7th of Tammuz

Been mostly keeping up with my walks and sit-ups. This is the 2nd week of doing the sit-ups, so I'm doing 10 of them 2x a day. It's starting to feel more substantial. I'm getting more used to the roughly 2-mile walks. I just have to plan when to go each day, because of the weather. On really warm/hot days it'll be a bit late in the day. If it's going to rain, I try to look at the forecast for when it's either dry or lightly raining. If it's going to rain all day, I do have a nice new umbrella, just would be nice to not need it. I've been meeting more of the neighbors this way, too. That's been nice. One of them recently got a smoker and has been smoking meats almost every day since around the 4th of July. It smells so good walking by it. On the 4th, as my parent and I walked past, they told us about it. They were smoking chicken that day. I almost thought he was offering it to us when it was done. That would have been awesome! 

I've decided to make at least 1 or 2 recipes from Pinterest a week. I keep finding great sounding ones. I didn't have the motivation to do them mainly because of my health stuff. Sometimes it was because I thought they might be too difficult. Despite searching for single serving recipes, most of the ones I've collected are for multiple servings. Although, maybe I should separate those from the others to see how many there actually are. 

Some pins have multiple recipes. Those have themes like casseroles, single serving dinners and/or desserts, slow cooker meals, etc. As it is right now, I've crammed everything into either my Mouthwatering Fare, Cheesy Goodness, Sweet Endings, and Refreshing Drinks collections. Probably need to split them further. Apparently, you can create collections within collections. That might be handy. I can have the main ones, then split them up. The Mouthwatering Fare is more for things that aren't cheese-based. Some of them might have a little, but it's not central. Some of the ones completely without it I might be able to share with my parent. (There are a lot.) She hates cheese. I love cheese. Thus the Cheesy Goodness collection. It'd be fun to create my own desserts, too. 

I'm surprised I found any non-alcoholic drink recipes. They sound really good. Some are Starbucks copycats, special tea lattes, milk drinks, different flavored hot chocolate, homemade root beer, ideas for making your own lemonades, and non-alcoholic versions of alcoholic drinks. The ideas for lemonades one has things like watermelon lemonade, strawberry lemonade, pomegranate lemonade, blackberry lemonade, lavender lemonade, etc. Sounds fun and perfect for summer. There are also lots of other pins that are similar that have ideas on making your own version of things like soups, ramen, butters, and flavored salt. I could put those in their own thing. They're like templates. I did the ramen one once, and it felt more 'real' or authentic, but it also felt personalized. I like that sort of thing.

I decided to start with the most recent one I pinned in my Cheesy Goodness collection, which is Spinach Tomato Tortellini. I'm also going to print each recipe out that I try so I can keep track. It's easier to read than on my phone, and I might want to make it again. If it's not a good one, I can toss it and maybe drop the pin from my collections. 

This one called for plain tortellini. I got a spinach and cheese bag of them. It really seemed to fit. It was nice to have herbs in it. (It had basil, oregano, and thyme.) Not used to using thyme, though. There was 3 cups of spinach, and they wanted me to chop it up. It's pretty easy to do, but it was a lot. It was the only thing I needed to cut, so that was a plus. I didn't know there was a petite version of canned diced tomatoes. Another interesting thing. I can see why it called for it. I wasn't sure if it needed the juice or not, since they didn't say. I added it and it seems it was perfect that way. The heavy cream and flour were whisked together on the side, then eventually poured in with grated parmesan (used the real stuff) after cooking the other stuff a little while. With the heat still on and whisking it all, it thickened it up. More than I expected. Used quite a bit of garlic, but might have been even better with a little more. After the sauce thickened, they have you add the cooked tortellini and toss it in the sauce. I wasn't sure if the pan I was using was big enough at first. It was just right, though. 

