A warm Christmas

It's amazing how vivid and festive they make those cupcakes..!

Virtual Christmas party tapas!

A huge tree in a shopping mall

The river is not frozen yet. It was a beautiful sunrise at the riverside.

A day trip to Ann Arbor

Went to Ann Arbor to run errands. This town is home to University of Michigan that has beautiful historic building as well as unique interesting shops and good restaurants. 

French cafe. They had the real (French) size macchiato. So tiny!! I remember being surprised how small their coffee mugs are in Franch.

Christmas lunch party

Got invited to a family gathering by a choir friend. She has three children who are all grown-ups now. They live in different cities in the US and visit her during the holiday season. I had a good time there because they welcomed me and we had some things in common such as knowing a little bit of Japanese, having lived in foreign countries, and one of them just earned a graduate degree. Having commonalities helps greatly expand conversation. Some of them used to sing in a choir, too.  

It was nice to see men working a lot in the kitchen. They helped serve food, prepare ingredients, and washed the dishes along with women. My friend raised these guys right!  A wineglass was dropped and shattered, but it was made into a joke - "If something's not broken, it's not real Christmas!"

People brought food, the host made food, and there was a lot of leftovers for the following day, when two couples were going to take a road trip back home. With lots of people in the kitchen, lots of food, and lots of fun conversations, it felt just like Japan's new year's day celebration.    

In a countryside..  my friend and her partner have soybeans and corn grown in their field.

2 pet horses!!

We tried hard to groom 

Don't ask me why it's asymmetry!

 Roasted prime rib 

 Left: cauliflower , mushroom, onion in coconut milk. Right: Roasted cauliflower. Thanks to a vegan relative, there were a lot of vegetable dishes!! 

2 huge dogs too!!

German shepherd 

Moments on a winter morning

Farewell party

Went to a farewell party for an undergrad research assistant who worked with us for 2 years. In those two years, she co-authored two papers and won an undergraduate research award - impressive achievements. She wanted to be a teacher - so she is going to volunteer for 2.5 years in Africa.

She is going to live in a village with locals. There is no internet, electricity, and she will take shower with water in a bucket. What a change from this modern side of the world. What urges her to do so? Young and hungry to make a difference, as put in a biography of Steven Beebe, I think, who went to CIAT in Colombia to dedicate himself in breeding high yielding beans for locals. I admire the willingness to move overseas to help people there. I really hope that she will be safe and enjoy her life there. 

Bean game "Bonanza". It's more of a negotiation game than roll-a-dice. Every time I play games with others, I find them so smart. I have no intention to win or do well. I just go with the flow...

"I'm not sleeping.... yet... "

Italian tapas & Japanese wiskey!

Peace, Joy, and Songs of the Season concert

Joined the choir again for a Peace, Joy, and Songs of the Season concert on Saturday, Dec. 8th at St. Mary Cathedral. We performed Poulenc Gloria and parts of  Handel Messiah. It was a 120-voice choir plus an orchestra. It was fantastic and beautiful. Our voices flew far back while resonating all corners of the church. Soloists were gorgeous as always. 

 Standing for 1 hour and 20 min on a narrow stair was difficult!

 Purple is the color of advent.. Some people had their hair dyed in purple!

I'm very thankful for friends in Altos that I made in this choir.. Looking forward to seeing them all again  in next year. 

Looking at the stage from the audience's seats...

Future career, passion, and practicality

Talked with a friend about future career plan. What was inspiring was that she said "You may be laid off as you get old in the industry, but for professors, the longer you work, the more value you have.  I hope I'll have skills useful in becoming a professor after I work some time in the industry". She's planning to develop skills that'll help her to go to the next step. She's got a clear picture of what she wants to do.

It was an eye opener for me. I don't know which skills to develop because I don't know what I want to do, and I can't imagine myself doing anything particular at the moment. 

One career advice was "not to follow your passion". Instead, you should find out what you're good at, and become great at it. Even if you don't particularly love it at first, the recognition and compensation will make you start to love it. That's a very practical advice. Maybe many people don't have things that they are really passionate about and want to do. Maybe it's all about finding a proper position for talent and finding yours a most suitable one. 

How to invert colors with Medibang Paint

Filter --> Inverse!

Neither Microsoft Photo or PowerPoint can easily do it, so it's worth remembering.

How to extract lines with Medibang Paint

1. Open an image

2. Increase shapness and crispness by
Filter --> Levels and
Filter --> Hue

3. Filter --> Extacting lines

4. Save!

Cute Christmas ad

For some reason I got an advertisement mail from a pet shop.. Oh my the doggies are so adorable with their Christmas attire on!

Autumn colors and Mahler concert

Autumn concert of Mahler Resurrection with Lansing Symphony Orchestra! We just sang for 10 min, but the whole music was superb, and I am glad to be a part of it at the finale.