daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Tonight’s photo is of cowardly me covering the operating table in a scene of a Japanese drama I am watching. Season 2 of Doctor X shows a little bit more gross stuff, so I need to be even more vigilant! Love the show, but hate the blood. 😱
I hope you had a nice day! Especially wishing my Mom a Happy Birthday! 🎂
おやすみなさい！
– B 
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Tonight Koa performed with his middle school band as a warm-up for their big performance in December. Their school band was chosen to participate in the Midwest Clinic, which takes place in Chicago. They’ll be performing several pieces, so tonight was a good chance for a dress rehearsal. 🎶
Koa is in the percussion section, and plays several different instruments. Tonight he even played the gong! In the photo above, he’s in the top left corner next to it. He said the gong tonight was “horrible”… they used the high school auditorium’s gong which Koa thought was much worse than his middle school’s gong.
But besides that, he said the percussion section did pretty good! I’m proud of him because he shows a lot of dedication to playing percussion and says he enjoys performing. It’s nice to have the opportunity to take part in such an awesome band program. His school’s band is one of the best (if not the best) in the state of Texas. We’re really fortunate that both our kids participated in band! 😄
I hope you had a nice Thursday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
⛅
こんばんは！Hello, how’s it going?
It’s already nearing the end of October, can you believe it? This month has flown past. Seems like just yesterday the month started, but now Halloween is almost here. 👻 As you can see from the photo, Koa is already prepared with his unicorn costume. Not sure what made him want this particular outfit this year, but I think it’s pretty cool and unique.
As for myself, I wasn’t planning on dressing up, but a couple of friends will be coming over for Halloween 🎃 to hang out, and they are planning on wearing costumes, so I need to figure something out. But my mind is a blank, once again. Hmmm… I need to brainstorm a bit, don’t I?
Tonight we watched game 1 of the World Series ⚾️ between the Cubs and Indians. I am rooting for Cleveland this year, mainly because a good friend of mine is a big fan. And they had a big win this evening! I’m sure the Cubs will battle back, though. It’s got the makings of a great series.
I hope you had a nice Tuesday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Today in Texas was the start of early voting for the general election so I went to my local voting location to cast my vote(s). I didn’t know how many people would also be voting early, but when I got to the library there was a pretty substantial line of people. I didn’t have to wait too long, though… maybe 20 minutes, and then the actual voting went pretty quickly. I guess if you vote early, your mind is pretty much made up, isn’t it? So I imagine everyone today just wanted to get it done quickly.
I’m not passionate about politics, but I do believe that voting is something that we need to do as citizens. We shouldn’t take our freedoms for granted, and voting is the simplest way to contribute to our democracy. Even if you live in a state which is always strongly red or blue, you still should vote! 🇺🇸
I won’t say which candidate I cast my vote for, but I’ll just mention a few issues that I care about:
Whatever you think is important, if you want to express yourself as an American, you should go cast your vote for the candidate who best represents your ideals.
おやすみなさい！
– B
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Today’s photo is of a delicious Japanese dinner that Mariko prepared. I’ve posted in the past about how fortunate the kids and I are that Mariko is an awesome cook, who can make so many different kinds of foods.
I was thinking how I am incapable of thinking of a wide variety of food to prepare. My brain just stops at sandwiches, burgers, enchiladas, or spaghetti. I have a mental block and have a difficult time of thinking of other possible dishes. It’s really weird! But Mariko can decide on something from a huge repertoire seemingly last-minute, and it always comes out amazing! And it’s not just one dish, but it’s a main dish, plus soup, salad, a couple fresh veggie dishes, rice, pickled vegetables, etc. I don’t know how she does it. My prepared meal, on the other hand, consists of a main dish, and a side dish… 😜
Anyways, I’m thankful for all the yummy foods and gladly help out (which most times means cleaning up, then just getting out of the way). My main job is doing the dishes which is a small price to pay for eating like a king every night. 🍴
I hope you had a nice weekend!
おやすみなさい！
– B
こんばんは！How’s it going?
Today Bay (15) competed in a piano contest at the UT campus. 🎹 It wasn’t like a recital, but basically he performed his piano piece for a judge in one of the classrooms at the music school. We’ll find out the results of the contest later. Last year he didn’t win an award, but received some really good comments and feedback from the judge and Bay’s teacher was happy.
It was kind of neat to visit UT (University of Texas at Austin) since I haven’t been there in a while. I made sure to take my camera, and although we didn’t really wander around campus, I got a couple of shots I am pleased with.
While I was waiting in the hallway of the music building, a nostalgic feeling came over me from being back at a University. The aging interior, cheap bulletin boards with messages to and from students, want ads, and office hour notices were all so familiar and haven’t changed at all since I was a student 30 years ago. It was both comforting and depressing… comforting because the experiences that today’s kids are having are similar to what my generation experienced, but sad because the facilities have not kept up with the times. Adding to that second point, I could see network cables and routers strung haphazardly from the ceilings… tuition is so expensive, but the facilities are really kind of crappy. At least from what I saw at UT today. 😔
Anyways, after the contest, I treated Bay to an ice cream at Amy’s to reward him for his hard work. 😄🍨 I’m very proud of him.
I hope you had a nice Saturday!
おやすみなさい！
– B
