Today in Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic course, I finished the Days and Family 2 units. Got through a little of the Sport one. I'm 2 units away from the next checkpoint. There's apparently one section left, unless it expands suddenly after the 4th checkpoint. I'm at 8th place on the Amethyst League. Should be interesting where I end up at the end of the week again.
I've been gathering more illustrated references for drawing Vincent throughout the week. Learning quite a bit just from going over them. Found some references for body proportions today. I might look up folds in fabric tomorrow. After that, I'll try to find examples of the clothes he wears. That should be fun.
Edited the Cooking and Food chapter in my memoir. It's probably the shortest one. Only 4 pages of the ebook, and 5 pages of the print. Next one is on my family.
On Monday and Tuesday, I cleaned out my ears. I tried the suggestion online about waiting longer than it says in the directions each time. Most were actually saying at least 30 minutes. So, that's how long I did it for. I think it got a lot more out than my usual. However, I never got it completely clear. I wanted to do it once a day for most of this week, but things kept popping up. I'll try to get back to it. They say some of the most compacted ears need around 4 days of that at a time for it to clear. (Usually twice a day, but I can only stand it once a day.) I think I hear better now, at least.
Rosie had a routine lab work check-up yesterday. Supposed to be only blood work and a urine sample. However, we were at the clinic longer after I mentioned that she's been throwing up for about a week, several times a day, hasn't eaten since Tuesday afternoon, and seemed depressed and lethargic. So, they ran an emergency exam. They couldn't get a urine sample, because she was so dehydrated. She also was drooling profusely, which is another sign of dehydration, apparently. They injected her with a lot of fluids. They warned me that it was so much, it might look like she has a camel hump. Although, they said she was so dehydrated, it might absorb so fast, we wouldn't see that. I didn't notice something like that. They also injected an anti-nausea med into the same area, so it gets slowly absorbed like the fluids. They gave us a med that will boost her appetite. They warned me that it can do the same thing with humans (I really don't need an appetite boost), so I have to use gloves with it. I'm supposed put a 1 1/2" strip of it on a gloved finger, then put it in her ear. I'm not so sure she'd sit long enough for me to do that. She'll probably just flick it off, too. She seemed a lot more herself when she got home.
After that, my parent and I were going to go to JJ's Fish House for dinner. Had to park a little ways from it. It was raining heavily. Turns out JJ's was closed, so we had to walk all the way back in the rain. I was close to being soaked by the time we got back to the car. Went to Elmer's instead. Not many people there, but at least it was open. I got one of their specials of the month: Prime Rib Eggs Benedict without mushrooms. I can't have a traditional eggs benedict, because of the ham. This one didn't have any, so I gave it a shot. It had an English muffin, caramelized onions, crispy strips of prime rib, poached eggs, chipotle hollandaise, and chives sprinkled on top. Came with hash browns. Really good stuff, filling, and interesting flavors. Felt comforting, which is what I needed after Rosie's appointment. Also, had their chocolate cake. They only have one dessert now, and it's not even on the menu. Used to have a cobbler in addition to the cake. That was amazing! Sad it's not there anymore. Anyways, the cake came with a line of whipped cream down the side and a small bowl filled with strawberry compote. I mostly just had the cake. It was really rich tasting and like fudge.
Today, a little after noon, the vet clinic called to check in on Rosie. It was a little soon to ask, but nice of them. She seemed more herself today. Ate 7 out of the 9 pieces of her Greenies Dental Chews treats this morning. She needs them to help with her teeth. Usually gets 9 in the morning and 9 at night. That's recommended amount for a cat around her weight. They're tuna flavored, which both cats seem to prefer. They love it. She also had a couple of mouthfuls of her regular food right before the call. Not bad. I might not need to use that appetite stimulant med. They said that one of the blood test results indicated that she has internal bleeding. They wanted to take some x-rays to check. We're going to see how things go for a little while first. X-rays can be expensive, too. Maybe she just needs to heal on her own. Hopefully she feels better.
Youtube:
Miira no Kaikata (How to Keep a Mummy):
Re:Creators:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) (quite a few spoilers from the manga in both vids):
Friday, December 20, 2019
Monday, December 16, 2019
International Tea Day!
I love tea! There are so many different kinds out there. I mostly only drink water or tea. More tea than water, at that. Just got some more tea: Bengal Spice, Salted Caramel, and Gingerbread. The 1st one's technically herbal, with no actual tea leaves. It tastes a lot like chai, only more of certain spices. One of my faves. I also like different types of actual chai. The other 2 are seasonal blends. I'm surprised at what blends they can create, and be so close to tasting like those flavors. There's no added sugar or calories, which makes it nice to have a taste without that added in. I also like mint, orange spice, green tea, black tea, chamomile, Earl Grey, cinnamon, hibiscus, jasmine, and more. I usually add Splenda to it. If it's something like chai, I occasionally will add a little milk.
I ended up at 5th place on Duolingo's Emerald League. So, I was promoted today to the Amethyst League. Yay! Didn't get a reward besides that this time. Only the top 3 get more. Made it to 2nd place today. Maybe I'll stay in the top 3 until the end of the week this time. In their Scottish Gaelic course, I finished the Hobbies and Travel units, and a little bit of Feelings 2.
Found some facial expressions, ears, and eyes examples for drawing Vincent. When out in public, he looks like he has a bit of an attitude, so that should be fun to draw. With people he feels safe with he's softer, kinder, and feels he can be himself. It'd be interesting to draw him again with that difference.
