Mood:
Yay! Happy 4th!
To people who live in Canada, hope you had a great Canada Day on the 1st. The 4th is one of my fave holidays! Although, some people get a little crazy with their fireworks in our neighborhood. A lot of them seem to use illegal ones. The type that are way too big for the area.
I like to watch the fireworks on TV, though. They're cool.
Our cats really hate this time of year...
This is my wallpaper for July. It's of the Vocaloids: Luka, Miku, Rin, Gakupo, Kaito, Meiko, and Len. Kind of fun, and very poignant since I'm about to go on a trip myself.
A few things seem to be happening that I didn't realize until I used it. Like Rin tying the ends of Miku and Gakupo's hair together. Meiko's boot almost off. The tuna on the overhead shelf. Apparently Luka got more snacks for everyone. The 'twins' Rin and Len's favorite foods are oranges and bananas, eggplant for Gakupo, ice cream (or really anything cold) for Kaito (and he already has a popsickle), beer for Meiko (I know it's a drink, but she's always with it. I think there's a can of it in Luka's arms as well. Meiko's looking at her mp3 player), Tuna for Luka (although, there's a weird thing with her and octopi. There's some takoyaki or octopus balls in the pic), and Miku's is leeks (she seems to not realize that there are some behind Luka's back).
My Italy calendar features Milan this month. It mentions some of Milan's history, highlights, landmarks, etc. The main pic's of a statue of Leonardo da Vinci. Kind of a cool looking one. On the first it featured a church fresco, 2nd and 3rd a pic of a wedding, and today it's a pic of a Versace store in Via Montenapoleone. Interesting.
My Jewish calendar's main pic for this month is of a painting titled Life? Or Theatre? A Song-Play. The Wedding of Franziska Knarre and Albert Kann, Prologue, Scene 1. By Charlotte Salomon. It's gouache on paper, from France; 1940-1942. Interesting wedding scene. The 2nd pic's of a laver (or fancy looking water pitcher) and basin. Made by Michiel Denee out of silver, from the Hague, Netherlands; 1768. It's cool to see the really old stuff. The pitcher and basin are used during the ritual hand washing. Many people still do this before they eat. There's a special 'procedure' in how to go about it. Many don't follow this though. They might do it just before the Shabbat meal, but not at other times. Apparently, it's done especially before eating bread.
The month-long holidays are: National Baked Bean Month, National Bison Month, National Grilling Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberries Month, National Horseradish Month, Nectarine and Garlic Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Wow! All food ones this month. Nice. I love them all, although it's been a while since I've had bison... (Bison is kosher, which is cool. Tastes pretty good.) I also have to be weary of baked beans in some restaurants, since they may use pork products. But, it's good too. There are some good kosher cans of it out there along with some recipes. I love horseradish if it's mixed well in something. It gives a tangy kick to it. I absolutely love garlic! I could eat it all day everyday.
I'm getting really nervous about our trip to Scottsdale, AZ.
I know I'm not the one getting surgery, but I'm nervous about how it'll go and if I'll have everything ready for myself. Someone said think of it as a vacation for myself. Well, even if I think that way, I have to be prepared for it and make sure I have everything.
They're going to have roughly 100-110 degree temps as highs. I'm not used to being in that weather.
At least not for a prolonged amount of time. (Eastern Washington can get pretty toasty in the summertime.) We'll be there for 11 days (one more than I was expecting...
). Plus, it's their 'monsoon' season. Which means dust storms and hot rain. Yay! I've gone through a few dust storms while I stayed in Pullman, but I'm not 'used' to them. It's hard to walk around and do anything outside during that time. Plus, I've experienced very hot rain before, and it wasn't fun. So, it's going to be very hot, slightly rainy, and dusty. Sounds fun...
Tried to go shopping to get more 'appropriate' clothes for the weather, but only found one shirt at Old Navy. I was surprised I found anything.
This one's a long soft flowy tank top (kind of looks like a jersey on top) with black and shimmery light gold stripes. I'm usually not into stripes, especially because I can't seem to remember which type of stripe will look good for my body type.
