Category: Slice of Life

Everything Happens for a Reason

, , Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Everything Happens for a Reason
"Evening Light" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/180 sec, ISO400
 “Evening Light” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s everything going?

Today I read a great blog post about positivity, and in it there was the saying, “Everything Happens for a Reason” and I started thinking about that particular phrase for the first time… and I actually don’t agree with it, at least in the way that it is commonly interpreted.

I don’t believe in fate or destiny, predetermined by a god, gods, or other supernatural presence. No, I think that an infinite amount of events are in motion for whatever reason, natural or man-made, and that in our normal daily lives, we’ll come into contact with some of these events. It’s just being in the right place at the right time. No gods necessary.

Why do we feel the need to believe that everything happens for a reason? Isn’t it enough to know that the thing has happened, and now we have the chance to react to it, and hopefully in a positive way?

I suppose for some it might be comforting to believe that a god or spirit is controlling everything, but to me, that is a frightening idea, especially when you see the unfortunate things that happen to innocent people. (Birth defects and leftover landmines come to mind)

Anyways, the phrase “Everything happens for a reason” seems like the first part of a longer phrase, the second part being, “… so look for the silver lining”. But then why not just remove the first part altogether and simply look for the positive in everything.

************

Today’s photo is of our breakfast area in our house, and the evening light coming in. I thought it looked nice. I like to take snapshots of the mundane things… they might not be great photos, but they are glimpses into real life. There’s some value in that, I think.

I hope you had a nice Monday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Catching a Ballgame

, , , , Slice of Life2 Comments on Catching a Ballgame
"Kids at the Game" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO200
 “Kids at the Game” Arlington, 2016

こんばんは！

Today we drove up to watch the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s in Arlington. It’s a bit of a drive to get up there from Austin but it was fun because all six of us (my family plus our friends Matt and Kumiko) drove up in my mini-van. 🚐

The weather was blazing at the park ☀, and the seats that I had bought were in full sun… it was way too hot and we only sat there for an inning before relocating to a shadier part of the park. In fact, the women didn’t even venture down to the seats in the sun! I don’t blame them. 😩

Must remember to only buy covered seats for the day games!

"Spectators" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO800
 “Spectators” Arlington, 2016

We then found some other seats in the shade, and watched the rest of the ballgame. Too bad the Rangers lost, but it was still fun!

After the game, it was time to head over to Kula Sushi for dinner. That was a great experience! Kula Sushi is a kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt serving style. But Kula takes it even further, because you can order anything on the menu via a tablet, and it will be prepared and sent to the table via another conveyor belt which is above the main belt. It’s very hi-tech! Loved it!

"Sushi Time" Carrollton, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Sushi Time” Carrollton, 2016

Anyways, that is all for today. It was a long drive back home, and now it’s late. In fact, I need to cheat a little and set the posting time an hour back so that I can have a Sunday post. 😜

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Slow Saturday

, Reviews, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Slow Saturday
"REI Marker" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO200
 “REI Marker” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going? Did you have a nice Saturday?

Mine was pretty slow and relaxing. I spent the morning downtown drinking coffee and catching up on some YouTube videos and blogs and just generally relaxing.

I also took several photos of random things, one of which is above. Outside the door of the downtown Austin REI, there is a marker in the sidewalk that notes the date and elevation. I thought it was pretty cool. Reminds me of the USGS markers at the National Parks, which I’m guessing was the intention.

This afternoon I finished watching the Japanese dorama “Ie Uru Onna” which stars my favorite Japanese actress, Kitagawa Keiko. I was a bit disappointed that the final episodes didn’t really develop her character further. She was pretty much the same person from the first episode all the way til the finale. And she never once smiled! 😞

800px-ieuru_onna

But I still enjoyed the dorama and laughed quite a bit. I’d give this one a 7 out of 10 rating.

Continuing on my Kitagawa viewing odyssey, I am now watching an older dorama called “Tantei no Tantei” or Detectives vs Detectives. I’ve only watched the first episode of this mystery/thriller but it’s riveting! So far so good as far as the story goes, but Kitagawa’s character is again quite serious and somber. Will she ever smile? We’ll see! 😆

528px-tantei_no_tantei_main

Anyways, let’s have a nice Sunday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Begging

, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Begging
"Waiting for a Handout" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO3200
 “Waiting for a Handout” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of our dog, Lani, trying her best to look cute so that I’ll give her a treat. Normally as soon as the camera comes out, she’ll shy away, but this time I was holding a pita chip right above the lens. 😊

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

In a Rut, or Obsessed?

, , , Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on In a Rut, or Obsessed?
"Low" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec, ISO200
 “Low” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

So, I’ve been looking back at my Instagram feed and I noticed that half my photos lately have been of clouds. ☁ As you may know, I am taking part in a 365 project, which is where you take one photo 📸 per day for a whole year 🗓. So, there is a little bit of pressure to find a subject to shoot each day.

And clouds are an easy subject to capture, especially if there are really nice ones hanging around in the sky. Part of me is thinking that I am just not looking hard enough for other subjects to shoot, but another part of me thinks that clouds are so cool-looking, ever-changing, and fascinating that I need to make photos of them.

My kids know that I am kind of obsessed… when we are driving I might hand the camera to one of them and ask them to take a photo. Luckily for me, they haven’t been too annoyed. In fact, I think Koa might have gotten the cloud bug as well! This afternoon as we were driving home, he pulled out his phone to take a photo of the “cool” clouds. 😄

I think I’ve come to terms with taking cloud photos… I’ll continue without hesitation since I just love them. Why not?

********

In other news, I saw this notification pop up in WordPress saying I have earned a new achievement:

1337

Pretty funny, huh! WordPress has its own social network of bloggers, and it’s fun to read and “like” posts. It’s similar to “liking” on Instagram, but instead of pictures, they are blog posts. Anyways, it was kind of fun to get this notification. ☺️

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto