Merry X'mas

My second "X'mas" in Japan. I got my darling wife a microphone, and a widget for recording the music to her PC. I can't begin to understand any of it, but I did learn this:
1) the music hobbyist faces an equipment learning curve similar to that of the photo hobbyist
2) the gear is even more expensive than photo equipment

The purpose of the recording equipment was nothing short of helping Mari live her dream of some day becoming a performer.

Naturally, she refused to sing in front of me.

My gift was a nice pair of Shure earphones (their entry level model, naturally). So far, I'm impressed.

I can only imagine what future X'mases will be like in the ヴェーネバーグ household. Progressively earlier and louder, is my guess.