Finished editing Sweet Endless Terror. Started editing my memoir, More Than Meets the Eye, yesterday. Each chapter deals with a different topic. First one was on being aro and ace. The 2nd one, that I did today, was on being agender. My views and what I've done for transition-related stuff have changed a little. I was unsure about a lot of things when I first wrote it a couple of years ago. Now, I'm more positive on how I feel about it, my gender dysphoria, transitioning, etc. Interesting to read what I wrote back then. Tried to update some of it without changing it too much. Didn't need to change much for the aro ace one. That was a plus.
Finished watching Dr. Stone. It was better than I expected. I like that they tried to add real science to it, although there was quite a bit of fantasy/sci-fi, too. They didn't make Senku, the 'scientist', heartless either. He did many things that only benefited the village rather than himself. The 'mentalist' (he was more into psychology, and fighting with it) turned out to be a better person than he appeared to be at the beginning. A 2nd season is confirmed. Looks like it'll be about the fight between Tsukasa's army and Senku's village finally. This season was mainly a setup for it. The last big project of his was creating smartphones. They weren't really like our modern ones. More like a glorified huge phone (with several pieces) you can haul around places. He said it would be the key to the war, since communication is vital. They'll only have 2 'phones'. I think they're going to need more than that. Tsukasa essentially has brute force and many more people. Senku hasn't revived anyone from stone since the beginning, and the village he found is small. They were probably the only humans on the planet for thousands of years that weren't encased in stone. Many generations of them without knowing other people. They thought the 'stone people' were statues, not actual people. Tsukasa isn't an idiot, either. Should be interesting if Senku and his village can do anything more beforehand and how this will play out.
Ordered some things on Amazon yesterday. I really needed some of it. It's handy that way. Last time I got earplugs was 2 years ago. Didn't realize I was going through them that slowly. Probably not healthy that I used a pair for a couple weeks at a time. I wear them every night, because Rosie likes to scratch things loudly after going to the litter box. My bedroom is facing a 3-way stop, so there's traffic noises sometimes. There's also construction work going on really early in the morning. Birds can be really loud. Lots of reasons. I'll try to switch out pairs more often this time. This probably had compounded my ear issues, too.
I have Eustachian tube issues. Basically the tubes in my ears are backwards. Creates all sorts of issues, and has gotten more severe over the years. It produces too much earwax, air pressure changes hurt (makes it fun on planes and being in a car going up through the mountains), sometimes my balance is off, and other things. Sometimes it gets so bad, I can't hear. I've been told to use an earwax cleaning kit at least once a month, if not more. I end up doing it maybe once every few months. Not good. Plus, with those earplugs packing it in more, it's a recipe for disaster. With the kit, you add several drops of a peroxide (and something else, can't remember) solution in an ear, wait for a while with your head tilted, then tilt your head the other way to let it 'drain' over the sink (it 'melts' some of it, which is what most of the fluid is), then flush it out with a warm water filled bulbous syringe. Repeat for the other ear. I decided to get another 'kit', and that I'd try to do it more often. I haven't actually gotten my ears clear in a very long time. I usually manage to get some of it out, at least. I plan to leave the solution in my ears longer in the future. I was doing it for 7 minutes each ear. Apparently, if your ear is really compacted, it's recommended online to leave it in for at least 18 minutes each ear. So, I'll try that. It's painful yet eventually a really nice feeling when they're completely clear. It makes a fizzy popping sound just before. I can hear so much more after, it's almost too much.
I also ordered a purse. My current one is a couple of years old. I think I got it around the time I got the earplugs. It's the same kind/style/color. It's really a great purse, so why not get the same thing again? It's tough, the zippers have stayed intact, it can hold a lot yet flatten to almost nothing, good over-the-shoulder messenger-like one (I prefer those), color's nice, etc. The only problem is the material starts to pucker and fray after about a year and a half. It'd be good to have one without that again.
I decided to try Nyquil Saturday night. I wanted some relief from that weird cold/cough. The coughing attacks often happen while I'm in bed. Although, I still get them occasionally during the day. Sneezing a lot still, too. Back hurts sometimes because of it. That first night, I slept well for the first time in a long time. Last night, I was good until around 4:45am. Started hacking again. At least, I still got more sleep than usual. Hopefully, it'll work like the 1st night tonight. It really burns...Has more alcohol than I remembered. I used to use Delsym instead. That doesn't have alcohol and tasted like orange soda. This covers more things, though. I don't have to take Tylenol with it, because it has it already. Apparently, it also has the main ingredient that's in Delsym.
I ended up at 5th place on Duolingo's Emerald League. So, I was promoted today to the Amethyst League. Yay! Didn't get a reward besides that this time. Only the top 3 get more. Made it to 2nd place today. Maybe I'll stay in the top 3 until the end of the week this time. In their Scottish Gaelic course, I finished the Hobbies and Travel units, and a little bit of Feelings 2.
Found some facial expressions, ears, and eyes examples for drawing Vincent. When out in public, he looks like he has a bit of an attitude, so that should be fun to draw. With people he feels safe with he's softer, kinder, and feels he can be himself. It'd be interesting to draw him again with that difference.
Finished editing Sweet Endless Terror. Started editing my memoir, More Than Meets the Eye, yesterday. Each chapter deals with a different topic. First one was on being aro and ace. The 2nd one, that I did today, was on being agender. My views and what I've done for transition-related stuff have changed a little. I was unsure about a lot of things when I first wrote it a couple of years ago. Now, I'm more positive on how I feel about it, my gender dysphoria, transitioning, etc. Interesting to read what I wrote back then. Tried to update some of it without changing it too much. Didn't need to change much for the aro ace one. That was a plus.
