こんにちは！
Hellos and welcome, dear readers!
書きたいことが
沢山あるタカペンです！
There's a whole lot I want to write about in today's article!
さくさく行きましょー！
So let's jump right in!
- ここ数日を振り返る / Looking Back on This Week
- クリスマスを振り返る / Looking Back on Christmas
- 2022年を振り返る / Looking Back on 2022
- ご挨拶 / A Thank You
ここ数日を振り返る / Looking Back on This Week
一昨日あたり？ / A Couple of Days Ago
1枚目は表紙みたいなもの
でもやっぱり新しいスマホに
なってから
なんか光の反射のしかたが
凄いキラキラしてる？？
1st pic is our standard lamppost. Not sure if it's just me, but I feel like there are more light refractions? with the new phone.
2枚目 月と星
このスマホならもっとアップで
綺麗な月が撮れるかも！？
と思ったのですが
やっぱりどうしてもお月様の
シャープなフォルムは撮れず
2nd pic - The Moon and the Star
I was hoping that with the new phone that maybe I can take better and clearer nighttime pics... but I guess not. The moon actually had a more crescent shape to it, but in the pic, it's become just a blob of light... lol
3枚目 UFO
2枚目と同じく、このスマホなら！
とアップで飛行機を撮ろうとしたら
光の線になってしまいました（笑）
3rd - another UFO!?
Yeah, yeah. I know. It's getting old. It's not an unidentified object. It's just an airplane... Again, I was hoping that with the new smartphone, I can take a better close up pic of a nighttime airplane... but it's just become a set of colorful lines. Almost like a time lapse pic. lol
4枚目 リベンジ
何回リベンジするのか（笑）
車を止めたところで
ふと見てみたら
と思って撮ったのですが
4th pic - Another Attempt At...!?
I'll never quit trying... lol The car was stopped, I saw the top of the empire state building red and clear, so I thought I'd give it a shot...
まぁ建物のてっぺんは
写ってますが
マンハッタンの夜景には
程遠いですね（笑）
Well... so the top of the buildings look pretty clear, but definitely not a Manhattan landscape. lol
クリスマス前後は氷点下 / Staying Below Freezing Around Christmas
１～４枚目
主にお空の写真を撮ってます
1~4th pics
Mostly pics of the sky.
氷点下だったからか
空の青さと白さが
際立って見えるような
Maybe because it was below freezing, the sky looked bluer even with all the clouds.
そして飛行機雲が
めちゃくちゃ
残る印象でした（笑）
And there seemed to have been more contrails left behind than usual. (Unless it was just that there were that many more planes flying lol)
５～７枚目
小川の氷
撮った日は既に
日中の気温が6度と言う
暖かさだったので
川の表面が氷点下で
凍っていたかどうかは
確認できませんでしたが
その名残が
川辺に残っていたのかな？
5~7th pics
Ice along a small stream.
The day I took the pic, the midday temp had gone up to 43 degrees, so I couldn't tell if perhaps the whole surface had been frozen over during the days when it stayed way below freezing even during the day. But the edges seem to have frozen over and remained that way!
8枚目
黒リスさんと
ぐるぐるしてた木
多分
8th pic
The tree where I'd gone around and around with the black squirrel. I think.
９～１０枚目
わからないけど
こう言う何気ない
地面だったり
木の枝だったり
ですらも
日本の地面や木の枝とは
違うのかな～と
勝手に想像してみたり
9~10th pics
I took these because I thought maybe even everyday ordinary things like leaves on the ground and the shapes of bare tree branches might be different from those in Japan.
クリスマスを振り返る / Looking Back on Christmas
もともとイベント事は
特に何もしない
タカペンですが
今年はせっかく
歌ってみた活動を始めたので
何かしなければ・・・！
Yours truly is truly lazy and do not do much with holidays and events; however, I felt impelled to do something since I started uploading songs on YouTube. So...
と無謀にもアカペラ合唱に
挑戦してみました
I tried doing a four-part acapella of Carol of the bells by myself.
インスタにあげてる
写メは意味不明ですが（笑）
The pic here is probably like wth lol
1枚目 オブジェと譜面
オブジェは去年あたりの
クリスマスに会社の
営業からプレゼントとして
もらいました
1st pic - The Duck and the Score
The duck, I got as a Christmas gift last year or so from a sales person in my company.
他の会社の営業さんは
わからないのですが
うちの会社の営業さんは
社内にも感謝プレゼントを
送らなければならないようです（笑）
I don't know about sales people in other companies, but at least in our company, it looks like sales people are given money by the company to do something for people from other division groups. lol
譜面はアカペラ合唱用に
プリントしたものです
ソプラノ、アルト、テノール、
バスの４パートが
のってるのですが
タカペンは元ソプラノなので
２～４行目を追うのに
慣れてなくて
蛍光ペンでパート別に
追いやすいようにしてました
The music score is for the four-parts acapella Carol of the Bells. You can see parts highlighted in different colors because I'm not used to following non-soprano lines. With soprano, all you have to do is follow the very top line, so it's very easy. Never knew that the other parts were so difficult to follow! Every time I turned a page singing a non-soprano part, my eyes lost track of which line I was looking at, so might start singing the alto part when I was trying to sing the tenor part! lol
まぁ譜面があるからと言って
その通りに歌えるかどうかは
別問題でして（笑）
And of course, just because I had the score didn't mean I could actually sing the other parts. lol
こちら歌ったバージョンを
再度あげておきますが
以前にも言いましたが
腕の良いMIX師さんのおかげで
かろうじて聞けるようになってます
I'll embed the video again but like I said before, it's only bearable thanks to the person who mixed my audios!
あ、2枚目の写メ
忘れるとこでした！
Oh, and nearly forgot about the 2nd pic!
ポメロ買いました！
タカペンは柑橘類が
大好きで、みかんや
レモンやライムが大好きです
I bought a pomelo because it was on sale! Yours truly is a citrus type of person and I love tangerines, clementines, lemons, and limes.
あとはザボンとか
オロブランコとか
And Japanese Zabon (not sure what it translates to in English) and oro blanco.
大きさよくわかりませんが
グレープフルーツより
２，３まわりぐらい？
大きいです
You probably can't really tell from the pic, but it's maybe about twice as big as a grapefruit?
今調べたらポメロは
ザボンって書いてあったけど
味が違うような…謎です
When I went to look up pomelo and zabon, google was showing sites saying these are the same thing, but to me they taste different... weird.
割った中身も写メろうと
思ったのですが
おしゃれセンスのない
タカペンがとると
きちゃない
写メしかとれなかったので
あげてません（汗
I wanted to upload pics of the inside of the pomelo, but yours truly really has a knack for taking NON-photogenic pics... in other words, they're ugly. So I didn't upload them. lol
もっとセンスある人に
なりたいです（笑）
Wish I were able to take more photogenic pics!
2022年を振り返る / Looking Back on 2022
さて、では最後に今年を
振り返って行きたいと思います！
And so here we go, looking back on this year, 2022!
ゲーム / Games
どこにも触れてませんが
実はタカペンは
ほんの一時期
ゲーム実況系Vtuberに
なれないかな、と
考えたこともありました
I haven't mentioned this anywhere, I don't think, but yours truly was actually thinking of becoming a let's play vtuber.
が
But
パソコンのスペックが足らず
かっくかくな動画しか
撮れなかったので
断念しました（笑）
My laptop just didn't have the specs to be able to run all the apps at once so I gave up on the idea. lol
Vtuberさんたちって、
何気にすっごいスペック高い
機材をお持ちなんですね（笑）
All those Vtubers out there must have really high-end equipment!
