianchi mountain bike. It’s in better condition than the Peugeot was, so it just needs some new cables and will be ready to go.
Did you know that Bianchi is the oldest bicycle brand in the world? I didn’t know that before today. At any rate, this bicycle is from around 1990 and is a type of bicycle that is popular right now: vintage mountain bikes. I guess people like the steel frames, rigid forks, and old geometry. I’d like to customize it a bit with some new tires, a new saddle and maybe a front rack. We’ll see!
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Tonight I watched the 2004 Japanese movie Crying Out Love in the Center of the World / 世界の中心で、愛をさけぶ, which was the breakout movie for my current actress crush Masami Nagasawa. I love melodramatic tear-jerkers these days and I knew going in that this was a sad story (you find out early on that Aki passes away), but I didn’t know that the story’s time period would also include a lot of nostalgic interest for me.
The story switches between 2004 (present day) and 1986, when the characters were in high school, which means the characters are the same age as me and Mariko. Adding to the nostalgia, Aki (Masami Nagasawa) and Saku (Mirai Moriyama) exchange messages to each other via cassette tape and it’s fun to see the old Walkman models and compact boom-boxes in action – it almost makes me want to find an old cassette player. 😁
The plot is more interesting and complex than you might expect, and there’s a bit of mystery as to who the character Ritsuko (Kou Shibasaki) really is, and how the cassette tapes connect the past to the present. But it’s the acting that really impressed me. Most of the scenes are quiet are drawn-out, so all attention is on the acting and I am happy to say that it does not disappoint. A+ from the entire cast.
I really liked that the story Crying Out Love in the Center of the World is so pure and innocent, yet can still be so moving. There’s no controversial, disturbing, or uncomfortable scenes – it’s just a story about love, loss, and trying to move on.
I rate it 9 out of 10 on the enjoyment meter!
We made one of our favorite curries tonight to share with some dinner guests. It’s so nice to have (fully vaccinated) friends at our house again! The Sri Lankan Chicken Curry recipe is from The Flavor Blender, and tastes great, but what is really remarkable is that the aroma after you add the curry powder and curry leaves is incredible! If you weren’t hungry before, you are guaranteed to start craving dinner once the fragrant smells start to fill the kitchen. ☺
Our guests brought over a salad, samosas, and pani puri to round out the meal. It was awesome and of course yours truly ate way too much! It was just too good.
Today I took a break from my normal afternoon coffee and had some tea. It was delicious! This tea is from Taiwan and I enjoyed three cups of it. I think I might make this a habit as it seems like a more natural way to transition to the later part of the day. 🍵
