daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
こんばんは。How’s it going?
The past few days, Mariko has been baking a ton and sharing/selling bread to friends. And sometimes (not often) she has a bread fail… which is great for me because while the bread might not look perfect, it tastes great. 😀
The photo above shows some of the bread fails, but they still look great, don’t they?
I hope you had a nice Thursday!
またね～
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today I was listening to some Japanese pop songs that I haven’t heard in a couple years, and I was surprised that I understood a lot more than I used to. Actually, I’d rate my comprehension of the lyrics as maybe 20% of the words, whereas before it might have been 5%. But since it’s mostly just bits and pieces, and not even whole sentences that I understand, I only get the gist of what the song is about. Still, it’s fun to hear the same songs and the mystery is revealed a bit more as I study.
I’ve been using the Anki flashcard system on my computer and phone to boost my vocabulary and it’s pretty good! However, I am going to switch from kana to romaji to get in more vocabulary quicker, then maybe I will switch it up and go back to kana for a bit. There’s a mental gap that I am encountering where I am trying to memorize both the meaning while seeing the kana/kanji and it’s kind of frustrating. So to build some momentum, I am switching to romaji (and I also study my kana cards separately as a refresher) and see if I can get more vocab under my belt.
In other Japanese-related news, I have caught up with Segodon so now I can just watch the TV Japan broadcasts when they are shown. And then I am also watching a Sailor Moon episode here and there. Fun to pick up the new words I have learned.
So, some improvement with my Nihongo, and also a bit of fun with the dorama!
Today’s photo is of my watches, sitting in a Kokuyo pen case. I tidied up my desk, but don’t have a good place to put my watches so I just threw them there. I like looking at them, so I don’t put them in the drawer but it seems like they need a better place to hang out than just the desktop. 😆 We’ll find a good home for them someday!
I hope you had a good Saturday!
またねー
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Today we took our son Bay to the oral surgeon to get eight teeth removed in order to “clear the way” for braces. This required him to be put under for the procedure, which only took about half an hour. When he came to, he was still groggy and wasn’t all there. It was funny, but scary as well. Just seeing our son sitting in the chair, more or less helpless, is something I never want to see again. It made me imagine what my parents might have felt when I was in the hospital, and I very much regret that ever happened. 😔
But after coming back home, Bay took a short nap and was feeling better, albeit very sore. The bleeding from the tooth extraction stopped pretty quickly and he had no trouble taking his pain medication, antibiotics, and rinsing with the mouthwash so we are thankful that everything has gone smoothly. But because he needed some extra care today, I spent the day at home with him. I’m happy that my job is flexible enough that I can work from home if I need to. It’s a great benefit!
This evening I did some sketches, based off of the artwork for the anime Hisone to Masotan. I love the tumblr animation I reposted a couple days ago, especially the facial expressions so I wanted to try something similar, and maybe simplify my own style. I’m still trying to find a signature style…
Anyways, I had fun drawing the faces, and using the Staedtler 925 09 pencil, with its super-broad lead. I have 2B in it, so it’s soft and dark. This combination of pencil and lead is fun, loose, and it forces you to not get hung up on precision. I like it.
To see all the sketches I’ve been working on, you can check out the Flickr album “My Sketching Journey”, or my Instagram account barron.sketches which I created just for posting sketches, watercolors, and stationery items.
I hope you had a nice Friday!
またね～
こんばんは。How’s it going?
Yesterday’s post featured a couple photos of homemade food, and today’s post has some restaurant food photos.
The first is from Mission Dogs, which is a food truck that comes by our office every week or so. They sell bacon-wrapped hot dogs, with several topping variations. Today I tried the “Vietdog”, which had cucumber, carrots, cilantro, garlic-chili sauce, and sriracha mayo. It was so good! My co-worker and I call the hot dogs “Disney dogs” because you pay more than you think you should for just a hot dog. But actually, the Mission Dogs are totally worth the price because they are so delicious and special, so the “Disney dogs” comment is mostly out of jest. 😄🌭🌶️❤️
The second photo is of a fancy drink from Olive Garden. We went out for dinner, which is not uncommon, but we rarely go to Olive Garden – this was perhaps only the third time we’ve ever eaten there. The food is certainly tasty, but it’s not the healthiest choice. Honestly, Mariko’s carbonara is hard to beat. But I suppose going out every once in a while is good, and a nice break from preparing a meal at home.
I hope you had a nice Thursday!
またね～
こんばんは。How’s it going?
This year I’ve started having a lot more “screentime” due to the fact that I have a Moviepass (which is awesome!), but I am also trying to watch more dorama, anime, and other Japanese TV. Actually, almost all the tv I watch is on TV Japan since I am a Japanophile, and I love some of the documentary and travel programs.
Anyways, here’s what on my watch list at the moment:
That’s it!
I hope you had a nice Monday. ☺
またね～