Finished watching Dr. Stone. It was better than I expected. I like that they tried to add real science to it, although there was quite a bit of fantasy/sci-fi, too. They didn't make Senku, the 'scientist', heartless either. He did many things that only benefited the village rather than himself. The 'mentalist' (he was more into psychology, and fighting with it) turned out to be a better person than he appeared to be at the beginning. A 2nd season is confirmed. Looks like it'll be about the fight between Tsukasa's army and Senku's village finally. This season was mainly a setup for it. The last big project of his was creating smartphones. They weren't really like our modern ones. More like a glorified huge phone (with several pieces) you can haul around places. He said it would be the key to the war, since communication is vital. They'll only have 2 'phones'. I think they're going to need more than that. Tsukasa essentially has brute force and many more people. Senku hasn't revived anyone from stone since the beginning, and the village he found is small. They were probably the only humans on the planet for thousands of years that weren't encased in stone. Many generations of them without knowing other people. They thought the 'stone people' were statues, not actual people. Tsukasa isn't an idiot, either. Should be interesting if Senku and his village can do anything more beforehand and how this will play out.
Ordered some things on Amazon yesterday. I really needed some of it. It's handy that way. Last time I got earplugs was 2 years ago. Didn't realize I was going through them that slowly. Probably not healthy that I used a pair for a couple weeks at a time. I wear them every night, because Rosie likes to scratch things loudly after going to the litter box. My bedroom is facing a 3-way stop, so there's traffic noises sometimes. There's also construction work going on really early in the morning. Birds can be really loud. Lots of reasons. I'll try to switch out pairs more often this time. This probably had compounded my ear issues, too.
I have Eustachian tube issues. Basically the tubes in my ears are backwards. Creates all sorts of issues, and has gotten more severe over the years. It produces too much earwax, air pressure changes hurt (makes it fun on planes and being in a car going up through the mountains), sometimes my balance is off, and other things. Sometimes it gets so bad, I can't hear. I've been told to use an earwax cleaning kit at least once a month, if not more. I end up doing it maybe once every few months. Not good. Plus, with those earplugs packing it in more, it's a recipe for disaster. With the kit, you add several drops of a peroxide (and something else, can't remember) solution in an ear, wait for a while with your head tilted, then tilt your head the other way to let it 'drain' over the sink (it 'melts' some of it, which is what most of the fluid is), then flush it out with a warm water filled bulbous syringe. Repeat for the other ear. I decided to get another 'kit', and that I'd try to do it more often. I haven't actually gotten my ears clear in a very long time. I usually manage to get some of it out, at least. I plan to leave the solution in my ears longer in the future. I was doing it for 7 minutes each ear. Apparently, if your ear is really compacted, it's recommended online to leave it in for at least 18 minutes each ear. So, I'll try that. It's painful yet eventually a really nice feeling when they're completely clear. It makes a fizzy popping sound just before. I can hear so much more after, it's almost too much.
I also ordered a purse. My current one is a couple of years old. I think I got it around the time I got the earplugs. It's the same kind/style/color. It's really a great purse, so why not get the same thing again? It's tough, the zippers have stayed intact, it can hold a lot yet flatten to almost nothing, good over-the-shoulder messenger-like one (I prefer those), color's nice, etc. The only problem is the material starts to pucker and fray after about a year and a half. It'd be good to have one without that again.
I decided to try Nyquil Saturday night. I wanted some relief from that weird cold/cough. The coughing attacks often happen while I'm in bed. Although, I still get them occasionally during the day. Sneezing a lot still, too. Back hurts sometimes because of it. That first night, I slept well for the first time in a long time. Last night, I was good until around 4:45am. Started hacking again. At least, I still got more sleep than usual. Hopefully, it'll work like the 1st night tonight. It really burns...Has more alcohol than I remembered. I used to use Delsym instead. That doesn't have alcohol and tasted like orange soda. This covers more things, though. I don't have to take Tylenol with it, because it has it already. Apparently, it also has the main ingredient that's in Delsym.
Friday, December 13, 2019
15th of Kislev
Today, I finished the About Me and Phrases 3 units, and started the Body one in Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic course. I'm starting to get the hang of how they say things. A lot of the words aren't pronounced the way they appear. Some letters turn silent, some turn into ph/f or v sounds, de sometimes is pronounced as je (or something similar), e can sometimes be like ye, and it seems some words add a letter that's not written. Like, Alba, which means Scotland. It has an 'ah' sound between the l and b. There are patterns that I'm seeing, though. Makes it more interesting. At the end, I was at 6th place in the Emerald League. They seem to be more with it in this one. It'll be interesting to see where I land on there at the end of the weekend.
I finished shading the drawing of Junko on Wednesday, then posted it to deviantART and Instagram. I think she turned out better than Shadow. Surprised someone put it in their fave collection on dA, and quite a few people liked it on Instagram. I started looking at design ideas for Vincent yesterday. Found some hairstyle examples and hair color codes. Today, I looked at eye shapes and sizes. Next, I'll look at eye color codes. I'm doing a similar thing, but more detailed, of what I did with Junko. Made a separate 'notes' doc on my phone, then find and copy/paste pics of examples or tips on drawing certain features (divided by category) to it. It's like a special character sheet for him. I didn't look at color codes for Junko beforehand. This way I might already have an idea for that long before I start coloring. Looking at some of these examples and how-tos, I feel like I'm learning more about it, which is a nice plus.
Today, I finished editing Paralysis from Sweet Endless Terror. It was 11 pages of the ebook, and 29 of the print. There's only one more story left.