It makes a lot. They say 4 servings, but those are way too huge for me. It's more like 8. The good thing about the ones that make so many servings is I can have them for my dinners and/or lunches for the week. Makes it so I don't have to make something more. I think it's healthier this way, too. A lot of homemade stuff can be packed with more nutrients than something from a box, can, or bag. Putting this in My Fitness Pal, it showed that it has a ton of protein, vitamins like vitamin A, calcium, iron, and more. The only downsides are it's slightly high in calories and fat. Another way to look at it is that they're not empty calories, at least. I was able to figure out the portions by putting it all in an empty tupperware container that was on a scale, weighing it at the same time, then dividing it. It was really heavy. Made it easy to figure out. I tried to give myself a full serving the 1st night, but realized it would have overfilled the bowl. I had a little less. Filling up half the bowl I was using with anything is usually a lot for me. Half a serving is plenty. Measured that out for lunch today, and it was enough to feel really satisfying. Also, it tastes better the longer it sits. Becomes more garlicky and I can taste the herbs more today. Seems like a complex and interesting dish.

I think the next dinner thing I'll make is a beef kielbasa, hash browns, garlic, and cheddar soup thing. It's very simple and a crockpot recipe. Just have to slice up the sausage and dump everything in the crockpot (it only has 5 ingredients, 5th being evaporated milk), wait a few hours, and then eat. Makes quite a lot of servings, but again, I can make multiple meals out of it throughout the week. 

I'm thinking of making blueberry scones that week, too. However, the recipe's not on Pinterest. I have a mix that has been sitting in the pantry for a while. Why not finally make it? I think I was nervous if it'll turn out. It sounds simple, though. Just need to add an egg, butter, and milk. Then, mix it up, drop them on a cookie sheet, possibly cut them into triangles (don't need to but they tell you how on the package), and bake them. That's another tasty thing to look forward to.

Finished editing Alliance. I might go back to the very beginning. Not sure. Soon, I'll start going through the sequel, Alliance: Dawn. I've been planning out how I want to draw the full-body of Junko. It's mainly been by collecting pics for ideas on it. I'll start actually drawing her soon. 

I've finished watching Gunjou no Magmel or Magmel of the Blue Sea. It was ok. Not the best. From looking at comments and reviews about it, I think some people were confused. They were expecting something not as cerebral or complex and more action oriented. Some said there was no plot, but they forget that it was mainly about exploring the dangerous and mysterious new continent, Magmel. Not really about the characters. Although, the main characters were developed and their backgrounds were introduced. The last couple of episodes were mainly about Zero, who's Inyou's assistant. So, that was a bit different. The rest of it kind of reminded me of what Kino's Travels 'theme' was. It wasn't necessarily about Kino, but on the places she explored. Makes the main characters mysterious, too. You don't know much about them, but you still feel something towards them. Another part of GnM was how brutally violent it was when they did fight with either the creatures, plants (there were a lot of carnivorous ones, and some could move), or humans. Similar to KT, as well that way. I don't think it was nearly as good as KT, though.

Finished the 2nd season of One Punch Man. They left it wide open for another season. I hate how Saitama doesn't seem to get much credit. When he fights, most of the time, not many people see it. His fights are often over in a few seconds, and he's growing more bored of them. He should be at number 1 in the rankings. Garou is an interesting character. Reminds me a little of Stain from My Hero Academia. He wasn't really evil or good. He thought both the heroes and villains were unfair with their approaches. He was dubbed Hero Hunter, because he'd pick fights with the heroes to see if he was better than them. He never killed them. Won most of the fights. He wanted to make himself into a monster without actually becoming one. He had a couple of brief encounters with Saitama. So brief, they didn't really see each other. Saitama tends to act on impulse, and the 1st time he immediately thought that Garou was a mugger. He punched him unconscious in a split second upon seeing him. After waking up, he vowed to meet that powerful hero in the future and surpass him. 2nd time, I think Saitama thought he was some random person threatening his friend King. He never looked at the news about the Hero Hunter. Maybe he'll actually meet him next season.

