Just finished: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers 📚🥰☕️🫖🤖

Day 21: 📷 mountain (@dejus) #mbApr

Pouring rain 🌧️ so couldn’t get you a pic of Ikoma mountains which look amazing from my apt… so I went to the Ancient Mexico exhibit and got this ziggurat. See more pics: www.flickr.com/photos/sa…

Wall image of El Castillo the Kukulcan Pyramid at Chichen Itza

Be kind! Forgive yourself! Don’t let things go to your giant Dry Clay Head (Mark Manders, 2015-2016)!

(Currently on display at the National Museum of Art, Osaka)

#Osaka #art

Chad selfie in front of a 5 foot tall sculpture of half a head in what looks like dry cracked clay, and positioned like it has fallen on the floor

So, besides showing googly-eyes 👀 at the X100vi I have also been watching vids about the new Supernote (since I want an eInk tablet for reading papers) and been looking On1 vs Capture 1 as a Lightroom replacement. Feels like a whole new generation shift for personal kit 📷 📝 👨‍🎨

It was a nice blue sky this morning around Umekita before the 黄砂 yellow dust came in from the Gobi desert and clouded things up.

#Osaka

Hep5 Ferris Wheelthe curved wall of the Umekita Ship HallUmeda Sky Building from a distanceSome blue glass Umekita buildings with an orange-red building crane in front

Day 20: 📷 ice (@the) #mbApr

25º in Osaka today. Tea, Waffles, and アイス

A glass mug of tea latte and a plate with a waffle. On top of the waffle is a scoop of ice cream

I’ve been watching too many Ricoh GRIIIx vs Fujifilm X100vi YouTube videos 😬 😬 😬

It was a gorgeous day in Kyoto today. Here are some random snaps from #EverydayKyoto

A very large paper lantern, about 5 feet tall, hangs outside the lantern shopIn front of a small house are 6 bird cages stacked up and full of budgiesA Drip & Drop branded paper coffee cup sitting in the sunlightAbove the roof of a temple gate the moon is visible in a perfectly clear blue sky

Today we had lunch at おてらハウス in my old neighbourhood which serves only 精進料理 vegetarian Buddhist cuisine. As it is spring, there are lots of bamboo shoots in the meal.

#EverydaydayKyoto #food

A tray with various dishes including bamboo shoots rice, miso soup, something that looks like fried chicken but is tofu, pickled daikon, pumpkin, etcEntrance to Tera House with wide open doors and colourful strands of 1000 folded cranes for world peace

Day 19: 📷 birthday (@crossingthethreshold) #mbApr

In Japan orchids like this are usually presented as gifts to celebrate a new shop opening. Happy birthday! 🎈🥳

White orchids set out on the sidewalk in front of a new store selling clothing and accessories for small dogs

Visited my friend @hermosawavephotography.com at his Kyotographie exhibition featuring his book “Empty Kyoto”

The exhibit runs until Sunday so get down there to see prints and hear some stories about the photos. hermosawavephotography.com/emptykyot…

#photography #kyoto

Chad and Daniel pose in front of some framed images on the wall. Chad holds a signed copy of Daniel’s bookDaniel signed the inside cover of Chad’s book: “To Chad - Thanks for your support”. In the background is a pamphlet for KyotographieDisplay with postcards and calendars for saleSign describing what Empty Kyoto is about. In English the sign says: &10;&10;A Once in a Lifetime Opportunity&10;As the center of Japan's culture, and capitol for over 1000 years, Kyoto has often been bedeviled by overtourism.&10;&10;In 2020 & 2021 however, the crowds disappeared, offering a unique chance to capture the city's natural beauty without distractions.&10;&10;Empty Kyoto is a compilation of these photographs, a document of this once-in-a-litetime period.

Started Slow Productivity by Cal Newport 📚 on recommendation of @pratik

Day 18: 📷 mood (@agilelisa) #mbApr

Every time I ride my bike past this…

A life-sized medical human skeleton model stands in front of a shop cosplaying as Anya from Spy Family… ?

Whoa I felt that quake in Oita all the way here in Osaka! Long! #earthquake #Japan #地震

Day 17: 📷 transcendence (@drewbelf) #mbApr

You are connected to those in the past, in the present, and the future. You are transcendent.

(📸 This is my family altar 仏壇 🙏📿)

a thin line of smoke rises from a single stick of lit incense in front of a Buddhist family altar

Rewilding the internet

The “internet is not an ecosystem. It’s a zoo.” Robin Berjon and Maria Farrell not only show how we have arrived at this online monoculture (and the dangers therein), but how we can take steps to seeding more diversity (and therefore resilience) for the good of the whole forest. This article really sums up the work I have been doing over the past couple of years as a sort of armchair internet ecologist.

Continue reading →

Day 16: 📷 flâneur (@chrisaldrich) #mbApr

Daughter got some new kicks and immediately decorated them in her style. She travels at her own pace. 🌈✌️

A pair of brand new converse with hand coloured multicolour laces tied in unorthodox style, and marker lines on the toecaps to make them look like animal feet

Day 15: 📷 small (@jmanes) #mbApr

Since I started this April photo challenge my 12 year old daughter has been inspired and has been participating with her iPhone. Today she took a better “small” photo than I did so I am posting hers in lieu of mine (with due credit!) 👏

Closeup of a small black beetle on a green leaf held by a girl's thumb

The next stop of my (unplanned) specialty coffee tour of Kitahama #Osaka is Brooklyn Roasters, right on the river with a fantastic patio. The shop is a combination coffee ☕️ and flower 💐 shop! Oh the smells! 🥰

Paper Coffee cup with Brooklyn Roasters branding on a weather worn wooden table with a river in the backgroundChad stands on a riverside patio holding a Brooklyn Roasters coffee cup

Enjoying a pour over and cookie at the School Bus Coffee Stop in Kitahama #Osaka ☕️

Full coffee cup and a cookie wrapped in a coffee filter. Both the filter and the cup have the School Bus Coffee Shop logo on them