Parallel Spec

Mood:

By Gesu no Kiwami Otome. Another interesting one by them. The other song I featured of theirs was Digital Mogura, which was the opening theme song for Subete ga F ni Naru (or: Everything Becomes F). After going through some of their other songs, this one was the only other one that seemed to stand out. They're a very interesting band. I think half the time the lyrics aren't supposed to make sense in their songs. That can be a little confusing for someone who's learning the language...But, there are some other international bands that do that, too. (I think this song makes a bit more sense than the other one.) Someone was kind enough to translate the lyrics. They're kind of hard to keep up with at times. It starts with: A positive rap for depressing reasons. It kind of gives off the feel throughout the rest of it that they're going to go against what the 'haters' want them to do. It even mentions what some of their haters think of their lyrics, saying they don't seem 'real'. Some of the last lines are: Someone answer me right now/ How far do these/ Parallel lines go? go?/ Leave me here, hey. It's got a nice jazzy beat. Hopefully, I'll like more of their songs in the future.

It's been pretty cold and dark the last couple of days. Supposed to get into the mid 70s at the beginning of next week. Today's going to be one of the coldest days this week. Oh, joy. 

Started a new blog through Blogger. This one's going to focus on thoughts I might have throughout the day. I have so many of them during the day, but there are a few I seem to think more deeply about. Feels like it'd be a waste to not get those out somewhere...I tried on Twitter for a bit, but their 'design' is kind of annoying to me. At least with Blogger there are quite a lot of templates and color schemes. Plus, there's no limit to characters in each post. It was hard to get all of my thoughts out with such a short amount of space on Twitter. For some, I'm sure it'll be short enough, but for the vast majority of them, it won't be enough. Twitter's probably more for leaving quick comments about things, rather than 'discussing' how you really feel. Facebook is pretty good, but I'm not sure if I like that 'venue' for it. Anyways, that other blog is going to be quite a journey. I might post to it more than once in a day, or not at all for like a week. It won't matter...I think I'll end up learning a bit more about myself, too.

On Monday, I edited the 7th short story for my nightmare anthology. This one, I think, was based off of 2 or 3 of my recurring nightmares. Which makes for quite a ride. They seemed to flow into each other pretty well. That night, I came up with some more ideas for the anthology as a whole. I was trying to sleep, but these ideas suddenly hit me. That's what happens sometimes...Anyways, most of them were on what to name each story. Oddly, I remembered about all but, I think, one of them. So, I was able to come up with 11 of them. (Actually, for a couple of them I came up with alternative names.) They all sound interesting, and slightly ominous. I don't know which story I'm blanking on, though. That's ok, when I get back to it, I'll come up with something.I also realized that this is going to have to have a mature rating on it. I'm not used to that kind of thing.But, it is rather graphic, gory, and very psychological. Doesn't sound good for kids, or maybe even some adults...But, I do know that there are some die-hard horror fans out there, and they might like it. I still haven't really come up with a solid title for the whole anthology, though. Had some of the description for the book pop into my head that night, as well. This one's a lot easier to describe than my 1st novel. Probably, because each story (except the last one) is based on the nightmares that have been repeating throughout most of my life. The first story is based on the earliest recurring nightmare I can remember. That being when I was 2. So, they're pretty well ingrained in me. (I think the most recent recurring nightmare that a story is based on started about 5 years ago. That's still a while.) I also came up with ideas for the cover art. I'm kind of getting excited about it now! 