I apparently pushed myself too much with doing 2 2-mile walks a day. Had to stop to rest a little after Monday. My feet were on fire, and something was going on with my back. Both of which have only started to improve greatly today. Maybe I'll try the 1 a day thing again? I really want to get back to it. Not only that, but my cold symptoms have intensified. Had a hard time sleeping last night because of the coughing and feeling like stuff was stuck in my throat. Cough drops didn't help. I've had this 'cold' for a month now. (I don't think I've ever had a cold that lasted this long.) Trying to force myself to do those walks might have made those symptoms worse, too...
Recently there was an executive order that sparked a conversation on whether Judaism is a nationality. Judaism is many things, but it's certainly not a nationality. Like I've read from some comments, Judaism doesn't really fall under what the modern Western concept of religion is. It's more. It is a religion. It is a culture. There are many ethnic groups under the umbrella. For example, Ashkenazi have ancestry of Jews from Germany (Ashkenazi lit. means Germany) and eastern Europe. Sephardi come from Jews that came from Spain (lit. means Spain) and the Mediterranean. There are Kaifeng Jews (from China), the B'nei Manashe (from India), Ethiopian Jews, Mizrachi (from the Middle East), etc. Lots of groups from around the world. Each one has their own 'flavor' to traditions, customs, and foods. Even to how some speak the prayers in Hebrew. Plus, some ethnic groups created their own languages based on Hebrew and common languages around them. Like, Yiddish and Ladino. There are different diet restrictions for Passover. Some Sephardim (plural) make fun of Ashkenazim with how much stricter we are. It's also a philosophy. We've had many famous philosophers in the past. We're taught to question everything, which might be why many of us are scientists, too. We don't have a blind faith. There are even atheist Jews. Some are even Orthodox. There's mysticism, Kabbalah, (not everyone is into it) we even have certain ways to meditate, and something similar to yoga as well (not exactly and not as well known). There are many different branches of Judaism depending on observance and certain values. I'm a Reform Jew, and within that observance can vary greatly. It's basically what makes sense to you, and rationalizing things more. (There are core concepts that we agree on.) Also, we're very into social justice and tikkun olam or 'repairing the world'. Some branches aren't into that or interpret tikkun olam differently. I have thought about being Modern Orthodox. I feel a little in line with them, as well. Not completely, and I can't really be as observant as they are, but there are some things that 'speak' to me. There's also a culinary tradition to Judaism. There's just so much to it.
So, yeah, technically the religion category doesn't really fit. However, it is not a nationality. My nationality is American. I could say my ethnicity is half Ashkenazi and the other half mostly Celtic. That would be accurate. If it's deemed as a nationality, it hearkens back to the Nazis and Russia when they declared it a race/nationality, and therefore they were not true citizens of the countries they were from. The dual loyalty idea came out of this, too. Really freaking scary stuff. I needed to write about this somewhere. A facebook status didn't seem quite right, but on my own blog seems perfect.
Youtube:
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Zombieland Saga:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
One Piece:
I finished shading the drawing of Junko on Wednesday, then posted it to deviantART and Instagram. I think she turned out better than Shadow. Surprised someone put it in their fave collection on dA, and quite a few people liked it on Instagram. I started looking at design ideas for Vincent yesterday. Found some hairstyle examples and hair color codes. Today, I looked at eye shapes and sizes. Next, I'll look at eye color codes. I'm doing a similar thing, but more detailed, of what I did with Junko. Made a separate 'notes' doc on my phone, then find and copy/paste pics of examples or tips on drawing certain features (divided by category) to it. It's like a special character sheet for him. I didn't look at color codes for Junko beforehand. This way I might already have an idea for that long before I start coloring. Looking at some of these examples and how-tos, I feel like I'm learning more about it, which is a nice plus.
Today, I finished editing Paralysis from Sweet Endless Terror. It was 11 pages of the ebook, and 29 of the print. There's only one more story left.
I apparently pushed myself too much with doing 2 2-mile walks a day. Had to stop to rest a little after Monday. My feet were on fire, and something was going on with my back. Both of which have only started to improve greatly today. Maybe I'll try the 1 a day thing again? I really want to get back to it. Not only that, but my cold symptoms have intensified. Had a hard time sleeping last night because of the coughing and feeling like stuff was stuck in my throat. Cough drops didn't help. I've had this 'cold' for a month now. (I don't think I've ever had a cold that lasted this long.) Trying to force myself to do those walks might have made those symptoms worse, too...
Recently there was an executive order that sparked a conversation on whether Judaism is a nationality. Judaism is many things, but it's certainly not a nationality. Like I've read from some comments, Judaism doesn't really fall under what the modern Western concept of religion is. It's more. It is a religion. It is a culture. There are many ethnic groups under the umbrella. For example, Ashkenazi have ancestry of Jews from Germany (Ashkenazi lit. means Germany) and eastern Europe. Sephardi come from Jews that came from Spain (lit. means Spain) and the Mediterranean. There are Kaifeng Jews (from China), the B'nei Manashe (from India), Ethiopian Jews, Mizrachi (from the Middle East), etc. Lots of groups from around the world. Each one has their own 'flavor' to traditions, customs, and foods. Even to how some speak the prayers in Hebrew. Plus, some ethnic groups created their own languages based on Hebrew and common languages around them. Like, Yiddish and Ladino. There are different diet restrictions for Passover. Some Sephardim (plural) make fun of Ashkenazim with how much stricter we are. It's also a philosophy. We've had many famous philosophers in the past. We're taught to question everything, which might be why many of us are scientists, too. We don't have a blind faith. There are even atheist Jews. Some are even Orthodox. There's mysticism, Kabbalah, (not everyone is into it) we even have certain ways to meditate, and something similar to yoga as well (not exactly and not as well known). There are many different branches of Judaism depending on observance and certain values. I'm a Reform Jew, and within that observance can vary greatly. It's basically what makes sense to you, and rationalizing things more. (There are core concepts that we agree on.) Also, we're very into social justice and tikkun olam or 'repairing the world'. Some branches aren't into that or interpret tikkun olam differently. I have thought about being Modern Orthodox. I feel a little in line with them, as well. Not completely, and I can't really be as observant as they are, but there are some things that 'speak' to me. There's also a culinary tradition to Judaism. There's just so much to it.
So, yeah, technically the religion category doesn't really fit. However, it is not a nationality. My nationality is American. I could say my ethnicity is half Ashkenazi and the other half mostly Celtic. That would be accurate. If it's deemed as a nationality, it hearkens back to the Nazis and Russia when they declared it a race/nationality, and therefore they were not true citizens of the countries they were from. The dual loyalty idea came out of this, too. Really freaking scary stuff. I needed to write about this somewhere. A facebook status didn't seem quite right, but on my own blog seems perfect.
Youtube:
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Zombieland Saga:
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
One Piece:
Monday, December 9, 2019
11th of Kislev
By the end of the week, I made it to 2nd place of the Ruby League on Duolingo. First time I've done that. I was promoted to the Emerald League, and rewarded 30 lingots. You get 2 lingots for every unit completed, so that's quite a bit. I got up to 1st place today. Doubt I'll stay at that. Went through the Numbers unit and some of the Family one. I managed to do it on Saturday and Sunday, too. It's been a while since I've done that.
Finished shading Junko's shirt in Photoshop. Not sure if I'm happy with how that turned out. I'm still new to shading, though. I should get better with it if I get to it more often. Next will be her long skirt. Soon, I'll get to submit it to Instagram and deviantART. Yay!
Today, I edited Let Me Out of Here! from Sweet Endless Terror. It was shorter than I remembered. 4 pages of the ebook, and 10 pages of the print. This one's probably the most trippy so far. Even more than Space Trip was, which is what I edited yesterday. Eternal Suffering has been the most gruesome so far. Went through that on Saturday. Page-wise, I'm halfway through. A little over halfway when counting the stories.
I'm going to try to get back to walking again. I have a new strategy for sticking to it. One 2-mile walk right after breakfast or brunch, and then another a little before sunset. 2 this time, because I don't think 1 a day was enough. 3 would be too much to start with. Plus, there wouldn't be much time between walks since I don't want to walk when it's dark. Especially this time of year. When the days get longer, I might add a 3rd walk. I might get to see the sunset this way, which can be motivating. Started this yesterday. Hopefully, I can keep it up.
Tried an interesting thing last night. It was a frozen chicken parmesan meal. There were little breaded balls of chicken, mini ravioli, parmesan, mozzarella, and a marinara sauce. It was in a carton that you heat up, much like Tai Pei's containers. It was packed with flavor and protein. It just seemed like a small portion, even though it was very filling.
Saturday night, I got chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice from our local market. They make them themselves. They come in huge portions. I had 1 enchilada, and it came with 2. Had half of the container of the rice. The enchilada was nice and zesty. Really filling. I find it funny that I got a rather snobby comment on it on Instagram. They were upset that I didn't broil it. Notice, I did not mention how I heated it up, but that's correct. I used the microwave. For shame! They also said it wasn't heated up enough. They went on talking about how they hate when people don't melt their cheese in tacos either. I could kind of understand if this was from someone from Mexico. I'd totally get that they'd do things differently. (I doubt what I had was truly authentic, let alone how I heated it up.) However, this person wasn't from there, nor did they have a Mexican background. Secondly, non-melted shredded cheese can be great in tacos. It gives more of a fresh feel. Thirdly, I'll have my cheese however I want, thank you very much. It actually was slightly melted. (Side note: it was nice that they didn't absolutely smother it with cheese. It was a little on top.) It wasn't heated up quite enough, but it wasn't like I ate it cold. It was so weird. It's been getting a lot of likes since then. I blocked this person, but I think others can see the comment still. Makes me wonder if they commented back to them. I won't know, and that's ok. I also had a salted caramel ice cream cookie sandwich from the same place. I don't think it was made by them, but I do think it was also local. I cut it in half, since it was packed with calories. Thought it wouldn't be as satisfying, but it was just right. Dinner and dessert both made for some great leftovers the next day.
Finished shading Junko's shirt in Photoshop. Not sure if I'm happy with how that turned out. I'm still new to shading, though. I should get better with it if I get to it more often. Next will be her long skirt. Soon, I'll get to submit it to Instagram and deviantART. Yay!
Today, I edited Let Me Out of Here! from Sweet Endless Terror. It was shorter than I remembered. 4 pages of the ebook, and 10 pages of the print. This one's probably the most trippy so far. Even more than Space Trip was, which is what I edited yesterday. Eternal Suffering has been the most gruesome so far. Went through that on Saturday. Page-wise, I'm halfway through. A little over halfway when counting the stories.
I'm going to try to get back to walking again. I have a new strategy for sticking to it. One 2-mile walk right after breakfast or brunch, and then another a little before sunset. 2 this time, because I don't think 1 a day was enough. 3 would be too much to start with. Plus, there wouldn't be much time between walks since I don't want to walk when it's dark. Especially this time of year. When the days get longer, I might add a 3rd walk. I might get to see the sunset this way, which can be motivating. Started this yesterday. Hopefully, I can keep it up.
Tried an interesting thing last night. It was a frozen chicken parmesan meal. There were little breaded balls of chicken, mini ravioli, parmesan, mozzarella, and a marinara sauce. It was in a carton that you heat up, much like Tai Pei's containers. It was packed with flavor and protein. It just seemed like a small portion, even though it was very filling.
