Plot Twist

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"Evening Treat" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/170 sec, ISO640
 “Evening Treat” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

I read something the other day that I thought was cool. It went something like, “It’s not a setback, it’s a plot twist.” I haven’t had many setbacks in my life, but it’s fun to think of your life as a story, isn’t it?

I know that the quote is meant to help  someone who is hurt or grieving, but even when a good thing happens to you, it is a major event in your own plot and it may be worthwhile to spend some time thinking about it.

Or find things to be thankful for.

Or building upon what happened and learning from it.

The protagonists in stories are affected by these major plot events and it shapes what they do and how they think. As protagonists in our own stories, it might be healthy to take a look at our own script as it is being written and evaluate it from time to time.

Maybe this is a naive way of thinking, but it’s fun to ponder these things sometimes.

Today’s photo is of the sunset  as seen from our house. I really love the clouds around Austin these past several days. 

I hope you had a refreshing weekend, and let’s have a great week, wherever the plot takes you. 

Take care,

– B Barron Fujimoto

Reach for the Sky

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"Reach for the Sky" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/3000 sec, ISO200
 “Reach for the Sky” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！Did you have a nice Saturday?

Today’s photo is of the clouds and cranes in downtown Austin. I had a few free hours this morning while Bay was in Japanese school, so I hung out at the Whole Foods Market patio. There were some nice views of the clouds today as you can see! ☁

This evening we hosted a birthday party for a good friend of ours. It was mostly just a potluck for the ladies, but one of the husbands also came over so it was nice to hang out and chat (in English). The food was delicious, with fresh fish for sushi, mussels, salads, fancy cured meats and paté, karaage, roast beef, cheese, wine, beer, margaritas, and of course a birthday cheesecake. Needless to say, I ate waaay too much! But you gotta live life to the fullest, right? 😄

Take care!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Sky’s the Limit

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"Summer Sky" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/5800 sec, ISO400
 “Summer Sky” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！

Another work week has gone by… it has been a tough one for me. There were some changes at my work, and although they didn’t affect me directly, there are many colleagues I am fond of who are affected… So my thoughts were with them and wondering how they are doing. 😟

That made it difficult to concentrate on work (and there is a lot that needs to get done), but I found that once I immersed myself in the task at hand, I could shift my mind from the troubling thoughts, at least for a little while.

At any rate, work is work, and it’s not the end-of-the-world so I’m sure everyone will be ok. But still, it could be a big life disruption.

Today’s photos are of one of my favorite subjects: clouds ⛅! Although school has started, we still have a month of summer left, so the summer sky is still present. I love it.

"Monochrome Clouds" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec, ISO400
 “Monochrome Clouds” Cedar Park, 2016

I hope you had a nice Friday, and let’s have a good weekend, shall we?

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Pointed Chopsticks

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"Nasubi Donburi" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/25 sec, ISO3200
 “Nasubi Donburi” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How are you today?

Tonight, Mariko prepared another out-of-this-world dinner: spicy miso-flavored eggplant 🍆 and pork 🐷 stir-fried and served over rice 🍚. As you might expect, it was so yummy. 😀

Can you see the chopsticks in the photo? These are Japanese-style chopsticks, or “hashi”. They differ from Chinese-style or Korean-style in the shape and material. Japanese-style usually come to a point, while Chinese-style are longer, and stay thicker and have a blunt end. Korean-style, I am not familiar with, but I’ve used stainless-steel chopsticks, which are kind of flat, but come to a pointed end.

The disposable, wooden chopsticks are ironically kind of the opposite. Japanese-style are generally squarish, and the Chinese-style come to more of a point, though still blunt. Oh, and natives usually don’t rub wooden chopsticks to remove splinters. I think it’s because people who have good chopstick skills, are more precise at handling the food, particularly releasing the food in their mouths.. You don’t really slide chopsticks against your lips, or poke the food deeply or stab straight on, so splinters never really have a chance to come into play.

In our house, we only have Japanese-style (since Mariko is Japanese!) but when I was growing up, we had both Japanese and Chinese-style chopsticks in the kitchen drawer. It makes sense since we have both bloods running through our veins! 🇯🇵 🇨🇳

I never really gave it too much thought before, but the other day, Koa and I were eating at a new ramen 🍜 restaurant, and since ramen is Japanese (actually a Japanese soup dish that uses Chinese-style noodles) I am used to eating it with Japanese-style chopsticks. When we were given Chinese-style chopsticks to eat with, I immediately noticed that they didn’t feel right for ramen. I already knew the restaurant was not Japanese, but the chopsticks were a dead give-away. (The ramen wasn’t bad, but didn’t taste authentic, with the char siu being a sweeter Chinese-style taste, and baby bok choy greens added)

Anyways, there’s a little chopsticks trivia for ya!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto