Bubble Bath Day!

Mood:

Bubble baths can be really nice. I don't take too many, since I'm more into showers. I actually can't really remember the last time I had a bubble bath...I know back in my teens people would give me gifts of bath salts, bombs, beads, liquid bath stuff, etc. (I guess they thought it was girly, and that I'd be into it...I was into nail polish, at least.) Fun to try all the different kinds. I'm not sure if it's all that comforting to me.It feels nice for about 5 minutes, then it starts to feel weird. It's also English Toffee Day. I love that stuff! 

It's been a while since my last post...I'm hoping to be more on top of it. Hope people had a great New Year's!We went to a friend's place. They invited 4 other people. So, there were 8 of us in total. (The other 4 people were Dad and I, plus the host couple.) It was a lot of fun. Ate a bunch of food, chatted, played a game of Apples to Apples, and watched the fireworks together on TV. We brought kappa and tekka sushi (cucumber and tuna rolls, my fave!), pickled herring with some crackers, a fruit platter, marshmallows, and some chocolate dip. The dip sounded so good, but tasted horrible.But, the rest was awesome! I apparently tied for 2nd place with someone when we stopped playing the game. That's not too bad. Couldn't really see much of the fireworks on TV, because it was extremely foggy. 

I'm feeling much better now, too.Nose hasn't fully recovered from that cold, which seems a bit odd. The rest of me has pretty much recovered. This week I've gotten back to my fitness stuff. Started with 65 sit-ups twice a day this week. Finally feel like I'm making those 2 walks a habit. (Those add up to 4 miles a day.) It feels pretty good to get back to at least some walking and sit-ups. Still closely sticking to my way of eating. People noticed almost right away at the party that I have lost a lot of weight. I was starting to feel like I was gaining again, but apparently not. After being a little bloated, I noticed I'm still losing it even though I didn't exercise as much as I had wanted. It almost feels like I'm on a free fall for losing weight.

As I'm walking more often, people seem to be wanting to talk to me more out there. One person even accompanied me on my afternoon walk yesterday. He said when he sees me walking so much, it encourages him to get out there as well. I almost feel like I should start a walking group or something.Curious as to how many people feel like that when they see me...I don't really feel like I'm all that inspiring, and yet I've had other people tell me I am.

This is my wallpaper for January. It's Giotto or the first (sometimes referred to as just Primo) Vongola boss from Hitman Reborn. Tsuna is the 10th generation boss. (A lot of the first generation refer to him as Decimo.) He shows up as a ghost, along with his guardians in the series. Both the first and tenth bosses, and all of their guardians are supposed to look similar. Giotto looks like an older Tsuna with lighter or blond hair (instead of dark brown) and maybe slightly different colored eyes. The Vongola family crest is in the middle. Vongola means clam in Italian, so it features a clam. They also use special bullets on themselves and others, so there are guns featured as well as a bullet in the center. Giotto's normally not so serious looking. (At least, he wasn't in the anime.) He occasionally looked sad, but had generally a positive and encouraging attitude. I suppose he'd look serious like this towards people who weren't in the mafia...

Haven't gotten a new 'regular' calendar for the year yet. Hope to find one that's related to spices, herbs, cooking, etc. I did get a new Jewish calendar. It's put out by the same people as last year's. It features artifacts from the Jewish museum in Amsterdam. Really cool stuff. For this month, it features a kiddush cup, and 2 tzedakah boxes. The kiddush cup is made out of silver, maker's unknown, from Germany; 1800-1900. Kiddush cups are used during the blessing over wine or juice for Shabbat or other holidays. The first tzedakah box is titled Talmud Tora, made out of tin, and the maker's unknown. They don't give a location or year. (First time I've seen that on one of their things.) The second tzedakah box is made out of tin, maker's unknown, location's unknown; 1920-1930. Tzedakah lit. means justice or righteousness, but it's usually used to signify charity. This is kind of a slightly different concept of charity, since it's considered an obligation rather than a spontaneous act of goodwill or marker of generosity. We're taught that we should always do what is right and just. Anyways, we use boxes to collect money for charity. Some people have one at home, and slowly add to it during the week, then at the end of the week they may decide to give it to a charity group, send it to support a good cause/project, etc. Tzedakah doesn't always have to do with money though. There are different ways of giving. Like volunteering, donating blood, helping the sick, helping people with projects, etc. Even just speaking up for someone when you see bullying, discrimination, etc. all fall under tzedakah. There's so much more to that word that I don't think 'charity' quite explains it. I guess really the lit. translation is best. Fighting for justice and fairness.