Finished Tousei Gensou Hakubutsushi or History of the Present Day Illusions on Monday. It was a surprisingly good manga.I liked when they delved into more of who Shinobu really was. The shop stuff was interesting, but not as interesting as he was. Depending on how you view the ending, it could be a good ending or a bad one for everyone. It ended by saying this world is an illusion, but it didn't say which one it was referring to. (The page was blank. And, what if it was really referring to our 'reality' being an illusion?) It kind of felt cool and unique. One ending you could see was essentially all the main characters died. Another way was that since Shinobu was able to feel and sleep (he was taught to blink when around people in order to appear normal, but maybe he didn't know how to close his eyes as he slept?), he was able to really be his true self. He didn't have to feel like a 'replacement' for someone who was already dead. Also, his father survived the fall, and was still recovering. (He was kind of abusive towards Shinobu through most of the series, but saved him in the end.) Hatsue might have recovered. She's apparently a robot (who has feelings), and going through water might have been too much for her. (Although, I could have sworn she saved Shinobu more than once from drowning.) They were all having fun, and celebrating New Year's at the end. I'd like to hope that the very last happy scene was the real ending. But, they cut to everyone being ok right after Shinobu was hunched over lifeless. So, we don't really know...I tried to see what the mangaka's (manga creator/artist) other works were, since it was so interesting. The only other thing available was something that they've been working on for 15 years. Only putting out 1 chapter a year. I don't think I'd want to catch up only to have to wait a year for the next one to come out. That's crazy!Once a month is hard enough. (Like Ao no Exorcist and Kuroshitsuji are...) I have quite a bit more on my to read list, at least. I'm kind of going to miss this one.

Some people on the Gaia 'Extended Discussion' section of the forums are really mean-spirited. One of the threads I responded to was on 'veganism'. I found that an odd title to begin with, and the opening post was kind of weird. They asked for a discussion about it at the end of the post. So, I 'discussed' what they posted. They came back at me at first saying: "How would you like it if I posted in a thread you posted in?" Uhhh...The forums are there for discussion in general, and that means actually talking about these things.That would be the normal thing to do in a forum...Even the rules say you shouldn't spoon feed people into only talking about what you want them to say. Then, they kept saying things like my argument failed. Well, please do tell me what part of it 'failed'? It's cool to have debates, but tell me where you got me, at least.Telling me flatly that I failed doesn't make it right. He also was trying to prove me wrong by using bigger 'scientific' words. Trying to look smarter, when in reality he wasn't really. After seeing that he saw my response to all that, I put him on ignore. It's basically banning him from ever seeing my stuff/posts/threads/etc. (If you're ignored by enough people, the admin will take a look, and the possibility that they'll ban them from the site is high. They also can't post in a certain subforum.) He also was starting to threaten me at the end of his first response to my post...I got another somewhat mean response to a post I posted in a thread that was titled 'A Human Being Will Do Anything to Protect His Faith/Belief'. I had a big problem with that implying that all humans feel the need to 'protect' or 'defend' their beliefs, and it was a bit disturbing. I don't need to protect something like that. In debates, a good debater wouldn't have to 'protect' their views either. They carry their own weight. They could be wrong and concede, but to feel you have to absolutely defend or protect something you believe in is odd to me.(It kind of means your belief wasn't strong enough, and that you really didn't believe in it in the first place.) The person who responded wasn't the one who started the thread. It was a really weird response. Not necessarily full of venom like the one before, but seeming to try and contradict what I said. Also, saying my response was 'unwelcomed'. And, mentioning things that weren't in the opening post...After my response to that one, he seemed to realize what I really was responding to. Saying things like: "Oh, yes, the main poster did seem to imply that." And, then wanted to go into different directions and essentially go off topic. I didn't put him on ignore, because he realized why I responded that way and seemed to apologize somewhat. (I didn't continue with another response either, since it did seem to go off topic.) I think a lot of the guys on there (not all) think that women are idiots and don't have a clue what they're talking about. When someone proves them otherwise, they don't know what to do. In a way it makes me angry, in another way it makes me want to laugh at them...There was another topic that seemed weird, but I haven't had a response from it. The main poster is basically saying they think it's ok to misgender trans people when they're angry, and that they're not 'special'. This one infuriated me a lot more, but I doubt anyone will respond. Maybe I should stick to the other subforums? The Extended Discussion didn't used to be so hostile.And, you could spot a troll a mile away. Now, it seems different. I shouldn't let them get to me, because that's feeding the trolls...I think the vegan thread kind of got to me a couple of days ago. But, I realized that person didn't really want to talk about it...(Why post then?!)

Played my clarinet. Did some Irish and a bit of klezmer tunes. I really feel amazing when I play klezmer. The other stuff is great too, it just doesn't have the same 'feel' to me. Maybe I should get more klezmer books in the future. I only have one at the moment. Rosie stayed the entire time on my bed next to me listening to it all. She seemed really happy. She didn't want me to stop, and tried to reach out (with her claws out) to the instrument when I was about to put it away. She really is like my number 1 fan.

日本語

On Monday, I studied the kanji: 極. If pronounced as きょく (kyoku): pole; climax, extreme, extremity, culmination, height, zenith. As ごく (goku): (usually kana, not kanji) quite, very; (kanji only) (number) 10^48, quindecillion. As 極める or きわ.める (kiwa.meru): to carry to extremes, go to the end of something. As 極まる or きわ.まる (kiwa.maru): to terminate, reach an extreme, take to the extreme, be in a dilemma, be at an end. As 極まり or きわ.まり (kiwa.mari): extremely, end, bound, limit. As 極まり or き.まり (ki.mari): rule, regulation; settlement, conclusion, end, agreement, arrangement. As 極み or きわ.み (kiwa.mi): height, extremity. 極意 or ごくい (gokui): deepest level (of an art, skill, etc.), secret teachings, mysteries, innermost secrets, the secret (of success, etc.). I'll go over more of its common compounds next time. Practiced some more on JapaneseClass' site. I was surprised with how many of the 'new' terms I answered correctly. I think it might have been more than last time. Hopefully next time I can go through more of the chapter tests.

Finished translating a really long paragraph from a You Maga article. Turns out to be the last bit to that section of the special. It was about what to do, and what does it mean, when a kid is showing symptoms of some sort. This was relating to inner ear infections, the flu, urinary tract infection, or meningitis. It was actually interesting to read about what to do with babies when they are showing symptoms of these. Most of it resulted in them saying they should see a doctor immediately. They probably could have shortened it by quite a bit. But, I think they wanted to get the point across. 

I read an article in Japanese on RocketNews24's original site. This time about, as they put it, people's 'fashion sense' and when it might be out of hand. They said it's absolutely ok to have your own individual style, but there are times where it'll be too much. Some of the pics were...interesting.A lot of crazy, yet creative styles from all around the world. Some made me think about how they could walk/move around in what they were wearing, and others just looked wrong.

Mother's Day was this past Sunday. I'm starting to feel weirder about it every time it happens.To me, I only had one mom, and she passed away 3 years ago. I know Dad says she's fine with me calling her dad, but it's starting to feel a bit awkward for me. While out with people who don't know us, I'll just say my 'parent' or her name. (A lot of the time 'parent' really confuses people. I'm not sure why.) They seem kind of cold at times. But, I don't know a nice neutral word for it...So, this and Father's Day feels odd to me. It also reminds me (as if I needed a reminder), that I don't have her anymore. Looking at facebook and seeing people post: "I love my mom!" throughout it, doesn't sit well with me. It's great for them, and all the more power to them. Maybe I should just not look at it that day?Also, seeing the negative ones doesn't help either. I think I remember reading that there is a 'Parents Day', but it's not commercialized or anything. But, it's perfect. The only downside with it not being commercialized, is restaurants and such won't have specials for them like they do for Mother's or Father's Day. Sad...But, Dad went to brunch with a friend on Sunday. It sounded like it would've been nice. On top of this, what would have been my mom's birthday is coming up soon, too...

I've started to go through the recipe-related emails I've amassed from various subscriptions. There are a lot of them. I'm writing down the recipes' names I'm interested in on a list so I can see what's there. (Some apparently repeat in the emails.) I kept thinking I'd look at them someday, and just spontaneously do something. But, that never happened. This will definitely help with it. 

Haven't been feeling too good the last couple of days.Having really horrible headaches and cramps. I'm not sure what's really up. My 'friend' has been odd for the last few months. I get massive pain, but it doesn't 'happen'. It'd be cool if the IUD stopped them entirely, but also took care of the pain. I'm expecting something to happen, but it doesn't. (Almost feels worse this way...) I'm wondering if that's the reason behind how I feel. I'm even getting the occasional negative thought that goes along with it sometimes. 

Youtube:

A very fitting Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei or Goodbye, Mr. Despair amv (I kind of miss this anime):

A hilarious Gintama amv:

An amv featuring Sougo from Gintama. The song really fits him:

An awesome parody trailer for Gintama (set to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trailer):

A cool Hitman Reborn amv:

An amv featuring Takasugi Shinsuke from Gintama:

Another awesome Gintama amv:

Another awesome Hitman Reborn amv (I haven't seen too many great HR ones, so 2 in a row is nice!):