World Penguin Day!

Mood:

Yay for penguins!They definitely deserve to be celebrated. Not sure how people would celebrate them, unless they go to a zoo or something. They're fascinating creatures, not to mention most people think they're cute.

Yesterday was really weird.The power company told us they were going to have a planned power outage. Mainly so that their customers and crew would be safe while they work on the power grid to make it better. They said to expect it from anytime during 8am and 4pm, and that it'd be out for roughly 3 hours. I thought ok, I'll just plan for that entire time not to be on my computer or any other electronics. It went out for about 10 minutes during the morning, and then again at around 3:45 which was just before I left for my final walk. When I got home it was back on. So, in total it wasn't out for very long at all. I was a little miffed by that, although it was good that it wasn't out for long.It's also good to occasionally go totally off the grid, so to speak. 

I wrote out on paper the beginning of the 8th story of my nightmare anthology. I can write pretty quickly, but my brain was coming up with ideas even quicker. Kind of hurt my hand a bit. Although, I think I wrote more than I usually type out in Word. Which was kind of cool.I might have to do that more often. This one's also starting quite a bit differently than the actual nightmare it's based on. Although, it's kind of a recurring theme in some of my nightmares, so I guess it could still fit. I'll be going through different situations in my nightmares, and these 'themes' and/or similar 'people' will pop out. It's weird. Kind of like my mind is using recycled nightmare stuff and putting it into a new one.Doesn't happen too often, but often enough that I notice it. (I didn't have them in the previous stories.) I wonder if my subconscious is trying to tell me something. But, it's too weird to figure out...

Played my clarinet for an hour downstairs yesterday. Found a pretty good spot to play, and there may have been more light there than in my bedroom normally. Rosie decided to stare intensely at me in a nearby chair.I felt a little uneasy, because she was more at eye level with me this time. I think she was also trying to figure out why I was doing it there, and not in my room. She seemed to enjoy it, at least. I did a lot more Irish tunes, and some Klezmer ones. Sounded pretty good most of the time. 

I reviewed the kanji 返 and 勉. Went over their verb forms, as well. There are quite a lot of them, and it kind of hurt my hand, too. But, it was good to see them written out.Then, I decided to go over grammar and sentence structure by using them in sentences. My grammar book helped a lot with that. 

Also, read more of the American Jewish Folklore book. It went over transliterations of Yiddish words and their meanings. I have kind of a hard time reading transliterations. Especially for Hebrew. There are a lot of different ways to transliterate them, but looking at the Hebrew with vowels I get it right away. The transliteration confuses me sometimes. I guess I'm just so used to reading Hebrew...(First started learning it when I was about 7. I can read it fluently with the vowels, say it out loud pretty well, but might only know the meaning of half of it at best.) It might have been better if they had something like what it would look like with Hebrew letters off to the side. (Which is what Yiddish uses.) They gave examples of common Yiddish curses, as well. They are known for being quite colorful with that.

At the end of my last walk yesterday, there was kind of a suspicious person who was taking pics of, what I'm assuming, is our house (the neighbors' kids were out as well) as she stopped at the stop sign in front of our house and then pulled up into our driveway.The first thought I had was that person was taking pics of our neighbors' kids, which is freaky enough. They were playing really close to our driveway. I thought it was rude for people to park in our driveway, unless we're expecting them or they're a friend. Most people that go door to door for something usually park on the side of the street. I was going to try and ignore her as I headed inside after I got the mail. But, no such luck.She said: "Excuse me, are you (my parent's name)?" Not knowing what this was about and tired, I just said I live with her. She immediately said: "So you're roommates?" But, didn't give me time to answer that. She seemed super relieved, gave me a slip of paper, said that my parent would understand, and left. I looked at the paper, and all it had was a bank name and an info number. That's it.Dad was confused by this too. I felt really weird about the whole thing. Was she even with that bank? Why was she taking pics? And, why didn't she just say she was going to before she took them? Why did she take all that time and energy to be there just to give me a piece of paper that doesn't have much on it? The more I thought about it, the weirder it got.

Went to IHOP after that. Mostly to have a chametz fest!(Also, made me feel better about earlier.) I can finally eat it, and I hadn't really gone all out yet. I got their cinnamon swirl brioche French toast, and the 'regular' combo. The French toast tasted like a huge cinnamon bun, but with even more of a cinnamon taste. Oddly, this looked better in real life than the pic for it in the menu. Doesn't happen too often. It was really good.The combo usually comes with hash browns, eggs (I got them scrambled), 2 regular bacon strips, and 2 pork sausages. I don't eat pork products, but they let people substitute them with turkey alternatives. Which is really good. I got the turkey versions of the bacon and sausage. Only, I think they skimped on me a little.I had one turkey bacon strip, and 1 turkey sausage. Oh well. I certainly didn't need more food.It was all very good, though. Hadn't been to IHOP in a very long time. We sometimes think about going to it after Passover is over. Since there's a lot of bread-like stuff to be had there. I was good enough to eat only half of what I got, and had the rest for a brunch today.

I haven't been feeling too great today.Went to bed pretty late, because I kind of needed my computer fix last night. (Went through messages, facebook, etc. Stuff that I normally would occasionally look at during the day.) I got up a little late, too. (Not as late as I thought it would be...) Ever since I got up I've had a weird ringing in my ears, and feeling like there's a lot of pressure weighing down on me. Maybe I need to use that weird ear stuff again, or it could be the weather. I'm apparently very sensitive to what goes on with the weather. The air pressure, winds, sudden changes in temp, etc. all can affect me. It's a little annoying.Most of the time it doesn't bother me too much, but this feels weird. I'll try flushing my ears out again. Haven't done it in a while. I also have a problem with too much wax buildup, and either need a nurse to flush it out or I've been using a kit more recently. It does pretty well. The chemical solution sits in the ear for a little while, softens or clears things away as it goes down, and it fizzes. It doesn't hurt, but if it fizzes a lot, it can feel itchy.After a certain amount of time, you use an ear medicine bulb by filling it with lukewarm water and slowly squirt it up into the ear. All the excess stuff tends to fall out at this time. It looks pretty nasty, but it's better that it's not in my ear anymore.And, when the doctor or other health professionals look at my ears they haven't asked the nurse to flush it since I've started using this stuff. The nurses use similar methods. 

National Picnic Day!

Mood:

I like picnics, just haven't gone to one in a while. Today's not really the best day to have one, though.It's chilly and cloudy.

Managed to do my evening sit-ups last night!So, I finally did a full day's routine of exercise. (The exercise routine I wanted to make a habit of. Did for a while until I got sick, just getting back to it now.) Haven't done that for a while. And, today's looking like I'll be able to do the same stuff. Went to bed a little early, and got up early at the time I wanted to. That meant I finally had a morning walk as well. Yesterday I had an early afternoon one, and one just before making dinner. The morning ones are interesting, though. The air is still crisp, the sun's still rising, there aren't very many people out, the colors are different, etc. The only people I did see were basically high school students making their way to school. (I think they were a little late.) They looked like they didn't want to be there.Oh, and I saw a runner, but that was it. The birds and squirrels were just starting to become active too. I did do my morning sit-ups this time, as well.

Started reading Chibisan Date. It's made by the same mangaka (manga creator/artist) that did Hetalia. One of my fave manga and anime, I loved both versions.His name's Himaruya Hidekaz. (That's how he writes it out when it's not in Japanese. There isn't just a 'z' in Japanese, there is a 'zu', and that's how it is in the kanji form.) He's usually very into history and cultures from around the world. (Heck, he personified countries in Hetalia, went through a lot of their history, and a lot of the different cultures.) This is a little different, but still has a similar 'feel'. The main character is Seiji Chiga, a young artist studying under Mr. Suehiro, a potter, on the island of Nantucket during the 60's. He's a pessimist and doubts his abilities constantly. He puts pressure on himself to place better in an art competition, and as a result suffers a creative block. He passes his time with his new friends, a young girl known only as "Chibi-san", two teen girls from Boston (Margaret and Candy, they're sisters), and Fischer who's his best friend and the son of a local fisherman. It's kind of like a slice of life thing, but also historical. Interesting to see that he seems to still be getting used to American culture, too. The characters seem to have eerily close designs compared to Hetalia.I know it's his 'style', but it feels almost like he just recycled their looks. The main character looks like a cross between Japan and Spain in Hetalia, his best friend looks an awful lot like Poland, and the sisters look like the female version of Russia and Belarus. They have different personalities, though. Which is good. I think Chibi-san looks a bit like one of the micronations, not sure which one, though. Should be interesting to see how this one goes.

