National Hamburger Day!

Mood:

This holiday was on Saturday. Hamburgers are awesome!There are so many different types out there. Even the burger itself can have different types of meat (turkey, salmon, chicken, buffalo, etc.), and there are vegetarian versions. Although, most of the time, it's with beef. The buns can change, too. There are so many different sauces/condiments and toppings out there. I actually had a hamburger for dinner on Saturday, so I unknowingly celebrated it.I've been mulling over trying Red Robin's nacho tavern burger for a while. Their tavern burgers come with 2 patties. I thought that would be too much for me, and got it with 1. Turns out the patty was thinner than usual, there was a tiny dab of nacho cheese sauce, a slice of pepper jack cheese, a few tiny tortilla strips, a small slice of tomato, some lettuce, and a regular sesame seed bun. Quite possibly the flattest burger I've ever had from them.Disappointing, but probably best considering my stomach was acting up. I like having hamburgers at home, too. Usually with some sort of cheese, ketchup, honey mustard, and relish on an onion bun. I don't need much for it, and it's tasty. BBQ sauce, instead of ketchup, goes really well with it, as well.

I've been having stomach and lower abdominal pain for the past 3 weeks.I think I mentioned it last time. Only, it sometimes feels like it's getting worse. After that week where I tried to do 3 of my 2-mile walks a day, my right knee has been in a lot of pain. Last night it felt like a stinging pain. Kind of like if someone stabbed me slowly with a dagger in the middle of my kneecap, and moved it around a bit.I noticed before going to bed that there seemed to be a lot of redness, like it was irritated. I've read that joint pain could be both a sign that the inflammation is back, and having IBD related arthritis. It's a different type of arthritis than what most people think of. Unlike rheumatoid, this one isn't likely to cause lasting damage. And, any damage that might occur can be reversible. It's also not usually happening to both sides at the same time. (Like, having both knees being affected, or both ankles, etc.) Usually it doesn't affect small joints. So, there are some good things about it. People do end up on similar meds. So, this might be a sign that I'm flaring again...It felt like I already was just beforehand. I might tell my gastroenterologist about all this if it keeps up. Although, I feel like she'll ignore it or something.

I also feel like someone is slowly pulling something very large and hard down my abdomen sometimes.I'm not sure if it's through my small intestines or what. It's painful, though. Usually happens at night. I'm also very blocked up, and back to trying Miralax. Although, I'm using a cheaper version. (Miralax seems to be expensive.) This one is more smelly, and has a nasty taste. Even after I've stirred it up in some very hot tea for a few minutes. The taste reminds me a lot of the laxative I had to take as a prep for my colonoscopy. It's not as bad, but still reminds me of it.I had a very hard time keeping that one down, and didn't have nearly as much as they told me to. Took me about 15 minutes to drink it all after it had cooled down enough. Not good when your stomach already feels awful.Hopefully it'll help, and I won't have to keep taking it for long. I've heard some people have been taking it every day for years. I know it's supposed to be gentle, but something seems off about using a laxative for that long.I don't think most people are supposed to.

The washing machine stopped working Sunday night, so I decided to try washing my laundry in the bathtub.It takes a lot more energy. Quite a workout.I adapted some of what I found online about it. I looked at what each load's water temp was, and filled up the bathtub with water at that temp. (I might not have filled it enough for one of them.) Then, I poured in some detergent, and moved it around with gloved hands enough for it to get some suds. Then, I tossed the load in, made sure each piece was mostly covered with water, and let it soak for about 20 minutes. After that, I 'agitated' it by moving the laundry around with my gloved hands for 8 to 10 minutes. Kind of like what the washing machine does during the 'spin cycle'. I also squished it a bit against the sides of the tub, and made sure the detergent really got into it. Then, I let the tub drain while I had the laundry on the other side of the tub. Next, I took each piece of laundry separately, rinsed them under the faucet for at least a minute, tried to squeeze as much water as I could from it, and threw it in a large garbage bag. Finally, I took it downstairs to the dryer, and dried it like usual. Hung things that needed to be hung to dry, too. Luckily, the dryer is still working. I think my clothes and towels actually turned out cleaner this way.Towels are even fluffier. Very interesting. If I had a lot more energy, and the washing machine was working again, I might prefer to do it this way rather than with the machine. Since it used up so many muscles, it feels like all of them ache today.I still want to do at least one more small load soon. I'd prefer to get my bed clean, as well. But, that might take some maneuvering and even more energy from me. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to do more. Might even do my scrunchies, too. Haven't washed them before, and this seems like the perfect way. (They're probably really dirty by now.) I'd probably air dry them, though.