タカペンの場合
歌ってみた動画を
撮るだけで
ノーパソさんの
ファンがやばいです（笑）
In my case, just trying to take a cover video makes the laptop fans go bonkers. lol
因みに実況しようと
思ってたゲームは
PSO2です
And btw, the game I was wanting to do was PSO2.
今はほとんど
プレイできてませんが！
Not that I have the time to play it much anymore, unfortunately!
でもラッピーとか
かわいいマスコット的
存在があるので
時間あれば
またやりたいです♪
But I'd like to go back and play if time allows, just so I can see my wittle rappies again!
ラッピー / Rappy ↓
アニメ / Anime
今年多分色々と
観た筈なんですが
直近でもあるからか
アニメと言えば
「異世界おじさん」
しか思い浮かびません（笑）
I feel like I've watched more animes, but right now if I try to remember what I've watched this year, I can only remember the "Uncle from Another World" or "Isekai Ojisan". lol
最初はサムネや「おじさん」
と言うキーワードで
観なくていいかな、と
思ってたのですが
まぁ他に観るものもないし
地雷覚悟でみてみよう
When I first saw the thumbnail and the title, they kind of put me off, but I gave it a try just so I can cross it out from my potential watchlist.
と思って観たら
面白かったです（笑）
Or so I thought, until I actually watched it, and I actually liked it, counter to my expectations. lol
で、最初は
「おもしろ～」
レベルだったのが
観れば観る程
「めちゃくちゃ面白い！」
「何気に感動する！」
「OPの最後でおじさんが
笑顔になるの、
良かったね、って思える！」
とどんどんはまっていきました（笑）
At first, I was like "well, that's not as bad as I feared," which eventually became "this is pretty funny" to "omg this is hilarious" and at this point, just seeing ojisan smile at the end of the opening sequence kind of makes me feel sentimental. I mean, he went to isekai when he was just a teenager and had to go through all that, and now he's finally back on Earth and having a good time with his nephew. How sweet is that!
好みを選ぶ作品だとは
思いますが
タカペン的には
ドツボにはまった一品です
A lot of the humor in the anime might fly over a lot of non-Japanese people as well as many Japanese people, tbh. But for me, there could be no other anime that hit the spot like this one!
因みにセガネタが多いのですが
タカペン、実はセガネタ
何一つわかりません（笑）
The anime makes a lot of references to older sega games, none of which yours truly understands. lol
それでも楽しめるので
最近の異世界アニメの
知識あるけど食あたり気味
な方にお勧めだと思います（笑）
But I can still enjoy it, so I'd recommend the anime to anyone who's familiar with more recent animes and isekai cliches, and are tired of them. lol
タカペンの推しは
エルフちゃんです
剣がかっこよすぎ！！！
And btw, my fave is the elf girl. She's so cute and her sword is just awesome.
そんな『異世界おじさん』の
アニメ公式サイトはこちら
Below is a link to the Japanese website for Isekai Ojisan anime.
そして最近の曲を歌うの
難しいお年寄りの
タカペンですが
それでも
『異世界おじさん』好きで
EDを英訳して
歌ってみた動画がこちらです
And yours truly sucks at singing pop songs, especially newer j-pops, but I liked isekai ojisan enough to give the ending a try! So below is my English translated cover of Ichibanboshi Sonority. (And my first ever English cover video!)
活動 / Activities
タカペン、ユーチューブ
始めちゃったよ！！
Yours truly even started a YouTube channel this year...!!!
そのノリで
おぼろげな知識から
その他もろもろのSNSも
やらなきゃいけないのでは？
And in order to maintain a YouTube, my vague understanding was that you also have to handle multiple social media outlets...?
と言う使命感から
色んなものも
始めちゃったよ！！
So I started a whole bunch of stuff I've never really done before!
実は色んなのありすぎて
いっぱいいっぱいです（笑）
And there are too many of them that I'm barely able to handle them. lol
ユーチューブ / YouTube
内容的に更新頻度が
一番低いですが
一応タカペンの活動の
核はユーチューブです
Because of what I'm doing, my YouTube channel is the least frequently updated platform out of everything that I have now, but my main activity is what I do on YouTube.
日本語の歌を
できるだけ
自然な英語に
かつ
正確な内容で
歌詞を翻訳して
それを歌って
動画としてあげる
My goal is to translate Japanese songs into as natural English as possible, at the same time retaining the meaning of the original lyrics as much as possible, and then to sing the translated lyrics and upload the cover to YouTube.
が
タカペン活動の
始まりです
And so began my Taka Pen Lyrics channel.
いざやってみると
意外と難しかったですが（笑）
Once I actually started translating and singing, it was all much more difficult than I had initially thought, though. lol
それでもコツコツと
続けていきたいと思います♪
But I plan to take one step at a time and keep on chugging away! :)
はてなブログ・キャンヴァ / Hatena Blog & Canva
そしてタカペン活動の
二つ目の軸となるのが
翻訳した歌詞の説明です
My secondary goal is to explain my translation process and in order to do so, I started this blog because I needed a space where I can write a whole lot.
翻訳の勉強はしたこと
ないので、専門家からしたら
そんなやり方は邪道だ！
みたいなとこは
あるかもしれませんが
I've never studied translation, so a professional might be aghast at the way I'm going about translating...
こう言う歌詞翻訳の
解釈の仕方もありますよ～
but I just wanted to share another perspective on lyrics translation.
って言うブログを
書いてみたかったんですね
And so I started my blog for anyone interested.
誰の得になるんだか
わかりませんが（笑）
あと日本語大分怪しいですけど（笑）
Although really, not sure if there's anyone at all interested in how another person translates lyrics. Plus, my Japanese is a bit on the underdeveloped side since I came to the U.S. when I was really young. :P
でも世界中の誰かしら
一人だけにでも
「参考になる」
と一度でも
思っていただけたら
素敵だな～
But, if there's even a single person in this whole wide world who would take interest and might find it useful, that's all I can ask for. :)
と歌詞英訳説明のブログを
書いていく予定です
And so I intend to keep on writing my lengthy English translation explanation blog entries each time I upload a video. :)
あ、オマケですが
はてなブログを始めたら
画像作り？ の為に
キャンヴァへ誘導されました
Oh, and another thing I wanted to mention. When I started Hatena blog, they diverted me to a website utility, Canva, that lets you create images.
ブログもユーチューブも
SNS諸々全ての
ヘッダー画像を
キャンヴァで作ってます
とても楽ちんで便利です
All my profile and headers pics on various social media platforms have been created on Canva. It's so easy to use and very handy because it's web based and not an app that takes forever to start up.
もうキャンヴァなしで
生きてはいけない！！（笑）
So now, I can't imagine my life without Canva!! lol
そんなキャンヴァのサイトはこちら / Below is the link to the Canva website:
インスタグラム・フェイスブック / Instagram & Facebook
さて、ユーチューブするなら
よくわからないけど
その他SNSもやらなければ
ならないのでは！？
So, if I'm going to start a YouTube channel, I need to create accounts on other social media platforms, right?
とわからないなりに
インスタとフェイスブックも
始めました
Or that was my thinking, so I started Instagram and Facebook accounts.
フェイスブックは昔から
アカウントは持っていても
正直何すれば良いのか
わからない場なので
I've owned a Facebook account for a long time but never really knew what to do with it.
タカペンアカウントも
実はなんにもしてません（笑）
I still don't, so I don't do much with it. lol
インスタとはてなブログに
あげたものの通知が自動的に
フェイスブックであげられるので
それだけです（笑）
Just that Facebook can automatically post Instagram and blog entry updates, which is very convenient, so my Facebook timeline is filled with updates from those two platforms. Oh, and of course, YouTube!
そしてインスタは
今回初めてアカウントを
作ってみたのですが
何をするべきなのか
いまだによくわかっていません
Instagram was a first for me, and I still have no idea what to do with it.
最初はわからなさすぎて
でも何かあげないと？
と思って停電のときに
撮ったろうそくの写メを
意味もなくあげました（笑）
I had no idea what to do when I first created my account but felt I had to upload something, so I randomly posted a pic of candles from when we had a blackout around that time. lol
ろうそくのまわりに
アルミホイルの囲いを
作ると、明るさが
まします
If you loosely create walls around the candles with aluminum foil, the tiny candle lights become much brighter.
それ以前にちゃんとした
懐中電灯を準備しとけ
って話なんですが（笑）
Although, of course, you'd be much better off with a flashlight or an electric lantern. lol
ツイッター / Twitter
さて、最後になりましたが
ツイッターも始めました！
And last but definitely not the least, I also started a Twitter account!
ツイッターも実は
何をどうすれば良いのか
とても手探り状態です
Again, I'm clueless on what to do with Twitter as well.
よくわからずに
いいねやリプを
FF外でしまくってますが
（そもそもFF外って何？？？）
これって実は
マナー違反なのでしょうか
よくわかりません…
I go around liking and replying to people that I don't follow... but I almost get the feeling that people don't quite like that...? So I'm not sure if there are unspoken rules that I don't know about and am making lots of Twitter faux pas or something...
って、ちょっと話がそれました
But anyway!
タカペン的に
動画の告知も
ブログ更新の告知も
インスタの投稿も
全て反映できるし
全部の告知を
一つの場所に
纏めることができて
なんかとても便利～
と言う感覚です
Twitter is my one-stop location that I can put up notices of updates for YouTube, Instagram, and blog entries, so I find it pretty useful.
でも告知だけだと
業者の宣伝みたい…？
どうすればいいんだろ～
いやでもまぁ
告知したい場所だし
うーん？
って感じです（笑）
Just that if all I do is post my updates from non-Twitter items, I wonder if I look like a bot or someone just trying to make profit by directing traffic to my various medias. Except I do want to make some kind of announcment to the Internet saying "hey, here I am, doing these things, wanna take a look?" and Twitter is the only place I can think of to do that, so.... oh well?
And no, I don't make profits from any of my activities. lol
纏め / Conclusion
とゆーことで
ブログ以外のSNS系？
のものを
どうしたら良いのか
わからず
とりあえず活動を
始めてみた
そんなタカペンの
2022年なのでした☆
And so, yours truly started all these activities this year, while being as clueless can be on most of the social media platforms that I started. lol
ご挨拶 / A Thank You
今年は右も左も
わからない状態で
あれこれ始めちゃって
何をしているのか
何をしたいのか
どこへ向かっているのか
何一つ
よくわからない
存在になっていますが
I've started a whole bunch of things without really any clear directions on what I'm doing, what I want to do, or where I want to go with all these. So anyone looking at me would likely be at a loss as to what to make of me.
そんなタカペンの活動に
奇特にも
お付き合いくださっている
皆様方、本当に感謝しています
Even so, there are people who have been kind enough to take notice, like my activities, and send me comments. I truly appreciate all your goodwill, so thank you.
今年は本当に大変
お世話になりました
This year has been great getting to meet you all, figuratively speaking, that is.
来年もどうぞ
気が向いたときに
覗きにきていただけたら
とても嬉しいです
And I hope we'll still be seeing each other again, come next year!
そして皆様が健やかに
良い年越しを過ごせることを
願っています
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and safe New Year's Eve and Day!
それでは今日はまたいつも以上に
長い記事のお付き合いくださり
ありがとうございました
Thank you for reading such a long blog entry!
次の記事と動画は
お正月の三が日の
間にはと思っています
Hoping to upload my next translated English cover video right after New Year's!
そのときにまたお会いしましょう！
Until then!
ではではっ！
Taka, out!
