A-Z Challenge – C

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C is for “Chop”

hanko-seal-chop

The term “chop” is a common name for a stamp used in Asian cultures which shows your name. Here are two “Gagō-in” that I have… the one on the left is from my grandfather, who was an artist and art teacher when he was alive. In the chop he gave me, the family name “Fujimoto” is written above the letter “B”, and I have used this in some of my paintings that I did when I was in art school. This chop is one of my cherished possessions. The other chop is one that I bought when I visited Hong Kong, and it is a more stylized version, left-to-right, and my first name below.

These two are not used in official documents – for that, my wife and I have another smaller seal, called a Mitome-in, which is used to sign documents in Japan. I won’t display that here, of course, but it’s really nothing special. I think we bought it at a stationery store for ¥1,000.

Below is a photo of the chop that I bought in Hong Kong. It’s made of stone, and has a really nice dragon carving on the top. I think it’s pretty cool!

Black Dragon

 

End of the tournament

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/420 sec, ISO200
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello! How was your Sunday? Our day was pretty good, starting off with a 10 AM little league baseball game for Koa. Today was the day that mattered in the tournament, with yesterday’s games determining the seeding for today.

It was too bad that the kids couldn’t keep the high-level of play going, though, and they fell big-time to the opposing team. They didn’t play too badly, but the other team was on fire, scoring five runs in the first inning. Koa’s team put a couple of runs on the board, but it wasn’t enough. However, they did play pretty good, and Koa came in to pitch in the final inning. You can see him throw one inside below:

Koa got out of a jam when the opposing hitter lined into a double play. But it was right at the end of the game, when the outcome was already decided. Still, Koa was pumped after that great outing.

After the game, most of the team went out for pizza and frozen yogurt and had a lot of fun. Koa told me that he’s having the most fun this season, and I can tell from the way everyone gets along that the team enjoys playing together. It’s good that they can support each other, especially because the team doesn’t have a great win-loss record.

FJKO7923Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2000

Well, it’s almost Monday and the work weeks continue to be busy. The upcoming week promises to keep that trend alive!

おやすみなさい！ See ya tomorrow!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A sci-fi classic

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO3200
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！

I hope you had a great Saturday. Mine was pretty good! This afternoon Koa played two games in the baseball tournament, and although they lost both, they played well. Probably the best they have played as a team so far this year! However, the teams they went up against were very good… a “select” team, and then the team with the second-best record in the season so far.

Koa did great at the plate, knocking a double over the left-fielder’s head, and then coming round to score later in the evening. He later walked, but got stranded on third. In the next game, he had another hit into the outfield, getting a couple RBIs. He did great! Tomorrow, they have one more game, and I hope they continue with their great play.

After we came back home, I watched 2001: A Space Odyssey with Bay, as you can see in the photo. It’s amazing to think that this movie was release on this day back in 1968, which is the year I was born. The special effects were incredible for the time, and still look great. If you haven’t seen the movie before, or if it has been a while as it was in my case, I recommend watching it again. It’s a true classic.

Well, it’s almost bed time for me, so I’ll sign off for now!

おやすみなさい！

– バロン Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – B

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B is for “Blossom”

FJKO7885Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/800 sec, ISO200

I see many photos in my Instagram feed of the sakura (cherry blossoms) in Japan, which are blooming right now. Several years ago, when we moved into our house, we planted a cherry blossom tree in our backyard so we could enjoy the sakura each year as well. Although the blossoms look beautiful, Mariko pointed out that they are not as nice as the ones in Japan because the trees are not supposed to have leaves on them at the same time as the blossoms. And it’s true, the ones in Japan are all flowers, and no green. Nevertheless, I still think the flowers look terrific.

Another quick week

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Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/7.1, 1/100 sec, ISO250
 Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello! We made it to the weekend. It was such a quick week it seemed! But the cold weather came back today, along with the rain. Luckily the forecast for the rest of the weekend looks sunny and warmer. ☀️ Koa has a baseball tournament so I hope the baseball fields have time to dry out before the games.

Tonight’s dinner was a super trifecta of sorts… we had takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba. And a nice cold beer to round out the meal. The takoyaki and yakisoba are typical foods served at festivals in Japan, from small stands, so tonight’s meal reminded me of when we lived there, and of course a festival is fun so they are feel-good types of food! 😋 I find it fascinating that smells and tastes can transport you back to different parts of your life. It’s great.

The photo for today is of the sky and clouds that I saw on the way to work. Last night there was a storm, and in the morning there was a break in the clouds when I took the photos. But later in the day, the clouds and rain returned. ☔ In the evening, it cleared up and we’re looking forward to a nice weekend. I hope to take some photos outdoors!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto