Come Together

Mood:

By the Beatles. This song has been stuck in my head for a while.I love it, but it doesn't make much sense. Maybe that's it's charm? Although, I've read some verses pertain to each band member, and Lennon was inspired by Timothy Leary's campaign for governor of California titled "Come together, join the party" against Reagan. Still, no one knows exactly what the meaning is. Maybe it's just up to the listener?

I've noticed it's been slightly over a month since I got my temporary paper version of my driver's permit. They said to wait at least a month for your 'official' plastic card version. So, I tried to call our local Department of Licensing place. Everytime I did, it was busy.The operator said if I wanted to know when the line was free, I'd have to pay a fee to have them call me back. Lame. So, I tried emailing customer service about it. They said it was mailed to my address and no one's returned it. Oh joy!They said in order to straighten it out, I have to talk to my local DOL in person. I'll be going there tomorrow. Hopefully, they'll do something.

In Hana Yori Dango, Domyoji and Makino became much closer. He didn't actually tell her he loved her, but he showed her through his actions. She was very confused for a while. He asked her out, and she came hours later after the set time. He was waiting in the freezing rain for her. She wanted to make it up to him, by taking him to a cheap tea place. They got stuck in the elevator on the way. Ended up having to sleep together that night. Then, Makino's so called friend set her up. She was invited to go clubbing with the girls from school, and later was drugged by a man and passed out. She woke up naked in someone's bed. She didn't worry much about if she was raped or not. I'm sorry, but that part didn't seem very 'real'. Her 'friend' had taken pics of Makino in bed with that man, and showed it to everyone at school, which included Domyoji. He was hurt to say the least. Kind of sad. But, I know they'll clear it up. 

In Naruto Shippuden, Naruto had a talk with the kyuubi (9-tailed fox). Saying some day he hopes to erase the kyuubi's hatred as well as everyone else's. I think they came to a better understanding of each other. I feel kind of bad for the kyuubi...

In Hitman Reborn, they introduced Bianchi. (She's on the left in the pic.) She's a freelance hitman who specializes in poison cooking, nicknamed Poison Scorpion. And, she's Gokudera's sister. (He's on the right.) As soon as he sees her, he gets sick to his stomach. She tries to kill Tsuna, because she thinks if Tsuna dies, she can go off somewhere with Reborn. They're lovers. I like how quirky the characters have been so far. And, I'm already noticing that there are some differences between the anime and manga. Which is a good thing. 

Played my clarinet. (Yay! Seems like I might get back into some sort of routine with it!) Did some jazz tunes, and some tunes from my advanced solos book. Again, fumbled a few times, but wasn't bad. I'll get back to where I was soon, though. 

I'm pretty much done with chapter 17 of Alliance. Might have a couple more chapters left, and then I could be done with the novel as a whole. Still not quite up to what they say for the minimum word count for a fantasy/sci-fi novel. That's good, because there's still so much more to the story to write, and I was thinking of making it a series of novels. Hoping to end it on a huge cliffhanger too.Might post chapter 17 to dA tomorrow. Not sure if I'm entirely confident about it yet, hence the 'might'.  

日本語

Today's kanji was 親. Or: おや、おやｰ、した.しい、した.しむ、しん (Oya, oya-, shita.shii, shita.shimu, shin). It means: parent(s), dealer (cards), familiarity, intimacy, closeness, friendliness, founder, to befriend, close relative. Also, went over some compounds with the kanji 引 in them. (By itself, it means: pull,  tug, admit, refer to, install.) Here's some: 引見 (いんけん or inken): audience, interview. 引責 (いんせき or inseki): taking responsibility. 引退 (いんたい or intai): retire. 引用 (いんよう or inyou): quotation, citation, reference. I'll do more compounds with this kanji tomorrow. 

Searched for more recipes in Japanese, since I translated the previous one a while ago. Nothing interesting so far.Might find something next week, though. Went over another Japanese lesson, as well. 

Worked on the drawing meme. After this section of the meme, I'm going to fill out a text-based one. It'll give me a break. And, yet I'll still be thinking about my characters. The drawing meme I'm working on at the moment is very long. But, I thought it was a good challenge for me. Good to step away from it for a bit. I can fill out text-based ones much quicker, anyways. 

Typed up more of my index for my very long recipe list. Yes, just listing the things I want to make, it needs something like an index.Can't find anything otherwise. It's become like a book. Hence, why I stopped searching for regular (not in Japanese) recipes for the time being. Going through the list, I got more of an urge to cook. So, I think my shoulder might actually be getting better, and that I might try to start cooking again.Simple stuff, though. Don't want to hurt it again. Nice to ease into it, too. Shoulder still has some waves of pain at times, but those times seem to be less often. So, we'll see.