Except for Saturday through Monday, I've managed to play my clarinet every day for about a week and a half.Hopefully, I can truly get it down to every day as a habit. It's cheered me up a bit while I've been feeling sick. Although, it's a bit more difficult to regulate my breathing while playing right now, with the pain. So, I might take more breaths than usual, which might slow a piece down slightly. Today, I played a lot of klezmer tunes, some Mozart, and some pieces from a general solo book. I have 2 solo books. One's an advanced classical book, and the other is just general pieces. The latter has some famous ones, and gets harder as you go (although, it's not the easiest at the beginning). Oddly, the more advanced stuff tends to be easier for me. It's supposed to be the other way around...I can tell I'm already improving quite a bit. Yay!

International Museum Day!

Mood:

This holiday was actually yesterday. It's important to celebrate and raise awareness for what museums go through around the world, though.There are so many different kinds. Basically showing off humanity's arts, history, exploration, scientific discoveries, culture, etc. The holiday was started in 1977. Apparently, each year has a different theme. This year's theme was Museums and Cultural Landscapes. In 2012, 30,000 museums from 129 countries participated in hosting events for the day. World Baking Day was a couple of days ago. Hope to get more into that in the future. Baking's like a new frontier for me.

I did want to post more often on here. There's still more to the month, so hopefully I will get it to more by then.I've really felt horrendous the last couple of days. It was so bad last night, that I had to leave the room halfway through a support group meeting. I apparently was gone for about 20 minutes.Really painful abdominal pain, a burning inside my stomach, and extreme nausea were and are still my main symptoms. I'm trying to relax a little more today. Although, that's easier said than done.Might make an appointment to see a dietitian at the place my primary doctor referred me to, soon. That might help me. I feel frustrated and unsure if either of my current doctors can or will do anything about what I'm going through right now.It feels like since my blood tests came back, essentially saying I'm in remission, that they won't believe me or something. I naturally have that feeling with any health related thing. Like it's all in my head, and no one will believe me. Yet, that's never been true. So, this makes that feeling worse. I've read stories where people still have inflammation, even though their blood tests indicated that they were in remission. It got so bad for them that they had to go to the hospital. I don't want that to happen to me.So, I guess I'm in a weird 'head space' with it right now. Maybe I'm lacking in certain vitamins, not getting enough calories, or something. And, after talking to a dietitian, that stuff might change for the better.

Since Sunday, I've been trying to stay as close to 1200 calories as I can. I'm starting to think that low end might actually be too low.Also, have been trying to do 3 2-mile walks a day since then. My left leg started to really hurt a couple of days into it. I still want to keep at it, but since I was feeling so horrible yesterday (and today) I decided to lay off of it a bit. I got to one walk yesterday, at least. I was doing my sit-ups, as well. I think I lost more weight this week already. A little faster than usual. We'll see what happens when I feel up to going back to doing all that again.

I decided to drop Sousei no Onmyouji or Twin Star Exorcists. It felt like it was getting stale.Not much was happening, and it was going at a snail's pace. It seemed like it'd be an interesting one, so I was a bit reluctant to drop it. Kept thinking that it'll soon change, but I got tired of waiting.

Started watching Sakamoto desu ga or Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto in Twin Star's place. It's a lot funnier than I expected. Sakamoto's supposed to be the 'coolest' student in school. Nothing seems to get to him. Even when he's bullied, he turns the situation around like nothing happened. Another student pulled out his chair before he sat down, and instead of falling, Sakamoto somehow sat in the air like the chair was still there. Another student threw his desk outside, so he decided to lay down on the window sill and open the window instead. He fought a huge wasp without batting an eye. He saved a bird, and seemed to be flying as he did so. Kind of reminds me of those commercials with the 'Most Interesting Man', and a little bit of Daily Lives of High School Boys. Same sort of humor with the latter, too. 

Started watching SPEC a couple of weeks ago. I haven't seen a Jdrama in a while. Someone suggested it on a list of Japanese dramas that people should watch when they start out. I've seen most of what was on that list. They said SPEC seemed similar to Bloody Monday. That automatically grabbed my attention.I loved that show! This seems quite different so far. It deals more with supernatural criminal cases. Bloody Monday was about a terrorist organization that had a deadly virus, and the detectives hired a hacker to help try to stop them. The acting was amazing. Especially with the 'evil' head of that organization. The acting in this one is questionable so far.I don't think it's on the same level as Bloody Monday. It also brings up the popular myth that we only use 10% of our brains, but there are few who can access it all. This is utter nonsense. If you only used 10% of your brain, you wouldn't be able to function.You'd essentially be a vegetable. Maybe worse than that. Some tasks require that you use every part of your brain. Sure, maybe at varying time intervals, but you still use it. However, I have heard people say that we don't know much about the brain, and that might be where that percentage came from. Just that we don't know much about the rest of it. So, it already has some points docked down in my book. The criminals use these special abilities they've gained through accessing those 'other' parts of their brain. Now, if they just said that they gained special powers that were somehow lying dormant, that'd be different and more interesting. There seems to be an organization that's visiting all the criminals that have been caught so far. Usually killing them off without the police knowing. (Even when they're in jail with a straight jacket, alarms around them, a lock charged with a high voltage, etc.) It's still interesting enough to keep me coming back to it. It'd be more so finding out more about that group.

Finished watching Erased. It had a good ending, but seemed a little too neat and tidy. The 'murderer' ended up never killing anyone, because Satoru was able to foil all of his plans since he knew the future. I predicted who it was by the 2nd or 3rd episode.The Japanese title, Boku Dake ga Inai Machi, when translated literally, makes a lot of sense. Especially, with the last episode. It's: The Town Where Only I am Missing. The murderer tried to kill Satoru while he was still his past self as a kid. Satoru was found instead, and fell into a coma for 15 years. Meanwhile, he was still growing. When he woke up, he momentarily forgot about his 'future' self, and was slightly surprised seeing himself suddenly as an adult. The murderer waited during that entire time. He contemplated killing Satoru every day, but never could do it. They finally got him for attempted murder after tricking him at the end. Satoru was able to save everyone, and his friends lived on without him during that time. Kind of sad. He created a manga about it all after a couple more years in the hospital. Later, it turned into an anime. 

Started watching Bitter Blood a couple of weeks ago. Another Jdrama. It was also on that list I mentioned. I've been reluctant to watch this one for a while.The promo pic and title are a bit misleading. It's popular, and I think it's been nominated for awards. Also, has quite a few actors I like and am familiar with. It's based on a novel by the same name. Another title for this is Partners by Blood. It's about a rookie detective named Natsuki Sawara, who's assigned to the Ginza Police Station. He's quickly partnered with his estranged father Akimura Shimao. His parents divorced when he was 13, and was raised by his grandparents. They're constantly butting heads, but are realizing they have quite a lot in common. Natsuki seems reckless at times, and his father might be overly cautious at times. They seem to be learning from each other. It has a lot of hilarious moments. Pretty good so far. Glad I finally tried it.

Also, recently started Tanaka-kun wa Itsumo Kedaruge, or Tanaka-kun is Always Listless. This has been interesting. Very relaxing and funny. Like the title says, Tanaka is always listless. Constantly using as little energy as possible. He sleeps half the time, or tries to. His friend Oota (sometimes written as Ohta), is constantly helping him get up and do things. Like, he picks Tanaka up and puts him over his shoulder when he wants to go somewhere, reminds him to eat, encourages him to participate more during PE, and more. Tanaka actually prays every morning at a shrine for an uneventful day. Ends it usually with threatening G-d. This one also seems a bit like Daily Lives of High School Boys. Only in a very lighthearted and semi-surreal way. Even the art is soothing. During the last episode, a short energetic female student, named Miyano, asked to be Tanaka's apprentice in becoming listless. The only time it somewhat worked was when she was daydreaming or stressing out about town mascots. She wasn't even aware of it. And, Oota thought she actually surpassed Tanaka in her listlessness at that point. She thinks that if she becomes like Tanaka, she'll look mature and her crush will like her more. Since she's short, she thinks people see her as immature. I thought she'd be annoying, but I actually liked her by the end. Interesting personalities with the characters so far. Tanaka mentioned at one point, that Oota looks more like a main character to a show than him. He helps everyone out, seems to be good at anything he does, stands out because of how tall he is, everyone seems to like him, he's quiet at times, and more.

Finished the manga Kuro or Black. It was cute, yet dark at the same time. Very short, too. I don't think there was a true ending.It kind of cut off abruptly, and there were 'extra' side stories after. It was about a girl living with her black cat in a huge mansion. The town has black monsters that attack people if they stray from the path. That path's lined with special paint from flowers that keep them away as a deterrent. Those flowers are used in shots so the townspeople can see those monsters. The flowers come from the mansion's greenhouse. The owners hand over a certain amount each month. The girl lives alone, besides the cat, in the mansion. The cat is named Kuro, and is half like those monsters, and the other half is still like his cat self before he was attacked. Apparently, those monsters can't fully take over something unless it's dead. At the time, Kuro was barely alive. So, he has some of the powers of those monsters, and uses them to protect the girl. The problem is they have to drain other creatures' color in order to live. So, he slowly drains her of color. Eventually, her hair turns white. The girl can't see the monsters, since she never got the shot. A lot of the townspeople hate Kuro, and attack him every once in a while. He never really hurt people, though. The doctor finally realized close to the end that Kuro is actually safe, and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Occasionally, he'll actually attack the monsters that wander near the mansion. It was a very interesting story. Just wish it explained more, and actually showed what happened after the last scene. 

Also finished reading 6 no Trigger or Trigger of 6. I ended up changing my opinion on the main character by the end. He was actually a lot more kind than I realized. He only had a certain crude attitude around one of the female characters, because I think he knew she wasn't who she said she was from the beginning. Turned out her boyfriend was possessing her, and the longer he did so, the more her body broke down. He tried to hide it from Tsubame as best he could. Apparently, the one who created the mechanical arms that Tsubame uses, named Frost, just wanted to be a mother. (Everyone apparently thought she was a guy.) She couldn't physically be one. Especially, because she had a disease and was going to die young. So, developing the personalities/souls connected to each arm was like her way, in her mind, to have children. Tsubame kind of became a father this way. She just wanted to use his body as a host body. She did care for him, but that was her main goal when she first met him. Also, her little brother came down with the same disease, and doesn't have much time left to live. Frost is already dead. Before she passed away, she put his soul in the final mechanical arm, and asked Tsubame if he could find her brother's body and return it to him. So, he's been searching for him ever since. If her brother's going to die soon, why give him back his soul just beforehand? I know that they said she wanted the soul to transcend his body, but why look for it, then? Who was that person that briefly showed up in a crowd that seemed to have another mechanical arm? (Not exactly sure if they had one, but it looked like it.) I think they can easily continue this one. It was pretty good.

My mom's yahrzeit (the Jewish anniversary of her passing away) was on the night of the 16th and went to sundown the next day. It was the 9th of Iyar on the Jewish calendar. I forgot until halfway through the day on the 17th. I was just going to plug in the electronic memorial candle. I had forgotten that we also had a huge bag of yahrzeit candles. So, we used one of those and the electronic one. The yahrzeit candles burn for 24 hours, so it went for about a half of a day longer than it would have if I had lit it when the yahrzeit actually started. I think she would be ok if it wasn't exact. Just the idea that we spent some time remembering her was more than enough. 

Rosie has found a new spot. Ever since I got the new lamp, she's been laying down, sleeping, and happily watching me in a corner next to/partially on my huge stuffed lamb with her back to my closet's door. Normally she uses that stuffed lamb as a kneading pillow. I think I got it when I was in the hospital for about a week for a 2nd time. That was in early 2008 (or late 2007), and I had 6,000 times the clotting factor compared to normal healthy people. I had a blood clot in every aveoli or air sac in my lungs. Never found out why or how.Or, it could have been a year before when I was hospitalized for pneumonia for a week. I could barely breathe, and they drained my lungs of a couple of liters of fluid. (Really painful.) Anyways, someone visited me during one of those times, and gave that lamb to me. It's about half my size. It was hilarious when I got it, and looked at it on my hospital bed. It can easily smother me. At least, when you hug it, it can hug back...It was very nice of that person, though. To give me something to try and cheer me up. It's so big, I keep it on the floor between my bed and closet. One of the few places where it's somewhat out of the way. It's really nice and soft. I'm surprised Rosie is just now discovering that it can be used for more than just a kneading pillow. Maybe it something to do with the lighting being better now with the lamp. I don't know why, but she loves to watch me. No matter what I do, she loves it.