I finished the 7th short story of my nightmare anthology.Kind of ended abruptly, but it makes you think. Like, did that person actually make it out or not? But, that sounds like what happens in many dreams. I've been going with kind of a pattern for the beginning and ending of each story. It's a very fun way of doing it, too. I want people to have at least an unsettled feeling after each one. They're far from happy stories, and that's the way nightmares should be. Tried to at least give off a scary atmosphere. Next one should be interesting, too. Not sure where that will go either. It's like a journey with each one I do.

Played my clarinet for an hour this time. Felt good. Haven't done that in a long time. Did a lot of jazz tunes, pieces from my advanced classical 'style' solos, and a lot of Irish tunes. It was fun, and I think I sounded a lot better today. 

日本語

Studied the kanji 返 and 勉. If 返 is pronounced as 返す or かえ.す (kae.su): to return (something), restore, put back; to turn over, turn upside down, overturn; to pay back, retaliate, reciprocate; (suf) (after the -ます [-masu] stem of a verb) to repeat..., to do...back. As 返る or かえ.る (kae.ru): to return, come back, go back; to turn over; (suf) (after the -ます [-masu] stem of a verb) (to become) extremely, (to become) completely. It can be pronounced as へん (hen) in compounds. When 勉 is pronounced as 勉める or つと.める (tsuto.meru): to endeavor, try, strive, make an effort, exert oneself, be diligent. It tends to be pronounced as べん (ben) in compounds. 勉学 or べんがく (bengaku): study, pursuit of knowledge. 勉強 or べんきょう (benkyou): study; diligence; discount, reduction. 勉励 or べんれい (benrei): diligence. 

Read some more of A Treasury of American Jewish Folklore. This chapter was a bit different. It was about Yiddish and how new Jewish immigrants to America used it and basically evolved it over time as they were learning English. What they came up with is still being used today, and some of it has been picked up into English. They coined the term Yinglish for Yiddish-English being combined. It was very fascinating. Even words like beatnik has its roots in Yiddish. (The 'nik' part at least.) It also talked about sayings and puns that came about with the 2 languages combining. Some were really funny, and some of them were just bad.This chapter looks like it's the longest one. Tons of more bilingual Yiddish/English sayings, puns, and jokes. Sounds interesting. The other chapters were more about actual stories/legends of immigrants coming here. 

Happy Earth Day!

Mood:

The earth should definitely be appreciated. It's an amazing planet, and should be protected.The 8th day of Passover just ended too. Yay! I can have chametz now!(Things that weren't kosher during Passover. Bread, pasta, etc.) For dinner, I had some elbow macaroni with spaghetti sauce and beef meatballs on top. The regular sauce is much better than the Passover spaghetti sauce. The Passover one is kind of bland.I still had the Passover cake I started yesterday, and some candies. Still good stuff, but now I can eat other things. It feels good when I finally can. The first bite of chametz after the holiday is awesome!I guess it makes people appreciate what they normally have more, as well. 

I got up a little late today, but got some things done at least.Did my morning sit-ups, and both my 2-mile walks. I'll definitely get my evening sit-ups in like I did last night. So, I managed to get both walks in!It's been a while since I've done that. Feels great! It'd be great if I can keep up the walks and sit-ups again. It was very windy and sprinkling out during both my walks, but it down poured both times afterwards. Glad it wasn't during those walks. It was really nice and sunny, too. Slightly chilly, though. Smelled nice, because a lot of the flowers were still in bloom.

I noticed that the meds I ordered through the mail on the 11th weren't here yet. So, I called the pharmacy. They said that I apparently had ordered too close to the last order, and won't let it go through until the 24th.Which I'll have to call them back then to go over the meds that are still at the 'in process' stage. It's weird because when I first ordered for my normal 2 months' worth, that weird psychiatrist who I never met (yet people told me over the phone was my actual 'doctor', they didn't use the word psychiatrist) only ok'd me for a month's worth and said that they wouldn't ok anymore orders. That person only ok'd 2 other orders, and those 2 weren't filled all the way either.So, I had told my actual new doctor about the whole thing. She found it odd as well, because at the physical she made it so she was in charge of all my meds. Including these ones until I find another psychiatrist. She made another refill for me for the 2nd month's worth, and told me that I could order it when I wanted to. I did like the next day after she ok'd it. Apparently that was too soon.So odd. This person who I didn't know, kind of messed with things. So, after I get this cleared, I won't be able to order my normal amount until maybe the end of May or beginning of June. Oh well. At least I'm getting the next one soon. 

