New Coffee at Our House

"Sumatran Coffee" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO2500
“Sumatran Coffee” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Mariko and I are both coffee drinkers (and Bay is turning into one as well) which means we need a steady supply of coffee beans for our morning drinks. The photo above is the latest coffee we are trying, and I have to say, it’s pretty good! I always drink my coffee black, so I can easily tell if it’s too bitter, and this one is very smooth – almost too smooth, but what’s nice is that Mariko buys lots of different coffees, so before long, we’re onto something new.

One thing that makes a big difference in the taste of the coffee is grinding whole beans rather than buying the coffee pre-ground. Even before drinking, that smell of the freshly ground beans is awesome! Another bonus is that if the coffee happens to be too bitter, you can create a coarser ground next time for a milder taste. Conversely, I’ve also used the grinder to “freshen up” pre-ground beans (which tend to be less flavorful) and give them a stronger flavor.

I’ve read that the Burr-type grinders are the best, but we’ve had our Braun electric blade-type grinder for over 15 years and it’s still going strong, so we’ll probably keep going with it until it dies (which might be never).

I hope you had a nicely-caffeinated day! ☕

またね~

Snapshots from Tonight’s Dinner

"Duck and Foie Gras Sushi" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/50 sec, ISO6400
“Duck and Foie Gras Sushi” Austin, 2019
"Shishamo" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/50 sec, ISO6400
“Shishamo” Austin, 2019
"Sushi Roll" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/70 sec, ISO6400
“Sushi Roll” Austin, 2019
"Busy Restaurant" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/125 sec, ISO4000
“Busy Restaurant” Austin, 2019
"Mini-Ramen" Austin, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/60 sec, ISO6400
“Mini-Ramen” Austin, 2019

Fondue Dinner at Home

"Double Cheese" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
“Double Cheese” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Tonight we had a wonderful fondue dinner at home. We have a family Valentine’s tradition to eat fondue, but because of Mariko’s schedule yesterday, we had to delay it for a night. But we definitely can’t miss our annual fondue dinner!

As always, we have two pots of cheese, one with wine for Mariko and I, and the other with no alcohol for the kiddos. Every year they try the “adult” fondue, and scrunch up their faces at the taste. “Horrible” was heard this time around. But eventually, I think they will prefer the wine and cheese fondue. Until that day, it’s all for Mariko and me!

The ingredients for dipping were simple this year, with a yummy chicken/spinach sausage, potato, broccoli, carrots, and homemade baguette cubes. It was a yummy dinner!

"Bread and Broccoli" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/105 sec, ISO6400
“Bread and Broccoli” Cedar Park, 2019

I hope you had a nice Friday!

またね~

This Year’s Valentines Gifts

"Valentine's Snoopy" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/90 sec, ISO6400
“Valentine’s Snoopy” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

Today’s photos are of the gifts that Mariko bought for the boys today for Valentine’s Day. Bay received the sloth, and Koa received the Snoopy. I’m not sure the origin, but Bay’s favorite animal, or at least the one associated with him, is the sloth. But it suits him because he tends to sleep a lot. And Koa has had a few Snoopys over the years, including t-shirts and other stuffed animals. I think they both liked their gifts since after dinner, they took them up to their rooms. 😄

"Valentine's Sloth" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO6400
“Valentine’s Sloth” Cedar Park, 2019

This year, I bought Mariko a box of Godiva chocolates, which is pretty much what I do every year. Godiva is the one brand readily available here in the States that I know she likes. Although she said we have too much chocolate in the house (we do have a lot!), her and Bay spent some time choosing which candy from the box to eat tonight.

As for myself, well… no gifts, but that’s okay. I think I have everything I need. ☺

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

Line Drawings with Procreate on the iPad

"Drawing Tool" Cedar Park, 2019
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
“Drawing Tool” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

My daily drawings have shifted over to about 90% digital with Procreate and 10% on paper in the 2 weeks that I’ve had my iPad. I guess that’s to be expected with a new drawing tool. It’s so fun to see what is possible using Procreate, but even though it is a different way to sketch, I still find myself on the same path of learning, and right now I am concentrating on line-drawing. I make progress little by little each time which is really encouraging, and using the iPad has sped up the process. Just the convenience of undo and multiple undo is game-changing – it’s like having a magical eraser. I love it.

I can see farther down the path of my learning journey now, which was kind of muddled before. It’s becoming clearer that I need to keep practicing line drawings (still a ways to go), and start expanding from just faces to more poses, and then maybe larger compositions, and finally, work on color. Not sure if color will work its way into the process earlier or not, but I am thinking it won’t be detrimental to dabble in it. At any rate, it’s exciting to think about all the things that can be created while learning, and that is good motivation to keep going.

I have some thoughts forming about digital vs analog art, and it kind of interconnects with decluttering, but I’m not quite there yet to put it down on “paper”.

In the meantime, here’s my latest practice sketch, and the timelapse drawing process. For the hand, I looked at a reference photo, but I didn’t like how it was turning out so I traced the photo. But looking back at the timelapse video, I think the non-traced version would have been fine.

I’ll keep this drawing as-is and move on to a new one, but in the future, I’ll probably come back to it to work on color.

I hope you had a nice day!

またね~

"2019-02-13 Drawing"
“2019-02-13 Drawing”