Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Banana Lovers Day!

Mood::iconhappychinaplz:

Yay, for bananas!One of my fave fruits!:iconbananasplz:(And, one of the most popular fruits in the world.) I usually have a banana everyday, but oddly we've run out. So, I can't have one today...:iconohboyamericaplz:Oh well. 

Had an appointment on Friday for a 2-hour intake 'interview' at the new counseling center. Well, it's new to me, since I've never had a therapist at this one. At the other place, the intake was just a 1-page questionnaire and a 5-minute phone interview. Nothing like this place.:icongermanyplz:It's interesting that most of their clientele are in the LGBT community, and they're kind of tailored for that community. 

I'm supposedly considered to be under that 'umbrella', because I have a trans parent. They've kind of taken me in, and become somewhat like a family at the support groups. That's another thing I've noticed, is I feel like there aren't very many COTs (children of trans) like me around.:iconpolandplz:At least that are open, supportive, and accepting. The breakout ally group that meets every other Wednesday through a main trans group mostly has partners or parents of a trans person. They told me the last 2 times I was there that there are a couple who are like me, but they don't go to these things because they feel they'll be the only one with this sort of relationship. Hmmm...:iconkikuplz:They also said since they know another person, they might contact these people and tell them to go to the group next time. That'd be cool! (Although, I won't be able to go to the next one, because Rosh Hashanah starts that night.) This group meets at this counseling center. Dad and I sometimes joke, saying that I'm a unicorn. Since I'm so rare.:iconenglandispervyplz:

Anyways, the center sounds like they'll actually get where I'm coming from. I've had a therapist argue with me just over whether my Dad was trans or not.:iconwtfukplz:These people might actually be good to talk to in detail about it, and might be a lot more understanding. There's really nothing negative I feel towards it, I just go through a different 'experience'.:iconchibinitalyplz:

It was a very thorough interview. Just to see who would be the best therapist for me. I realized that I haven't really gone over mourning my mom with a therapist.:iconamericasadchibiplz:So, that'd be good to go over, too. There were lots of other things that I never really covered before with previous therapy. Its been a very long time since my last therapy appointment, and they said I should probably be seeing someone at least once every 2 weeks. (Might have been since January or February since my last therapy appointment.:iconusaplz:) Eventually, I'll try to get a psychiatrist through them, too. 

After my appointment, we went to a very small Indian restaurant for lunch. There was very little seating, and it was a bit cramped. They had a buffet going for lunch. Very good food!:iconfrancisplz:They kept wanting to give us more things from their tiny kitchen. (Some weren't even in the little buffet bar area.) 

The ferries were running really late on our way back home, so we went up to the area where they have restaurants and stores at the terminal. I got a very good Ben & Jerry's brownie ice cream bar, since it was so warm out. Then, we grabbed some burritos from Taco Del Mar, and didn't have them until we got home. Would have been too hot to eat anyways.:icontinoplz: 

With the help of Pinterest, I've gotten more in touch with my style in clothing, and what looks good on me, as well. Its helped a great deal. I like dark fall colors (those in general look good on me anyways), and things like slinky looking soft clothes. For a while there I couldn't remember what my style was.:iconseychelles-plz:Simply because I haven't seriously looked for things in a long time. And, now I have to. I'm running out of clothes, because I tossed a bunch out. I even found something interesting recently at a mall in Seattle. It was on sale, but still pretty expensive. But, the fact that I saw something I liked was good. 

I've been trying to really stick to my fitness routine this week. So far, so good.:iconberwaldplz:Up to 70 sit-ups, 2 times a day. I end up working up a sweat now. I can really feel it doing something after each time. Doing 2 of my 2-mile walks, as well. Still not entirely used to that, but it's getting there.:iconchibiswedenplz:I'm already feeling better. Feel like things are getting really baggy again. Even my new jeans seem to be getting that way. 

Did my nails again. This time it's a light pinkish-purple-y color. Kind of a bit metallic, too. There isn't a name for it on the bottle. I like it, though. Akuryo Byoutou is getting really good. The mystery behind the abandoned ward is getting more complex. 

In Hitman Reborn, things aren't looking too good for some of the Vongola. (Hibari's doing well.) It was interesting that Hibari knew exactly when his younger self was going to switch places with him. He just kicks butt all around. No matter how old he is, he seems to always be awesome. He's the most powerful Vongola member, and he only joins them when he 'feels' like it. Tsuna is surprising the enemy and Spanner with his ability to intuitively know what the enemy's about to do. And, how quick he learns from each fight. This whole story arc has been very interesting and intricate.

In Aka Aka, they still don't know much about this 'mystery man'. They just found out that he's using one of their friends' bodies as, essentially, a container for him to move around. And, he's not liking it. He keeps saying that he wants his body back to Yue. This has been very interesting too. The only downside is that I've caught up with the updates.:iconswissplz:The last one was 2 months ago. So, I don't know when I'll be able to continue reading it. In the meantime, I'm thinking of replacing it with another manga. One I obviously haven't read before. I have some ideas, but we'll see.

Played my clarinet. Did some klezmer tunes. Wasn't too bad. Only slipped up a couple of times. Wrote some more of my second story to my nightmare anthology. I think it's sounding scarier than it was in the actual dream it's based off of.:iconitalyishorrifiedplz:

Sketched out an outline of Shadow, my main character. He's the first I'm drawing in my new 'project'. All my characters are going to be lined up and interacting with each other with a height measurement in the background. This way I can showcase their heights, clothing designs, and personalities. Shadow is one of the shortest ones. I want it to turn out with Junko hooking an arm around him, and have him waving. It might take a while to get that to look decent.:iconwtfromanoplz:
日本語
Today, I studied more compounds for the kanji: . There's a lot of them. Apparently, a very common one. All the better to go over them. 真面目 or しんめんもく (shinmenmoku): one's true character, one's true self, oneself; seriousness, earnestness. 真夜中 or まよなか (mayonaka): dead of night, midnight. 純真 or じゅんしん (junshin): purity, sincerity. 天真 or てんしん (tenshin): naivete. 真っ逆様 or まっさかさま (massakasama) (the hiragana is more commonly used.): head over heels, headlong, head first. 真っ盛り or まっさかり (massakari): height of, middle of, full bloom. Next time, I'll do more compounds for this kanji. 

deviantART faves:
Aliens from Strawberry Planet StupidFox - 95 You Tube I did not make these! First, a really cool up close pic of a strawberry. Second, a hilarious installment of the comic, StupidFox. Not sure how he got up there...Third, an awesome drawing of an artist's interpretation of what Youtube would look like as an anime character. Found this artist through dA's facebook update. They're drawing their own rendition of social media sites as their original anime characters. It's an interesting project. Chrome looks interesting, too. I decided to 'watch' them, too. Also, had someone fave a bunch of my dA food pics. They must have just come across one, and then found my gallery. It was interesting to see what they liked. I occasionally get those sort of people, but they always surprise me. 

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Lemon Meringue Pie Day!

Mood::iconicelandfukkiretaplz:

One of my fave pies!:la:(This was last Thursday, but I love this pie so much!) We recently had some. There was far too much meringue and barely any lemon part. Tasted kind of weird that way.:iconwtfromanoplz:I like when it's pretty much equal amounts of both. Friday was National Rum Day. I love when it's used for cooking things. Like, a bread pudding. I can't drink it as it normally is. Can't drink alcohol in general, because of my meds. But, when the alcohol is cooked off of those drinks, it can make an amazing dish.:iconchibihungaryplz:

I blew the shofar on Thursday and today. I usually sound really bad trying to get a long note out of it. But, this year I've been spot on. It's kind of eerie and cool to hear.:iconchibiaustriaplz:

Friday afternoon, I 'attended' services online at OneShul. They base everything on eastern time. So, I have to plan for it to be 3 hours before the time they say it'll be.:iconnataliaplz:Like, for this service, they have it at 8pm EST. So, over here it'll 5pm. Seems a bit early, but nice to at least have the chance to go to some form of service Friday night.:iconheroamericaplz:The service part was very nice. Although, I don't like how short that part is.:icontinoplz:It's like the basics of the basics. Then, the discussion topic this time was on what makes a person Jewish. The one leading it, I could tell right away, was a convert. Converts are cool, and I treat them like other fellow Jews. But, some (not all) seem to get overzealous or fanatic about everything. Sometimes that fascinates me, and other times I find it a little weird and on the scary side. He was kind of like that. I don't think he knew what it really meant, or at least I don't think he articulated whatever he was saying very well.:icongermanyplz:He did bring up the topic of messianic 'Jews' as well, warning others about them. Which was good. People do need to be mindful of that. Still, the whole thing was interesting and engaging. He kept saying my name wrong. It's really not that hard. It's a common one.

I think he was also in a weird state, because he was helping the creator of PunkTorah (the organization behind OneShul) with upcoming High Holy Days or Days of Awe services. He himself is leading a couple of them. The creator of it has become an officially ordained rabbi recently, too. So, that's really cool. I think I've attended one or two of his services, and that was almost a year ago. I think I liked his way of doing things the best so far. Supposedly, OneShul is planning to have 10 services during the Days of Awe. (The Days of Awe are for 10 days starting from Rosh Hashanah and ending with Yom Kippur. They don't have services everyday though.) That's crazy!:iconseychelles-plz:Pretty cool, though. 