Head in the Clouds

Mood:

This is from Bleach's first OST. I featured it on here quite a ways back. I still like it. So, why not feature some old ones again?I might go through more of Bleach's OSTs, now that I'm pretty far into it. I think I'm just over the halfway mark. (I've been skipping filler episodes/arcs, and that's quite a lot of it.) If I remember correctly this is in the background when characters are indecisive, eating large amounts of food and ignoring others, one of them does something stupid, etc. Kind of a fun one. The story arc I'm currently on has been the most interesting and suspenseful one so far. They went to save Inoue from the Espada, and defeat Aizen. They found Inoue, and are still battling a couple of the top Espada. I find it interesting that the mangaka (manga creator) uses different languages with different types of characters. Like the Espada have Spanish names and attacks. Even their 'world' and creatures have Spanish words/names. Another group of characters has German, the Shinigami use Japanese, another group uses Latin (I think), etc. I know he mentioned in an interview that Spanish to him sounded mysterious, and wanted the Espada to have a similar vibe. I find languages interesting, so it kind of enhances it a bit for me.

Went shopping on Saturday. Saw a gorgeous view of Mount Rainier on our way to Tacoma for it. It's usually not so clear. I managed to snap a shot of it. Yay!I managed to find a lamp at their Target. (Their Target is huge!) My old lamp that I used for my night stand burned a hole into its shade and the lamp itself. The bulb glued itself to the shade, too.It was a bit scary and weird. I got that one at a gift swap. Mom thought it looked ugly, but I liked it. It was a little too short, though. This new one is quite a bit bigger. Its got kind of a gold speckling pattern across 2 glass globes. So, it's see-through and reflective in parts of it. The rest of it looks like silver steel. The shade came separately. Like a mix and match thing. It's kind of a beige color. I'm not very used to lampshades, but it went on in an odd way. A low ring goes under the bulb, and stays secure after the bulb is screwed in. I thought you just put it over the bulb.Oh well, it's on at least. I'm starting to really like it. It also uses a normal light bulb, which is a big plus. Makes almost as much light as my main one. That's good, because the way my main light is situated on the ceiling, half of the room is much darker than the other half.It's really close to my closet towards a corner. So, having this on the other side of the room will help with lighting overall, too.

Also, got a nice looking 'bouffant' shower cap.It's the only kind that fits with my long hair.They had the same design I got last time, but I wanted something different. This one has a blue and white checkered design. The bottom elastic-like part has semi-frilly white lace around it. I usually don't like lacy stuff, but it's toned down and goes pretty well with the 'look', I suppose. My old shower cap had some major tears in the plastic on the inside. Especially with where I end up tucking my hair in...It also smelled and seemed slightly discolored. It was definitely time. I use it for when I'm going to have a regular shower (when I'm not washing my hair), cleaning, and while cooking. Keeps me from shedding everywhere for those last 2.And, puts it out of my face.

After that, we went to It's Greek To Me. It's a really good Greek fast food place. Since we don't go there that often, we usually get gyros. (Although, a lot of the other stuff on their menu looks good.) I got their 'small' combo. The combo comes with fries and a drink. Even though I got the small, the gyro was still huge!When I pick it up, the salad-like stuff always slides out. I end up just having huge wads of meat with some puddles of tzatziki sauce in the sandwich part. Then, I use their plastic forks to have the stuff that fell out. It's messy, but really good.

Found out my blood test results were normal a few days ago. I'm even at the high end of the remission range for my sed rate. Yay!I should be happy, but I'm still feeling my IBD symptoms. (Certainly not 'normal' yet.) A little frustrating still. My primary doctor said that my body might take a while to catch up. My gastroenterologist emailed me yesterday morning saying that since my results were normal, she wants me to do the blood draws once every 3 months instead of once a month. 

