Hopefully people voted. (Obviously, those in the US.) I was reluctant about it, but did it a couple of weeks ago. It sometimes feels like a chore to do...But, it's our duty as citizens, and it could change things for the better. (Or, for the worst, if no one votes...
) It sometimes feels like a chore, because I think it's best to be an informed voter. You have to know what you're getting into with each choice. For certain candidates it's easy because there's only one choice for the position. The hardest ones seem to be the initiatives. Yesterday was also National Candy Day. Yay for candy!
It looks somewhat ethereal, but fun. Kaito is one of my fave vocaloids. He's depicted in many different ways, and his voice is very versatile. The company behind the vocaloids, only set certain things for each character. Like Kaito loves ice cream, he wears blue almost navy nail polish, has blue hair, and usually wears a long blue scarf. That's basically it. Leaves a lot for fans, and users of the product, to mess with. I also like Len, Luka, and Gakupo. The wallpaper is in an interesting perspective.My Italy calendar features Rome this time. Today's pic's of roses in a botanical garden. Yesterday and the day before was a pic of the Oculus of the Pantheon. The day before that, it was a peony in a botanical garden. And, on the first it was of a flower street vendor. Kind of interesting things they're showing me.
My Jewish calendar's main pic for this month's of a spice box, maker is anonymous, made out of silver, from Poland; 1847. This one's pretty cool and unique looking. Normally they're shaped like towers. (Ours is in a glass spice shaker jar. My mom painted things related to it on the sides. It's simple, but nice.) They're used during the Havdalah service. (It concludes Shabbat.) We sniff the spices in order to carry the sweet spice of Shabbat into the coming week, and to wake us gently to our earthly responsibilities. It also has to do with us having an extra soul or spirit when Shabbat begins, and it leaving us at the end. Some say that smell is the most 'spiritual' sense, and the spices soothes and comforts our regular soul which doesn't feel as whole afterwards. This one is shaped like a big flower that hasn't bloomed yet. The bud looks kind of like a giant dark silver blueberry with slits (probably to smell the spices) at the top of it. The platform it 'stands' on is shaped like a big leaf. It'd be cool to have one like that.
It's fascinating how old it is. The second pic's of a another spice box, unknown maker, made out of silver, from Tula, Russia; 1800-1900. It's in the traditional shape of a tower. Complete with a little flag at the top, and bells at the bottom. Still cool to see. The third pic's of a Torah mantle, maker's anonymous; made out of textile, silk, silver thread, and cotton; from the Netherlands; 1775-1790. Without looking at this one close up, it looks kind of scary. But when up close, it has a really nice design of tree branches with buds. They're just in really fine detail. Cool to see something like this that old too.
The month-long holidays are: Georgia Pecan Month, National Peanut Butter Lover's Month, National Pepper Month, National Pomegranate Month, National Novel Writing Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Not many this time. But, some pretty good food holidays. I like that there's a month where people are encouraged to write a novel. Maybe they'll continue to write them throughout the rest of the year...
For Halloween we didn't hand out candy this time. Nobody came to the door, which was nice. We watched The Possession. I mainly wanted to see it because of the Jewish references, and I generally like horror. Plus, it had Matisyahu in it. Thought it'd be interesting to see him act. It wasn't as great as I thought it would be.
It was really slow at times. And, wasn't really memorable to me...There were a few parts that were interesting. Some things were left unanswered, too. After that, I watched videos from my youtube playlists that seemed Halloween-themed. Those were fun to watch. During the movie Rosie, our cat, decided to curl up in my lap. She hasn't really done that before.
She was so high up in my lap that she had her ear up to where my heart is. She seemed to be listening to it. Then, she became really loose and happy. She put her paw over my hand, almost as if to say: "Don't move." I think that's one of her happiest moments that I've seen. It was so cute!
Once she finally was off, my left arm had fallen asleep and hurt, but it was worth it. We used to have lap cats, but our current ones haven't been. Maybe this'll be a new 'thing' for her. She seems to be even more clingy lately. I don't know if it's just because the weather's getting colder...But, it's kind of nice.
Got a new bed spread on Sunday. My old one was starting to get really huge holes, ratty ends, strings coming off of it, etc. I usually would forget about it until I went to bed again.
I haven't had any new bedding for, I'm guessing, almost 10 years. That's a long time. I guess it was high time to get new bedding. I had to get rid of most of my old bedding. Even the 'extra' blankets I used for more warmth weren't really usable anymore. The set I got is a pattern I'm not used to, but is interesting.
Most of the sheets are white. The top blanket has a white background with bunches of black, white, and kind of dark lavender-colored flowers with their leaves and stems scattered in clumps throughout. That blanket is black underneath. The pillow sham has a similar design. First time I've changed the bed skirt since I was 14.
And, really, that was my mom who did it. She wanted to surprise me for my birthday with a new bed spread, new window curtains that matched the bed, and a really nice stereo. That was a long time ago. (At least, it was to me...
) This time the bed skirt's white as well. The whole thing feels silky soft. Really nice to sleep in. Rosie seems to approve of it, too.I also got new black slippers that same day. They kind of feel like wedged shoes. They actually have a heel to them. I also can't just 'slip' into them. I have to actually use my hands. They're really soft, and are fluffy around the ankles. It almost feels like they're giving me hugs when I wear them.
I really like them, except for the part of not actually being able to slip into them easily. That's ok, though. Also got some new navy, almost black-colored, towels. Again, the ones I had were pretty old, had 'strings', ratty, etc. These new ones feel like velvet and are pretty fluffy. The only downside with getting new towels is trying to get rid of all that extra lint or fuzz.
I thought they were free of it after I washed them. I was wrong...So, I've washed and dried them a few more times, and I think they're better now. The lint trap in the dryer was absolutely full the last couple of times I did it.I have finally decided what I might want to do for my birthday weekend.
I'm thinking of first going to Mizuki Buffet for lunch, which is huge and has a wide variety of Japanese food along with the other Asian cuisines. It seems to be the least crowded for lunch, and it's cheaper than if we went to dinner there. After that, I want to go to Uwajimaya. I love that place!
It amazes me every time I go there. It's a huge Asian supermarket. There's a wide variety of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. stuff. Interestingly, they have some German and Russian things there, too. They have their own bookstore full of books in Japanese, a huge seafood section (a lot of it's fresh and in tanks), a food court, and more. The bakery section's interesting, too. You can even live above the store itself in their apartments...
Next, I want to go and look around the International District. I don't think I've actually done that before. I'm not sure if I've ever been to the Chinatown that's there. I've been to other ones out of state, though. There's a Japantown, Little Saigon, and a Fillipino area. It sounds like it'll be interesting just to look briefly at these places.
On Sunday, I want to have brunch at the Oak Table. That place is amazing, too!
I went there a few years ago for my birthday. They're kind of European themed, but with more of a lean towards German/Bavarian. I think I got their 'famous' apple pancake last time. It was huge!
Really thick and airy. There's an apple filling inside, as well as apples and sauce on the outside. It'd be interesting to have that again. I might start my birthday list later today. I know it's late, and I might not get anything around it, but it's good to have one.Went to group last night. Met a couple of new people. Interesting discussions, too. The only problem I had was someone rattled off about 2 or 3 Jewish prejudices and acted like it was no big deal.
And, they were super old ones at that. I thought people stopped thinking like that a while ago. Good thing everyone else spoke up and had a problem with it too. She's normally a very nice person, so it through me aback. I'm a little weary when people think like that about anyone, let alone the group I'm apart of...I don't think she apologized, and just shrugged. I understand if it was maybe one thing, and she was very apologetic about it afterwards. That'd be fine, because at least it would be cleared up with the other party actually thinking about their own actions. So I feel iffy about it now...
Went to Shari's with the group afterwards. Haven't done that in a while. I decided to get the apple pie in a jar. Thought it was the most birthday-like for me. After we told the waitress about my birthday, she grabbed the jar and went back into the kitchen. A while later, when she came back, it had sprinkles and 2 maraschino cherries on top of the whipped cream. It was very sweet of her. It was all very good.
The Undertaker was behind the whole zombie thing. They finally showed his face, too. His scythe is cool looking. It really is a scythe, but part of the long handle looks like a skeleton. The blade comes out of its head. First time seeing a Shinigami's (a Shinigami is lit. a Death G-d. Similar to Grim Reapers) scythe actually be one. They usually just call their weapons that. Those can be things like lawnmowers, garden shears, and chainsaws. The Undertaker used it on Sebastian, and it showed his memories of when he first met Ciel. It was cool to see more of what happened in between when Ciel was saved, and having the other servants join him. Both Ciel and Sebastian taught each other about everything they could. Since Sebastian's a demon, his sense of taste is different. So there was a long thing about how he tried to perfect the dishes, even though he couldn't taste them. He also had to learn more about humans, how to treat them, and take care of them. Sebastian taught Ciel a lot of things too. Like how to ride a horse, Latin, shooting a rifle, etc.
After Sebastian recovered, the fight between him, Grell, and Knox vs the Undertaker continued. Eventually, the boat started to sink at a quicker pace, and they knew they had to get out of there soon. The Undertaker dropped something that Ciel caught. He told him to keep it for him, since it was very precious. Then, the Undertaker used his scythe to split the boat in half. He's pretty strong...This is an exciting arc!
Started watching a Jdrama called Sakura. It has a lot of actors that I'm familiar with. I'm glad to see one of my fave actresses, Yukie Nakama, being in something again. She's amazing, and has been in many awesome shows. One role she's probably most famous for is Yankumi from Gokusen, but she's played some other pretty interesting characters. In this one, she's an extremely good listener. Her name's Sakura. She's a morning radio talk show host, and a detective. She's normally undercover during the day working in the complaints office at the police station, and at other times she's working undercover for actual cases. Sometimes she goes as herself. Not many people know who she actually is. Her grandmother runs a restaurant, so she occasionally helps out. Her sister is tough and kind of a badass. Also a detective. Not sure if she works undercover, though. She tends to conveniently show up when they need help...Their grandmother used to be on the police force, too. They spent a bit of time in the US, so occasionally they'll start talking in English or about what they witnessed there. It's not in a condescending way, which is nice.
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