Re

Mood:

Or: Hot. By Jane Zhang. Basically about 'hot' and passionate love. Great dance song, too. I'm a bit new to Cpop, but discovering some artists and songs through Lastfm. To me, they have a different and interesting feel. I was already a bit into S.H.E, but that was basically it for Cpop artists. Her voice is amazing, and hearing the language in song form is interesting and beautiful. (Although, I find it an interesting language to begin with.)

I've been slowly getting back into things. I feel much better than I did last week.Managed to do a full day of my sit-ups yesterday, and did my morning ones for today (hopefully will get to the evening ones). I'm doing 60 sit-ups twice a day this week. I think I had gotten up to 95 twice a day before I was sick. Thought this would be a good amount to ease into it again. It would probably be bad if after not doing it for so long, doing 95 twice a day again right away. Hope to get back to walking tomorrow. Hopefully, I can finally get into walking twice a day, as well. I had been trying to make it a habit before, but never quite got into it.If I can do it, I'll be doing 4 miles a day instead of 2. 

Watched the finale of Ando Lloyd. It was an amazing show.The main actor is extremely talented, and somewhat of a legend in Japan. He was amazing again. Able to go from a robotic/serious like personality to a goofball genius professor. The professor had very distinctive mannerisms too. The lead actress was also pretty good. Very convincing. The actress who played the role of his sister was awesome, too. The character has a split personality, and that's very difficult to do well, too. She sometimes would snap into an evil cold-hearted psycho killer. Her normal personality was nice, sweet, loved people, etc. She was also a genius professor. (She was on a similar level, if not even brighter than her brother.) She had an interesting way of switching, as well. Hiccuping a lot when her 'nice' side tried to win over her 'evil' one. Almost fainting when she switched to 'evil'. I liked Suppli, as well. The actress who plays her has been getting better and better with each show I've seen her in. She hasn't been acting for long, and she is in a lot of ads over there. Lots of other amazing actors, too. It had a really bizarre, yet nice ending. Made you wonder long after it ended. It almost looked like there'd be a possibility of a 2nd season. I hope so.The plot was very intricate, unique, and fascinating. Each episode seemed to go by in a minute, it was that awesome. 

Log Horizon has been getting more and more interesting. They go into a lot of detail, but do it in a good way. The round table of guilds are visiting the People of the Land or NPCs (non-player characters) in the game. They seem to be changing a great deal along with the 'Adventurers'. The Adventurers have made great advances in technology. And, the NPCs are worried that there will be a war between them, or they'll be left behind. They also want to learn from them. Very interesting how they built the dynamic with the NPCs. They're all curious of the outsiders, too. Not sure what to make of them. They used to just give out quests, but now they don't have to, and are unsure of what to do. The inexperienced Adventurers went to a camp to train, which was Shiroe's idea. (Kind of like summer camp for kids.) One of the 'trials' during it is to clear a dungeon. The main group wasn't able to do it, and almost died. When many anime are finishing up the season, this one is apparently not even halfway through. Nice.

Wrote more of the 4th story from my nightmare anthology. Again, it seems to be going in an interesting direction. I never really know how things will end up until I'm close to the end. I know I'm nearing the end of this one, at least. Can't believe I'll be moving onto the 5th one soon! Yay!

Played my clarinet for an hour yesterday, and normal amount of time today. It felt really good to play for that hour. I had planned before I got sick to play during the weekend for that amount of time. Before that, I rarely played during the weekend...I feel like I improved a lot more with just that. I used to play an hour a day when I was in junior high (maybe even in elementary school. Started when I was 10) until, I think, a year or 2 into college. I remember that they would tell us in junior high to practice for 20 minutes. I used to laugh at that. Still do, because that's really nothing. (My norm now during the week is 30 minutes. I won't go less than that.) I played some jazz and klezmer today. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 等. When pronounced as とう (tou): (suf, counter) class, order, rank; (suf) etc., and the like; (pref) equal. As ら (ra): (suf) pluralizing suffix (often humble, derogatory, or familiar), and others, and the like, and followers; or so (rough indicator of direction, location, amount, etc.); (after the stem of an adjective) nominalizing suffix. As など (nado): (suf, particle) (usually in kana instead of kanji) etc., and the like, and so forth; (indicating an approximate quote or vague suggestion) or something; (lessening the significance or value of the previous word) the likes of. As 等しい or ひと.しい (hito.shii): equal, similar, like, equivalent.

Translated some more of a You Maga article. Found out that it uses a word that's pretty rare. But, I do know that sometimes they use words that are only common in things like newspapers or magazines. I think they're called something like asahi words, based on the famous newspaper. Makes it more exciting, then.

Read an article on Asahi's website in Japanese. It was about a figure skater who didn't rank high enough in the national championships to advance to the Olympics. He had hoped that he had recovered enough from injuring his leg, but he wasn't up to par yet. It was sad. He said he couldn't find the words to express how he felt. He had won a bronze medal for Japan in the 2010 Olympics. One of the few medals that they've won in his category. So, it surprised a lot of people.

On a forum, I starting talking in Japanese with someone. Apparently, I blew their mind and they just said 'epic' at one point. I don't think they were using actual Japanese words. But, they weren't writing in kana, and sometimes it's hard to read romaji (basically transliterated in Latin letter form. It's literally 'Roman Letters' in Japanese) and know what they're talking about. Especially if they use the 'shortened' form with the lines over the letters. But, I checked it later, and I was right about them not using real words, or words written incorrectly even using that form. I had written back to them in kana/kanji, and maybe that's why they said 'epic' afterwards. They were surprised at how much I actually know. 

Youtube faves:

Fran's, from Hitman Reborn, funny moments (he's funny in most of his scenes. I love this character, and he didn't have much screen time.):

Hilarious scene from Hitman Reborn with Tsuna and Spanner (I also love Spanner. Maybe more so than Tsuna, although he's a good character too. I also love Spanner's assistant, a small mosca which is a kind of robot. It's also featured):

Tsuna doing his 'hiis' (didn't realize how many times he did it, and it was more than this. It only shows a snippet of the series. The show has a lot more episodes):

National Parfait Day!

Mood:

I love parfaits!There are so many different kinds. The original frozen parfait was created in France in 1894. Apparently, the popular variety for the northern US and Canada is with layers of yogurt, fruit, and granola. Kind of wish there was more of a variety of them in restaurants here. But, then again I haven't tried too many, I guess. A lot of convenience stores, markets, etc. carry this version. I have to be in the mood for yogurt, though.I think I've had one with layers of cream. That was even better. I'd like to try some of the other kinds in the future.

Can't believe Hanukkah starts Wednesday night!It's coming up quick! It'll go until December 5th. There's a big hoopla around the first day being on Thanksgiving. I frankly don't understand why it's such a big deal.I know people are saying things like this won't happen again for another 70,000 years. (People keep changing this number around.) I feel like they don't have much in common. One's a national holiday, the other religious. For other Jews around the world it's just another ordinary day that it lands on. People are still trying to combine them. I think it's kind of ridiculous to do things like menurkeys or turkey shaped menorahs. Almost seems wrong in a way.I kind of get the food stuff though. Latkes (potato pancakes) go pretty well with Thanksgiving food. Having them with cranberry sauce would be interesting. Not sure what our friends will serve. We probably will do something Hanukkah related, like lighting the candles. Not sure if they'll have latkes. I think, if I remember correctly, we were told to bring some sort of salad like usual. Guess I'll find out what they'll do when we get there...They usually smoke their turkey, so that'll be nice. 

Managed to get back into playing my clarinet during the weekend as well. I decided to play for a longer time during the weekends. I feel even more connected to it now. Still slip up a bit, but I'm improving greatly. 

Also, got back into writing during the weekend. That's been great, too. The story's progressing much quicker. Might finish the 3rd short story for my nightmare anthology soon. Yay!Then, onto the 4th. (It's taking less time than I expected...Should go even quicker now.)

Ando Lloyd is getting really interesting. Lloyd is clearly developing feelings for Asahi. He's new to emotions, and isn't quite sure what to do with them. He even felt jealous of Reiji. He was told to pose as Reiji to fool Asahi's mom for a pre-wedding photo shoot. Her mom had told her that she was dying of breast cancer and didn't have much time left. She said her only regret was not seeing Asahi in a wedding dress. Later, they find out that her mother lied about the whole thing. Lloyd was semi-going along with acting as Reiji until her mother kept saying Reiji when referring to him. He got angry and stormed out. Apparently, Reiji's brain had been uploaded to a huge server. The 'future police' decided he was too much of a threat and terminated him. Even though Lloyd's repair unit, Suppli, was destroyed, there might be another one coming. Lloyd was told that an android only gets one unit for its lifetime. So, this should be interesting. I liked Suppli, so it was sad when they killed her off. But, she was the one who gave Lloyd an 'emotions' program before she was destroyed. It'd be interesting if his new unit is really like an upgraded version of her, or it might even be Reiji, or at least what was left of his brain before they terminated it. 