The month-long holidays are: National Oatmeal Month, National Candy Month, National Soup Month, National Egg Month, National Hot Tea Month, National Meat Month, Apple and Apricots Month, Artichoke and Asparagus Month, International Creativity Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. There are a lot more than last month's. I love all those foods! Funny, how I've decided to go back to drinking more tea without realizing this month is National Hot Tea Month. Creativity is very important! Everyday should celebrate that. 

Tu B'Shevat starts next Wednesday night, and goes until the following night. It's our New Year for the Trees. We eat a bunch of fruit and nuts celebrating them during a seder. It's pretty fun. Plus, trees give us so much, they deserve to be celebrated!In Israel, they plant trees during the holiday. I remember when I was in Sunday school we'd collect money, then give it to a group that would plant trees there for us. Mom used to hold a seder each year for a while. I think last year someone tried to do a similar thing using the papers they got from her at each seder. (She gave out a printout for everyone of how the seder goes, what things symbolize, for people to read parts out loud, etc.) Not sure if they're doing it again through the synagogue this time. Haven't heard anything, so chances are that there isn't anything planned for it. Sad. But, we can still eat plenty of fruit/nuts to celebrate. (I don't want to be the one to do/lead the seder.)

Watched the movie Kuroyuri Danchi or Black Lily Complex a little while ago. (The English title is The Complex.) I was expecting to watch a really good horror movie, since even I saw the hype over it. It was good until about halfway through and on. It just got progressively worse.It had one of my fave actors in it, but I don't think even he could save this movie. It was a weird ending, and made you wonder what the heck just happened. Sadly they killed off that actor towards the end. He wasn't playing the main character, though. It was kind of a letdown. I hope the other Japanese movies on my to watch list will be better. Some had quite a lot of hype behind them, too. 

Started to watch the 2nd season of Jikou Keisatsu or Time Limit Detective a couple of weeks ago. I had been searching for it for a while. So happy I found it! I love this show! The actors are always hilarious and have perfect timing. (I also love pretty much everything that the majority of the actors are in.) The writer/director, Satoshi Miki, also did the current drama Henshin Interviewer no Yuuutsu (it's still airing), that I'm also watching. He's a genius with his off-beat/campy/dark humor. Some of his stuff reminds me of Monty Python, but he definitely has his own style. I've decided to try out some more of his shows and movies in the future. I didn't even realize this had the same connection as Interviewer, but it makes total sense. Has the same feel. A lot of the same actors act in several of his shows and movies. Time Limit Detective is about a detective named Kiriyama who solves cold cases that have already reached the statute of limitations as a 'hobby'. (I don't think they've ever shown him doing anything else, but that's what he always says.) He's just extremely curious about unsolved crimes. His methods, reasoning, and speculations are so outlandish. Since he thinks so differently compared to other detectives, he seems to be able to solve the cases quicker. Mikazuki is another detective who helps him in solving the cases. Once he's solved a case, he tells the criminal that he'll never tell anyone about it. Even gives out a card that says the same thing. Sometimes, he discusses the progress of the investigation with his other colleagues, but he never tells them 'who' did it. The chief always puts a case closed stamp on a case before Kiriyama gets it.

Managed to free up a bunch of memory from my computer. About 3.5 gb. Most of it were things I wasn't sure if the person who had it before me would want to use. But, it's been a while, so I thought it'd be ok to get rid of them. I still have to go through things like my pics. The computer itself is running a lot smoother and faster. I'm just amazed by it.