Tarzan Program

Mood:

Or, Tai Shan Cheng Shi. By Fahrenheit. One of the few Cpop songs that I like. I'm a bit newer to Cpop (or Chinese pop music). Tend to listen the most to Jpop/Jrock and a bit of Kpop. I think they all have a different overall 'feel' towards their music. I'm interested in all music from around the world. Just have more of an interest at the moment in Asian music. Anyways, Fahrenheit is an extremely popular band throughout Asia. They debuted in 2005 in Taiwan. Each member represents a season or temperature that corresponds to their different personalities. Calvin Chen represents spring, warm; Jiro Wang represents summer, hot; Wu Zun represents autumn, cool; and Aaron Yan represents winter, cold. Each one has a specific temp in Fahrenheit, too. Wu Zun was born and raised in Brunei, is a graduate from a college in Australia, and was introduced to the entertainment industry during a trip to Taiwan. Aaron grew up in New York City, and went back to Taiwan for high school and college. After Calvin graduated high school in Taiwan, he attended a university in Canada. He won a talent show, where the prize was a free ticket to Taiwan and a contract with a music company. Jiro seems to be the only one that's stayed in Taiwan the whole time. It's interesting how these people even met. The song is obviously Tarzan themed, about setting your own rules of the jungle and winning over evil. 

I finally applied to be a barista at Starbucks on Sunday.I'm a little nervous about it. If I get the job, it'll be my first 'real' one. I'll also get health/dental/eye insurance. Things I really need. I love making things for people, and seeing them smile. So, maybe it'll be a great job for me. Also, there's a Starbucks really close to the area I want to move to in Seattle. So, I could just transfer when I move. Heard that they treat their employees or 'partners' really well, too. You get a pound of coffee or tea each week.

I read a bit about their dress code. Have to have either black or brown shoes. I didn't have either, so I went out and found a pretty nice black pair. They almost sound like tap shoes.Makes sense that they wouldn't allow white shoes, considering you'll have to deal with spills and such. Also, got some cloth scrunchies for my hair. I knew I would have to pull it back somehow, considering I don't want strands of my hair in someone's drink...Was thinking about getting bandanas, but thought it would be too much trouble every time. The plastic scrunchies that I have, ruin my hair if I wear them too often. Also, my hair will be ruined again if I put it up into a bun. (Did that a lot for about a year or so.) So, I'm stuck with a pony tail look. The only thing I don't think I'll like is tucking in my shirts. It looks lame that way. But, I'd still do it. The apron looks like it hides it mostly, anyways.

Downloaded Second Life on Saturday. I think I had tried it before, but was frustrated by it. It was a while ago, and for some reason, my computer runs a lot smoother now. They have some learning Japanese, Jewish, LGBTQ allies, etc. clubs. So, thought it would be really great for me that way. So far, I've messed around with my avatar's appearance, and still exploring around the beginner's island area. Decided on the 'Steampunk' look. She looks more like a fancy 'princess' with a small hat on the side.I like Steampunk normally, but it doesn't quite seem like it. I like it though. Flying is easier for moving around with the computer I have. Her dress gets all billowy and cool when she flies. Graceful landings, too. Also, figuring out the free stuff, at the moment. Eventually, I'll search for these groups. Went to a Japanese tea house. No one was there, and it was extremely well made. It really was beautiful and fascinating.Even had a koi pond, with maple and sakura trees around it. You also had the option of sitting the traditional ways. I got lost last time while I was exploring the apartment looking buildings. They looked abandoned. It'll be interesting what comes out of this. Dad used it for a while for her support group. And met some interesting people. Mom would join her occasionally. I think that was why I had looked at it before, as well. 

Started writing the 'forward' part of my next novel.This time it's going to be an anthology of short stories based on my recurring nightmares. Since I can remember, almost every night I have had some sort of nightmare. Some really 'light' kind of stuff. And some that are truly terrifying.Those ones are usually gruesome and psychologically scary at the same time. I remember telling a friend about one of them, and I barely got through half of it before she told me she couldn't stand to hear more of it. It was just too scary. She also believed I was possessed because of them. I don't know about that...I've also told a few other friends that were really into the horror genre, and they freaked out. Wouldn't let me finish telling them. So, I'm not sure how it'll do after I publish it. If people will say it's too scary or what not. Who knows maybe some people will like that kind of thing. Maybe this is why I have so many nightmares. It's that I need to put out anthologies based on them.

Also, started to look more seriously at the online dating stuff again. Actually initiated a message to a guy!Usually, they message me first. I doubt he'll respond...We'll see. Should be another exciting thing to my life.

I used to be really into a site in college called Asian Food Grocer, or AFG. And, I still get their emails about their deals and new products. Decided to look at them again. They've gotten a butt load more things than when I was in college. And, they're still relatively cheap. They've added pet fashion, more kitchenware, cookbooks, stationary, etc. As well as a ton of new food products. Really turned into an interesting place. The more I looked at, the more I realize I like their 'style/design' for things. I don't really know why, but a lot of it feels like my kind of thing. (Even if it's 'Asian' themed, it still grabs me more than a lot of other similar places.) So, when I eventually have my own place, I'll probably have quite a bit of stuff from them. Amazon is cool too, but somehow doesn't feel like it goes to this extent with some of the stuff I'm interested in. They have stuff from Japan, China, Thailand, India, Germany, Jamaica, and the US (mostly from Hawaii). I'm not really sure why they would have German and Jamaican stuff. (They seem to not know either.) Cool, though. They also have some interesting recipes. 

日本語

The 2 kanji for today were: 習 and 集. With the first one, it's usually pronounced as しゅう (shuu) in compounds. As なら.い (nara.i): as is habit, the way life normally is. As なら.う (nara.u): to take lessons in, be taught, learn, study, get training in. There was only one compound listed for this one. 練習 or れんしゅう (renshuu): practice. If the second kanji, 集, is pronounced as しゅう (shuu): collection, compilation. As あつ.まる (atsu.maru): to gather, collect assemble. As あつ.める (atsu.meru): to collect, assemble, gather. As つど.う (tsudo.u): to meet, assemble, congregate. It has quite a lot of compounds listed. In fact, next time I'll cover more of them. 雲集 or うんしゅう (unshuu): swarm, throng. 会集 or かいしゅう (kaishuu): audience, assembly, meeting. 歌集 or かしゅう (kashuu): anthology, book of poetry, songbook. 群集 or ぐんしゅう (gunshuu): crowd, community. 集荷 or しゅうか (shuuka): collection of cargo. Also, started a blog that'll just be in Japanese. Kind of to help me practice. It was another idea from someone who's also studying on their own. Very interesting to change the language of the blog itself to Japanese. So, everything on the page is in it. Except for my profile info. Looks kind of out of place with the Japanese around it.Should be fun to do!

Next week I'll be up to the last episode of Dinner. It's been good so far, and there has been some interesting mishaps. It was very well acted. Even the music made me feel like eating Italian food. Hitman Reborn was about a recent manga chapter I've read. Interesting to see how they tweaked it a bit for the anime audience. They did a lot more stuff. One of the few things I've noticed that progressed differently than the manga. I love that kind of stuff. A different way of telling the same story, is always interesting to me. I'm still on the Deliora Arc of the manga version of Fairy Tail. Seems to be going slower than the anime. 

Bodhran

Mood:

By the Young Dubliners. One of the few Irish tunes I have. I really need to get more...(Considering it's a part of my heritage.) The bodhran is a type of drum, which can be heard clearly at the beginning, before a bunch of other instruments join in. It's a cool looking one. I think we have a bodhran here at home. The Young Doubliners are an American 'Celtic' rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988. They fuse traditional Irish instruments and music with modern rock. The lead vocalist and guitarist founded the band, and is a Dublin native. (Makes sense to call the band that, then.) I've found a couple other cool tunes from them. So, look for those in the future!

Managed to finish my 'design' for a book poster. I'd like to advertise it somehow, and I thought maybe printing out a poster/flyer and putting them up in cafes, shops, and such will help. Noticed another person downloaded the sample today! Yay! Up to 14 downloads!Hopefully, some of them will eventually buy it...We'll see. I looked at the online retailers list to see if they have gotten the 'shipments' of my book yet. I know it's up on Sony (Kobo), Apple (iTunes), and obviously Smashwords. For some reason, some are revising their shipments, and taking a while to finally have it up. These are mainly Barnes & Noble, and Baker and Taylor Blio. It's available for libraries to purchase directly, now. For Amazon, they said it will be shipped. Same with Baker-Taylor Axis360. So, things are coming along, just a bit slower than I expected. It was going so quickly at the beginning. Like, making it into Smashword's premium catalog within just 3 days of publishing it.I might start writing my next book soon, too. I'm itching to write this one!I think it'll go quicker and smoother. 

In Otenki Onee-san, the killer was a yoga teacher. Funny thing is, she taught Abe and Mitsuyo the same day she killed someone. Abe's frustrated, and feels like she doesn't know how to express emotion. It was interesting to see that side of her. She fearlessly decided to confront her yoga teacher on her own, about the murder. The teacher only confessed, told her why, and stared at her until the police arrived. Kind of awkward, but Abe couldn't move because she had started with doing yoga before interrogating her. So, she was stuck in one position the entire time. One of the anchors for the regular program has a stalker. He's been following, watching, and forcing her to meet with him. Now, he's gained a position with the network as an AD or assistant to the director. As close as he's ever gotten to her. He believes that they are dating, and yet she's told him numerous times that they aren't. Looks like something big's about to happen. Should make it even more interesting. This show has only gotten better with each episode. Great acting, hilarious at times, interesting background music, and seems to feel more 'real' to life.

In Hitman Reborn, it was 'Parent Participation Day' at Tsuna's school. I don't remember this happening in the anime...But, it was just a fun goof-off chapter. Tsuna was worried, at first, that he'd answer a question wrong in front of his mom. Turned out that Reborn, Bianchi, I-Pin, and Lambo had tagged along. Every time Tsuna was about to answer a question incorrectly, Reborn threw something dangerous at him. Saying that it was his duty as a home tutor to make sure his student is progressing. Gokudera knew everything right off the bat. He's really smart book-wise, but not so much with common sense. Eventually, Lambo, Bianchi, and I-Pin disrupted the class, and were forced to leave to help Gokudera go to the nurse's office. (He gets a stomachache every time he sees his sister, Bianchi.) While their regular teacher went to help them as well, Reborn took over. He would be a scary teacher! Odd that he knows so much and is so violent, when he's just supposed to be a baby. Although, he never appears to age. (And, a lot of the time, he looks more like an old shriveled up man than a baby, to me.) This was the end of the volume, so there were some 'extras' and fanart submissions. Always interesting to see. Next time will apparently be about Futa. He's kind of an odd character. It'll be interesting if his story will be slightly different or have added stuff to it in this version. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 州. (This one's kind of fun to write.) When pronounced as しゅう (shuu): state, province, county; continent. (This isn't used too often for continents. Mostly for states, provinces, or other regions.) As す (su): sandbank, sandbar. 九州 or きゅうしゅう (kyuushuu): Kyushu (the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan). 本州 or ほんしゅう (honshuu): Honshu (largest of the 4 main islands of Japan). 欧州 or おうしゅう (oushuu): Europe. 豪州 or ごうしゅう (goushuu): Australia. 

Started figuring out how many and which characters I still haven't drawn the heads of. For my character 'face' sheet designs, based on my novel, Alliance. I stopped a while ago. Apparently, had skipped a bunch of the characters that were towards the beginning of my story. Also, skipped Doina. All in all, about 6 of them. Just the right amount for a full 'sheet' or page of them. Hope to start that new page next week. 

Youtube:

A hilarious/awesome Naruto Shippuden amv by someone I subscribe to:

National Taffy Day!

Mood:

This is actually tomorrow, but I kind of have a hankering for it. Taffy's awesome!But, we don't have any at the moment. There's so many different kinds out there! Root beer, Neapolitan, and caramel apple are just a few of my faves. 

I tired myself out on Monday, with the added fitness stuff. And, didn't feel up to blogging. Tuesday, I slept in a bit later than I wanted to, and eventually it felt like that day was shot.Even though I slept in today, I was able to get quite a bit done. So, yay! Getting back on track. (I will keep those new exercises, but it'll take a while to get used to them.)