Finished Kenja no Mago or Wise Man's Grandchild. There were some good points to it, but I don't think I liked it. I wanted to. There were a few really odd ecchi moments that almost made me want to drop it. I liked the idea of Merlin adopting a baby he found and training him. He ended up surpassing Merlin early. Shin, the one who was adopted, actually was from our world but he died in a car crash and was reincarnated into that world. In their world, he was found in a carriage accident where his parents died. He was all alone. He doesn't have memories from his previous life, and none of his 'parents' in their world. It was also cool that Shin would think about scientific properties and not need to do an incantation for his magic. Made his magic more potent and faster. Also, made it so he could do anything he thought of. The romance thing wasn't really needed, and I don't know why, but I didn't really like Shin's love interest. She seemed 'off' somehow. The 'villain' was interesting. I don't think I'll watch a 2nd season, if there is one. 

Finished the 3rd season of Bungou Stray Dogs. It was good. Nice to see the leaders of both the detective agency and Port Mafia fight, and to know a little about their backgrounds and friendship. Apparently, the detectives, the Port Mafia, and the government are all working together to keep the peace. Interesting to see the man that's basically the boss of all 3 factions. He's supposedly the strongest, yet they said the only ability he had was to turn into a cat. There's something more behind him. No one knows much about him, including those leaders. Most of the time, he apparently acts like he's one of the members of the detective agency's (I don't think she's actually a detective, more like a secretary) cat. She said he usually disappears just before a big calamity. The villain for this season was really cool! No one truly knows how his ability works. He sends messages to his lackeys through playing certain classical pieces, so it's nearly impossible for the detectives to trace what those messages mean. He seems to never be around the people that follow him, which was another surprise for the detectives. They made him out to be slightly smarter than Dazai. He was a few steps ahead most of the season. However, Dazai did manage to outsmart him. I still don't know how they know each other. Maybe they'll cover that in future seasons. They left it open again for one. 

Tried to start watching the 2nd season of Dark on Netflix. I remembered that it seemed too convoluted by the end of the 1st season. They tried to make it more so with the 1st episode of this season. It was too much. I normally love cerebral or complex stories, but this was too out there even for me. It seemed there were too many plot holes, too. 

Started Ultraviolet on Netflix yesterday. It's a Polish mystery/detective show. Ultraviolet is an online forum for amateur detectives. They solve the cases that police won't touch. Very interesting. They seemed to work much faster than the police, too. In the first episode, the members never meet in person. Not sure if they will. The main character, Ola, was frustrated that the police dismissed a murder she witnessed as a suicide. She saw someone that was pushed over an overpass. So, she went online for help with the case. There's also a retired detective, Henryk, that is like a father figure to her; and a friend, Michal, who actually is a detective. They helped with the case, too. It's highly rated. I haven't watched too many Polish shows. Another interesting side to it. 

Finished reading the manga Mother Keeper a while ago. It was ok. Interesting concepts. Started reading Animal no Kuni or Animal Land yesterday. It's about a baby raised by tanuki (raccoon dogs) in a world without humans. I don't know if he was transported to that world or if he's the last surviving human. Before he was carried away by a river from his parents in a basket, they told him that he was a burden. This made him stop crying and give up on life. The tanuki found him, and managed to get him to cry and feel more alive. Their world is interesting. Looks like it'd be even better if it were an anime. The design of the tanuki's faces is really weird. Might take some getting used to.

First Day of Asexual Awareness Week!

Mood:

It's also the 7th day of Sukkot. Israel ends it tonight, while the rest of the world ends it tomorrow night. This will be a shorter post than yesterday's. That post is what happens when it's been a while between posts.

Anyways, today's the first day of AAW. I think I might try to do at least one thing for it each day. Today, I changed my profile pic on fb, and put an ace flag filter on it. I'm not used to putting filters on my profile pics. I thought the pic I took several months ago would look better with it. The other one, which is a few years old is much darker. So, I didn't think the flag would stand out as much. The old pic was from when I was much heavier. I've lost weight since my new profile pic, too. But, that old one had a much bigger difference to how I look today. 

