Goodbye 2016

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"Shingo Reena at 67th Kouhaku" 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/320 sec, ISO4000
 “Shingo Reena at 67th Kouhaku” 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

I’m posting this as we watch the 67th Kouhaku 🎵 and countdown to the New Year. So far it’s a good show and I really enjoyed Shingo Reena‘s performance! She always does well, and with so much coolness. This year she was dressed in a black kimono reminiscent of a funeral wear. It was pretty awesome.

Earlier tonight we met some friends at their restaurant and enjoyed some amazing food, including way too much sushi. 🍣 But it was so good I couldn’t resist!

"New Year's Sushi" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/55 sec, ISO6400
 “New Year’s Sushi” Austin, 2016

I wanted to share one achievement that I accomplished this year – blogging each day. I’m not sure why I wanted to do it, but after a month or so, it just became a habit. I don’t put too much thought into each post – most of my daily posts are written before I go to bed and are just little recaps of my day. I admit that there were a few nights that I didn’t finish a post, but doubled up the next day. Mainly because I was busy, or on a cruise, or drank too much. 😜 But who cares, right? I enjoy this part of my daily life. It’s fun, and I think that expressing myself in written (typed) words keeps my brain a little bit sharper. It’s like mental exercise. 💪

Well, I hope you had a nice day! And HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🎉

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Busy Busy

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"Carrot Flowers" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/340 sec, ISO6400
 “Carrot Flowers” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Wow, today was a busy day.

While Mariko is preparing the New Year’s osechi feast, I am in charge taking care of the kids and running other errands. That included buying a new hard drive for one that is on the blink, taking Bay to get his haircut, dropping Koa off at his friend’s house, going to the pet store, dropping Bay off at the mall, picking up our dog Lani from the sitter, changing out water from the aquarium, giving Lani a bath, cleaning the battery terminals on my minivan, and picking up dinner (In N Out, yay!).

I got a lot done, but one of the fun things I did was to buy a new phone! My Moto G2 is getting really slow, and Mariko and the kids have been telling me to upgrade for a while now, so I finally pulled the trigger and ordered a new Moto G4. There is a good deal on Amazon right now – the 32 GB version for $189 (normally $229). I really like my G2 but it only has 8 GB of internal storage so I have run out of space for apps. And it’s not like I have a lot of apps, but the standard Google apps have gotten so big that they take up almost all of the internal memory!

I’m pretty sure 32 GB should last me a while, and of course there’s the SD card so I can pop in my 64 GB card for my music and photos.

The phone arrives in a couple days… can’t wait!

Today’s photo is of some carrots that Mariko carved into beautiful flower shapes. They will be part of the osechi, or Japanese new years food.

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

End of the Trip

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"End of the Trip" Long Beach, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/8000 sec, ISO6400
 “End of the Trip” Long Beach, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

We have returned to Texas from our week and a half trip to Southern California. It was a wonderful trip to see my parents, brothers, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. I actually most enjoyed just relaxing at the house watching tv, eating good food, drinking whiskey, wine, and cocktails, and our nightly mahjong games. It went by so fast!

But I am glad to come back to our Texas home. I never really realized it, but the life in California is a lot different from life here in Texas. I don’t mean geographically or culturally, but more personally the way I live my life and spend time in each location is very different. I’m still trying to process those differences, and maybe I will write about what I figure out, but I think it’s all good. The things I can learn about myself from these experiences can help me grow in a positive way!

I hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto