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.