More Herbs, Less Salt Day!

Mood:

Herbs can make things more exciting. And, too much salt's never too good. You should never totally take salt out of your diet, but a lot of people tend to use too much. It's also Lemon Juice Day. 


It's gotten a bit cooler lately. I guess it's a sign Fall's coming.Played my clarinet. Did some Mozart, and tunes from my newest solo book. Been a while since I played last. So, I wasn't up to par.Although, I wasn't too bad. I stumbled in a few areas here and there.

In Cartoon KAT-TUN, their guest this time was Miki Maya. She's an amazing actress. I've seen some of her dramas. Didn't know much about her off camera, so that was nice. Like her even more now.She's 48, was a star in a theater troupe, starred in many dramas and movies, and acts in commercials. She's acted many male roles while she was in the theater. Really cool and interesting person. 
In Fairy Tail, Natsu managed to bust out of his jail cell with the help of the 'Jiggly Butt Gang'. (They disturb me...) They found out what the clock really does. It can distort time for people. Where someone won't remember another person, because that experience of 'meeting' them is gone. Essentially, it can manipulate people's memories. Oracion Seis captured Lucy, and are going to use her as, basically a switch to turn on the clock. Once it starts, she'll start to sleep for 100 years. Time will move slowly for her. 

In Anagle Mole, they finally explained what the title means. Literally, it means 'probing' mole. But, it's about how moles have to find themselves. Find their own beliefs, ideals, etc. Since, they are sent out into the world on their own, and are mostly solitary, they have to fight to survive too. Very cool. I'm liking this manga more and more.Towards the end of the chapter, they were starting to think that Kyousuke would die instead of revive in the healing spring. Since, it heals the majin. But, he suddenly saved Luchiru, and exclaimed that he's an anagle mole. He's gotten kind of cool.
Did a much better job on my hair yesterday. So much better that it kept its shape after I woke up this morning.Also, did my nails. Haven't done that in a while. They're kind of a maroon/copper color. It's one of those nail polish colors that you can't tell exactly what color it is, but it's nice. 
Finally went back to my 'virtual' trip to Japan. Stopped doing it for a month, for some reason.Went through Iwate prefecture yesterday. (Went to Tono where the Kappa folktale comes from.) Next, is Miyagi. I think that's the prefecture my penpal is from. Might check out her town, although I remember her telling me most of it was swept away by the tsunami. Still would be interesting to see. 

Found an interesting song yesterday. Went back to MAL (My Anime List). Hadn't been there in a while, and I barely used it. Has a bit more info on things than at AP (Anime Planet). Although, I like AP's layout more. Looks 'busy' at MAL. Also, posted another chapter of Alliance to that new anime/Jdrama forum I like. They seem to really like the story. Makes me happy!


Posted some more pics of the fair. I'm surprised at what people like at both FB and dA. They're different. But, I guess they are different communities. Played some more of a new game I found through FB called Crystal Saga. It may be better than Grand Fatasia...


At the cafe today, I got an 8 oz iced mocha with whipped cream. It came out in a very tiny cup. Kind of cute, but good enough of an amount for me. Practiced my kanji, read more of a You Maga issue, started drawing a scene from the nature park in my story, went over 2 Japanese lessons, wrote out a little of a conversation with myself in Japanese, did a crossword puzzle, and read some more of the Silmarillion. All while I was there.

Rosie seems to be getting these weird spots in her fur. Kind of like lumps. Some seem to be of matted fur. Others seem to be like some sort of skin thing. We might end up taking her to the vet soon. There seems to be more of them everytime I look at her. Hope it's nothing serious. 

Banana Lover's Day

Mood:

Banana's are awesome!I always have one with breakfast or lunch. There's many ways to eat them too. Banana pie, banana flavored drinks, bananas in coconut milk, etc. are all great. 

I finally got my bike to a shop that'll fix it up. I haven't biked in about 10 years. But, for some reason, the last year or so I've had dreams about it. They've only gotten stronger. Kind of freaky.But, I used to love riding my bike. It feels like you're not really working out, until you're off of it. It's amazing to feel the breeze, and going over dips with it. I love my bike, but it was in the garage the whole time. So, things were eating the handle bars and seat. The tires were slashed as well. If I still want to ride it, it has to have some work done. It'll be ready at the end of the 1st week of September. Can't wait!

