Today's thought and an outline over the changes (so far)

Today the temperature has dropped down a bit, I'm watching it's sleeting lightly.
Cold, gray and closed.
Complete cliches for this winter.

But I'm not actually bored with these, because I know I'll soon miss these in cheerful spring and summer days.
And I've been thinking about a lot of things lately and my heart has been taken over and messed around by those, I rather feel comfortable with this cheap last winter day.

As some of you've known that I've made some changes lately, I've been thinking about those aimlessly.
Am I right in those?, am I OK with those?, where am I going to?, is this what I really want?, and so on.
Every single questions that were made for me by me are roughly same.






I've kept on putting myself apart from the world which technology takes over for quite some time.
Even though my second photography life started with a Nikon digital camera several years ago, I soon gave up with it because I wasn't able to feel comfortable.
Old cameras compensated me for the awkward feeling, and I swore i'd go with old analog cameras forever.
As I've been in that promise, I've also always been in wonder if the decision is really meaningful.
Sticking only with old school and keeping on being stubborn are good idea?

Then recently.
I suddenly shifted my idea which have dominated me for so long slightly to the milder attitude.
And I've just started to use a digital camera, made a Tumblr account to upload digital photos, got a Twitter account to announce my most current activities and also to be connected to interesting people, started to make an inspiration board on web with Pinterest.
I know, so much changes were made at the same time.

Some of you might have been disappointed with such my radical attitude.
Since I've been stubborn to go with old school in every aspects other than owning 2 blogs, those who have felt comfortable with such my position might have felt left behind or deceived softly but with an enormous impact.
I know, I know, friends, how you're feeling.
Because I've been such a person who had been softly crushed same way.

There're some to tell you.
To my surprise, I'm feeling good with the changes.
To be honest with you, I haven't changed my style though a lot of technological method have entered in my life now.
As long as I keep on using a digital camera in all manual mode (no aperture/shutter speed priority, no auto focus, no bracketing), it's fine to use a digital camera. (Only feature I appreciate is the setting for a white balance. That's really nice, I think. )
I haven't changed the way how to use a camera from when I only used manual cameras.
As long as I don't rely too much on Twitter to connect with people, it's also fine to tweet or to hear people's tweets.
Actually some of tweets make me laugh loud, and I want to say thanks to those who make my days cheerful. (FYI, I'm really really enjoying tweets from Moomin!! )

Actually I don't know how long I'll keep all these, because I'm just at the start point.
But I know that I'll keep on using my old cameras and loving those and pictures they render.
I just quit to hate technology.
I just quit to be stubborn and old.
Could you understand me?

Oh, I haven't mentioned about today's pictures any.
They were all taken last year with one of my favorite Polaroid camera, Polaroid 180.
It takes peel-apart films, and my most favorite peel-apart film is this "blue" film.
I know how pictures on papers are pretty like this way. :)

Our new year's days

19 days have passed since 2011 started, and now I'm feeling a big Monday finally.
Once Mondays have come after weekends, I always feel some kind of relief and calm.
Weekend is almost always fun and filled with something exciting, but it drives me to somewhere restless and unfamiliar.
Sometime from around Christmas till now, those days are a big weekend and today is a big Monday for me.

Anyway I'm ready to look back and talk about how the big weekend was.

In top picture, it shows our traditional new year's feast this year.
They are so-called "Osechi-ryori" and "Ozoni", and they're so traditionally Japanese, they always need me to make an effort to prepare. (Obtaining necessary ingredients is the most difficult and important part.)
I always complain about that, but I somehow manage to serve to my husband whose one of favorite food(meal) is this feast.





Well, in the picture you can see my husband and the oldest (8yrs) and our first cat.
I don't exactly know what they were doing on the sofa, maybe dancing together, I took this without any intention.
They were just cute and full of peace.
We took a family(2 people + 3 cats) picture some hours before this, which has been our custom for a new year's day, on this sofa.





Our newest family member, Maple is looking through the window.
Every cats like that place, but Maple dominates there.
She is the bossiest cat I've ever met and other 2 cats are subdued, so she can enjoy the fresh look of the outside all by herself.





My husband and I did a word game over and over with some tea and snacks.
As we had been so restless over a big concern which hit our heart devastatingly, all we could do to spend time without collapsing to cry was a word game. (I don't exaggerate at all, but it might have been only me who inclined to cry.)
"Scrabbles" was really nice for us.
I made one "bingo" and that victory brought me a faint but certain hope for near future in the midst of that situation.

I finally opened the Japanese snack I brought back to the U.S. last April.
It's so-called "Yo-kan", which is one of traditional Japanese sweets.
It's made of adzuki beans, sugar, agar agar and a bit of salt. (Please imagine very hard version of Jello.)
The one we ate this time had the enhanced salty flavor, and it really went well with authentic green tea.
Oh please don't worry about the expiration date if you're concerned with its long period of having been left in the pantry!
It was the end of January 2011, so it's barely OK. ;P





Milk's pretty face suddenly appeared up on the table when we were eating the rest of Osechi-ryori for our dinner on a new year's day.
We burst into a big laugh because she was as if she had claimed us that we should had invited her for sharing the feast together.
She's always been such full of playfulness, and entertained us a lot regardless of her unintended thoughts.


Thus our new years days have gone, and we've gone back to the swing of everyday.
Happy new year and happy unchanged everyday!