Category: Slice of Life

Last Year’s Books & Movies

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Just Hangin” Cedar Park, 2021

I don’t consider myself an avid movie-watcher, but since we got rid of our cable/satellite television a few years back, my tv-time has been spent on Netflix watching feature films and short tv series. I keep a list of the movies I watch, and in 2020 I watched 49, which is a pretty big number for me. Perhaps the pandemic has skewed the number a bit higher, but probably not by much since I also like to go to the theater and those outings have been stopped of course. Besides knowing the total count, it’s fun to look back at the years to see what I watched.

On the same page I keep track of the books I’ve read throughout the year, but I also participate in the yearly reading challenge on Goodreads. For 2020 I set a goal of 20 books to read, and I ended up finishing 35. I’m particularly proud of that! One thing that made my year of reading special was that I started reading audiobooks. What a fantastic way to read!

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Today’s photo is a snapshot of one of my desk “residents”. I have three of the Pinky:St figures, but this one is my favorite.

2021 Osechi

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO1600
 “Osechi” Cedar Park, 2021

We kicked off the new year with another delicious traditional osechi. In addition to the usual awesome dishes, we had some saba (mackerel) that our friends prepared for us and it was excellent. I love saba so much!

Here’s to a good 2021!

Texas Sunset Snapshot at the HEB

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Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/620 sec, ISO100
 “Texas Sunset” Cedar Park, 2020

Today’s photo is a snapshot of a very common sight (at least for me). It’s a sunset from the HEB parking lot. I guess it’s just timing and the really cool clouds we have in Texas, but I get a ton of these shots. I’m very happy about this. 😀

Speaking of HEB (technically H-E-B), I think its near legendary status in the Twitterverse is rightly earned. When I first moved to Texas 20 years ago, I would have said… nah. But now when I travel back to Los Angeles and visit a Ralphs or Vons… wow, those supermarkets just cannot compare to HEB. Not only are HEBs bright, clean, usually with wide aisles, and renovated regularly, but their own brands of food are awesome, especially the Mi Comida line. My HEB has so many Mexican cheeses that are unfamiliar to me, but are all great. And the HEB “Creamy Creations” ice creams are generally awesome.

They also have a reputation of being a good employer, and their community outreach programs are also well-regarded, like their relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of these factors, I’ve definitely joined the legions of HEB fans!

Relax and Recharge (and Thoughts About Work-Life Balance)

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Reading and Relaxing” Cedar Park, 2020

I officially have the entire week off from work, so I’m using it to relax, unwind, and play games. But I also check in with work a little bit which is fine.

In the past I would feel bad about checking my work laptop on weekends or days off, thinking that I needed a hard separation between home-life and work-life. Not just separating it with physical space or actions, but also in my thinking. For instance, if I was doing something mundane at home like taking a shower or folding laundry and a thought about work comes into my mind, I’d feel guilty, as if it was encroaching on my space. But beginning a couple of years ago, I found myself letting go of that guilt… it wasn’t really a concerted effort on my part, but I just realized that I didn’t feel bad about it anymore. And it felt great, as if a weight were lifted off my shoulders. ☺

My work involves visual design, and I find that creativity isn’t bound by the 9 to 5 workday. Some days I am just not that productive creatively, but often when I’m doing mundane things outside of work hours, I think about design challenges and formulate some solutions or things to explore when I do start my workday. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of these moments of creative insight? It’s more stressful to force myself to be creative exclusively during my work hours like I used to do. Now, thinking about work outside of work hours isn’t a negative, but a positive thing.

Letting go of that guilt has been liberating. Of course I still prioritize family at all times, but I can’t deny that work is a large part of my life, so I might as well embrace the fact that it always will take up some of my headspace and use it to my advantage.

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Today’s photo is of Bay, reading and relaxing in the massage chair. He’s on winter break from college and it’s been so nice to have him home!