By Ai Otsuka. Kind of fits my mood for the last couple of days. Haven't posted an Ai Otsuka song in a long time! This one's kind of an old one, but it's fun and energetic. Although, a bit weird too. But, that kind of fits Otsuka. She's an amazing singer!
Does a wide range of musical genres. From rock, to pop, to ballads, etc. It would be cool if she was currently more active. 
My spice calendar features saffron, which is the most expensive spice on Earth. It apparently originated in Greece. While Iran is the biggest producer of saffron in the world currently, Spain is its biggest exporter. They explain what it was used for in the past, what you can make with it, and what wines you can pair those dishes with.
My Jewish calendar features a self-portrait, oil based painting on canvas, by Else Berg. From Amsterdam in 1917. There's also a mizrach, maker's unknown, out of paper, from Germany in 1900. A mizrach, is a wall decoration on the eastern wall of a house or synagogue in the direction of Jerusalem towards which we face during prayer. (Mizrach literally means 'east'.) Always cool to see the old stuff.
The month-long holidays are: National Asparagus Month, National BBQ Month, National Egg Month, National Hamburger Month, National Mediterranean Diet Month, National Salad Month, National Salsa (food) Month, National Strawberry Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, National Mental Health Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. I love all of those foods! Cool, that it's Jewish American Heritage Month! Mental health is very important. Good to raise awareness for it.
Actually got up a bit early today. Before my alarm went off.
I've been sleeping in a little the last couple of days, so this was nice. Yesterday was the anniversary, on the regular calendar, of my mom passing away. Oddly, I didn't really feel depressed.
She popped up in my mind occasionally, but I wasn't really that emotional about it. It might be that I'm still on a 'high' from publishing my book. Not only that, but getting into the 'premium' catalog really made me feel good. I think she'd want me to be happy. So, maybe it was ok to feel this way on such a day. My grandparents called mainly because of what day it was, and to see how I was. It was a nice conversation. I told them about my book, and they seemed happy for me. They also said they were proud. Makes me feel even better!
Not sure if I've felt this happy before. If I have, it would have been a loooong time ago. There has been 11 downloads of the sample on Smashwords, so far. It's available now on Kobo, Apple, and Page Foundry. It was shipped to Barnes and Noble, I saw they got it, but they haven't listed it yet. This is so exciting!
If anyone's interested, here's the link to it on Smashwords: Alliance. (Can't believe I didn't post it last time...
)Went to the support group's meeting Tuesday night. This time, since it was the 5th Tuesday of the month, we had a potluck and watched a movie. There wasn't much to the potluck this time. We brought some regular popcorn, and some Kettle Corn. There was a good red velvet swirl cake with icing, some chips, and gummy bears. I think there was soda, although I didn't drink anything. The movie was interesting, yet extremely trippy.
We went to Shari's after. I got the yogurt parfait that comes with an English muffin. They just listed it coming with a 'muffin'. That can mean a lot of things.
The English muffin was already heavily buttered. Kind of looked nasty that way. Isn't it better to let your customers put as much or as little as they'd like on it? The parfait was pretty good. I asked for strawberries in mine. So, it was those, yogurt, and some crushed up pieces of granola (kind of like they took a bar of it, and smashed it into chunks. Then, put it in the parfait). Also, had my regular strawberry lemonade. Found out that one of the members of the group wanted me to help teach her daughter about Judaism. Her daughter's very interested in it, but doesn't know anyone who is Jewish. Her daughter's thinking of possibly converting in the future. She also isn't really sure if her daughter actually knows how big of a commitment that is. I'm more than happy to educate people. Even if it just ends up being that way, it's still cool that she's even slightly interested. I think people should be educated of others. I was always the only Jew in school (except college, and even then, there wasn't very many of us), so I have some experience in talking to people who have absolutely no idea what Judaism is about. In the past, its led to some really interesting questions and debate.
I thought I'd take her to a Saturday morning service first, to kind of let her have a feel of it. But, now I'm starting to think that it'd be best to just meet and talk first. So, she knows some of the basics, and she's not totally confused. Both congregations are very open to people who aren't Jewish and that are just interested in how we do things. So, I'm sure they'd be fine with it. Back in high school, I think (might have been in junior high), I took a couple of my non-Jewish friends to services. They thought it was very interesting and fun. The congregation said if there's any questions you have, just ask. So, this should be very interesting.
We went to Taprock for dinner yesterday. Mammy J had gotten another check from Smashwords!
So, that was good to celebrate. I got a ciabatta sandwich with smoked chicken, provolone, and pesto. The sandwich also had some sundried tomatoes, red onions, and green pepper. It came with a side of steak fries, and a long deli pickle. Had half of it, and the other half made for a nice lunch today.In Cartoon KAT-TUN, they had their second to last episode of the 'love' project. Which is good, because their project has lasted longer than I was expecting. And, things got tiring quickly. Although, I really loved Kame and Taguchi's parts in the project. The others I could have done without. Ueda didn't really do much until the last couple of episodes. This episode was actually a compilation of footage that they had cut out throughout the project. I think that they had the best moments. They should have kept these scenes in. Kame met some kindergarteners doing a relay outside. He talked to a little boy in the group, and asked him about love. He kept saying that the only thing he loves is meat. Kame asked him if there was anything else he loved, and he continued to bring up meat. Then, eventually he ranked his favorite meats. It was cute. Then, Kame talked to an 86 year old man, who was tending to his 'vegetable and fruit' farm. He showed Kame how to prune an apple tree. He said the only thing he loves, at his age, is tending to his farm. He started doing it when he was 18, and hasn't stopped since. Ueda talked to some middle school girls about love. That was rather interesting, too. One girl tried to confess to a boy she's had a crush on through her cell phone, but had to leave a message. Taguchi watched how animals court each other. It was cute and funny. In the last episode of this 'project' they'll do something together. And, from the preview, they look like they're brought to tears.
In Otenki Onee-san, people are starting to notice that detective Gota has a photographic memory. He keeps trying to avoid the subject, saying anyone can do it. This time, it was about a woman who suspected her ex of stalking. She got a restraining order when she thought that he was setting fires around her. Turned out, that those fires had started by using the sun's rays and making them bounce off of something like a crystal, and aiming it towards something. Like using a magnifying glass as an example. He just wanted to talk to her. Her assistant, and friend, acted like she was protecting her from the crazy ex. When it was really her who 'rigged up' those areas to catch fire. She wanted her all to herself. She thought the only way they can be together forever is if they die together, and set a fire up in a greenhouse that the other woman's family owns. Then, locked her and herself inside. They found them in time, but she was really creepy.
日本語
Yesterday, I went over some more compounds for 実. (There's a lot on the list, and I'm maybe a third of the way through it.) 質実 or しつじつ (shitsujitsu): simplicity, plainness. 老実 or ろうじつ (roujitsu): loyalty, fidelity. 充実した or じゅうじつした (juujitsushita): full, complete, substantial (meal), solid (reading), productive (day). 実しやかに or まことしやかに (makotoshiyakani): as if it were true, plausibly. 事実に照らして or じじつにてらして (jijitsu ni terashite): (exp) in view of the facts. 実のところ or じつのところ (jitsunotokoro): (exp) as a matter of fact, in fact, to tell the truth. 実印 or じついん (jitsuin): officially registered seal. 実員 or じついん (jitsuin): actual number of people. 現実化 or げんじつか (genjitsuka): realization. 現実感 or げんじつかん (genjitsukan): sense of reality. 実記 or じっき (jikki): true account. 実況放送 or じっきょうほうそう (jikkyouhousou): on-the-spot or live broadcast, running commentary, blow-by-blow report.
