Tag: postaday

Vote

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"Early Voter" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
 “Early Voter” Cedar Park, 2016

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:

  • Separation of church and state
  • Freedom of speech
  • Rational, thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate, fact-based decision-making

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 Barron Fujimoto

Dinner ideas

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"Japanese Fish Fry" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Japanese Fish Fry” Cedar Park, 2016

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 Barron Fujimoto

Trip to UT

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"LBJ Library" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec, ISO200
 “LBJ Library” Austin, 2016

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. 😔

"Under the Building" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO400
 “Under the Building” Austin, 2016

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 Barron Fujimoto

Terrible with names

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I used to think I was really good at remembering names, but for the past several years, I have been having a tough time with it. I guess it’s just that I’m getting older? ❓❔

It seems that lately when in conversation or just casual greeting, co-workers will address me by my name, but I can’t for the life of me remember theirs. Sometimes I will ask them right away to remind me, but most times I just kinda wing it… then later on I will figure out who they are. 🙂 I can’t be the only one who does this, right?

But now I have a secret weapon for remembering co-workers’ names!

A colleague and I have been taking photos of all the employees here at the Austin HQ for the facilities team to put on our access badges and for IT to put in the Outlook profiles. Since I post-process every photo, Facilities has provided me a list with each person’s name, and I reference it when I rename the file. It’s a good cheat-sheet for placing names to faces, isn’t it?

Another thing that I like about this photo “project” is that I do get to meet a lot of people. I’m generally a quiet person, so it’s nice to be given the opportunity to talk to my workmates, even for only a minute or two. Everyone is interesting and unique, and it’s fun to get a glimpse of so many personalities.

At first, I wasn’t looking forward to taking everyone’s photo, but now I am glad I did it (and will continue to do it). It’s a fun part of my workday. 😄📸

Pajamas

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"Elephant PJs" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO4000
 “Elephant PJs” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of my son Koa’s pajama bottoms that he has been wearing. My oldest brother brought back these very light and comfortable bottoms from his travels in Southeast Asia last year for the kids and Mariko as Christmas gifts. The pajamas have a great elephant 🐘 design pattern on them… aren’t they great? Bay (15) and Mariko wore them right away, but Koa just started wearing his. I think he’s learning the value of wearing comfy pajamas! (He usually just wears sports shorts and a t-shirt to bed)

As for myself, I usually wear a large, soft t-shirt and then a pair of light pajama bottoms that my wife bought for me in Japan. They kind of look like jinbei bottoms and are really comfy – perfect for the summer. And I also have some similar bottoms that my brother gave me as a gift that has a honu (sea turtle) embroidered on it. They are really great as well.

But soon we’ll have to start wearing our warmer pajamas since the seasons are changing. 😞

I hope you had a nice Friday, and let’s enjoy the weekend!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto