Tag: A to Z challenge

A blog post each day, with the topic being something that starts with that particular letter of the alphabet. I completed this challenge for the month of April, 2016.

A-Z Challenge – Z

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Z stands for “Zero”

No, not the number, but for something altogether different. Zero was the name of our family dog when we were kids. I’m not sure why my parents name her Zero, but that name was actually quite popular with my friends! She was a small dog, a silky terrier, and we used to call her “Z” for short. She had a small crate in the breakfast room where she would sleep at night, and we called it her “basket”. When it was time for her to go to bed, we’d just need to say “basket!” and she would head to her little crate for the evening.

It was kind of fun when A Nightmare Before Christmas came out, because the little ghost dog in that movie was also named Zero.

Zero

I need to ask my parents how they chose to name our dog Zero…

Well, this is the final day of the A-Z Challenge. It was a lot of fun, and kept my brain thinking! I enjoyed it a lot. It also taught me a bit about my limits and how much I am able to post. Obviously, I am no great writer, but blogging is so much fun! I can’t imagine not doing it.

A-Z Challenge – Y

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Y stands for “Yoda”

Austin, 2005
Photo info: KONICA MINOLTA MAXXUM 7D, 210mm, f/11, 1/4 sec, ISO200
 Austin, 2005

I think Yoda of Episode V and VI was such a great character. The old and wise Jedi master’s charm was lost to me when the prequels came out and we had the CGI version of Yoda battling in epic lightsaber duels. It just wasn’t the Yoda I grew up with! I think Yoda was a casualty of George Lucas’ creative misdirection in the prequels. There was certainly a lot of magic lost in those three movies. A real shame! Happily, Episode VII brought back that swashbuckling feel of the original trilogy. I can’t wait for Episode VIII!

A-Z Challenge – X

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X stands for “Xylophone”

So, the letter X… and I thought, well, xylophone is one of the most popular x-words… and wow, we actually have a xylophone in our house this year! You see, Koa is in his middle school band, and he plays percussion. So we have a very large xylophone, with wooden keys… it’s the real deal! I never knew about them much, but they are pretty neat.

And, in a nice coincidence, tonight was his percussion concert! Below is a short video of one of the high school students playing a solo. It’s amazing, isn’t it? Wow… xylophones!

A-Z Challenge – W

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W is for “Wisteria”

I follow many Japanese photographers on Instagram, and after the Sakura has fallen, those photos have been replaced by many photos of Wisteria. Wisteria in Japanese is “Fuji” (藤) which is one of the kanji of my family name.

FYI, the kanji 藤 is very difficult to write, mainly because there are 19 strokes in it! 😮 Isn’t that crazy? In contrast, the second kanji only has 4 strokes. 😅

藤

It’s a very beautiful flower, isn’t it? One day, I would love to see it in person… an image like the one above.

A-Z Challenge – V

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V stands for “Vision”

In the past few years, my vision has been getting worse, and this past year I got new glasses, but I cannot focus so closely with my current prescriptions. I can see at a distance very clearly, and even things at an arm’s length distance is ok. But anything closer than about 18 inches and my eyes start to strain and things get blurry. So reading is kind of a problem.

Austin, 2016
Austin, 2016

When I read in bed, I need to shine my bedside lamp directly at the book I am holding at arm’s length, and then I can read comfortably, but other things, like using the rear LCD screen on my camera is difficult. I don’t like to hold the camera far from me when taking photos. That’s one reason that I need a camera with a viewfinder with diopter adjustment.

I guess next time I get new glasses (my yearly allowance comes up in August) I should look at some kind of progressive lens. Honestly, it’s not a huge deal, but if it can be corrected, why shouldn’t I do it?