Saturday night, I got chicken enchiladas and Mexican rice from our local market. They make them themselves. They come in huge portions. I had 1 enchilada, and it came with 2. Had half of the container of the rice. The enchilada was nice and zesty. Really filling. I find it funny that I got a rather snobby comment on it on Instagram. They were upset that I didn't broil it. Notice, I did not mention how I heated it up, but that's correct. I used the microwave. For shame! They also said it wasn't heated up enough. They went on talking about how they hate when people don't melt their cheese in tacos either. I could kind of understand if this was from someone from Mexico. I'd totally get that they'd do things differently. (I doubt what I had was truly authentic, let alone how I heated it up.) However, this person wasn't from there, nor did they have a Mexican background. Secondly, non-melted shredded cheese can be great in tacos. It gives more of a fresh feel. Thirdly, I'll have my cheese however I want, thank you very much. It actually was slightly melted. (Side note: it was nice that they didn't absolutely smother it with cheese. It was a little on top.) It wasn't heated up quite enough, but it wasn't like I ate it cold. It was so weird. It's been getting a lot of likes since then. I blocked this person, but I think others can see the comment still. Makes me wonder if they commented back to them. I won't know, and that's ok. I also had a salted caramel ice cream cookie sandwich from the same place. I don't think it was made by them, but I do think it was also local. I cut it in half, since it was packed with calories. Thought it wouldn't be as satisfying, but it was just right. Dinner and dessert both made for some great leftovers the next day.
Friday, December 6, 2019
8th of Kislev
Finished the Clothes and Pets units of Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic course. I'm really breezing through. I think if it really is a short course, I'll go back through everything and try to completely level out each unit. Each one has 5 levels or 'crowns'. With each crown, it's supposed to get harder, but I tend to get tired of that by the 3rd one. Once I get the basics like alphabet and such down, I usually just complete the 1st level of each. Maybe they have speaking exercises at the higher levels. I'll see. I made it to 2nd place today in the Ruby League. I don't normally make it up that far. The top 3 at the end of the week not only get promoted to the next league, they also get a chest filled with gems. I think since this course rewards you with red lingots, I'll get a certain amount of those. Either that or xp? Other courses use blue gems. I'm not sure what the difference is between those 2 gem systems.
I finished coloring in the drawing of Junko in Photoshop, and today I continued with shading. I did her other ear (cat ear, since she's a cat demon), and some of her hair. It's a little annoying, because if you go back over something, it darkens it. If I remember I can erase the 'shading' part without erasing the drawing, I can try to shade it without being very precise and without stopping for certain parts. Adds more to clean up after, but that's ok. I like the 3D effect it gives with shading. Looks more 'real'. After I finish shading, I can finally submit it to Instagram and DeviantArt. Then, it's to drawing the next character. I plan to try and keep doing something related to drawing every day.
Today, I finished editing Obsession from Sweet Endless Terror. That's 10 pages of the ebook, and 28 pages of the print. It's longer than the other 3 have been. Is This Real? and Heartless were pretty well done, I have to say. Only a few mistakes, and the flow of both was great. Trippy, but all of them are. They are based on my nightmares after all. I don't think they were the most out there ones. Obsession was good, too. Maybe not as good, but up there. (Especially the ending.) Probably the most graphic and brutal story so far. The Head's probably my least favorite story. Interesting to go through these again.
Started a new diet for Rosie last night. As soon as she finished her food, I cleaned her placemat, water bowl, and food bowls. Gave her some fresh water. Then, I measured out what's a recommended daily portion for a cat with a 'normal activity' level, and added one to each bowl. This was a portion based on the cat food that we use. I decided the 'normal' one, because she can be very active at times, and it might be a good one to switch to. The low activity one might have been too much of drastic difference. I put a portion each in the 2 bowls, because it seems Tasha has been eating from them, too. They were originally supposed to be for both of them, and then they attacked each other so often, Tasha had to have her own food bowl over the banister. Otherwise she wouldn't have eaten. She's been braver and more 'normal' the last couple of years. Almost to the point now where she should have been when we 1st got Rosie. It wouldn't be fair to only have one daily portion if both are eating from it. I'm watching to see how long it takes her (and Tasha occasionally) to finish it all. So far, so good. If it gets completely eaten by tonight, I might add another portion to them. Hopefully, this will help Rosie. Tasha has been getting thinner, and Rosie seems to be getting bigger lately.
Part of my face seems to be numb or paralyzed. Can't tell exactly. I can't smile or move my mouth like usual. It feels tight, too. I hope it's a temporary thing. I also still have cold symptoms. It's been over 3 weeks since I started feeling it. Longer than my usual for being (temporarily) sick. I'm not coughing as much, but still get nasty attacks. I've coughed so much that it threw my back off causing lots of pain. Since I'm coughing less, it's not causing as much back pain. That's a plus. My nose gets super runny at times, and I'm sneezing a lot still. Although, there are signs I'm getting better overall. It's just taking forever.
My parent and I were the only ones that showed up to the local trans support meeting on Wednesday. Sadness. A positive was that we could leave early to get a late dinner at Shari's. I got their special pretzel roll cheeseburger with tater tots. Last time I tried to get it, they gave me a vegetarian patty. This time they got it right with actual beef. It was really good. Simple comfort food. I also tried a slice of one of their special holiday pies: triple-layer pumpkin cream. It has a layer of cheese pie filling (it's looser and creamier than cheesecake), pumpkin pie filling, and a top layer of cream. It was heavily dusted with nutmeg. The pie itself had a ton of pumpkin pie spice. So much, it was like a slap in the face at first. It was much better than expected.