Submitted the drawing meme that I was working on. Only have one fave so far, but I'm getting a ton of views. Maybe more than I've had for a drawing that's only been up for barely 2 days.It's at: Character Art Mad Lib- Singles. 

Yesterday, would have been my mom's birthday, if she were here.So, it was a bit of an odd day to start off. Dad came home early, and we went to Poulsbohemian. (A cafe.) I had their black cherry tea. It was pretty good. While I was there, I read more of that book on Kabbalah. The forward in the book was pretty long. I guess he wanted to prepare the readers for it. Once I finally got to the actual 'meat' of it, it was really interesting. It was hard to stop reading it. Somehow the concepts of Kabbalah have always been fascinating to me. They're kind of mind blowing. It's a short book, so it probably won't take me long to read. 

Went to the support group meeting last night. This time the organization had to move temporarily to a church. So, it was the first meeting there. A lot of people were uncomfortable about it. I am a bit too, but I'm also very grateful that they let us use a small space there. There were 3 people besides Dad and I. So, really not a very big group either. It was still a nice meeting. 

Dad and I went to Shari's afterwards. I had my usual strawberry lemonade. Got their strawberry pancakes. It had strawberries, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings on top of the pancakes. Really good stuff!Also, had some scrambled eggs, and hash browns. I was going to let myself eat the whole thing (for once), but couldn't. My stomach must be much smaller than it used to be.That might have been the last time that we'll go to that Shari's. They're always super slow. Takes forever just to get our food. Maybe the group will find another hangout after meetings. I think for some it was more 'therapeutic' for them than the meeting. 

Someone from Japan found me on facebook a few days ago. I looked at his friends' list, and I apparently was the only non-Japanese person. He later messaged me in Japanese saying that he happened upon my page by chance. He was just looking around, and came across it. He said that he might not be able to use the English version of facebook, and would it be ok to talk through email. (He loves the Japanese one, and might have a separate account there. Thought it'd be interesting to try the English one.) Soon enough, he was kicked off of the English version, but is still on my friends list. I messaged him back in Japanese through my email. Hopefully, he'll understand it...It'll be good practice for me, if we keep it up. I've corresponded with people in Japanese before, but it didn't last long. They understood me, just didn't have much extra time. A lot of them just wanted to correspond through snail mail. And, that takes forever. Also, thinking of downloading Second Life, and joining some of their learning Japanese groups. That would help a lot too. There's also ally support groups, Jewish groups, etc. Sounds awesome! That's of course if it runs well enough on my computer. We'll see.

日本語

Today's kanji was: 受. When pronounced as じゅ (ju): (Buddhism) vedana (sensation). It's also mainly used in compounds. As う.かる (u.karu): to pass (exams). As う.け (u.ke): (suf) popularity, favor, reception; defense, reputation; agreement. As う.ける (u.keru): to receive, get; to catch (e.g. a ball); to be struck by (wind, waves, sunlight, etc.); to sustain (damage), incur (a loss), suffer (an injury), feel (influence); to undergo (e.g. surgery), take (a test), accept (a challenge); to be given (e.g. life, talent); to follow, succeed, be descended from; to face (south, etc.); to be well-received, become popular, go down well. 受刑 or じゅけい (jukei): punishment. 受験 or じゅけん (juken): taking an exam. 受賞 or じゅしょう (jushou): winning (a prize). 受諾 or じゅだく (judaku): acceptance. 受動 or じゅどう (judou): passive. 受難 or じゅなん (junan): suffering, agony, passion. 

World Baking Day!

Mood:

Baking can be fun!I would like to get more into it eventually. I'd like to do things like breads, desserts, etc. I'm really curious about making breads, but a little nervous I'd ruin the whole thing.Someday, I'll get enough courage to do that...Anyways, even the smells of something baking can be great. 

Watched more of the Great Teacher Onizuka special. It's getting exciting and interesting. Tsubasa Chronicle was interesting, too. Sakura finally woke up. Still doesn't remember much other than her name. She made Syaoran worry by waking up, and leaving her bed when no one else was around. They found her though. Looks like the next episode will be about Fay. Know the least about him. Should be interesting.

I decided I needed to add more exercises to my fitness routine.Feels like I'm not burning enough calories. Also, noticed I don't do anything 'active' during the middle of the day. I have my morning sit-ups, 2-mile walk around dinnertime (now, more like afterwards), and my sit-ups before going to bed. So, I wanted to add riding my bike to it. Today, I cleaned it up, put duct tape around the handlebars (bugs had eaten chunks of it, felt awkward), tried to see if I could take the seat down a bit (turned out I couldn't. I'm not that short...Actually, a little taller than average), and went for a short ride. I soon found out that the tires needed air. Made a nice dragging sound as I rode.Tried to use the bike pump we have, but the needle to it is too small. So, I either have to have it done at a bike shop, or try to find the right needle and/or a new pump. Great.So, the bike's out of the question for now. I think I'll replace that with doing some jump rope. And, I had also planned to do a beginner's Pilates workout I found through Fitness Magazine. (It actually came up in a search. I don't read the magazine.) They show you through a video. Did that today. Didn't feel like I did much, but as soon as it was over, I could feel it. So, that should be great. Now, I'll be able to burn even more calories, and have some sort of thing midday. Yay! Exciting!Also, still sticking strictly to my 'way' of eating.

During my walk today, I bumped into a little girl. I had my music blaring, and barely could hear her. Sometimes, when it's like that, I'll make 'sense' of it later. Hard to respond to somebody when you're quite far from them. She said: "Your hair is very pretty! I want hair like that! How'd you do it?" Felt nice, but weird at the same time.All day today, whenever I've gone out, people have given me this really dopey/in awe look. It's starting to kind of creep me out. I'm not used to that sort of attention. I admit, my hair is looking better as I've been taking better care of it, and just as time has gone on. As it grows, it seems to only be looking better. Been growing it for around 7 years. Pretty long at the moment. Not sure how long it'll get. But, I'm liking it so far. Also, been focusing on taking better care of my health lately, so maybe they're picking up on that, too. Another thing might be getting into makeup/jewelry a bit more lately. 

Went to Red Robin last night. I got their root beer float. It's humongous! There was no way I was going to finish that thing!There was more ice cream than root beer. Tasty though. We shared an onion ring tower. That was pretty good. Got the bleu ribbon burger. I love that one, but it always comes out with a tiny mound of bleu cheese on the last half of the burger.It's supposed to feature the stuff! Oh well. It also has some sort of chipotle sauce, onion bun, fried onion strings, and the burger itself is pretty good. Comes with huge steak fries. All this coupled with the float, was hard to even eat half of it. Very filling stuff. But, I succeeded and had a glorious lunch today.

日本語

Did 2 kanji for today. First one was: 取. When pronounced as しゅ (shu): (Buddhism) appropriation, obtaining. As と.り (to.ri) or とり (tori): (suf) taking, taker, collecting, collector; last performer of the day (usu. the star performer), last performance of the day; (pref) (before a verb) emphatic or formal prefix. As と.る (to.ru): to take, pick up, harvest, earn, win, choose; to steal; to eat, have (a meal); to remove (one's glasses, etc.); to compete (in sumo, cards, etc.), play. This one didn't have compounds listed. The second one was: 酒. Most common pronunciation by itself is さけ or sake. Sake is alcohol, or the alcoholic drink of the same name. しゅ (shu) is used in many compounds. Occasionally, it'll be pronounced as さか (saka), き (ki), or くし (kushi) in other compounds. 赤葡萄酒 or あかぶどうしゅ (aka budoushu): red wine. 朝酒 or あさざけ (asazake): a morning drink (of sake). 甘酒 or あまざけ (amazake): sweet half sake, sweet drink made from fermented rice. 居酒屋 or いざかや (izakaya): bar, pub, tavern. 飲酒 or いんしゅ (inshu): drinking alcohol. 飲酒運転 or いんしゅうんてん (inshu unten): drunk driving. 大酒 or おおざけ (oozake): heavy drinking. お神酒 or おみき (omiki): sacred wine. There will be more compounds for this one next time. 

National Cherry Cobbler Day!

Mood:

One of my faves! Why not make a cobbler with one of my favorite fruits? Makes it awesome!Blueberry, and a mix of berries are good ones, too. 

Feeling much better since my meds came. Still a bit shaky, and a bit 'panicky'. But, it'll pass soon.Finished editing the panels to that drawing meme. Started filling out the written stuff in the meme, and next time I'll get to add the panels to it. Yay!Almost done with it. Memes like these not only help me improve my drawing skills, but let me experiment a bit in Photoshop. Also, helps with character development. Even though my book is published, I can still work on character development. Maybe even for a sequel...Or, a manga version. 

Started watching Vampire Heaven a couple of weeks ago. It's hilarious so far! Has a lot of actors that I'm familiar with, and love. Vampires Sakurako and Komachi fall in love with a human named Hayato. Komachi saves Sakurako from a vampire count who wants to marry her. They then break a taboo in the vampire world by fleeing to the human world. Sakurako immediately falls in love with Hayato. But, when vampires fall in love they crave their partner's blood. Sakurako finds out that, through music, she can suppress her thirst for blood. So, she starts strumming a guitar whenever she feels the 'urge'. It affects Komachi, too. (Sometimes she plays a tambourine.) Sakurako wants to learn guitar from Hayato. He starts to take an interest in her. Komachi is weary of him at first. 

Started reading Hiiro Ouji or Scarlet Prince a couple of weeks ago. It's also hilarious so far. (Just realized, I basically made Fridays 'vampire' themed...) In order to capture the vampire lurking at the school, Mana the exorcist transfers in. Okamoto, the vampire in question, is one who's evolved and gets by with blood transfusions. Mana is left dumbfounded by the carefree easy-going vampire. His personality changes depending on what type of blood he takes. With type A, he becomes serious and very studious.  With B, he's lazy. With AB, he's spacy. And, with O, he's laid back and carefree. He loves O the most. They just introduced an incubus, named Shimizu. His pheromones have kicked in, and girls were going crazy over him. So, he hid in an abandoned mansion. Apparently, he attracted the female ghosts too. He tries to hide his head with a bucket, and usually that stops the girls. Mana found out that if he wore a cross, the pheromones seemed to dissipate. He was still good looking to girls, but they wouldn't try to jump him or anything. The funny thing is Okamoto was affected a bit by the pheromones, and desperately wanted Mana's blood. They thought it wouldn't have an effect on men. Since they dispelled the effects, he went back to school. They haven't found a way to drain a life force for him to survive. Mana volunteered at the end, for him to use her life force. But, the way he does that is through a kiss, and he really wants to find a different way to get it. (Not through humans.) Okamoto feels connected to Shimizu, since they're both demons, and easily befriends him. Oddly, Mana is helping demons rather than exterminating them. (Even when they beg for it.) It's a very interesting series so far. Seems pretty creative.

In Hitman Reborn, Marmon melted the ice with the rings. Xanxus immediately tried putting the Sky ring on. It rejected him. Turns out that Xanxus isn't related to the Vongola family by blood. But, the 9th treated him as his own son. So, he went crazy when he found out and confronted the 9th. After that, he had set out to beat anyone who opposes him in becoming the 10th boss of the family. Varia is disqualified from the fight, but they already had a team of 50 on their way if things weren't going the way they wanted. Funny thing is most of them were defeated by someone who's an ally of the Vongola family. They hinted at who, but didn't say. It's definitely going to be Lancia. Cool entrance though. So, does this mean that Tsuna will be the official 10th boss? I guess I'll see. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 守. Pronounced as かみ (kami): director (of the provincial governors under the ritsuryo system). As も.り or もり (mo.ri or mori): babysitting, babysitter; protecting, keeping, keeper. As まも.り (mamo.ri): protection, defense; providence; (abbr) amulet, charm, talisman. As お.まも.り (o.mamo.ri): charm, amulet. As おも.り (omo.ri): babysitting, babysitter; taking care of, assisting, assistant, helper. It seems to be pronounced as しゅ (shu) or す (su) just in compounds. 守衛 or しゅえい (shuei): security guard, door keeper. 守護 or しゅご (shugo): protection, safeguard. 守株 or しゅしゅ (shushu): lack of innovation, stupidity. 守備 or しゅび (shubi): defense. 死守 or ししゅ (shishu): defending to the last, defending desperately. 守護神 or しゅごじん (shugojin): guardian deity. Also, started translating another section of a You Maga article.