I'm wondering if just taking azathioprine is giving me similar symptoms?I also still have to be very careful while taking it, because it's an immunosuppressant. It's strong stuff, too. I get sick very easily now. I've thought about wearing a mask while out, but feel like it'll be isolating. Or, people will think I'm insulting them or something.Also, that masks might not help much. 

We found out a couple of nights ago that the frozen peas that were being recalled by Costco, were the same ones we had.Dad tossed them, but we already had half of a big bag of them. It was recalled for possible listeria contamination. People who are immunosuppressed are very susceptible to getting sick from it. Read that the symptoms might not become noticeable for a couple of months after ingesting it. That's scary!Not sure if it's affecting me as well. I have had a horrible headache since Sunday. I didn't know about it until Monday night. If it gets really bad, and I feel very sick, I'll tell my primary about it. Might have to go to Urgent Care beforehand if it gets to that point. 

I revived my livejournal account. The last time I posted something on there was 6 years ago. It's kind of to get more eyes on both my novels. But, I might do little updates every so often. I've also thought about joining writers' associations for free. Apparently there are a few. I need to look more into it, though. I might start another Tumblr account to promote them some more. My last account with them was deactivated because of my inactivity on it. Plus, I don't think my desktop computer likes it too much.If that's the case, I might end up using their app on my phone. 

I managed to practice my clarinet on Monday and today. Yay!That's more often than it has been. I'm slowly getting better, too. I'd be a lot better if I got to it every day. Once I play on a regular basis, I might bump my practice time from 45 minutes to 50. I can be on my way to a full hour. That used to be my norm for practice times. It'd be awesome to get back to that!I played a lot of Irish tunes today. Monday, I played some jazz, Gershwin, and some pieces from my advanced classical solo book.

日本語

Today, I studied the kanji: 司, 試. When 司 is pronounced as し (shi): director, official. As 司る or つかさど.る (tsukasado.ru): to rule, govern, administer. 司令 or しれい (shirei): command, control, commander. 司書 or ししょ (shisho): librarian. 司法 or しほう (shihou): administration of justice. 寿司 or すし (sushi): sushi. 行司 or ぎょうじ (gyouji): (sumo) referee. 司会 or しかい (shikai): chairmanship, leading a meeting, presenter, host, moderator. 試 is only pronounced as し (shi) in compounds. As 試みる or こころ.みる (kokoro.miru): to try, attempt, have a go (at something). As 試す or ため.す (tame.su): to attempt, test, try out. 試合 or しあい (shiai): match, game, bout, contest. I'll be going through more of its compounds next time. 

I finally got to translating more of that You Maga article. Also, quizzed myself on JapaneseClass' site. Read an article in Japanese on RocketNews24's original site. It was about how tourists think all there is to the food in Tokyo is their sushi. How it's highly overrated and overpriced. The journalist said they think more people should discover Tokyo's version of tonkatsu, and a certain ramen I'm blanking on. They took pics of the best places to get them. It was interesting to read and somewhat drool-worthy. Watched some of their news through ANN's Youtube channel. Interesting stories. Their main meteorologist is very enthusiastic. She's entertaining, while the guy she explains it to (during specials) is so stiff. He doesn't react much. Some sad stuff happening there, too.

I've kept up with the way I prefer to eat this week.Haven't had a 'splurge' day yet. Last week it was on Wednesday and Saturday. (While keeping to this way of eating, I usually don't have 2 of those in a week.) One big plate of spaghetti and meatballs turned into 4 meals for me this week. That's a lot!I haven't faltered from it. I've even been eating half of a donut for dessert. (That's been the dessert this week.) I sometimes have the other half with lunch, where I might also have leftovers from a dinner. So, it's like 2 dinners in a day...Things are looking bigger and bigger as I stick much closer to this again. I'm also feeling fuller after each of these meals. Kind of cool. 

Hopefully, I can get back to my walks, too. Although, it's been pretty warm lately. Walking in that sort of weather makes you feel hotter halfway through. Kind of demotivates that way. I just have to plan it better. Like, not during the hottest part of the day. I did get one night walk in tonight. It's something! Even if I'm losing with just limiting my calorie intake, I would like to keep what little muscle I have left right now (for some reason I've lost a lot of it). Plus, it'll keep me more fit. Health can be complex, and it's more than just getting back to a 'normal' weight. I'm also keeping up with my sit-ups.