Youtube:
Fukigen na Mononokean (The Morose Mononokean):
Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angel of Death):
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Zombieland Saga:
D.Gray-man:
One Punch Man:
I finished coloring in the drawing of Junko in Photoshop, and today I continued with shading. I did her other ear (cat ear, since she's a cat demon), and some of her hair. It's a little annoying, because if you go back over something, it darkens it. If I remember I can erase the 'shading' part without erasing the drawing, I can try to shade it without being very precise and without stopping for certain parts. Adds more to clean up after, but that's ok. I like the 3D effect it gives with shading. Looks more 'real'. After I finish shading, I can finally submit it to Instagram and DeviantArt. Then, it's to drawing the next character. I plan to try and keep doing something related to drawing every day.
Today, I finished editing Obsession from Sweet Endless Terror. That's 10 pages of the ebook, and 28 pages of the print. It's longer than the other 3 have been. Is This Real? and Heartless were pretty well done, I have to say. Only a few mistakes, and the flow of both was great. Trippy, but all of them are. They are based on my nightmares after all. I don't think they were the most out there ones. Obsession was good, too. Maybe not as good, but up there. (Especially the ending.) Probably the most graphic and brutal story so far. The Head's probably my least favorite story. Interesting to go through these again.
Started a new diet for Rosie last night. As soon as she finished her food, I cleaned her placemat, water bowl, and food bowls. Gave her some fresh water. Then, I measured out what's a recommended daily portion for a cat with a 'normal activity' level, and added one to each bowl. This was a portion based on the cat food that we use. I decided the 'normal' one, because she can be very active at times, and it might be a good one to switch to. The low activity one might have been too much of drastic difference. I put a portion each in the 2 bowls, because it seems Tasha has been eating from them, too. They were originally supposed to be for both of them, and then they attacked each other so often, Tasha had to have her own food bowl over the banister. Otherwise she wouldn't have eaten. She's been braver and more 'normal' the last couple of years. Almost to the point now where she should have been when we 1st got Rosie. It wouldn't be fair to only have one daily portion if both are eating from it. I'm watching to see how long it takes her (and Tasha occasionally) to finish it all. So far, so good. If it gets completely eaten by tonight, I might add another portion to them. Hopefully, this will help Rosie. Tasha has been getting thinner, and Rosie seems to be getting bigger lately.
Part of my face seems to be numb or paralyzed. Can't tell exactly. I can't smile or move my mouth like usual. It feels tight, too. I hope it's a temporary thing. I also still have cold symptoms. It's been over 3 weeks since I started feeling it. Longer than my usual for being (temporarily) sick. I'm not coughing as much, but still get nasty attacks. I've coughed so much that it threw my back off causing lots of pain. Since I'm coughing less, it's not causing as much back pain. That's a plus. My nose gets super runny at times, and I'm sneezing a lot still. Although, there are signs I'm getting better overall. It's just taking forever.
My parent and I were the only ones that showed up to the local trans support meeting on Wednesday. Sadness. A positive was that we could leave early to get a late dinner at Shari's. I got their special pretzel roll cheeseburger with tater tots. Last time I tried to get it, they gave me a vegetarian patty. This time they got it right with actual beef. It was really good. Simple comfort food. I also tried a slice of one of their special holiday pies: triple-layer pumpkin cream. It has a layer of cheese pie filling (it's looser and creamier than cheesecake), pumpkin pie filling, and a top layer of cream. It was heavily dusted with nutmeg. The pie itself had a ton of pumpkin pie spice. So much, it was like a slap in the face at first. It was much better than expected.
Youtube:
Fukigen na Mononokean (The Morose Mononokean):
Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angel of Death):
Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work):
Boku no (My) Hero Academia:
Zombieland Saga:
D.Gray-man:
One Punch Man:
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
5th of Kislev
The month-long holidays for December are: National Pear 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 much this time. I love pears, though.
My Jewish calendar features 2 menorahs this time. I should say technically hanukiyah, which is the specific menorah used for the holiday. Menorah just means lamp. The one for Hanukkah has 8 branches and one holder for the shamash (helper or leader) candle. Usually the one for the shamash is raised up more than the others and/or is in the middle. A regular one has 6 branches and one holder. So, there is a difference. Each night for Hanukkah we light the shammash and another candle with it. They're really beautiful by the last night. Since my mom used to work for a Judaica shop, she collected a lot of them. Some were free, and some she bought discounted from the shop. Free if they had some minor flaw, like some branches were slightly bent. She and I would sometimes light a bunch of them on top of the piano. It was glorious seeing them all lit up, although it was pretty dangerous, too. When I do it myself now, I usually use one. Sometimes 2 on the last night. I have so many different ones that I inherited from her. I've been using a more traditional one the last few years, but it only uses Shabbos candles, not the slimmer Hanukkah ones. A couple of the branches are bent, too. It's quirky, yet impressive. People can see it more from the outside than the others. We're supposed to have it be seen, so it works. Anyways, one of the ones on the calendar is made out of copper from 1900. The other's iron from 1935. They don't say where they're from, unlike many of the other artifacts in previous months. However, the museum is in Amsterdam. They might have come from there. Interesting to see such old ones.
The elements calendar features tin this time. They talk about how tin soldiers were almost never made of pure tin. Tin-lead alloys were usually used. Many things called tin don't actually have tin in them, and it's come to mean any sort of thin sheet metal. They show a tin soldier that is 99.99% pure tin. There's a gray tin allotrope growing on a piece of metallic tin. A piece of the mineral cassiterite (tin oxide) from Bolivia. Lead-free solder, which is mostly tin. And, finally ingots of pure tin. Interesting.
