Dragon Force

Mood:


From the 3rd Fairy Tail soundtrack. Really cool Celtic sounding theme song from the anime. (With some rock and techno thrown in.) Nice battle music too. Just an interesting mix. I really like Fairy Tail's soundtracks. They seem unique compared to a lot of other anime ones. I think the beginning part of this one's interesting.

Watched Zombieland a couple of days ago. It was hilarious!Kind of felt like an American version of Shaun of the Dead. (Which I loved!) Of course, it did have some unique points. I was curious about it when it came out. And, I thought since it's on TV, why not see what it's like. The rules were funny, zombies seemed a bit smarter than in some movies, the cast was great, etc. Wasn't necessarily scary, but really gory.There might be a sequel in the works. That'd be awesome!


Played my clarinet today. Did some of those difficult 'advanced' solos, some jazz, and some Irish tunes. Quite a mix. Of course, I messed up a little on those hard solos, but most I haven't played in a long time. Did a lot better with the jazz and Irish tunes. Maybe even better than the last time I played them. Felt good, especially after those solos.

Watched Hitman Reborn and I'm starting to like it a little. They introduced Lambo. He's weird. He's another family's hitman, and can transform himself into his future self with a canon. At present, he looks really weird, but apparently in 10 years he looks handsome. (The canon adds 10 years, and apparently at some point he goes in again, bringing his 20 years older self from the future.) He's still a crybaby, though. They also introduced Bianchi. She's Gokudera's sister. She's known as "Poison Scorpion Bianchi" in the mafia. She specializes in poison cooking. Whenever Gokudera sees her, he immediately gets a stomachache. She's in love with Reborn. But, when she sees 'adult' Lambo she mistakes him for her ex, named Romeo, and uses her poison cooking to destroy him. She also tries to kill off Tsuna in order to 'free up' Reborn's schedule. 

In Hetalia, the Netherlands was introduced. He's with Belgium in the pic. I like that they talked a bit more about her too. She refers to him as her big brother. She hates what other countries call 'Belgium waffles', and says people should try the original. They're far better. She's apparently surrounded by strong guys, but is trying her best. The Netherlands seems to be a bit stingy with money. And a little scary at the end, when he brings back a 'real' Santa to Belgium. 


Edited chapter 9 of Alliance. Yesterday someone put chapter 6 that's on deviantART into their 'Epicness' collection. So, not only did they fave and put it into a collection, they essentially called it epic!Made me happy! I like knowing that people like it. Great confidence booster. 

日本語

The kanji for today is: 池. Or: いけ (ike), ち (chi). It means pond, cistern, pool, reservoir. I knew about this one too, just didn't practice much with writing the kanji out. 

International Sushi Day

Mood:


This was a couple of days ago, but yay for sushi!I haven't honestly tried a lot of sushi. A lot of them I can't really eat. (Since I don't eat shellfish.) But, I do have a few faves. My top 2 are tekkamaki and kappamaki. Or, tuna rolls and cucumber rolls. They're awesome! I'm sure there are more I haven't tried, that some day might become another fave. I do like the special sushi rice itself, too. 


On Tuesday, I switched what I normally would do on Wednesdays with stuff I would do for Tuesday. So, I went to the cafe then. On top of that, as soon as I got home, I was picked up again to go to a Hadassah meeting.It was a bit busy. Managed to get to most things that day, though. The only big thing I didn't get to was playing my clarinet. Had a really tasty and strong hot chocolate there.


Not very many people showed up for the meeting.Not much of a potluck either. Just a pea soup with croutons on the side, about 3 different types of tabbouleh, and homemade bread for dinner. Then, just 2 different types of brownie for dessert. Had some ok lemonade, too. But, there wasn't any 'substance' to it.Maybe the bread, but that's really not a main dish. Oh well.


It seemed like a lot of members were a little 'off' that night too. Like they were tired of something about the group. Not really enthusiastic about much, and very sharp in attitude. Didn't feel as welcoming as it usually does.Sure, there were a couple of us that were really into it, and not judgmental. But, that was just a couple. 


We talked about the annual mahj tournament, and how to draw new members and old ones back in. The mahj tournament is a great fundraiser for us. So, even though I don't care for it, it's great.But, apparently, a lot of people feel the way I do. Where our group has just become about mahj and mahj only. If you don't play, it turns you away from the group.So, I put some suggestions out there, but didn't want to be the one to plan them out. Just to get things moving. One of them said, well why don't you plan or at least think out an event. It was weird. That's the other thing that will turn members away, is if you put pressure on them to do something they're not sure they'll have the time or the know-how for. Better to suggest something, have someone say they have experience with it, and have the time to step up and do it. Or, it helps others come up with something else that wasn't discussed. Just made me feel weird.


But, they did say I had a lot of great ideas. I liked the Jewish themed events, and suggested we do more of those. Also, suggested that maybe we should do some more just social things in general to get to know people better. Like go to a movie, a park, a game night (with other games), etc. 


They also want me (more like begging me) to be secretary again. I only stopped because it didn't seem like anybody cared at the time. Plus, the president would skip over me at almost every meeting. It just seemed like I was ignored. I don't really want that experience again.I'd rather relax, talk to people, enjoy an event, etc. Not have to worry about what was brought up, what people felt, and all that other stuff.


Posted an Israel pic on Monday on deviantART. Starting to get back into posting them. I know it's been a while since the trip, but I never got around to posting the rest. Some of the pics look pretty impressive just because of the views. And, I want to share that.


Played some more of my clarinet. Really wasn't bad yesterday. Played some Gershwin and 'advanced' solo tunes. I was surprised at how well I did with the solos.I was struggling a bit with them last time. 


Edited chapter 7 and 8 of Alliance again. Another good couple of chapters. I'm starting to get back into really loving this story, ever since I got back into editing all the chapters again. 


Typed up more of the You Maga article on living and parenting in America. Also, has tips on learning English. Very interesting so far.


Started reading Fairy Tail yesterday. Wanted to try it out, since I love the anime so much. The drawing style is a bit different than the anime, I think. More crude, I guess? It seems Happy changed the most in design. Even the Fairy Tail logo has changed a bit. But, interesting to see what it was all like before. Maybe there will be different side-stories as well. Sounds like a fun way to look at it. 

日本語

Yesterday's kanji was: 歌. Or: うた (uta), うた.う (uta.u), か (ka). I knew this one pretty well, but hadn't practiced writing it out much. It means: song, poetry, lyrics, to sing, to compose a poem, to recite a poem. Kind of a fun one.

Worked more on the original character meme. Zero's dream is coming out better than I expected. Also, started a drawing I've wanted to do since at least March. It's basically a representation of how I feel with my shoulder pain. I'll be crying, in a dress, with a wing coming out of my back. (Wing isn't fully 'grown' out. Like it's in the process of growing.) Perspective is from the side. Wings will be all bloody, and you can see parts of my bones on that side. It might be a bit bloody/gory, but I haven't felt peachy with this thing either.Finished drawing out Anzu's face. Both her and Kenta look better than I expected. Still not quite what's in my head, but close. The last character on this sheet is Sahara. I'm hoping she'll look better than the last time I drew her.

Since Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri hasn't been updated for a while, I started watching Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou or Private Bakaleya High School, on Sunday. (I really loved that other drama!) The first episode of this one was pretty good. I thought it'd be lame. Especially, because it's a collaboration between 2 pop idol groups. Johnny's Jr. and AKB48. It was shot in an interesting way. Seemed very 'artsy'. The mood was interesting too. Bakada High School is known as a delinquent school for boys, where students only know how to fight. Cattleya (this seems like a hilarious name to me, for some reason...) High School is an exclusive girls' school meant for the rich, where students are very refined. One day it was announced that Bakada (now that I think of it, this is a funny name too. Baka is idiot) and Cattleya would merge into one school. Thus, the name Bakaleya. They don't get along with each other from the start. The girls kind of scare me. They look like they're from a cult or something. They didn't show much on them, so maybe the next episode will feature them more? Anyways, it's very interesting so far.

Youtube: 

An awesome Fairy Tail amv:

One of the many hilarious scenes from Gintama:

Poor Gajeel. He should have started out with a cat like the other dragon slayers:

National Fudge Day

Mood:


This is actually tomorrow. But, why not celebrate it throughout the weekend!Fudge is awesome! So many different flavors out there.


Today's been weird. Things have gotten to me a bit more than usual. I think I'm just stressed. My shoulder pain is increasing much more rapidly than I expected. I almost couldn't stand it last night. It might be because I laundered my bedding for the first time in a long time. That has to do with a lot of arm movement. If that's the case, maybe it won't be too bad later.Surprisingly, that IcyHot stuff works wonders! I'm going to try and appeal my health insurance's decision on dropping my coverage, this weekend.We'll see what happens. 


Rosie woke me up at around 5:30am.I don't know what she wanted. She just kept licking my arms, getting really close to my face, standing on my stomach, sitting in between my legs, and trying to launch herself next to a leg. As far as I know she had plenty of food and water. Maybe she just was unusually playful today. But, it also set the mood for the rest of the day.


I'm starting to like this season of Gokusen, more than I thought I would. The faculty seems better. The guys seem a bit more 'complicated', than the previous ones. 


Hitman Reborn was better this episode too. I'm liking the idea of different bullets having very different effects, and that he made a henchman. Although, his henchman seems to be a little too attached to him now. He uses bombs, and studied in Italy. At first, he thought he'd challenge Tsuna to see if he's the right candidate to be the 10th head of the Vongola family. Eventually, after Tsuna unknowingly proved it, he accepted it. 


Posted another chapter to Alliance on dA. Had a lot of fun with the new character.The next chapter might be more fun to write as a whole. Since it doesn't have as much 'tension'. I think I'll end the first novel soon. Probably not this coming chapter, though. I have a good idea of how I want this one to end. It will be a huge cliffhanger. Hope to get right on top of a second one, as soon as I get this one out. So, people won't be too agonized over it.Again, lots of ideas for after this one ends, as well. 


Played a little of my clarinet. Did some solo tunes. Wasn't too bad today. Hope to get some practicing done this weekend, so I can get even closer (or better) to where I was before. Have to figure out the flyer a bit more, too. Practiced writing out the last 5 kanji again. I have them pretty solid now.So, moving on to reviewing the ones before those, this weekend. 


deviantART fave: The wings of Prussia I did not make this! Another awesome Hetalia fanart. This one depicts the history of Prussia. Very well done, and shows how complicated he is. I like the description in the author's comments. 

Troublemaker

Mood:


By Arashi. This is such a fun, and addicting song.The music video for it is really interesting. It's one of the few songs I really like by them. (Although, I'm liking their newer stuff more. Maybe they're just getting better?) Most of the time, I like their acting and variety shows more. They always seem to be having so much fun in anything they do. Oddly, the beat reminds me of disco songs.It's basically about opening up your mind, and going out and doing things, even if you don't succeed at them. At least you gave it a go. And, you can always try again. Nice message.

So far the 'diet' I set for myself has been great. I tweaked it a little though. I'm still eating half of what I usually would, except I'm eating more fruit and vegetables. Not good to limit my already low intake of them.Also, decided to add more water. Lately, since as far back as Mom being at the hospital, I drank less and less water. Not good for me. Need to get back into it. I thought I'd feel like I was starving, but I don't. I feel better this way.Also, managed to get some walking done in the last week or so. Hopefully, I can keep this stuff up. Might be cheaper, and I might lose a lot of weight. 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.


The next step in me becoming a tutor is making a flyer, and sending it to various places. (In the process of making the flyer, hard to decide on how I want it. But, I'll get it done soon!) Someone told me my starting rate sounded good. (Although, now I'm thinking of lowering it a little.) She really liked my idea of: if the first session's a half-hour, then it's free. If the first session's an hour, it's half what I would charge normally for an hour. I think it's pretty reasonable for new clients.She also told me that as I get experience with tutoring, I should raise my rates. I feel nervous about that, because what if it gets to be too much for regular clients? I guess I can work with them individually. She told me she could send a flyer out to her local school's band director. That'd be great! This is sounding better and better!She also suggested a facebook page for it. Makes sense to me. 


Had a couple of days that seemed like I didn't have time to play my clarinet. Everyday I don't play, seems to take a while to get back to where I was. It doesn't sound as good as when it's everyday. That's the way its been since I got back into it the last couple of days. I make more mistakes, where normally they seem easy and effortless. Of course, it didn't help that I played from one of my hardest books today. Solos for the 'Advanced' Clarinetist. Tough normally.Plus, my hand cramps up more. 


I can tell my next chapter in Alliance is going to be a lot of fun to write.Not that this one hasn't been fun. But, the next chapter probably won't have as much 'tension'. Might do another background story of another character in it. I love doing those and interweaving those elements to later chapters.Makes it interesting. Plus, my story's essentially based on its characters. Almost done with writing/editing the current chapter. Might post it soon.

日本語

The last kanji I went over was: 昼. Or: ひる (hiru), ちゅう (chuu). I was familiar with this one too, just didn't practice the kanji for this word enough. It means: daytime, daylight, noon, lunch, midday. I've been writing out the last 5 over and over this week. Doing it until they're more concrete. They were there, but not totally. I was going to practice writing them this passed weekend, but I wasn't feeling very good. At least, not emotionally.So, this weekend, I plan to go over the kanji from when I started going over them. And, practicing those again. Next week, I'll continue with the 'new' ones. So, look forward to those at least on Monday!

Started the second season of Gokusen last Friday. I'm not too sure about the new cast members yet. They don't quite seem as good. But, maybe that will change after watching a few episodes. I miss the old guys.Although, one apparently gets to still have a role, which is Kuma. I like him a lot, so that's nice. It takes place 3 years later than the 1st season. Shirokin Gakuen (Shirokin High School) was shut down, and 6 months later Yankumi was mistakenly asked to teach class 3-D at Kurogin Gakuen. These students seem to be a lot more troubled, and make her previous students look like angels. I was surprised by some of the new actors, because it's a completely different role than what I've seen from them before. Which means they're either going to be really awesome and flexible, or they're not cut out for it. We'll see.

I started reading Katekyo Hitman Reborn (or, Home Tutor Hitman Reborn. Sometimes, referred to as just Reborn) a couple of weeks ago, and started the anime last Friday. It kind of has a weird, and wacky beginning. But, I think it holds a lot of potential. Tsuna seems to always have low test scores, is poor at sports, and has an even lower self esteem. His mother hires a tutor to help Tsuna out. But, it comes as a big surprise to the both of them, when the tutor looks like a baby named Reborn, claiming to be from the mafia. Reborn then informs Tsuna that he is the next (10th generation) heir to the Vongola mafia family, and is there to try to help Tsuna reach the goal. Reborn possesses the Dying Will bullet, which kills a person, and brings them back to life to fulfill the last regret they had. Supposedly, later it helps him get some henchman to make him a true mafia boss-in-training. The anime is a long one, which is 203 episodes. But, the manga is still going. The manga started in 2004. I've heard very little about it, and wondered what it was like. So, why not give it a shot?

Buster Keel still hasn't been updated, so I looked around and saw that there was a new translated volume of Hetalia last Friday. Yay!So, I read a little of that. I really missed the manga, but I think I miss the anime even more. Doesn't have the same feel. But, nice to get back to reading it.


I haven't posted for a while, mainly because of me not feeling well emotionally.I was going to post last Friday, but ran out of time. Yesterday was interesting, because even though I was bawling my eyes out and thinking about Mom, it felt good.Maybe I really haven't taken the time to just breathe and think about her. I think I've been crying more lately, than I did at the funeral.Maybe I finally feel like I'm in mourning? Not that I wasn't before, I think I was more in just a state of shock. In Judaism, you're technically still in mourning for a year after the death. So, this might ebb in and out a bit. 


What also sent me into some more emotional turmoil, is finding out that I've been kicked off my health insurance. Just when I need it most.At least, for therapy, psychiatry, and my meds. My shoulder still hurts, too. Only starting to gradually hurt more. Not like the pain before the cortisone shot. But, it might end up like that, if left untreated for too long. I want to be able to cook again! At least help a little with dishes, without being in pain. I've gotten tired of taking things like ibuprofen. The stuff that doctor I saw for my ear gave me, didn't do much.Still have a pretty full bottle of that. Anyways, I might be able to be on a temporary thing soon. I don't know.


It's even funnier, when I needed my friends the most, they were all too busy to say or do anything.Now, suddenly, they're talking. Weird feeling. Might get to see that friend I knew in high school, that I met in May for the first time since, again in July. That would be awesome.She was busy moving into her new place, and her sister is getting married. So, it's understandable that she couldn't be reached. She seems to be like one of the few 'real' friends I have now. And, that's really good. 


Another good thing that's coming up, is there's a Hadassah potluck/meeting next week. It'll be great to see everyone. Some I haven't seen since the funeral, some even before that. Haven't had a Hadassah thing in a looong time. It's interesting that Mom was only a life member for a couple of months, and I think we only went to one thing during that time. I'm a life member now too.So, maybe I should wear that spiffy pin that came with it for this meeting. 


I'm hoping, when Dad's off, to get my permit. At least it'll be a step in the right direction. Plenty of people are saying they can help me practice. We'll see how that goes too. Who knows, maybe in the near future I'll be able to drive, be a tutor, and eventually move. Yay!


I've decided to join the religious practices committee at our synagogue. Mom was a part of it for 10 years at some point. I can use her notes, and whatever I feel like there. Also, when people heard I was going to be a tutor, they suggested that we should have jam sessions with other members. Sounded so fun. I think we tried to do something similar with a previous cantor, and it fizzled out.I didn't tell them, but I also thought, if we become good enough as a group, maybe we can do fundraisers with it somehow. But it does sound exciting as is.


I'm thinking about posting more pics from my Israel trip. I know it was a while ago, but I never posted them all.People might still like to see them, I think.


I was kind of wanting to go to the cafe I usually do yesterday. I called for the ride I usually do, and didn't get a response. So, I thought either something came up, or she was on her way to get me. But, she didn't show up. Which was ok. Because, I think I needed that time to bawl my eyes out and think about Mom.Even made a better mocha, than they would make. Did the stuff I normally would, downstairs. Anyways, I found out today, that the reason they didn't respond, was because one of the people that likes to go with us just had an operation. She was still recovering, but thought she'd be able to play with the Mahj group still. Ended up being too much for her. So long story short, they couldn't really be there. Would've been sad without them, too. 


deviantART faves: Hufflebadger don't care! StupidFox- 68 HETALIA- HK I did not make these! First, a hilarious T-shirt print, by another artist I watch. Second, another funny installment of StupidFox. Third, an awesome drawing of Hong Kong from Hetalia.