Amaoto wa Chopin no Shirabe

Mood:

Or, literally The Sound of Rain Chopin Examines. Better yet, Chopin Examines the Sound of Rain. By Kra. Kra is one of the few visual kei bands that I like. (I think my other fave visual kei one is Kagrra, but they sadly disbanded a while ago.) The main singer sounds pretty good, instead of being that squeaky or too nasally sound that many of these types of bands have. He has a wide range. This one's basically just about listening to Chopin while it's raining out. And, how beautiful it can sound. Very interesting. Visual kei basically means 'visual style'. It's a certain fashion style, essentially, that the musicians wear. Kind of more theatrical with having lots of makeup, elaborate hairstyles, costumes, and some use androgynous aesthetics. The 'style' has grown, and fans have picked it up. There are several sub-genres of it. Also, the 'style' can be considered a certain music genre in itself. It can have elements of punk, glam rock, heavy metal, electronic, and others. (There are a lot of glam rock and heavy metal ones specifically out there.) They all have a certain sound or 'feel' to them, though. I think it's often misunderstood. (Some make fun of the guys, because they may look too 'feminine' to them, for one thing.) I haven't really explored too many visual kei bands, though. The video is kind of odd, but also shows the somewhat more artsy, I guess, side of it. (Not sure what some of the hand gestures are about...)

Yesterday night was kind of odd. We were going to have the regular support group meeting. We were told by someone in the group that we might not be able to get into the building. Then a lot of the 'regulars' of the group said that they had something pop up and couldn't go. We went just in case. Turned out we were able to get into the building. 4 people showed up, including Dad and I. We did discuss some serious and not so serious (more like curious) issues. So, it kind of ended up being a lax meeting.

Afterwards, Dad and I decided to go to Red Robin, instead of the usual going to Shari's after the meeting. As we walked in the person at the front asked if we'd like to sit in the bar/lounge area. We said ok, and found a spot. As soon as the server made it to our table, she asked me for my ID. I forgot my purse, and had thought normally I didn't need it because we usually go to Shari's after the group. Plus, I had taken my meds beforehand. I might start bringing it with me more often...Anyway, I told her I didn't have it, and that I was 29. Even Dad spoke up about it. She said I looked awfully young, didn't really believe me, and kicked us out of the lounge area.

I'm ok with maybe looking a few years younger, but this is ridiculous.I know I'm very fortunate that I do look younger, but this is getting weirder and weirder as I age...The thing that kind of got me a bit more was the 'you look awfully young' comment.So, apparently she must have thought I was much younger than 20. There's a certain point when it gets kind of insulting when people think you're much younger than you are. It would have been cool if it was something like 25 or 24. I'd still be respected more. But looking like, at the least, you're in your mid-teens when you're almost 30 gets weird.People treat you like that age, and not really like an adult. It's not what I wear. It's how my face/body looks and apparently how I sound. Things you can't really change, and I wouldn't personally want to.I think this image of me might be looking younger because I'm also losing a ton of weight. I also don't drink, smoke, haven't had kids, I do take relatively good care of my body overall, etc. Things that may age you. Does this mean I'll forever look much younger than I am, then?Even if I have kids (which I'm hoping to at least have one in the future), I still won't have all the other things that may age me. It's interesting how people who are younger than me think I'm much younger than them, too. Crazy!

We were moved to the dining room area. Another thing I find funny is neither of us were going to order alcohol...I hate most of it and can't have it because of my meds, and Dad can't have it because of her meds. So what...they thought I could absorb the alcohol through the atmosphere? Funny.Anyways, I wanted to order the brownie, but they were out. So, I ordered my 2nd choice: red velvet cake. (I've kind of had a thing for it lately...That and chocolate, which made it difficult to decide.) Dad got a dinner-like thing. The waitress asked if I wanted my cake when Dad's stuff came or after. This was weird, because for one thing I didn't order anything else other than iced tea.I would just be sitting there while Dad dug in. So, I of course told her to have it out at the same time. It was really good, but it seemed that the slice was thinner than last time. Plus, the whipped cream fell off the top.

So, all in all like I said, it was a strange night. Got home a bit late, and decided to catch up on some of my messages. Before I knew it, it was much later. So, I slept in today. It's ok occasionally. I just like to get up earlier. Feels like I have more of a day, more 'normal', I can get to more things, I'm not sluggish, and I even get to see more sunlight. 

I tried out a new thing for breakfast a couple of days ago. It's called Champorado. It's a Filipino chocolate rice porridge. I like rice porridge normally, and thought why not give it a go.(I've tried a couple of different varieties.) It's cheap, too. Plus, it has chocolate in it. That in itself can't be bad. It was really good. I was surprised by how good it was.They suggested that I add milk and a little more sugar to it after it's cooked. I added the milk and a little Splenda. That part kind of made it have a 'milk chocolate' taste. It made a lot, and was very filling.So, I had it for a couple more breakfasts after that. I don't think I'll have it all that often in the future, because it has a ton of sugar. But, not a lot of calories at least. I looked it up, and the dish has its origins in Mexico. It's based off a chocolate-based warm and thick drink called champurrado. It's also served for breakfast. That one has corn added to it instead of rice. Very interesting. 

Wrote more of the 8th short story to my nightmare anthology. Wrote a lot more than usual. I had a tough time really starting it, and then suddenly it's coming to me pretty quickly. Funny how that happens sometimes...It's becoming a lot more 'brutal' than I expected.But, it is based on a nightmare, so of course it might be a bit intense. I'm probably going to have to rate this anthology as a whole as 'mature'. Simply because it has quite a bit of violence, can be very disturbing and unsettling, and there's a bit of psychological stuff too. Might be more than some of the younger readers can handle.

Rurouni Kenshin was interesting. This time the group was going to Yokohama by train. (Trains were new to the country back then.) Kaoru was hoping to try out some of the Western stuff that was being introduced. Clothing, food, music, etc. This particular episode seemed to delve more into the historical stuff and showed what people thought of the 'new' things at the time. Sanosuke thought the train was a demon, and was terrified the entire time. Thieves were robbing a passenger on the train for his pieces of gold. They threatened Yahiko at first, and briefly fought with Kenshin. They thought they had gotten rid of Kenshin when he fell into the river near it. Eventually, pirates set up a blockade of logs and surrounded the train on the water as well. Kenshin shows up on horseback and somehow manages to get the horse to jump onto the ships, attack the pirates in the process, and get back up on the train tracks. In the end, he saves everyone, and even cuts the stack of logs with his sword in half making them fall into the river. They get to Yokohama, and the rich passenger gives them one of his gold pieces as a reward for saving him and his gold. Kaoru decides that now that they have the money, they should try out getting a picture taken. This was a new thing back then, too. Sanosuke kept saying that'll suck his soul out. He seemed to believe in all the superstitions they had back then. It was kind of fascinating. He looked really funny in the pic. Really scared and not sure what to do. (He's a tall muscular guy, which made it funnier.) It did take a long time to do it back then, so it probably made him even more nervous. The others were really excited to experience some of these things.

日本語

Studied the kanji 命. Pronounced as いのち (inochi): life, life form; lifetime, lifespan; most important thing, foundation, core. As みこと (mikoto): (hon) the spoken words of the emperor or a noble; (suf) (after the name of a deity or a noble) Lord, Highness. As めい (mei): command, decree; life; destiny. It might be pronounced as みょう (myou) in some compounds. It's usually not pronounced this way by itself. 革命 or かくめい (kakumei): revolution. 運命 or うんめい (unmei): fate, destiny, lot. 

I'm doing 60 sit-ups twice a day this week.It's nice that I've been able to do them for the last couple of weeks. I think I only missed one day last week. I'm already feeling my 'belly' area going down again. Eating much closer to what I planned a while ago, too. Really looking into how many calories things might be, and eating within the range I set for myself.It's kind of fun and surprising. Some things look too filling to be so low in calories, and some things look like nothing but are chock full of them. It's making me more aware again. I already feel like I'm losing weight again, as well. Oh, and I accidentally looked at the weight I was from my most recent doctor's visit (I usually tell them not to tell me), and apparently I've already lost more than 100 pounds from my heaviest weight. That's a lot.Like, a small person. No wonder I have such loose skin...Might be close to going down another size. I'm less than I was at the very end of high school. Crazy! I just need to get back into taking 2 2-mile walks every day. The weight will go even faster. I came close to doing it every day last week.