Also, there was a notice on our front door saying there will be a planned power outage on the 24th. I'm not sure if I've heard of these. They said that they're working to make the power grid better, and in order to do that safely for their crew and their customers they'll cut the power. Makes sense, but kind of a headache. They said the power will go out anytime between 8am and 4pm, and for roughly 3 hours. Great.I'm glad they put out notices though. Very nice of them. Interesting that the day I can talk to the pharmacy about my recent order and to ok it, is the same one for the power outage. Something must be going on...I know I can just call the pharmacy the next day, if I can't get a hold of them. I kind of like to look at the order itself while talking to them, and that's online. The only way I can get to it is through my computer, and that may be off. One day later isn't bad, either. 

Rurouni Kenshin has been interesting. Apparently when people are being shot at, they rarely hit a character. I know that guns were relatively new back then (they were used to fighting with swords before), but that's kind of crazy. I like the stories behind the characters, though. (And, the characters are growing in development throughout it.) The fighting scenes are interesting. You also get kind of a taste of what life was like in the Meiji era. (1868 to 1912. The present time in the story is 1879, I think. Kenshin fought during the Meiji Restoration, which was a war/revolution that ended with the start of the Meiji era.) I'm not usually into historical anime/dramas, but this was done pretty well. Certainly keeps my interest. 

There have been slight differences so far in the manga version of Pandora Hearts. It's only slightly different. I know I've read at some point the anime took a totally different turn to what the manga did. So, I guess I'll get a chance to see that. The manga went on for quite a bit longer, too. So, there might be a lot more to the original story. Sounds exciting!I just got to the part where they introduced the Cheshire cat. The whole story has heavy Alice in Wonderland themes. There are 2 Alices that are kind of mirror images of each other. (Goes with the theme pretty well, I think.) One that's of the Abyss, or she's better known as the Will of the Abyss; and the other is supposedly a Chain who was trapped in the Abyss. Chains have special powers, love to eat people, and tend to look super creepy. This Alice is very powerful, doesn't eat humans, and isn't really all that creepy. She's searching for her memories. (The other side of that is most Chains don't have memories of before they were in the Abyss.) The other Alice is only creepy in personality and behavior. She's kind of insane. She ripped out Break's eye for the fun of it.If Chains find human contractors, they can travel to our world. Oz is Alice's contractor. The Chains can't use their powers in this world unless the contractor allows them to. (They'll eat up the energy of the contractor and eventually the contractor will be sent to the lowest level of the Abyss.) I love the Cheshire cat in this (I liked him in Alice in Wonderland, too). This one's obsessed with the Will of Abyss, and will destroy anyone who he deems may be a threat to her. The Mad Hatter character is probably Break. No one knows what he's thinking, drinks tea all the time, always has candy, talks to a doll, and is rather 'mad', in the crazy sense. The Chain Alice calls him a clown. But, he's also a good character deep down. 

Wrote a bit more of the 7th chapter of my nightmare anthology. Didn't get through much of it, because Word was acting really slow.But, at least I got through some of it. It's turning out to be another interesting one.

Played my clarinet. Sounded much better than yesterday. Did some tunes from my general solo book, some Ellington, and some Gershwin. Rosie, one of our cats, actually sat really close to me through most of it. I don't understand why she likes me playing the clarinet so much.I would've thought it'd be at least too noisy for her to be that close. Maybe I play better than I think I do...After I play she usually looks at me as if to say: "that's it?" It's cute, and I guess it's nice to have her as my number one fan. She's lucky that she gets a front row seat that way.The other cat, Tasha, sometimes eats her food on the banister while I play. Kind of like she gets some lunch music or something. That's interesting too. 

JapaneseClass' site had a huge overhaul. I know that they've been telling us for months now that they were going to upgrade it, but I didn't think it'd be so soon.I'll have to get used to the new design. It seems quicker with its reaction time, which is good. All the tabs to different parts of the site are on the side now. That's better than before. The only part I'm not liking so far is I can see people who are online at the same time move around in another sidebar as they gain experience points. It's kind of annoying. I'll be practicing and suddenly see that sidebar going crazy moving people up or down with the rankings as they gain or lose points. I wonder if they'll make an option where we can turn that part off?We'll see. Can't challenge anyone at the moment, either. I didn't really use that function too often, but apparently people loved to challenge me. My friends list carried over, too. I did the practice questions for 'attendance', and went over some vocab from my oblivion list. I only got a few answers wrong, and made a pretty long combo of correct ones. Yay!