On Saturday, my dad and I went to the county fair. It was a lot of fun!Hadn't been there for about 10 years. We shared a huge sized curly fries and peach lemonade. I was amazed at how big they were. Later, I got some cotton candy. Haven't had that in over 10 years. It was awesome!Couldn't eat a lot of it, but that just means I can savor the awesome for a little longer. ;) Dad got a funnel cake with blueberry sauce, powdered sugar, and whipped cream on top. Had a couple of bites of that. It was really good too! 

We mostly went around and saw the animals. Saw the horses, cats, dogs, poultry, cows, rabbits, and more. That was nice. I've always had a soft spot for animals. (Even wanted to major in animal science...Didn't work out though.) Took a lot of pics of them, too. Then we looked a little at the vendors and rides. None of the rides really appealed to me, and the stuff I was interested in at the booths were really expensive. Oh well. Nice to see anyways. Managed to get a little sunburn while I was there. I never tan. I burn instead.

Yesterday, we went to a nail salon. Dad had a pedicure and French manicure. She wanted to look nice for when she goes back to work soon. Plus it was a good deal. It took 2 hours!I almost fell asleep by then. She's never had a French manicure. (I haven't either.) So, it was interesting. 

We were hoping to get some Noah's Bagels after that. But, the place the GPS took us to was called Einstein Bagels. So, we got those instead. They looked pretty good. Then, we started to get hungry, and decided to go to Applebee's. The waiter was a bit odd. But, nice. I had the orange chicken. It was pretty good, but a little bit spicier than I expected. Nice that it had a bunch of vegetables and some nuts, too. There was so much, I had to take about half of it home. Got a chocolate mousse shooter for dessert. I love those, because they're small. Just enough to hit the spot, and not feel heavy.It has oreos, chocolate mousse, chocolate chips, and whipped cream.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but started Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers) a couple of weeks ago. I've watched the anime version. Wasn't too fond of the design style, but really liked the story. I hated the first episode of the drama when I tried it a few months ago. But after trying it again, so far, from the 2nd episode on it's been great. Has a ton of actors that I like. That's a plus, at least. This started out as a shoujo manga. (I tend to not like that style anyways. There's very few mangas/animes in this style that I like.) Makino Tsukuchi is the only poor student at Eitoku Gakuen, the school for the ridiculously rich and privileged that is ruled by the Flower 4 or F4, a group of guys who come from extremely powerful families. The leader's Tsukasa, Rui's an introvert, Sojiro's a player, and Akira's a 'madam killer' with ties to the underground. If you get on their bad side, you're brutally bullied. Makino gets on their 'bad side', and is bullied by everyone. She refuses to stop going to school, and they call her a tough weed. She declares war on the F4. Her number 1 enemy of the group, Tsukasa, ends up getting romantic feelings for her. Her crush, Rui, seems to feel something too, but left to be with someone in France. 

Just started reading The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. I like Shakespeare, but I knew most of what was in the collection. The ones I hadn't read before were slightly dry. So why not change to another book? I've read the Hobbit a long time ago, and thought it might be good. I'll see how it turns out.

Eat A Peach Day!

Mood:

I love peaches!Almost in any form. Plain, cut up, in a pie, canned, drink flavors, etc. I used to like a song that was about the many ways they liked to have peaches. I can't remember the name of it though...Anyways, we don't have any peaches at the moment, so I can't celebrate. But, if you do, eat one! 

It was a bit chilly out for most of the day. Then, it suddenly warmed up quickly while we were out. So, before we went to the cafe today, I decided to put on a coat. Which was fine until we were at the market later. Weird weather. Well, maybe it'll be better tomorrow. 

In Cartoon KAT-TUN, they had Crystal Kay as a guest. She's interesting. Found out online that she was born in Yokohama, and her father's African American, and mother's Zainichi Korean (Japanese, but ethnically Korean, according to wikipedia). Kind of cool. She's a singer and songwriter. She's fluent in both Japanese and English. They lost again at their game of dart bingo. 

In Fairy Tail, the group found out that Michelle wasn't who she said she was. The real Michelle was in a coma in a cave somewhere. The imposter's Imitatia, and likes to deal with deception and imitation magic. (The pic is of her after her transformation, back to her true self.) I knew something was off about her!She seemed too good to be true. Oracion Seis broke the anti-links that were keeping someone sealed up in a tomb. (I think it's 'Brain' from before, not sure.) They also took over Zentopia Church. The people who were collecting the clock's parts. Now, the new mission of Oracion Seis is to kidnap Lucy. Everybody seems to want a piece of her.

