Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/1000 sec, ISO200 “Broken Glove” Cedar Park, 2020
Koa has been using the Rawlings baseball glove that I bought way back in 1990, and one of the leather straps snapped when we were playing catch the other day. We reinforced it with some zip ties and it stayed together for a couple of more weeks, but another strap broke and it’s too difficult to repair easily. I guess after 30 years, all the straps are pretty weak so I think its time to retire the old glove. I know you can buy new leather strips to fix it so I’ll keep the glove in case I need a project to work on.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, ISO800 “Shabu Shabu” Cedar Park, 2020
We recently purchased a new portable stove: the Kovea Cube Stove. I think it has a really cool, compact design, which is nice because it should stay cleaner from drips and splatters than our older, wider stove. Mariko says it’s a popular stove with lots of accessories, for instance, you can replace the know with a stylish wooden version. I was unable to actually find any accessories other than a carrying bag, but I’m guessing the market in Asia is larger.
One thing to note is that the burner sits higher than other stoves, so the pot is elevated an inch or two more than you may be used to. I could see the higher design of the Kovea Cube Stove being more convenient for camping, where you might not have a regular table to use. Honestly, though, I didn’t really notice the difference when we used it at the dinner table.
Our first meal using the stove was shabu-shabu, and it was delicious! In the afternoon, I used our Waring Pro Professional Food Slicer to prep the pork slices for the dinner. Buying pre-sliced meat from H-Mart is convenient, but can be a bit pricey, so we like to buy a large piece of pork butt from HEB, and slice it ourselves which the food slicer makes easy. Pro-tip: freeze the meat before slicing and you can get a nice, thin cut. Since shabu-shabu pork is meant to cook in the hotpot for only a few seconds, a thin cut is best, maybe around 1 or 2 mm thick. For yakiniku, pork belly at 3 or 4 mm and beef at 4 or 5 mm is what we prefer.
Hotpot or yakiniku using the portable stove at the dinner table makes for a fun meal, and everyone can take park in cooking – a great way to bring the family or friends together. I definitely recommend trying it if you haven’t already!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/13 sec, ISO6400 “New Burner” Cedar Park, 2020
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/35 sec, ISO800 “Ink Change” Cedar Park, 2020
Today I changed up the lineup of my fountain pens a bit. I still love my Lamy Safari with broad nib, but have been enjoying the Pilot F nib more lately. Although I have several cheap Jinhao pens, only the Lamy and my Pilots have ink in them now, so maybe it’s time to pare down the collection and give the Jinhaos away.
Here’s my current lineup:
Lamy Safari (broad) / Iroshizuku Ama-Iro – The broad nib lets me see bright blue ink in all of its glory. Ama-Iro is my favorite ink that I’ll never get tired of.
Pilot Metropolitan (F) / Namiki Blue/Black – A general-purpose set-up great for basic writing. I have a bottle of Noodler’s Bulletproof Black, but that ink takes a long time to fully dry, and I end up with a lot of smears.
Although I have 4 colors, I like to limit a page to just 2 or 3 if I can. Any of them work well as a 3-color set, but 4 on a page will reveal a clashing pair, in my eyes. It may seem like a silly thing to mention, but I think it’s fun to think about these little things!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO6400 “Ukulele Detail” Cedar Park, 2020
I’ve been playing my ukulele every couple of days now, which I think is a nice “pace” for me. I don’t like to play every single day for very long because my left wrist still hurts a bit, and also I’ve read that longer gaps between session while learning a skill helps with the long-term memory. So, I won’t practice a song that I am learning every day, but maybe every three or four days. Once I have the song memorized, I might play it once or twice every day to work on parts that need clean up (there are A LOT of those parts).
I’ve recently memorized Al Woods’ arrangement of La Vie en Rose. I really enjoy playing that song, which reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Wall•E, and it’s fun to note my progress in playing it more cleanly, and also find better fingering combinations that make it easier.
On the new song front, I am starting on Ukulenny’s arrangement of I Will by The Beatles which is another of my favorites. The very last chord uses the 14th fret, which a soprano ukulele doesn’t have, so maybe this is a good excuse to pull the trigger on that concert ukulele that’s been sitting in my wishlist? 😋
I love playing the ukulele. I may not be very good, but it’s fun, relaxing, and keeps my 52-year-old brain active.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec, ISO5000 “Cat in a Box” Cedar Park, 2020
Another cat post! Our two cats are sisters and they both like to relax in cardboard boxes, but Anko needs space to stretch out, while Yuzu loves to squeeze into tight spaces. They have their own individual tastes, which is so interesting to me.
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/60 sec, ISO1600 “Cat in a Box” Cedar Park, 2020
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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?
