Photo info: motorola moto g(6), 3.95mm, f/1.8, 1/620 sec, ISO100 “Texas Sunset” Cedar Park, 2020
Today’s photo is a snapshot of a very common sight (at least for me). It’s a sunset from the HEB parking lot. I guess it’s just timing and the really cool clouds we have in Texas, but I get a ton of these shots. I’m very happy about this. 😀
Speaking of HEB (technically H-E-B), I think its near legendary status in the Twitterverse is rightly earned. When I first moved to Texas 20 years ago, I would have said… nah. But now when I travel back to Los Angeles and visit a Ralphs or Vons… wow, those supermarkets just cannot compare to HEB. Not only are HEBs bright, clean, usually with wide aisles, and renovated regularly, but their own brands of food are awesome, especially the Mi Comida line. My HEB has so many Mexican cheeses that are unfamiliar to me, but are all great. And the HEB “Creamy Creations” ice creams are generally awesome.
They also have a reputation of being a good employer, and their community outreach programs are also well-regarded, like their relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of these factors, I’ve definitely joined the legions of HEB fans!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO800 “Reading and Relaxing” Cedar Park, 2020
I officially have the entire week off from work, so I’m using it to relax, unwind, and play games. But I also check in with work a little bit which is fine.
In the past I would feel bad about checking my work laptop on weekends or days off, thinking that I needed a hard separation between home-life and work-life. Not just separating it with physical space or actions, but also in my thinking. For instance, if I was doing something mundane at home like taking a shower or folding laundry and a thought about work comes into my mind, I’d feel guilty, as if it was encroaching on my space. But beginning a couple of years ago, I found myself letting go of that guilt… it wasn’t really a concerted effort on my part, but I just realized that I didn’t feel bad about it anymore. And it felt great, as if a weight were lifted off my shoulders. ☺
My work involves visual design, and I find that creativity isn’t bound by the 9 to 5 workday. Some days I am just not that productive creatively, but often when I’m doing mundane things outside of work hours, I think about design challenges and formulate some solutions or things to explore when I do start my workday. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of these moments of creative insight? It’s more stressful to force myself to be creative exclusively during my work hours like I used to do. Now, thinking about work outside of work hours isn’t a negative, but a positive thing.
Letting go of that guilt has been liberating. Of course I still prioritize family at all times, but I can’t deny that work is a large part of my life, so I might as well embrace the fact that it always will take up some of my headspace and use it to my advantage.
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Today’s photo is of Bay, reading and relaxing in the massage chair. He’s on winter break from college and it’s been so nice to have him home!
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500 “Pot of Crab” Cedar Park, 2020
Usually we have crab in Jamaican rundown sauce at my parents’ house for part of Christmas dinner, but since we didn’t travel, we missed it this year. Well, Mariko found Dungeness crab on sale at Costco, so she bought a few for dinner. We simply steamed them ate with melted butter. The meat was so sweet and delicious!
Next year we’re planning on having Jamaican food in California, but I wouldn’t mind it if we had crab at home more often. 😀🦀
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO640 “Dragon Age: Inquisition” Cedar Park, 2020
A couple of weeks ago, I received a notification that Dragon Age: Inquisition was on sale, so I quickly bought it and installed. Several years ago I played Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II and finished both of them, which is rare for me with video games. I really enjoyed those two games. When the third game was released, my computer system was too underpowered to play it, so the game slipped off my radar. That was a full six years ago, and in that time, I have upgraded to a more powerful computer which has no trouble running the game at high detail, and I am absolutely loving Dragon Age: Inquisition!
The class/professions I choose for my characters vary, but for years my go-to race/gender in whatever fantasy RPG I play is a female elf. I think they just look the coolest (except in the Elder Scrolls games). This time, I went with a rogue-assassin for class, and I am having so much fun. I tend to play ranged characters (archers or mages), so playing a melee class is new, but I haven’t looked back.
What’s also great about playing a rogue as opposed to a mage is that the armor and weapon design is really cool. Dragon Age has always excelled in this respect, and it’s neat that the armor, weapons, and your character’s customizations all make it into the cutscenes. It’s like magic. I guess I’m old enough to remember when cutscenes were generic and not dynamically generated so this game design is still really neat to me.
What makes Dragon Age so fun for me is not so much the story, but the interactions with the other characters that you pick up along the way. You can have up to three companions in the group (and can switch up the line-up pretty much anytime) and while adventuring, they often have conversations amongst themeselves. Since each character has their own extensive backstory and distinct personalities, it’s fun to listen in on what they say to each other. It also adds to the plot and backstory. so I pay close attention to these conversations. I really love this aspect of the Dragon Age franchise.
Anyways, I think I am still pretty early on in the game, but things just keep getting more and more interesting with the plot. It’s so good. If you have never played Dragon Age before, I highly recommend picking this classic up!
