Category: Slice of Life

Sandwiches and work

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Good evening!

Today’s weather was so warm and humid, but it felt nice to be outside. I went outside at lunch to buy some lunch at the food truck, and I was wearing a jacket even though it was in the 80s. I am not sure if my office is cold, but I feel like I am freezing while I work so I usually have a jacket on and then I just wore it outside and tried to warm up… and it helped for an hour or so, but then it was back to freezing. ❄️

Today’s photo is of a Vietnamese-style sandwich on a homemade baguette that Mariko made. It was super delicious, and the jalapeños were spicy! I love the heat. The hotter the better! 🔥

Well, tomorrow is Friday and I am looking forward to getting a lot done! I don’t have any meetings scheduled so I need to put my head down and crank out a lot of tasks. By the way, I am still using Toggl to track my work and that is going well. Once I got used to clicking on the task as soon as I start new work, it is second-nature now. I often switch between things, like I am gathering graphics files, and then I see an email come into my inbox. Before I check the mail, I click on the task in Toggl, and then check the email. When I am done with the email, I click on the task I was doing before that, then continue with the task. By doing this, I get a very accurate representation of where I spend most of my time. Yesterday, for instance, I spent 2h 36m responding to and writing email… which to me is astonishing. I would have never thought I spend so much time doing that! But I can’t argue with the data.

I guess I was getting overwhelmed with work for a while there, and I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t seem to finish certain projects… I knew I was working hard, but I kept thinking that I was doing something wrong. But now I have the visibility into exactly where my time goes… and I can see that I simply have too many things on my plate right now. Although that is a problem, at least I can pinpoint what it is and not worry that I am doing something wrong. It’s a big step in improving my daily workload and estimating time!

Alright, it’s now getting late and I am going to read. Take care!

おやすみなさい！

– バロン Barron Fujimoto

Koa on the mound

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: SONY NEX-6, 0mm, f/0, 1/60 sec, ISO250
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello!

This evening Koa had a baseball game under cloudy skies. It has been raining off and on today but luckily the fields were dry enough that they could play. Last year, there were so many games canceled due to heavy rains and even the end-of-season tournament was called off. This season, just one practice was called off and we’re crossing our fingers that we can get all the games in!

Tonight’s photo is of Koa on the mound. I paired my Minolta 100-200 AF lens with the NEX-6 body using a cheap (~$15) adapter. There are some strange patterns going on in the background, but I am happy with the quality overall. I was going to put the lens on my A77 and have full auto-focus and metering, but decided to give this smaller combination a try just for fun. I am pleased with the result!

Unfortunately, the result of the game was a loss for Koa’s Rockies. But the tournament is this weekend and we’re hoping to do well! At least I know the kids will have fun… they almost always do!

Take care, and see you tomorrow.

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Decorating

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?

Today I finally received the stickers I ordered from Red Bubble. They were a couple days late because UPS delivered the envelope to the wrong local post office. But, I am happy with the quality of these stickers, although I wish they were a tiny bit smaller – mainly because they are a little too big to put on the inside wrist-rests next to the track-pad. For the outside, they are the perfect size though!

In the top photo you can see the cover stickers – the black and white band is SCANDAL, and the purple one is a drawing based on Morning Musume’s 『時空を超え 宇宙を超え』. I didn’t know that it was from Morning Musume until after I bought it, but I like the connection – they are one of my good friend’s favorite groups.

Below is a photo of the sticker that is on the bottom of the Chromebook. It’s Yui from K-ON! It looks like she got squished, so it’s perfect for underneath the laptop! Funny, isn’t it?

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/100 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

Anyways, I am having a lot of fun with my laptop. It’s great. I love it.

Well, it’s almost mid-week. Let’s have a good Wednesday!

おやすみなさい！

-B Barron Fujimoto

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) – Movie Review

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I’ve wanted to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for a long time, ever since seeing the trailer, but it hasn’t been streaming on Netflix and I missed my RedBox window. Well, I was happy to find the DVD at my local library yesterday (the librarian even said it was a great movie) so I borrowed it and watched it immediately. Loved it! It grabbed me from the very start… the cinematography and graphic style are amazing. I thought the opening sequence (before the title of the movie shows) was fantastic… like a Bond movie. Not in the action sense, but in the level of detail and imagination. Very polished.

I love the emphasis on photography… the large LIFE posters, the film archival room, Sean’s Nikon film camera, the graphics from film strips making it into the title sequence… it is so cool. And there are a lot of epic shots of amazing views and locations. I especially like the helicopter shots in the North Atlantic.

The movie makes for a wonderful second-viewing as well because there are many small details that take on a lot of significance which you might miss the first time around. The character Cheryl talks about a mystery’s clues all connecting at the end, and that is how the movie unfolds as well. If you rent the movie, make sure to watch it a second time – you’ll know what I mean when you see it!

The reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were mixed (50% critics, 70% audience) and I read one review that pans the movie… saying something like the movie is a “‘Just do it’ ad for the middle-aged.” I can see the truth in that statement… but really, what’s wrong with that? Is inspiration an awful thing? I was moved by The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, moved even to tears a few times I’ll admit. The reviewers on Amazon seem to love the movie as much as I do… it’s got 4.3 stars!

I guess I really am the target-audience of this movie. Lots of the references are really aimed at my generation… Stretch Armstrong, the cassette tape, Major Tom… speaking of that… BOWIE! The scene where Cheryl sings and Walter decides to run for the helicopter was awesome! Best scene! By the way, the soundtrack is great as well.

This will be in my Blu-ray collection soon, along with my other all-time favorites.

So many quotable lines from the movie, but here’s my favorite:

To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.

My rating: 9/10

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Movie Poster)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Movie Poster)

A boy and his dog

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/30 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hi, how’s it going?

I am doing ok. I worked from home today, and tried to take it easy, but I ended up working hard as usual these days. It’s weird but I spend so much time planning and coordinating projects and sending emails these days that I don’t spend as much time in Illustrator or InDesign actually producing stuff. But it is interesting because it is still creative, and maybe because it’s also new and something I am not used to. A new experience!

Today’s photo is of my son (14) who is waiting for me to take him and his brother out to get a bite to eat. I thought this photo worked better in black and white, so I used Nik Silver Effects to convert it. In the original color version, there is a pink folder in the bottom left that was really distracting so the black and white simplifies this image so the focus is on Bay and Lani.

Well, I hope you had a nice Monday. I am going to get some rest… it’s early… only 9:30pm but I am so tired! 😴

おやすみなさい！ -B Barron Fujimoto