FilmoreHa.com

It’s been almost a year since I opened a hosting account at Dreamhost and made an attempt at creating a personal website/blog.  Obviously that didn’t work out too well.  Hopefully this year will be different, I do feel really bad about paying for this space and not making use of it after all.

So on to new directions we go!  I learned from lots of reading that to make a successful blog or site one should choose a theme or central topic to write about/develop around.  I had always struggled with that, so maybe thats why things never took off.  With that in mind, I decided from here on that I would write about:

• Japan, because I’ve made it my home (for now)
• Photography, because its my new hobby
• Web/Graphic design, because I had always wanted to be a designer (obviously didn’t happen)
• Foreign affairs (maybe), because I have to make use of my $60k+ diploma some how, right?!

Of course this isn’t the only new direction I am taking.  Thinking back on these past few years, I’ve come to the realization that I truly have been avoiding networking.  Why?  I don’t rightly know.  Probably because I suck at it.  But just because you suck at something isn’t a good reason to avoid it, right?  Therefore, I’ve resolved to step things up and build my network because I:

• need new friends (in addition to the very few I already have of course)
• need help finding leads on jobs and opportunities
• want to meet successful ex-pats (and locals)  that I can learn from

Finally, the most important change I’m taking on this year being a better daddy.  Don’t get me wrong, I (and my wife and others) don’t think I’m a bad daddy.  I just know that I (still) have a short fuse that needs work.  I actually took the initiative on this and bought a book my cousin and mother of three recommended, “Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood“.  Let’s hope it’s really useful.

F.

I accidentally created a dark comic-like image of Tokyo Tower from a photo that I took from the top of Mori Tower in Roppongi.

Pier 21 at Yokohama.  Taken during on lunch break at an exhibition at the Yokohama Pacifico.

I bought a EF50mm f/1.8 MK II for my EOS Kiss F recently and am enjoying it immensely.  I was also lucky enough to find a photographer in my area who was selling an EF50mm f/1.4 USM.  Yay me!  Normally in situations like this, I would be kind of bummed to have spent the extra money on a newer albeit “lower” quality item only to find a great offer for the better item, however, this time I am feeling great.  I have a truly great lens to use for important photographic moments, and one to use and abuse as my walk around lens.  And I still use my kit lens too!

The following image was taken with my EF50mm f/1.8 over the weekend before I picked up the f/1.4; I hope you like it.

Last night after I finished studying Japanese I decided to take some photos of three Daruma Dolls that my daughter plays with. Daruma Dolls can be found in many places in Japan and they are one of the symbols of Koshigaya City where I live. An explanation on what they are can be found at the following wiki on Daruma Dolls.

Anyway I am really enjoying photography as my new hobby. It really offers me a fresh perspective on the world, and allows me to be creative w/o sitting in front of the computer, which is way way easier. Recently I have also bought a new lens, a Canon EF50mm f/1.8 which I’ll be putting to use this weekend.  You can see more pictures on my Flickr page.