A-Z Challenge – H

H is for “Humanism”

What is Humanism?

An outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.

and

Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

This is pretty much where I am, and where I have always been. I think it’s a healthy place to be.

 

The weekend is here!

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/7 sec, ISO6400
Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは! Hello!

The weekend is here already! I cannot even remember what I did this week. It went by so fast.

This evening, Bay and I watched Star Wars Episode 7 on Blu-ray. It was amazing! We watched it twice in the theater, but watching it at home is really nice too. And for some reason, our broken surround sound system decided to come back to life, so we cranked it up and had the house shaking with the sound of space battles and explosions. It was great!

Tonight’s photo is of our dog, Lani, who was nice enough to join us for the movie. She really dislikes the camera, so I was surprised I could catch her looking at the lens. 🐶

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – G

G is for “Gaming”

This post has been a long time coming – about a year! I don’t play many video or computer games, but I do have a few that I like to play. Torchlight 2 is my go-to game on the PC. I’ve always liked fantasy-type games, ever since I was in elementary school and played Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. That was such a fun time! I was really into the game, but then when I was in 7th grade or so, I became more interested in girls than games!

But then video games and computers became popular and I played a lot of sword and sorcery-type role-playing games, even official ones using the Dungeons & Dragons name. Torchlight and its sequel, Torchlight 2, are games of this genre, but they are less puzzle-solving and more stat-building. I play on normal or easy mode because I don’t like the stress of my characters dying often. I just like to breeze through the game, exploring new areas, and learning new skills and Torchlight 2 is the perfect game for that. I highly recommend it, especially because it is relatively cheap on Steam. I think I bought it on sale for $10, but it is regularly only $20.

Below is a screenshot of one of the characters I play as. I took this screenshot when she was very low-level so there isn’t any real fancy gear. But I think all the characters looks so cool… the artwork in the game is really vibrant and sometimes funny too! It’s kind of cartoony and doesn’t have any realistic gore, although bashing monsters is a lot of fun. It’s a perfect, low-stress game for pure entertainment. Go play!

Torchlight 2 Outlander
Torchlight 2 Outlander

Finding a style

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは! Hello, how’s it going? Enjoying the warmer weather? It’s been in the 80s here in Austin this week. Lots of sun! ☀️

I read a lot of photography blogs and listen to several photography podcasts, and one theme that comes up often is that you should find your photographic style, and not have such a wide range. I don’t know how important that is to an amateur photographer like myself, but I can see the logic in that philosophy if you are running a photography business.

However, I think I have found an aesthetic that I really like, and I have been using it a lot lately. It is kind of simulating the look of film, with a nice grain to it, and also not super-sharp. I have been experimenting with creating presets in Lightroom so I can get a consistent “look” to my photos. It is still early on, but I am enjoying using it! Basically, one preset adds a certain amount of grain. The next preset adds a slight “S” tone curve. And finally, my blur preset adds two gradient adjustments to de-sharpen the entire image. (If there is a better way to do this in LR5, let me know!)

In the photo above, I have applied all of these presets, plus added a black border which I love (Nik Analog efex 2). I am also using the Fujifilm Velvia film simulation here. I think it is a good start in defining a consistent style. I still enjoy both black & white and color images, so I can’t really make a choice. I mean, I need to take my sushi photos, and they just won’t look so great in black & white, right? 🍣

Well, as you can see from the photo, we had sushi at home for dinner. While it was super-delicious, eating so much sushi-rice makes me so thirsty… I’ve had three large glasses of water already tonight!

Have a great Friday everyone!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – F

F is for “Fanatic”

My favorite sport is baseball, and growing up in the Los Angeles area, my favorite team was and still is the Dodgers. I’ve followed them, but I was never a fanatic. But a few years ago, I would listen to a game, and then get really angry when they lost. I would stress out over it when I was falling asleep even! Then, I got so disappointed in them when they got eliminated from the playoffs that I swore off baseball, and all sports. It was sort of in jest, but sort of serious. I really don’t understand how I could have that kind of emotional reaction to a team that I have no control over. It’s really weird!

But I didn’t want to feel that disappointment again, so I decided that I wouldn’t follow sports at all. I think that lasted a year or so, and then a change happened in me. I know it had something to do with when Koa started playing Little League baseball. During the first season, I would get so tense during the games, especially when the team made errors. I would get so nervous, that I didn’t even want to watch the game! I know, right? It was just like when I would watch the Dodgers!

The next season, I noticed that the kids, even if they lost, still had smiles on their faces and high-fived the other team after the game. Even though deep down I knew that winning wasn’t the most important thing about playing the game, I somehow lost sight of that. But seeing the joy on the kids’ faces made me realize that it was I who had the problem. My emotions were ridiculous! Once I realized that, my whole world (well, at least my sports world) changed. I now enjoy watching my son play the game and don’t mind the errors or strikeouts anymore. I make sure not to criticize him during the ride home after the game. I admit, I sometimes have the urge to say something, but that feeling is now minuscule compared to how it was during the first season. In fact, it’s so distant that I can see it far away… and laugh at it. What a great feeling!

The MLB season has just started, and I am watching a lot of the games. I think it will be a great season, not because I think the Dodgers will do well or win the World Series, but it will be a great season because I will enjoy the games without having the stressed-out mindset of a “fanatic”.