Oblivion

Mood:

By 30 Seconds to Mars. I hadn't heard this until I watched a Gintama amv (anime music video) that featured it. This was from their debut album in 2002. I think I had heard about the band, but didn't really listen to their music before. I know a couple of my friends are into them. I might look more into their music. They're an American alternative rock band that formed in 1998. They've been compared to Pink Floyd, The Cure, Tool, and U2 for their lyrics, concept albums, and experimental music. They've won several awards. The song fits perfectly with Gintama. Which is really cool.The video itself was pretty good, too. Here's the amv that introduced me to it:

Didn't get to my morning walk, but hopefully I'll get to the evening one. Got up a little later than I wanted.At least I got last night's and this morning's sit-ups in. 

Got another email from my gastroenterologist today. She said that all my test results were normal (even though I remember one thing was a bit low and even had an L flagged next to it), that she wants the next blood draw to be done next month, and she asked how my abdominal pain is. It's nice she asked about my pain, but the last time I responded to her email, she said ask me more during our phone appointment. She even wrote out (this time) that I could email her again if I have any questions...That's weird. So, if I have questions, should I wait or email her?Puts me in a weird position. I'm trying to learn as much as I can on my own, and I have a family member who said I should ask her questions. At least I have those going for me right now. I've read some pretty scary stuff so far.

I looked up/added more to the easily digestible foods list. Some I already knew about, but it's good to see them combined in one list. Fruits and vegetables are more digestible without their skins and cooked. I like fresh/raw fruits and vegetables...Rice is one of the most digestible foods. Very interesting to look through.

日本語

Studied the kanji: 結. If pronounced as 結ぶ or むす.ぶ (musu.bu): to tie, bind, link; to close (e.g. a deal), confirm, conclude; to connect (2 different places); to close tightly, purse (e.g. lips); to unite (with), ally, join hands. As 結う or ゆ.う (yu.u): to do up (hair), braid, fasten, fix. As 結わえる or ゆ.わえる (yu.waeru): to bind, fasten, tie up. It's pronounced as けつ (ketsu) or けち (kechi) in compounds. けつ (ketsu) seems a lot more common. 結晶 or けっしょう (kesshou): crystal, crystallization. 結構 or けっこう (kekkou): (it's usually written out in kana instead of kanji) splendid, nice, wonderful, delicious, sweet; sufficient, fine (in the same sense of "I'm fine"), (by implication) no thank you; well enough, ok, tolerable; reasonably, fairly, tolerably. 結婚 or けっこん (kekkon): marriage. There's a few more common compounds for this one that I'll go over next time. 

Practiced a bit on JapaneseClass' site. Just did the attendance and regular practice stuff. That quizzes you on kanji, expressions, vocab, etc. Next time I'll try to go through some of the chapter tests. Haven't done so in a while. 

Started translating a new part of an article in You Maga. This one's about answering some parents' concerns about what life will be like in kindergarten and elementary school for their kids. Most of the main article or special is about parents and kids that have recently moved to America from Japan. There are several sub articles in it. The last one kind of made my skin crawl with talking about what to do with lice.Before that it was on inner ear infections. There's another one coming up that looks like it's about a kid's oral health. There's also one on ESL, and trying to learn the language along with the kid. Very interesting stuff. 

Read some articles in Japanese, too. A couple from NHK, and a couple from RocketNews24. NHK's main headline was on the explosion in China. And, RocketNews had something about Comiket or aka Comic Market. It's the world's largest doujinshi fair, held twice a year in Tokyo. It's a DIY effort for selling doujinshi, or self-published works. Usually those works are magazines, manga, or novels. Items sold there are considered very rare, so some can be found later in shops or online at prices more than 100 times what they were originally sold. It's become extremely popular, and is incredibly crowded. In order to beat the crowds, many people wait in line for at least a day before the event outside. This can pose a security risk. Let alone a health problem for the people waiting. It got so bad one year that officials said that waiting too early outside is prohibited, yet it still happens. This article was about someone recently getting critically injured after waiting for days at a bus stop near the event. An ambulance came and took them to the nearest hospital. They're not sure if he'll pull through. Another one of their articles was just a goof-off fluff piece on their antics around the office. 

Tried to look for more manga to add to my 'to read' list. Found one interesting one called Hyde and Closer. I'll look for more to add to the list again, soon. That's the only one I have on there at the moment. I want a variety to try.AnimePlanet has a special section where they recommend manga to you. So, that might come in handy.