Went to a family friends' place for Thanksgiving. We usually go there. This time it was my parent and I, the 2 hosts, and a work friend of the hostess. I was told there would be 6 of us, so that surprised me. They usually have a sizable crowd for their holiday dinners/parties. (They also host parties for New Year's Eve, sometimes Hanukkah, and a seder during Passover.) For the last couple of years, it's been noticeably smaller. Anyways, I've met their friend before at previous dinners. She's pretty nice and open-minded. They only have one dog left. The other passed away not that long ago. I miss that one, too. They were both big and really friendly. I couldn't eat the green salad we brought, since I'm trying to stay away from pain as much as possible. (Roughage like things scratch up against the scars in my colon. Fun fun.) We also brought a berry/grape salad. Didn't add anything to it, since I'm not familiar with fruit salads. My parent wanted to add whipped cream, which is apparently a thing. I just think fruit is usually good by itself. Like nature's candy. I technically wasn't supposed to eat the berries because of the seeds. I did anyways...The host smoked the turkey, like usual. There was gravy, homemade stuffing (a bowl of it without chestnuts for me), salmon for the person who doesn't eat turkey, cranberry relish (I don't like it, so they usually have the canned jelled stuff for me), cookies, and pumpkin pie. They forgot about a cooked green vegetable, which I probably could have eaten in place of the salad. We played a game of Trivial Pursuit, which is like a tradition there. It used to be very binary with the men against the women. Acknowledging me, and realizing it wasn't the best thing to do anyways, they stopped splitting us up like that. This time it was the 'away team' vs the 'home team'. 3 against 2 isn't bad. If it was with genders in general, I would be by myself and probably wouldn't have gotten very far. (The host would have been too, but he's relatively good at it.) We were in the lead for a while, but the 'home team' won. Sadness. The only thing that I didn't care for was when the hostess was talking shop with her friend for long periods of time. (They both work for OC or Olympic College.) They wanted to share and explain what they went through and such, too. At first it was interesting, then I started to get sleepy. After a while, I kept catching myself before falling asleep. If that was the only down part, that's pretty good.
Sunday was the start of Crohn's & Colitis Awareness Week. The only things I've done for it are added a frame to my fb profile pic, filled out an infographic on my experience, and shared both to Instagram as well. I've talked about my experience often on here. One thing that's surprised me is that you can still suffer symptoms while in remission. It really depends on how much damage it caused before going into remission. People tend to think in order to be in remission, you must not have related symptoms. Also, there's a high possibility of getting another autoimmune disease eventually with it. I apparently have another one, but they (doctors) don't know what it is yet. So, that's a fun thing, too. There isn't a cure for colitis. This can be hard for many patients to come to terms with. They'll have to deal with it for the rest of their lives. While in remission, it doesn't actually stop. The disease has just gone down to an unnoticeable crawl.
Finished watching The Truth Seekers. It's a Singaporean private detective drama. They solve cold cases. I liked it a lot. I didn't care for the added tension towards the end. Plus, the love triangle thing...The characters were likable and felt like family. They left it wide open for another season. I'd so watch it if there is one in the future.
Started watching the 2nd season of High Seas recently. It's a Spanish mystery series set in the 40s on a luxury cruise ship. The cinematography's great, they have elegant costumes that would have been popular at the time, and a lot of aspects are accurate to the way things would have been. The acting is occasionally over-the-top. Very interesting story and kind of cool that most of it is from the perspective of 2 sisters. This season seems a little weird. Ghosts might be involved this time, although it might all be an act by someone they rescued recently. That someone is apparently lesbian or bi. Not sure if that's good representation, considering she could be stealing and a fraud posing as a medium. She kissed one of the sisters that believes her. As far as they've shown, the sister is straight, and recently got married to the owner of the ship. She could be bi...She seemed to like it. They were hinting that she'd do something like that with how touchy-feely she was with her. This season isn't long, and I'm already halfway through it. It'd be interesting to see how it goes. The 1st season was mainly about mysterious murders and the sisters' long-thought dead father. I wasn't sure there would be another season with how the last one ended, so it's been a pleasant surprise.
I finished Duolingo's Dutch course. I was thinking about going back to modern Hebrew next, but their course for it is awful. I can't seem to find any good apps for it, either. I thought about Yiddish, but that's hardly available anywhere. Although, I did read that Duolingo is creating a course for it and might be out in a few months. Started Duolingo's Scottish Gaelic course today. It's really new. Newer than I thought. Came out a week ago. There hasn't been any speaking lessons yet, but I'm at the very basic stuff. Some of the other languages didn't have those until a few more units in. They have a lot of different native speakers, which is good to get more of a feel to how it sounds. I knew the language was a little odd, but really looking at it brings that to light more. It's another language that my ancestors spoke, so I thought it would be good to learn that way. Not many people speak it anymore. There is an effort to change that, though. The course looks short, but maybe they're only showing me some of it, then once I get to the last checkpoint shown there will be more. If not, I still feel lucky to get a taste of it.
Finished editing Alliance: Dawn. Started editing Sweet Endless Terror. It's 12 short stories based on my nightmares. Went through the 1st story: The Head. It's the shortest one. 5 pages of the ebook and 8 pages of the print. I also didn't remember how short the ebook was. It's only 94 pages. The print is 255 pages. I formatted the print to be for a small book, so it makes sense. The difference is weird, though. Especially seeing them side by side.
Finished fixing the drawing of Junko's lines. In Photoshop, I added color to her skin, eye (she's winking, so only one is open), hair, shoes, and ears. They're not exactly the colors I had in mind, but they're not bad looking. I don't know much about color codes in Photoshop, but I'm looking them up as I go. I'll color in her skirt, socks, and shirt next. Then, I'll mess with shading. I have to remember to go a little darker with that than I did with Shadow.
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