Log Horizon was interesting, too. Mainly about how the guilds in the game work. Talking about business deals and trades. Without revealing too much of their plan, they managed to get the top 3 merchant guilds into enthusiastically donating to them. One of the guild masters even suggested that he'll pay the full amount. I thought it'd be boring, but the way they went about it made it kind of amusing. Shiroe's planning to make the region better somehow. He hasn't revealed everything yet. 

In Mixed Vegetables, Hayato finally opened up to Hanayu. He was very close to his grandfather. His grandfather had always wanted Hayato to eventually take over the family's sushi's shop. He knew Hayato loved to make sweets instead. But, didn't know that Hayato didn't want to take over, and instead wanted to become a patissier. Hayato kept putting off telling him. Eventually, his grandfather passed away. Since he never told him, he feels he owes it to him to take over the sushi shop. Hanayu had thought that he had just gotten cold feet or something about being an apprentice to her father. She didn't know the actual story. It's been an interesting story so far. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 定. Pronounced as 定か or さだ.か (sada.ka): definite, sure. As 定まる or さだ.まる (sada.maru): to become settled, be fixed. As 定める or さだ.める (sada.meru): to decide, establish, determine. 設定 or せってい (settei): establishment, creation, posing (a problem), setting (movie, novel, etc.), scene. 勘定 or かんじょう (kanjou): calculation, counting, consideration, reckoning, settlement of an account, allowance. 予定 or よてい (yotei): plans, arrangement, schedule, program, expectation, estimate. 定義 or ていぎ (teigi): definition. 

Started translating another section from an article in You Maga. Read in article in Japanese on Asahi's site. It was on Caroline Kennedy becoming the US ambassador to Japan, and her visit there. Very interesting. For studying Japanese over the weekend, I've added more quizzes, more of a focus on practice sentences, and on grammar. Its helped a lot already. 

Youtube:

A cool Naruto amv:

A nice Hitman Reborn amv to one of Tsuna's themes:

Funny moments of Lambo from Hitman Reborn:

Caramel Apple Day!

Mood:

I love caramel apples! I rarely have them, even during autumn. Although, I think if I had them more often, I'd get sick of it and would probably lose my teeth.So, it's better for me to have it as a rare treat. I like those caramel apple lollipops that come out this time of year, too. If I do have the actual apples dipped in caramel, it's usually store-bought. Some of the ones at our local grocery store can get pretty fancy with putting a bunch of things on the caramel. The plain caramel ones are still the best to me, though.

Last Wednesday, I apparently had eaten too little. So, the next day I felt like I had been hit by a truck, and was pretty sluggish.I had started to eat less the Friday before that. I was ok for a while, until I decided to see how little I can actually eat in a day on Wednesday. I noticed I can still eat small amounts, just not THAT small. I'm still eating less than before that Friday. With leftovers I've decided I can also spread them out for snacks. That way they won't go bad, and I won't feel like I'm wasting food.

I'm up to 70 sit-ups twice a day this week. Hopefully, I can keep it up. Hope to get back to my walks soon. I finally will have my first appointment with my new therapist this Friday. Haven't had a session in about 8 months.At least I'll see someone now. On Saturday, I'll have my annual eye exam. I can tell I need it, since my contacts go out of focus quite often, and I'm squinting more. 

Decided to change my wallpaper. I had mentioned before about switching it to one featuring Chrome from Hitman Reborn halfway through the month. This is her. The wallpaper I had before featured Mukuro. Thought this seemed a bit more Halloween-ish. Her name is an anagram for Mukuro in Japanese. (Chrome in romaji: Kuroomu. Or: ムクロ and クローム.) Those aren't really her normal clothes. I don't think she has Dying Will flames coming out of her eye, either. (Or where she used to have an eye.) But, she carries the staff with her everywhere. The more I think about her 'situation', I'm realizing she's more like a zombie. She doesn't bleed either. The only things keeping her 'alive' are organs made out of illusions that Mukuro created. So, she really does fit the holiday.

Watched a Syfy movie Saturday night called Grave Halloween. Thought it'd be interesting, since the story's based off of the 'Suicide Forest' in Japan. Some of the Japanese was very poorly spoken. (I checked some of the words just to be sure. Some of them weren't actual words.) Some of it was spot on. So, on that front, it was kind of mediocre.It had a very slow beginning and middle. It could have probably just been 30-45 minutes. There were some really gruesome/graphic deaths. I usually like the more psychological stuff rather than gore in horror movies. I love horror movies in general, though. Didn't like the ending, although I kind of saw it coming. Or, at least a similar scenario. A lot of it was predictable. I like the ones that keep you guessing. So, it was just ok. Not great or bad, just ok. Also, it was filmed in Canada instead of Japan. They tried to make it 'look' like Japan, though. 

Started watching Ando Lloyd. It felt like a cross between the Terminator and the Matrix. Saying the title in Japanese also sounds like android. It fits it well, too. Reiji Matsushima is a genius physicist who studies wormhole theories. He somehow came up with a list of people who were 'destined' to be murdered. It has the exact date and time on it. His and his fiancee's name are the next ones to be 'killed'. (His fiancee's name is Ando Asahi.) He predicts his own death, but tries to change it. He ends up getting killed anyways, but he vows to protect Ando forever. A robot who looks like Reji, shows up in front of Ando just before she was about to be killed. He says his 'client' told him to protect her at all costs. Even from herself. He destroys the other 'robot' before it carried out its mission to kill Ando. Now, he apparently has to deal with 10 other 'agents'. These 'killer' robots seem to come from some sort of different dimension, where when they target you, no one in the 'real' world will notice. That's about as much as they revealed in the first episode. All the summaries online that I've found weren't entirely accurate. Oh well. I like his fiancee. She's funny, smart, has confidence, and is spunky. The couple were very cute together. It'd be interesting to see how this one turns out. The pace of it was great, too. Has one of my fave actors as the android or robot that looks like (and was) Reiji. 

Log Horizon is getting interesting. They're still on a journey to find a girl named Serara, and help her escape. She's being taken care of by a cat character or 'player'. Serara's class is a maid. So, she's constantly cleaning things. She's angry at herself for choosing that class, since she feels you can't do much with it. Both her and the 'cat' are hiding from a guild of PKers or Player Killers. For some reason the master of that guild is searching for her. He'll kill his own guild members if they suddenly grow a conscience about killing other players. 

In Mix Vegetable, Hayato and Hana found out that Saki fell in love with their teacher when he was in school. When their teacher showed up at the sushi place to do a home visit for Hayato, Saki couldn't bring himself to talk to her and hid. When she left, he became incredibly clumsy and kept cutting himself while trying to prepare the sushi. So, thinking it'll get Saki back to normal, Hana and Hayato decided to ask their teacher how she felt about Saki. She told them to never say his name or bring him up ever again. Kind of sad. She apparently had feelings for him at the time. When he refused to go to college and became an apprentice to a sushi chef, she did things like vowed never to wear skirts again. (Students are constantly wondering what gender she is...) It'd be interesting to see how this is resolved.

Played my clarinet. Did some Irish tunes. Wasn't too bad. Was more aware of how I was playing, and sounded a bit better. (I sometimes get lazy with the Irish tunes and just rush through them without really being aware.) Wrote a bit more of the 2nd short story to my nightmare anthology.

日本語

Studied some more compounds for the kanji: 代. 代償 or だいしょう (daishou): compensation, reparation, consideration. 代人 or だいにん (dainin): substitute, deputy, proxy, representative, agent. 代置 or だいち (daichi): replace. 代入 or だいにゅう (dainyuu): substitution, assignment. 代任 or だいにん (dainin): agency, acting official. 代表 or だいひょう (daihyou): representative, delegation, type, example, model. 代品 or だいひん (daihin): substitute article. 代稽古 or だいげいこ (daigeiko): substitute teaching. Still have a lot more compounds to go over for this one. Read an article on Asahi's website about how morning exercises for junior high school students who are involved in sports, is affecting their grades. Most students felt they didn't have time for sleep or even breakfast. A proposal was brought up in Nagano to end those exercises, and was passed. It's one of the first districts to do so. They're expecting some backlash though. Kind of interesting.