Anagle Mole has been awesome so far!One that I'm quite pleasantly surprised with. Luchiru and Kyousuke are still looking for Chiwa in Anaguland. Kyousuke's badly injured, and the healing spring doesn't seem to work on him. Luchiru's fighting another majin. His power is being able to move any inanimate object. Pretty powerful. So, he's in a bit of a pinch as well. Almost killed the other majin towards the end of the chapter, but wasn't accurate with aiming his 'dekos' at him. (His power manipulates the ground. Almost like he can make pillars or pits with it.)

Managed to play my clarinet for almost an hour this time! Haven't done that in ages!Played some Irish and klezmer tunes.

While we were at the cafe, I got a vanilla praline Italian soda. It was really good!Maybe a tad too strong, but good nonetheless. Practiced writing out all the recent kanji I've worked on. (About 50 of them.) Read some of the July issue of You Maga. Left a bit early, so didn't have time to do the other stuff I was planning on doing there. Oh well. There's only one person who's been interested enough in my tutoring, since one tab with my phone number has been ripped off from the flyer I posted there. At least one person has shown interest.

Dad and I decided we'll eat whatever we like, and the other person can't eat for dinner. She's calling it Cheesy Lobster. Since, I try to keep a kosher style, I don't eat lobster. Since she can't stand cheese, she doesn't eat it either. So, she bought some mussels. I'm going to have a personal cheese pizza with a cheese stuffed crust, and broccoli cheddar soup. It doesn't get much cheesier than that! Can't wait to have it!Might not be able to eat it all at once. But, that just means I'll have more awesome stuff later.

deviantART fave: Redhead Girl- Ballpoint Pen I did not make this! Found this through dA's FB post. Some are skeptical about it, and saying it can't be real. I'm not sure. It's a portrait of a redheaded girl in 6 colored, plus a black, ballpoint pens. Some say it's been manipulated on a computer program. Either way, it's gorgeous. 

Heat of Battle

Mood:

Another track from the first Bleach soundtrack. Really cool fight song. Even the fighting sequences sound funky. 

It looks like a nice fall day out today, instead of summer.Even the leaves are falling. Played some Irish tunes on my clarinet. Managed to write a bit today, too.

Pretty much done with a drawing I've been wanting to do for a while. It's simple, and the person in it won't have too many details. It's me (with, oddly, a different haircut) with a wing sprouting painfully out of my left shoulder. That's the side that's giving me so many problems. When the pain started we joked that I had a wing that was growing and about to burst through my skin. I liked that idea.I tried to make it look gruesome, but I don't think it ended up that way. Maybe someday when I'm better at drawing I'll redo it. And, hopefully it'll be closer to what I wanted.Trying to decide if I should post it to dA...Also, started mapping out what I'll draw for the next part of the meme.

Iryu Sousa was sad. Although, most of them are. A lot of confused characters. The victim died because a woman suspected her of sleeping with her husband. (They used to, but they ended it a long time ago.) The victim's friend thought it was suicide, but messed with the scene to make it look like the husband from before did it. (She heard stories from her friend about him.) Later, she tried to kill herself and that guy, unsuccessfully. The man didn't really have a hand in the murder. Poor guy. Although, he is a womanizer, he still didn't do anything.

In Bleach, Ichigo passed lesson 2 in becoming a shinigami again. This time it's with his own powers. Before, he was using Rukia's. It was kind of a trippy episode.The objective was to get back up to the surface from a very deep hole, with his hands tied behind his back, within 72 hours before he turned into a hollow. He tried running up the walls. But, eventually his sword spoke to him in human form, and he managed to regain his powers with the sword's help. The group thought that they were too late and tried to annihilate him before he turned into a hollow. He survived, and burst through the hole. He had a face mask (which hollows usually have), but easily broke it. He looks awesome now. 

In Fairy Tail, Lucy and Natsu returned the book to the guy who wanted it destroyed. He found out that his father left letters to him in the book, that were bond by magic. He didn't know anything about his father, and misjudged him before he died. Now he feels even more guilty about it. 

日本語

Worked on some more kanji. Today's kanji was 船 (ふね or fune). Which means boat or ship. Practiced writing out a couple more kanji. Finished looking through the common compounds that have 強 (きょう or kyou [seem to be most common pronunciations in its compound words]) in them. There was a lot of them. Also, went over a lesson in my Japanese book.