Snow in the Mountains Again.

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on Snow in the Mountains Again.
Dec 272012
 

It snowed last night and this morning in the mountains. I was up here with the whole family for Christmas. It was 2010 when it snowed about a foot up here. This time, it’s just a light dusting, maybe half an inch to an inch, which is really nothing for the mountains.

While I’ve been up here, I have taken a ton of photos of the mountains. Editing them is going to be like cleaning the Augean Stables.

I’ll edit this post once I’m all caught up.

In the Mountains Again

 Photography, Travel  Comments Off on In the Mountains Again
Dec 102012
 

I spent the last few days in the mountains, and came back in time for my calligraphy class in Raleigh tonight. I took a lot of photos of the mountains, and some good macro shots of Christmas tree ornaments. I really like the Canon 50/3.5 FD macro + NEX combination. It really needs a tripod to be perfect, but it’s just fun to mess around with.

Photography Stuff

 Photography  Comments Off on Photography Stuff
Dec 032012
 

One of the projects I want to get off the ground is copying a bunch of old slides I have. So I got out my old Kodak RFS 3600 scanner, plugged it in, and it just flashed lights at me. I emailed PIE International, the company that made it, and still makes a variant of it 10 years later, and they regretfully informed me that the RAM was dead.

I don’t feel like dropping more money on a scanner. I’d like to find a faster solution. And I think I did. Maybe.

According to some posts I’ve been reading on the DPReview message board, it looks like the best solution is going to be in 40-year-old technology. I picked up a Canon 35mm FD 3.5 lens, a Canon Bellows FL, and a Canon slide copier from KEH, and I also got an FD-E-mount adaptor ring to get it all to fit on my Nex.

It kind of works. It kind of doesn’t, because I haven’t figured out how to make the bellows fit tight enough to the body so that I get all 100% of the slide image in the slide copier. I can get about 98% of it, and me being me, that last 2% bugs the heck out of me. The solution probably involves removing the FL mount from the bellows, and changing it to something thinner, but I need to get help on that.

I tried mounting a 28mm lens, and that was a total bust. If I go wider than 35mm, the slide copier stops working, because I can’t focus it properly. So I’ll need to spend some time figuring out how to fix the lens mounts.

I also picked up a Canon FD 50mm f3.5 macro lens with a 2x extension tube. That’s a lot of fun.

Another December, Another Try at the N1. (Day Two.)

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on Another December, Another Try at the N1. (Day Two.)
Dec 022012
 

I got up early, ate breakfast, tried to study, failed at that, and then just made sure my stomach was in good shape.

I decided to walk to the test site, even though my ankle has been bugging me. It was good to walk off any stress, but it made my ankle hurt a bit, and I wound up sweating like a pig. I forgot that I was wearing cotton, and layers of it. It was cold when I left the hotel, but by the time I got to Georgetown’s campus, I had turned into Sweaty Guy.

I had neglected to take my own repeated advice to wear some wicking layers. Doh.

I got to the ICC on the Georgetown Campus with plenty of time to spare, and took a few minutes to cool down and get comfortable. To me, the most important thing in one of these tests is to be comfortable, with no outside distractions, like being too hot or too cold. So I usually come to these kinds of tests with a bag full of stuff, just in case.

The N1 itself was about as I expected. I need to work on my vocabulary some more. The listening section was surprisingly difficult. Considering how much Japanese I listen to on a daily basis, I was often left with no other choice but to guess. That was frustrating.

I listen to the news in Japanese every day, watch lots of variety shows, listen to podcasts, etc., and I can follow that stuff just fine. But the N1? Forget it. I had a heck of a time following those speakers for some reason. Maybe I was tired, I don’t know. But it’s frustrating nonetheless.

I suppose for next time, I’ll focus on specific N1 listening prep, but I hate having to do that. I feel like it sabotages my ability to deal with the language on a normal basis, because the N1 feels very artificial. Ugh.

I think I did pretty well on the reading section, but I’ll probably have to take it again anyway. Grammar wasn’t too hard, but there were some words I have never seen before.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t pass, so I’ll need to figure out where my deficiencies are so I can get closer to passing next time. I don’t sit down and study Japanese 24/7, because I have work to do. Instead, I try to fit it in where I can. I’ll have to think about this some more.

Walking Around Georgetown

After the test was over, I headed back to the hotel. I was going to flag down a cab, but as I walked back, I just couldn’t seem to catch one. That was weird for a big city like DC.

About 1/3rd of the way back, I stopped at a Five Guys for an early-ish dinner. I lucked out, too, because I managed to dodge a random rain shower that hit while I was eating.

Go me.

As I was heading back along M street through Georgetown, a paper store caught my eye. The had a good selection of Japanese paper with some really nice floral prints that I know my sister will love. I got her some at Ito-ya in Ginza last year for Christmas as well, and I’m sure she’ll like these as well.

Then I went back to the hotel.

Random Stuff

I packed croutons and salad dressing, but I forgot the lettuce! I think I’ll pass on the crouton salad.

Now that the exam is over, I’m all relaxed. And now that I don’t have to study in particular (at least for tonight), I’m really bored. I’ll probably go to bed early so I can get home quickly.

I heard from my friend Michael, and he’s in town for a few days, so I’ll meet up with him tomorrow night. Gotta hit the road first thing in the morning!

DC and the JLPT (Day One)

 Japanese Language, Travel  Comments Off on DC and the JLPT (Day One)
Dec 012012
 

I drove up to DC today, and got settled the night before the JLPT tomorrow. I’m going to attempt the N1 exam again, although I’m not going to bet on my chances. I know I need to work on my Japanese some more. My vocabulary just isn’t quite there yet. It’s perfectly fine for everyday stuff, it’s not there for N1 yet.

The drive up was pretty uneventful. I listened to a bunch of podcasts in Japanese in the hopes of improving my listening for the exam. I’m getting better in that regard.

I used not to be able to understand “Tokyo Local” at all, because Manabe-san just talks way too fast for me to keep up, but now I’m finding myself keeping up with about 80% of what’s going on, and that’s not too bad.

“Tokyo Local” was a really interesting podcast, but it got cancelled. The first few seasons were really fun to listen to, then it turned into kind of a cosmetics show and I don’t know why. Also, once it got cancelled, the archive just disappeared.

It’s a good change of pace for me from all the news that I usually listen to.

I’m staying at the Embassy Suites in DuPont Circle here in DC. It’s a nice hotel, but they like the extra charges. $40/day for parking (ouch!), and $12.95/night for internet (oogah!). So I’m going without Intenet this weekend. I can’t go without parking, so I have to cut back somewhere.

(How is this being published then? Magic!)

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