What a busy day!

, , , Slice of Life1 Comment on What a busy day!
"She's Asleep" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/160 sec, ISO800
 “She’s Asleep” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello! How’s it going?

I had a super-busy day starting early… 6:30am I was working! Why? Well, I knew I was going to be in and out of the office because the kids’ school schedules are shifted due to the end of the school year and I have to be a chauffeur for Bay while Mariko is working at X-Games. So I thought I would get some work out of the way early. Plus I had three meetings today, one I took from home, and two were in the office. Besides the meetings, we have a few large projects with deadlines that can’t be missed. However, there was one task that sprung up unexpectedly at the end of the day, and that added about 4 hours to my workday. So I ended up putting in over 11 hours! I think that may be a new record for me. 😱

But, it’s stuff that really needed to be done, and I’ll probably take a half-day off at some point (if my workload ever allows it). 😛

Like I mentioned, Mariko is working this week down at the Circuit of the Americas for the X-Games. She’s helping out with translation duties for two Japanese 🇯🇵 skateboarders who are competing. It looks like a lot of fun (Mariko sends me photos of the venue) and I wish I could check it out too! Here’s one of the photos from a practice session. Looks so awesome!

"Practice Session" Austin, 2016
“Practice Session” Austin, 2016

Today’s photo is of our cat, Anko. She’s sleeping, believe it or not! Cat’s are so weird… I don’t think it’s a good photo (I hate the carpet!) but I just had to capture her twisted body.

Oh, this month, I am trying to take only black & white photos. But I already failed on the first day, when I took those cloud photos. 😅 Oh well. No biggie! More about my month-long black & white project later… as you can imagine, I am wiped out. 😴

I hope you had a nice Thursday!

おやすみなさい！

– バロン Barron Fujimoto

Low energy

, , Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Low energy
"Ominous Sky" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
 “Ominous Sky” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Good evening, I’m running on empty at the moment… no energy! So I’ll just leave you with a couple photos of the skies this evening. Stormy days, but interesting clouds when it’s not raining.

"Dramatic Dusk" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Dramatic Dusk” Cedar Park, 2016

The first photo is a smooth, clean, “digital look”; the second photo has a more analogue, grainy, “film look” to it. Both were started from Fujifilm X100T JPGs using the Velvia film simulation, and then edited a bit in Lightroom.

おやすみなさい！ See you tomorrow!

– B Barron Fujimoto

End of May

, Slice of Life1 Comment on End of May
"Instax Mariko" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/60 sec, ISO1250
 “Instax Mariko” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going on this last day of May?

If you are in Texas, are you staying out of the rain? ☔ It’s been too wet lately. I am ready for the summer sun!

The rain caused a huge traffic delay this evening as I left work. My new building is in an office park, and my usual route takes me through the park on a small road to the far exit and onto a main road. On a normal day, it only takes about five minutes to exit the office park. But today because of the rain, it took about 45 minutes! It was crazy… Oh well. Next time I will see if I can check the traffic conditions online before heading out.

Another thing about this year’s rain is that there seem to be a lot more mosquitoes in the air. And they often make it into the house. I guess when we let Lani in from the backyard, some bugs slip in even though we try to close the door as soon as possible. However, I don’t worry as much about itchy mosquito bites now that I use the hot spoon technique. I love it!

Still, the war on household mosquitoes goes on every day… fight!

"Fight" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
 “Fight” Cedar Park, 2016

Tonight after finishing work, I printed five Instax prints. I just love that little printer and the instant film format… so fun! The photo at the top of this post in an older Instax print of Mariko. I have a smiley-face clip attached to it, and that hangs from a paintbrush.

I hope you had a nice Tuesday. See you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Holiday eating

, , Food, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Holiday eating
"Grilltime" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/10, 1/100 sec, ISO800
 “Grilltime” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Good evening!

How was your Monday? Here in the States, we had a holiday so many of us did not have to work and the kids have a holiday from school as well. We didn’t have any big plans, but we stayed home and cooked, relaxed, watched TV, and enjoyed each-other’s company.

The one thing we did plan was our dinner – t-bone steaks and sausage on the backyard grill. In addition, we had a couple of delicious salads and home-baked bread. It was all so good! We usually like to eat rib-eye steaks, but Koa said t-bones because he enjoys gnawing on the bones. 🍖 Of course we love the filet-mignon part of the steaks the best! So yummy. Bay, on the other hand, is not a big fan of steak, so I grilled some pork and garlic sausages for him. They were yummy as well. 😃

Today’s photo is one I took of our new grill, which is a gas grill. I like our charcoal grill, but Mariko wanted to get a more convenient grill for herself. This one is pretty good and easy to use. It heats up quickly and although it was my first time using it for steaks, they turned out pretty good! I did take them off a bit too early and then had to put them back on for a couple minutes, but since the heat adjustment is so responsive, it didn’t take long to get the grill back up to temperature.

These days, I am trying to eat better, with less processed foods and more natural and organic whole foods. For snacking, I like nuts and fruits, but occasionally I will have chips. And I rarely have sugary foods. I can’t remember the last time I had a soda… but I know I made the decision in January of 2013 to quit sodas… so I guess it has been over 3 years. And I have to say, I rarely get sick anymore. I think it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. It’s funny, but at my work, we’ve had free sodas available for years now, but I don’t have any cravings at all for them. 😄 Besides the sugar, I don’t want my body to have to deal with all the chemicals that sodas have. Just water is good enough! Well, and my coffee, beer and wine. 🍷

Anyways, sorry to ramble on about my eating habits, but you are what you eat. 🍴

I hope you had a nice Monday, and we’ll see you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Coins to coffee

, , , , Slice of LifeLeave a Comment on Coins to coffee
"Coins to Coffee" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/20 sec, ISO3200
 “Coins to Coffee” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how are you doing?

Sunday was a funday for us. We enjoyed relaxing, grocery shopping, making smoothies, and watching tv. Koa and I did something new, which is converting all of our collected coins into a Starbucks gift card at the supermarket. It was pretty fun! And exciting too, watching the screen as the machine sorted all the coins and translated that into a total amount. I was impressed that the machine actually weeded out some Japanese coins that snuck into the jar. Pretty smart! Check out the video below for some of the action.

Later in the day I put on my running shoes and went for an easy run/walk around the neighborhood. It’s been a long time since I went running so I took it extra-easy today. It was a lot of fun to get some sun and fresh air. My legs felt great, and after the run, I spend a while on the exercise bike. I guess the smoothie we made earlier gave me a lot of energy. 😄

Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the States. We’ll be at home again, spending the day together as a family.

Take care!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto