Whoa, what a tear-jerker! Time Traveller: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is the third live-action movie to come out of the novel The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and is actually a sequel to the 1983 movie (I have yet to watch). Which explains why the plot seemed so new to me. I watched the anime a few months ago so when nothing seemed familiar while watching this movie, I was thinking, “Dang, I am really losing my memory!”. Anyways, the story was interesting and the characters were fun, but what was really cool was the 1970s setting. Since my early childhood was during the ’70s, it was pretty neat to see stuff like super-8 film. The acting was really well done and had me on the verge of tears a few times. Yeah, I have a sensitive side too! At any rate, I recommend checking out the movie on Netflix streaming. On a side note, the two main actors, Naka Riisa and Akiyoshi Nakai, have since gotten married and have a baby. Give it a watch!
In December I got a new tablet. It was kind of an anniversary/Christmas gift and I wasn’t sure if I really needed a new computer, but the moment I turned it on and started using it, I fell in love! It’s actually the first tablet computer I have owned although I have been using a touch-screen device since 2008 when I bought my HTC G1. My new tablet is a Dell Venue 8 Pro, which runs Windows 8.1. I was also interested in the Nexus 7, but kind of wanted something new and different (I have a largish Android phone also). The Venue 8 Pro was the right price and Windows 8.1 looked kind of fun. Plus I like Dell since that company has been so good to our family.
The 8″ screen size is really nice. It’s big enough to read manga and books on it comfortably, but small enough to hold in one hand. The screen in nice and bright (disable Dell’s auto-brightness), and the colors look wonderful. I love the lock screen slideshow feature on it. It is pretty great. There aren’t as many apps available for the Windows 8 ecosystem as there are for iPad or Android, but the ones I have found are pretty nice. Some native apps I am hoping for are: Instagram, Tweetdeck, Gmail, Google Calendar, and WordPress. Sure, I can just switch to a browser or desktop view and use the webapps, but a native app would be nice!
Which leads me to what I think is a cool thing about this tablet: it is running a full version of Windows 8.1 so I can just switch to desktop mode and “take care of business” there. For instance, there is a Dropbox app, but it is pretty terrible. You can’t really do much with it. But I was able to install Dropbox as I have on my other PCs and it syncs my photos and documents automagically in the background. I like to save photos to a directory, and this directory is the source folder for my screensavers on the tablet, as well as my PC’s. So I can save from any device, and it is added to my screensaver on all devices. It’s magic!
It’s not all wine and roses, however. There are a couple things that need to be improved:
Calendar sync with Google Calendars – Apparently this was removed in Windows 8.1. You can subscribe to the iCal link from Google, but that doesn’t update in a timely manner (can take up to a couple days!)
Storage space – I got the 32 GB version, but there is only about 5 GB of free space on it! The 64 GB would have been a better choice. Luckily, there is a micro-SD card slot on it and I fitted a 32 GB card in there, so I have plenty of space for media. But, you cannot install apps to the SD card. (you can have Dropbox sync to the SD card, however. Just Google it to find out how)
Keyboard quirks – The on-screen keyboard is generally pretty good, but I noticed that it helps to press down a little harder than I am used to. I want to use a light touch, but that often leads to the key being registered and being pressed 2 or 3 times… there may be a setting to fix this, but I haven’t found it yet. Also, the word prediction is pretty good (not as good as Swiftkey, though), but the placement of the words is too far from the keyboard!
All-in-all I love using my tablet (which I have named Sonmi-451). It’s so convenient and fun. Definitely worth it!
On New Year’s Eve we watched the annual Kouhaku Uta Gassen NHK Red/White singing contest. It was pretty fun but I couldn’t believe the ending scores! The white team (men) totally destroyed the red team! Besides that, some highlights and lowlights were:
Yesterday I started reading Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō on my tablet (via Manga Bird). So far it’s one of my favorite manga. Granted I have not ready hardly any manga, but this one is keeping my attention the most, which is strange because not a whole lot happens in it! But I love the simple style and the short vignettes have a certain charm to them. The manga started in 1994 and ended in 2006, which is interesting because the fashion that the characters wear is very ’90s. I am wondering if the belt-line on their pants will get lower as the manga progresses in years! One thing I really like about this one is that the main character rides a scooter. I guess that is why I liked Kino’s Journey (キノの旅) as well.
One of the changes that happened in my life this past year was general health improvement. There were basically three things that occurred:
The big S: That would be Sugar. I am not talking about cutting out ALL sugar from my diet, but rather just the added sugary foods: candy, cookies, desserts, and sodas. This is probably the easiest healthy change for me to make since I never had a sweet-tooth to begin with. But I think this may have been the biggest benefit to my health. Once in a while I might have something sweet, but that is pretty much because of social pressure (how can I refuse a piece of birthday cake?). But the cool thing is that I don’t have any craving for sweets or sodas at all!
Exercise: In January I joined a gym and have used it pretty regularly throughout the year. Overall, I’ve not really lost any weight, but instead replaced much of the fat with muscle. It’s kind of nice, but I think what I like most is that I have more energy and more endurance to do things like biking or throwing the football around with the kids. Speaking of biking, I’ve also been riding my bike a lot more during the year. We have some nice hike & bike trails nearby and it is good to take advantage of them. Also, exercise is a good stress reducer, and when I am finished exercising I feel a nice sense of accomplishment!
Smoothies: In the summer, we bought a serious blender for making smoothies and other healthy foods. By serious, I mean one that cost a few hundred dollars. At this level, you have something that is the real deal. In our case, we got a Blentec model and it is fantastic! We are making “green” smoothies quite a bit now, and the nutrition and energy one of those drinks provides is great. The blender makes it so easy too (and cleanup is a snap). I have a base recipe I use, and then just add in different raw veggies, fruit, plus flax seed if we have it. They taste pretty good, and fill you up! The blender is one of my best purchases ever. Plus, it came with an 8-year warranty standard!
Lastly, I have to add one other simple change I have made: I drink a big glass of water as soon as I wake up. Besides re-hydrating my body, it helps to get the metabolism jump-started.
For 2014 I am going to continue these activities, but I am going to quit my gym membership. It is purely financial. But in lieu of going to the gym, I am going to bump up my running in the neighborhood. We’ll see how that goes!
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My camera & photos
I use a Fujifilm X-series camera for most of the photos on this site and my Instagram. Why not pick one up for yourself?