I'll probably be mostly going to our local synagogue's services. The guest rabbi this time for Yom Kippur said that we could pick the topic for his little 'speech'. Then, whatever topic we'd like to discuss and study during the Torah study. There's also a yoga thing during part of the day. Sounds like this rabbi is more into engaging everyone. I like that. Should be very interesting.:iconberwaldplz: 

We're also thinking about making Mom's honey cake that she used to make every Rosh Hashanah. It's very good, and I kind of miss it. It's kind of got a more complex flavor compared to other honey cakes that I've tried. It uses coffee grinds, chocolate chips, honey, orange rind, and other things. Kind of unique with just those mixed together. Also, it'll make it feel even more special.:iconthailandplz:We eat things like honey cakes, honey and apples, teiglach (honey/nugget kind of candy), to wish for a happy and sweet new year. Rosh Hashanah literally means 'Head of the Year', and is our New Year. It felt very weird without Mom last year. Hopefully, it'll feel a bit better this time.:iconchibinitalyplz:It'll be nice to see the people that only attend this congregation's services during the Days of Awe each year. 

After I attended the services online, we went to the Olive Garden. I decided to try something from their 'light' section in their menu. Got the Venetian Apricot Chicken. The chicken was in an apricot and peachy tasting wine sauce. Very good stuff.:iconitalyplz:There was also asparagus with kind of a chunky tomato sauce. Those were good, and still crisp. And, there was broccoli as well. Nothing on them, but they soaked up the sauce pretty well. Still crisp as well. Everything tasted really good. Had their salad and bread sticks with it. Plus some iced tea. We ran out of Splenda, and asked for more. Our waiter came back with a fistful of them, and stuffed them in with the other sweeteners and sugars. That was kind of surprising. I still halved everything, even though I ordered from the light section. I figured I had them put cheese on that entree, then on my salad which also had a dressing on it, and I had bread sticks. If I had everything, it would amount to quite a bit of calories. Made a really nice brunch the next day, too.:iconchibispainplz:

I've kept up with my fitness stuff pretty well this week. Only missed one walk. And, this was the first week that I decided to do 2 of my 2-mile walks a day. Kept up my 60 sit-ups twice a day for the week. Tomorrow, will be the start of the week for 65 sit-ups twice a day. I'm already breaking into a sweat with the 60. Wonder how 65 of them each time will do.:iconchibiswedenplz:

This coming week looks like it'll be another crazy one. Might be going to 2 support groups. One of them breaks off halfway to make smaller groups, and has an ally one. And, Friday is my 2-hour intake/interview with a new counseling center. That'll be a long time. But, they say it's to get a better idea of who you are, and who might be best to be paired up with. The other place I went to only had a form to fill out and a short 5 minute call.:iconswissplz:Sounds like this new place really takes you seriously as a patient, and not like a number. It'll be great for me, then.

Found a new game, called Eternal Saga, that was put out by the same people behind Crystal Saga. A lot of things are similar, but it has a different story line, better pets, mounts, etc. They're still adding new things to this one. They let the players from Crystal Saga become beta testers for this one. I was one of them. So, it really is new, and we get special rewards and such. Kind of wish the wardrobe for the girls had a bit more variety. Kind of cute that my main pet looks like a teddy bear. He's extremely strong though. So, a ferocious teddy bear...:iconsleepygreeceplz:My mount is a paper airplane (it glows, and looks like it leaves a trail of 'dust'), which is kind of funny to glide on when going from place to place. I'm a female warrior in this one. I don't know why, but in games like these I love to be a warrior type.:iconprussiaplz:Maybe because I can really get into the fight. My character level is up to 46 already, and I barely play it. Haven't seen too many people get passed 50 yet. Should be interesting. Nice to play to let off some steam. 

Also, have 3 friends on there now, but they haven't really talked to me. First time really being apart of a guild too. We're called 'Dream Tales'. Someone wanted to 'meditate' with me before I logged out last time. He wasn't on my friends list, so that was interesting. Through meditating you gain wisdom and experience. Also there's going to be a 'lovers' system soon. Not sure if he was going in that direction...(Logged off when I started to get bored just sitting there, and he didn't say anything.:iconpolandplz:) Don't really want one on there. You can send them flowers, marry them, go on special quests, etc. It's not available yet, though. 

Practiced my kanji on the site, JapaneseClass. Got most of them correct, including the new ones that popped up. Dropped Danganronpa. I usually love gruesome/horror anime, but it started to seem senseless. When it gets to that point, I feel like its lost me. So, I might find an old anime to replace it. It'll be new to me, though.:iconchibiamericaplz:Tsubasa Chronicle is getting interesting. For a while, I was getting kind of bored of it. But, they changed it up. Found a new manga for Fridays, and it's very intriguing. I'll get to that at some point. 

The new dramas, which I'll eventually introduce, have all been great. I updated my 'Current Drama' list on the side, and if anyone is interested in them sooner they can look them up that way. The only new one (that I haven't gone over yet) that has an actual official English translation, besides Doubles (that's the way it is for the Japanese title anyways), is 'Kamo, Kyoto e Iku' as 'Bitter Sweet Home Kyoto'. I'm not sure if I like that translation.:iconnorwayunimpressedplz:It goes along with the story, but not really a translation of the original title. That would be more like: 'Kamo, Goes to Kyoto'. Kamo is the main character's name. 

Youtube:
Another Pandora Hearts Halloween-themed amv (This one might be better than the one from a previous post):

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

National Creamsicle Day!

Mood::iconeduardplz:

I love creamsicles!:iconitalyplz:The orange ones are the best! Perfect for a day in August. Although, today seems to be a bit cooler than it has been. I'd still have one, if offered. 

Managed to do both walks yesterday and today!I'm surprised by how many people walk in the morning. I think I'm meeting people I've never seen before. Kind of interesting. Decided that I'll try to do my first walk as soon as possible after breakfast. Kind of before it starts to really warm up. Then, my 2nd one at or around sunset. When things are cooling off. Perfect times, I think. 

Went out to lunch today. Had an interesting hamburger. It had feta, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, pesto, a beef patty, and a regular burger bun. Pretty good, except it had way too many sun-dried tomatoes.:iconwtfromanoplz:It also came with a few kalamata olives on the side, and a pickle. I asked for onion rings with mine, instead of the regular fries. Had some iced tea with it. All together it was pretty good. The menu had the burger with 2 patties and red onions. I think that's way too much meat, even though I'm eating only half of it.:iconkikuplz:I hate onions, unless they're cooked to nothing or battered and fried. Or, chopped finely into a dish. Red onions especially taste a bit weird to me. It's like a texture and raw taste thing. 
Today, I started watching Kakushou. Which is literally 'Conclusive Evidence' or 'Positive Proof'. Very interesting so far. Akiho Takeda is assigned to the 3rd division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. They normally deal with things like theft. On her first day of work, a robbery takes place at a jewelry store in Shibuya. The case is handed over to the 1st division team. They think they have more of a say on things, and she wanted to join them. She goes to the crime scene anyways. She suspects someone who's also looking intently at the scene, and runs after him. After arresting him and asking who he was, she finds out that he's really apart of the 3rd division. He's a veteran detective named Shuichi Hagio. They become partners after that. I like how he calls her Omae-san, which is Ms. You, the 'Ms.' part is formal, and the 'you' part is informal. She sometimes calls him old man. He said it was his first time being paired up with a woman, and that he still respects her as a fellow detective. As long as she can stand that he's an 'old man'. I like how he tries to be really respectful to her. When another detective kept calling her something similar to young lady or missy instead of her name, Hagio stepped in and said that it was rude and he won't tolerate it. He only calls her Omae-san sometimes because of how they met. He tends to not say much at crime scenes, just takes all the facts in. Then, tries to think like the thieves. He doesn't make assumptions passed what the evidence tells him. Also, the second robbery at another store was assigned to them, since they thought it was unrelated. But, the 3rd division suspects they are related. The episode ended with a 3rd jewelry heist, and at that one someone was murdered. The rest of the divisions want the 3rd's help now. 
The chapter I read of Tripeace was really long.:iconseychelles-plz:Even the author commented at the end about it. Almost felt like it'd be the last one, but it's not. Nana saves everybody with the help of everyone else. The leader of Tripeace narrowly missed being killed by the Xyece army. Shiro is still alive. Belial came to his senses and stopped attacking everyone within sight. It really did feel like it was wrapping up. But, there's still a lot of things left unanswered, so there must be more story arcs in the future. I still want to know more about who Nana really was before he had amnesia. I know that he was apart of Tripeace back then as well, but he seemed ruthless and pretty scary. Totally different personality. Wonder what changed him...Maybe I'll find out if I keep reading it.:iconchibiswedenplz:It's a very good and quirky manga. Seems like it's very underrated. Started another anime, but I'll give it another episode to see if I like it. 
日本語
Today, I started studying the kanji: . If pronounced as しん (shin): truth, reality, genuineness; seriousness. As (ma): (prefix) just, right, due (east); pure, genuine, true; truth. As まこと.に (makoto.ni): indeed, really, absolutely, truly, actually, very, quite. 青写真 or あおじゃしん (aojashin): blueprint, plan. 真っ暗 or まっくら (makkura): total darkness, pitch dark; bleak future, poor prospects. 真っ向 or まっこう (makkou): directly opposite, right in front. 真っ黒 or まっくろ (makkuro): pitch black. 真っ青 or まっさお (massao): deep blue, bright blue; ghastly pale, pallid, white as a sheet. I'll study more of its compounds next time.