But, apparently it was a good one. Even the employee helping me in the dressing room said it looked great. Yay!
Didn't find any skirts or dresses, so I'm stuck with wearing my jeans. I only have one skirt that fits currently, and it's long and black. I'm not wearing something that's all black in that weather.
I thought there would be a slim possibility of wearing my orange sundress, but that's just slightly too snug for me. (Almost down to the weight I would have been when I wore it more than a decade ago.) Plus, I have to have someone zip it up for me. Not very practical.
People have told me that I need a hat. I don't really like hats. Plus, it makes me feel even warmer. I have long hair, maybe that can be like my 'hat'.
It can protect me. I might pack my keds and sandals for it. Socks and sneakers will probably be too warm. I know most places will have air conditioning, but there will be moments where I'm outside.
We're leaving super early Sunday morning, or super late Saturday night, however you want to look at it.
The cats are going to be boarded at a kennel during that time. Buster, our beagle that passed away a while ago, used to love the place we're taking them. He'd get excited as soon as he knew where we were going. It's like pet camp. This will probably be the first time for Rosie and Tasha. I hope they have fun, or at least are nice and comfortable.
It's a heck of a lot better than being stuck at home for that amount of time, and occasionally have someone check up on them. If it gets hot, the kennel can turn on its air conditioning. Can't do that at our place. They'll have to go there one at a time, though. Plus, they have to be in their own spaces without other cats. They'd rip each other apart, and any other cat that was with them.
I can't even fathom what would happen if we put both of them together in that one small kitty carrier we use to transport them there. Even our first cats had problems being in the same carrier. But, it'd be worse with Rosie and Tasha. Much worse...
I do plan to take as many pics as possible.
I might go to the mall, the Heard Museum which is a Native American museum and they have shops around it featuring Native american art, Old Town, other museums, etc. Might be able to attend services at 2 local synagogues. One being reform, and the other that says it's not affiliated with any movement. The 2nd one says they use a Hasidic prayer book, but tend to have a conservative service. But, anyone is welcome, no matter the observance. Sounds like an interesting one.
The reform one would at least feel more 'normal' as well. The only problem is they seem to be a tad far from the nearest bus stop. It might be a little difficult in that heat. Just heard that they might have a trolley that's free that goes around town. Maybe it goes to them. Also, the hotel has a shuttle that can take you anywhere within a 3-mile radius for free. That might be good to take advantage of. Not sure if these synagogues are within that range. Guess I can look into it still.
I'll also be able to use Dad's laptop, which will definitely be handy.
I don't have a 'smart phone', so it's probably the next best thing. I'll have my regular phone as well. I've had it for a very long time, and I still like it. It can send texts out, can connect to the internet, there are games, a calendar, calculator, and a few other nice little things on it. Pretty good for the time that I got it. I might blog some during it, especially if I'll have a laptop.
I'm of course nervous about Dad's surgery as well. Anytime people get knocked out and put under the knife can be a risk. But, it'll definitely make things better for her. She'll feel better about herself. She told me that she doesn't want anyone to give her pink balloons that say 'It's a Girl' on them. Makes total sense to me. She's always been one, just is correcting a birth defect.
Although, I wouldn't exist without that 'defect'. But, she doesn't need it anymore. Hasn't for a while. I hope people do visit her, like they said they might. At least she won't be totally alone if I'm there with her. It's also understandable that this whole experience would be nerve wrecking, yet exciting for her. I'd probably be that way.
The hotel will have a refrigerator, so I'll be able to store my leftovers from restaurants and such. I'm hoping to still keep somewhat close to my 'diet'. I can eat whatever I want as long as I eat what's within my calorie range, and save the leftovers. Which also means I won't have to go to restaurants that often. I'm thinking of taking a plastic fork and spoon with me. Just so it'll be easy to finish those leftovers. I also will be taking advantage of the hotel's complimentary breakfasts. I can have breakfast, and take something for a snack later. Something like a bagel, banana, individually packed cereal, muffin, etc. It'd be a smart way to save on it as well.
Dad will mostly be staying at the hospital. We'll have about 2 days at the hotel before her surgery, but she'll be on a liquid diet during most of that time. Then, will have to have nothing in her system after that except for maybe the contrast or something (don't remember what it was exactly), so she won't be able to eat anything. Then, she'll be back on a liquid diet after surgery. It might take a while for her to be able to eat normal stuff. Kind of sad.
But, at least I'll be able to try out some of the places in the area...
Finished watching Border. I don't think I liked the end. He crossed over the 'border' between good and evil. (Another meaning to the title might be that he was able to be on the border between the living and the dead.) It left it wide open for another season at least. Oguri Shun was amazing! Especially with his facial expressions at the end. I already liked him as an actor, but it was another great one from him.
Started watching Chiritotechin last week. The episodes are only 15 minutes long. But, it has just a little over 100 episodes. Not sure if I'll end up watching the whole thing. Kind of thought I'd look at it as fluff, since I didn't find too many dramas this season that caught my eye. It's about Wada Kiyomi, also referred to as Kiyomi-B. Her family moves to Obama, her father's hometown in the summer of 1982. Her grandmother and uncle welcome the family, but Shotaro (her grandfather) doesn't allow her father to take over Wakasa lacquer chopsticks making. (Because of some grudge they haven't mentioned yet.) One day, Kiyomi-B overhears a rakugo program on the radio in Shotaro's studio, and becomes enchanted with it. Rakugo is a form of comic storytelling. She ends up growing close to her grandfather through it, and she eventually pursues a career in rakugo. Sounds interesting, and there doesn't seem to be that much info on it. There's another show about cooking that I'm interested in. It also has short episodes, but is a long series. Might be more into that one. Although, I like comedy.
We'll see.
Started to watch GTO in Taiwan. GTO is Great Teacher Onizuka. It's basically a special of the series. I liked the series, so why not watch the special? It's only 4 episodes long. I love when countries do a collab with a drama.
Actually using Taiwanese actors along with the few Japanese actors from the series are participating in this one. The language barrier seems to be the biggest problem in the special so far. All Onizuka knows of Chinese is 'ni hao' and 'xie xie'. He sounds like an idiot in a lot of the situations. He's there to get more training as a teacher. It's an international program. The principal of the school Onizuka usually teaches at was supposed to go instead. Don't know what happened to him yet. Onizuka brought his friends, Danma and Saejima, with him. They've already gotten into some trouble together. They lost Saejima at one point. The school is also much more strict about things, and there are apparently some cultural things that he doesn't quite get. Luckily, a couple of the teachers know Japanese fluently and are helping him. One of which he's supposed to assist and observe during her class. He's not supposed to get involved with the students at all. Some of the students are able to do whatever they want, because they come from wealthy families. One of them is bullying another student. Only, it's pretty extreme. It's a 'game' where the student that's picked is invisible. No one can interact, notice, talk to, etc. them. So, people end up purposely walking over him, kicking a soccer ball over him like he's not there, throw stuff at him 'aiming' for the trash can, etc. Teachers aren't allowed to step in, unless they want to lose their jobs. The student who's being bullied said he doesn't mind, and of course Onizuka took that as a challenge to change him. I guess I'll have to see what happens. It's very interesting so far. I like learning about other Asian cultures, too.
Started watching Tokyo Ghoul. Not sure if I like it or not, so I won't go into detail with it yet.
It's very violent and gory, but very psychological too. It's very well done as far as emotions and really feeling for the main character. Not sure where they're going with the story. I'll give it a chance to grow on me, and see.
Youtube (wow, it's been kind of a while since I've shared a faved vid...
):
Funny vid from Hitman Reborn's OVA (like a special). Xanxus seems kind of clueless in this one. I like the ending, too:
Vid featuring Kakashi vs Naruto and Sakura:
An oddly sentimental Gintama one. It was a bittersweet story arc. The music goes along with it pretty well. I miss this series so much!:
An interesting vid and song featuring the Gumi Vocaloid:
Mood:
This was actually yesterday, but why not keep celebrating it? We should be hugging our cats every day.They deserve it, and we feel better afterwards. Same goes for petting them. It's kind of a stress reliever for us, and for them. Today's National Orange Juice Day. I can't stand orange juice by itself.
I almost have an allergic reaction to it, where my throat closes up. (A lot of different juices do this to me, but orange juice is the worst.) When it's used in cooking, it's pretty good. It's also International Firefighters Day. They have a really tough job, and I highly respect them for it. They deserve a day, if not more, devoted to them.
This is my wallpaper for May. It's Lambo meeting his 20 years later self, from Hitman Reborn. He's presently 5, so this version of his future self is 25. There's also his 10 years later self that shows up more often. But, with 20 years into the future, he's a lot more powerful. And, kind of becomes cool. He's normally a crybaby, and at first looks incredibly weak. Whenever he's about to break down in tears, he grabs his 10-year bazooka and aims it at himself. He usually switches places with the older version of himself after he fires it. If the 15 year old version of him starts to cry, he fires the bazooka again at himself, and the 25 year old version pops up. Again, switching places with the younger one. They usually can only stay in another time period for 5 minutes. So, the 15 year old one, would have to shoot himself within that time limit to have the 25 year old show up. And, he still is running on the time of when his 5 year old self used it. So, there's less time for him anyways...He also apparently travels through parallel universes, so none of them know what the outcome would be for the world the 5 year old version is living in. They can't predict things. But, they can give advice about themselves. They can't really meet themselves face to face like this either. Lambo doesn't seem like it at first, but he's a pretty central character. Without his bazooka there really wouldn't be a story, or at least there certainly wouldn't be a Future Arc. He impacts a lot of the other arcs in kind of subtle ways. And, even at 5 he can do a lot of damage. (His 5 year old self can be annoying at times, though. But, it's kind of typical of a 5 year old.) I still don't know much about him even after watching the anime. Hopefully, they'll explain more about him in the manga. He's technically the Lightning Guardian of the Vongola family (youngest Guardian), not the Thunder. There isn't a Thunder one. Looked online a bit, and apparently some people are confused by it. He definitely has an affinity for lightning. The horns are used like lightning rods. And, his body is specially conditioned, so lightning doesn't affect him.
My Italy calendar features the Amalfi Coast this month. I've heard of it before, and mostly all they say in the description is it's beautiful and a great tourist destination. Yesterday's pic was of Positano at dusk. Positano's one of the towns along the coast. Today's pic's of wisteria in Ravello. Ravello's another town in that area.
My Jewish calendar's main pic for this month's a rug, and it has an unknown maker. It's made out of textile, silk, chintz, brocade, metal, silver, and gold. From Goa, India; 1675. The second one's a spice box, has an anonymous maker, made out of tin and silver, from the Netherlands; 1800-1900. The last pic's of Torah finials, unknown maker, made out of silver and silver-gilt, from Germany; 1912-1913. Again, interesting to see the really old stuff.
Cool that there's something from India, and it's a beautiful rug. The spice box is used during Havdalah (our concluding ceremony for Shabbat or our Sabbath). This one looks interesting. It's kind of big and wide looking. The Torah finials go on top of the Torah scrolls. These ones look kind of average though, but still interesting to see. Kind of shows how little their design has changed over the years.
The month-long holidays are: National Asparagus Month, National Barbecue Month, National Egg Month, National Hamburger Month, National Mediterranean Diet Month, National Salad Month, National Salsa Month, National Strawberry Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Global Health and Fitness Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, National Pet Month, National Vinegar Month, Women's Health Care Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Interesting stuff this month. I love asparagus, eggs, hamburgers, salads, salsas (and yes it's the food kind, not the dance style), vinegar, and strawberries! Barbecue is always good. The Mediterranean diet is interesting, and is generally very healthy. Health and fitness is important no matter where you live! Cool heritage holidays! I'm a little partial towards the Jewish American one, but that's because I am one.Doesn't make any of the others less cool and interesting. They should all be celebrated. I'm all for celebrating pets, they're awesome! Women's health is a very important issue as well.
Thursday was the 2-year anniversary of my mom passing away.It didn't feel like it was. I barely remembered except for when I went to bed the night before it. And, even during the day it was only vaguely on my mind. It seemed like a bit of an odd day in other ways, I guess.
It reached record breaking temperatures. At least 85 degrees here. That was the last time I checked which was before the hottest part of the day. I decided to be smart and go for an early walk, so I wouldn't get stuck in the heat. During the walk I was stopped by one of my new friends, who I've known as a neighbor for a long time, and she asked if she could walk back to my house with me. I said sure, and along the way she made a bouquet for me.Most of the flowers were from her own garden. Some were from the park at the tennis courts where she planted a little patch of them, and some were from neighbors who told her it was ok to pick them. It was very sweet of her.
Later on during the day, there were the May Day protests in Seattle. The first one was planned, peaceful, and they were very clear with their message. Mainly about the minimum wage increase, and on other workers' rights. Then came the more entertaining, yet dangerous, protesters.The ones run by Anarchists. No one knew what they were going to do, and last year they vandalized, broke glass, broke into cars, fought against the police, etc. Basically just causing chaos. This year wasn't as violent. I think I heard a few people were arrested, but it wasn't all that big. There was definitely a bigger police presence. They seemed to outnumber the protesters. They were from neighboring counties along with the Seattle PD. They had hordes of bicyclists with body armor and cameras attached to their helmets (which I think was very smart), black vans behind the crowd, police on horseback, motorcycles, etc. They basically made walls around them so they couldn't attack the local businesses, fellow police officers, pedestrians, and control them overall more. It was kind of cool to watch how well prepared and on their toes they were.
After watching a bit of that on TV, we went to Red Lobster. I ordered from the 4-course meal deal again. I got the Caesar salad, spicy chicken tortilla soup, Cajun chicken linguine, and red velvet cake in a jar. I wanted the grilled tilapia instead of the linguine, but they were out of it.The only other option for me on there is the linguine. It's really good, but the dish has one of the highest amounts of calories on the menu.That's kind of why I try to stay away from it. So, I can only have a little bit at a time especially if I'm sticking to my plan for eating. (Which I did really well with during the rest of the day.) The red velvet cake in a jar wasn't one of the dessert options for this 'deal', but you can substitute it for a dessert for about a dollar more. It's a lot more exciting to me than a brownie or Key lime pie.
Those are the only options through it normally. I love the cake in a jar thing. Kind of makes it fun. Although, this seemed to have a lot more icing than cake.Halfway through it, it became very heavy and rich tasting. I tend to be pretty strict about the dinner part, and eat all of the dessert. Kind of to reward myself. Plus, if I had eaten most of the food before the dessert, I wouldn't have the stomach for it and would have consumed even more calories. So, it works out.
But, this way there are quite a bit of leftovers. I found a way to eat them before they go bad, and still keep up with my 'diet'. Just have them throughout the day. Nothing else really, except maybe dinner might be different. But, spread it out for the other 4 'meals' I have. I try to eat 5 small meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, and a night snack. And, I've heard that's actually a pretty healthy way of doing it. While sticking to my 'plan', each meal is pretty low in calories, but it's not too long between meals either. Kind of like I'm grazing all day.
Friday night my new friend, the same one who gave me a bouquet of flowers, mowed our lawn for us. While she was doing it, I thought the sound I was hearing was our neighbors doing their own lawns and didn't think much of it. I came down a little later to the smell of mowed grass. I looked outside and saw what she did. It was kind of a surprise at first.
She did a pretty good job. She had told me before that she'd surprise us at some point with doing it. I thought that meant in the far future, not now.It was very nice of her. She even saved our picnic table outside, and picked up a lot of the sticks. (The table was falling through the deck.)
So, I tried calling her the next day to thank her. She wasn't answering, so we went to her house to personally thank her. (Both Dad and I.) We talked for a while with her. She loves to chat, so I think we were there for a couple of hours.She told us that she basically ruined her cell phone while mowing our lawn. Dropped it somehow. I don't remember all the details. So, she was waiting for the replacement, and people couldn't contact her that way. When we were about to leave, she wanted to give us something from when she went to Costco. I said ok to the fruit leathers. It's been years since I've had them.She said she wants to plant strawberries in our strawberry pots, as well. She's apparently did that today. She's a very sweet person. Kind of feels like we're her little project or something.
After that, we went on our monthly Costco run. Got some interesting things. One of the things we got was a huge thing of chocolate covered raisins. The pieces are bigger than I expected, and apparently each piece is close to 10 calories. Have watch it on those.Sounds like a great dessert or snack in itself.
After that we went to Hale's Alehouse. (Sometimes shortened to just saying Hale's Ales.) Hadn't been there in a long time. The menu looked a bit different. Some of the entrees did, too. I got the jerk chicken on a Caesar salad, and iced tea to go with it. The jerk chicken had just a bit too much spice, but it was still good. The croutons to the salad were huge, and actually felt 'real'. Like you can tell that they're pieces of bread, instead of hard little bricks. Couldn't really taste the Caesar salad part too much, but it seemed nice. It also came with some homemade bread on the side, a packet of butter, and a couple of lemon wedges. The bread was good at first, but soon I noticed a really strange aftertaste.I don't know what the aftertaste was. The iced tea tasted good at first, but also had a nasty aftertaste. I kept thinking that it was just brewed oddly or something, and that maybe if I drank more that taste will go away. But, it didn't. It was odd. So, kind of a mediocre experience overall.There were some really good points to it, but also some not so great ones. After that, we went out for a little more shopping, and got home late.
Recently, I dropped Tokyo Ravens, and started watching Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei or The Irregular at Magic High School. I might post more about it in the future. I'm still unsure about it. I really like the girls' uniforms, though. They don't have really short skirts like so many high school anime shows do. Instead the design looks kind of like a futuristic kimono thing. The skirt is long, and has a sheer layer over it. That layer has kind of a cool kimono design. The top isn't bad either. A lot more modest. The guys' uniforms don't look too bad, either. This anime takes place in the future, so there is kind of a futuristic look to it. I'm just not sure if I like the characters enough to continue it. The siblings seem awfully close, and the brother seems kind of oblivious about it. (The sister realizes, but just blushes about it.) There isn't very much comedy to it, which is what I like in a series. It has to have a nice blend of comedy and seriousness. Otherwise, it'll get tiring to watch.I guess I'll watch one more episode of it.
I dropped Toraneko Folklore and started reading elDLIVE. It's by the same mangaka (manga artist/creator) who did Hitman Reborn. It's her newest one. It's interesting so far. I'm definitely interested in it enough to continue it. She has an interesting way of storytelling, and usually there's many layers to it.
Started watching Border recently. It's pretty good so far. The concept I think has been done on American TV before, but I think it's done well. Interesting to see a Japanese version. It's essentially about a detective that's been shot in the head, dies for a few minutes, and is brought back to life in the hospital. He's left with a decision of whether to have the bullet surgically removed or kept in there. They say there's a high chance he wouldn't live through the surgery. The heads of the department want him to get it out, so they can have the only piece of evidence that was left behind in that case. He's unsure at the moment at what to do, so for the time being, he'll keep it where it is. He ends up getting massive headaches, then can see the victims' ghosts and interact with them. The lead is played by one of my fave actors, Shun Oguri, and he does a really good job. I like most of his shows, and the few movies I've seen him in. There was only one drama recently that I wasn't interested in. He seems to be pretty active, especially recently with both dramas and movies. Doesn't surprise me because he's very flexible with his roles, and is very believable. (He's not type-casted to be one particular character, although he's played a detective before.) I'm going to drop Fukuie. It wasn't going anywhere, and there wasn't any emotion.
