lunch at bikkuri

A Tina Fey moment reviewing photos

Today my youngest and her SO had lunch with us at Bikkuri Sushi on East Colonial. It's been a few years since the last time we were there (my wife, my daughter, and I), which if memory serves was Mother's Day 2011. It's still upstairs, which means I have to tramp up two flights to get to the second floor. The knees didn't seem to mind.

This is the second consecutive weekend I've seen my youngest. It was last weekend that I drove up to deliver an antique chest-of-drawers. She and her SO were down in Orlando to decompress. Both of them had just completed a summer semester; summer semesters are always compressed, and my youngest in particular had taken an advanced undergraduate math class (she's studying to become a nutritionist).

We would have had an early late lunch, but traffic on I-4 is, as always, a mess, and my youngest still hasn't developed a sense of direction or timing. But I love her regardless. This time she and her SO came down to visit various animal parks around Orlando and work on her photography with her new (to her) E-PL2. She's got the original 14-42mm zoom that came with the E-P2. She was busy showing some of her photography on the back of the E-PL2. One of the nicer features of that camera is the higher-resolution rear screen. The E-PL2 is the demarcation between the older Pens (E-P1, E-P2, and E-PL1) and the next generation (E-P3 and forward). In an odd way I wish Olympus would re-release that particular body style, but stuff the 16MP E-M5 sensor into it. I don't even need the five axis stabilization. I just love the body style with the pronounced grip. I think it's why I like the Panasonic GX1 so much.

When they did arrive (an hour later than they originally said they would), we placed our orders and then sat around leisurely socializing. Orlando is in its dog days of August, with the temperatures and humidity both in the low 90's during the day. The restaurant is a pleasantly cool and quiet oasis from the noise and heat of daytime downtown Orlando.

Megan picked up her boonie hat at a local Army surplus in Tallahassee before heading down to semi-tropical central Florida. She wanted something inexpensive to keep the heat off her head and shoulders. She noted that one of the attendants commented on her hat, saying it was a "lifesaver in 'Nam." I asked her how old the guy was, and she said he looked to young. Keep in mind that Vietnam vets are around 65 to 80 (John McCain is 76).

As I grow older I find I miss the girls more and more. Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder so much as it sharpens how much I miss them.

On the way home from the restaurant I ran across an example of where Orlando is allowing artists to paint the road-side utility boxes. This one had a reproduction of the Mona Lisa. I thought it a bit eye-catching.

Technical

All taken with the Panasonic GX1 and 20mm pancake. Except for the last photo everything was SOOC except for some cropping in post.