The flag's colors/meanings are: Black- asexuals (or we usually call ourselves aces), Grey- greysexual (sometimes written as grey-asexual)/demisexual, White- sexuals (everyone else. Or, people who aren't ace or on the spectrum), and Purple- community. For saying 'sexuals', some aces call them allosexuals or allos, but allo is apparently similar to queer in French. Many have tried to come up with better terms, since allies are important, too. Some just say non-ace. It sounds a bit clunky, though. Some people who aren't ace don't like the word 'sexual' for themselves. However, once I think about it, sexuals makes sense. Just like we're asexual...Just leave the prefix off, and that's what you get. Other people are (something)sexual.It kind of reminds me of how trans people might call people who aren't trans, like myself, cis. I'm perfectly cool with that, it makes sense, and doesn't sound like it's putting me down in any way. But, some cis people think it's an insult. I like that it all comes together with the purple or community. 

Apparently, we call coming out as ace, as coming out of the deck. Instead of closet. There are some card related memes/humor/symbolisms. An ace of diamonds (the card symbolically) might be a demiromantic ace. An ace of spades, aromantic ace. An ace of clubs, greyromantic, or not sure what romantic orientation, ace. And, ace of hearts, a romantic ace. Romantic aces can be heteroromantic, homoromantic, biromantic, panromantic, etc. Kind of fun. Also, some aces might wear a black ring on their right (I think) middle finger. Sometimes to let other aces know they are there. Like, a code. Or, to be just really out with it. Although, many people who aren't ace won't know what it means. 

Youtube:
There are quite a lot of vids I faved since the last time I shared. I tend to try and focus on a lot of things when I'm in a massive amount pain. Vids being one of those. So, a fun post this time about ace stuff and vids! Yay!None of the vids are ace related, though. Might be in the future.

Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs:

This one's hilarious! Some of it fits a little too well:


Gintama:
One of the best amv's I've seen for the last arc:

This one's basically a trailer for that entire arc. It crams almost everything in, in such a short amount of time:


Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler):

Why not have a Halloween related one:



I really good mixed anime amv. I haven't watched a couple of them. It flows so well:


Mob Psycho 100:
The song fits surprisingly well:

Rosh Hashanah 5777!

Mood:

Rosh Hashanah, our New Year, started Saturday night. Rosh Hashanah literally means: Head of the Year. It's the year 5777 on the Jewish calendar. People tend to eat sweet things for a sweet year. Apples dipped in honey are one of the most recognizable sweets that we eat. My mom used to make a honey cake. It was amazing!It also had coffee grounds, citrus peel, chocolate chips, and a few other things. Couldn't taste the coffee, especially because it seemed like such a complex flavor. It probably just added to the depth. I wanted to make it this year, but I kind of forgot until Saturday morning.It probably would have been best to have it made the night before. Also, I'm still in quite a bit of pain, so something like that would've probably taken a lot out of me. I could probably still make it during the rest of the year. 

I also love teiglach. It's another sweet eaten during the holiday. It's usually more of an east coast thing. Many people over here didn't know what it was when either my mom or I talked about it at either local synagogue. Mom used to make it, and I've made it a couple of times. It's surprisingly easy. It's little nuggets of dough cooked in a honey and citrus peel sauce with walnuts sprinkled on top. The citrus can be either orange or lemon. I think I liked the orange one the most. Turns into something similar to a candy. Very messy, but good. I remember one year Buster, our beagle, decided to tip a platter of it onto the floor.That took a long time to clean up, and was disappointing. He liked it, though. Maybe I'll make that sometime in the near future, as well.

Also, there's a round challah. It symbolizes the life cycle, and can be interpreted as a crown. Many people dip it in honey, too. Same symbolism with that as eating the sweets. Some people have fish or goat (I think) heads, to symbolize the 'head' of the year. Some families have stuffed foods, to symbolize a year full of good things. Interestingly, Dad made Armenian stuffed peppers/tomatoes the first night of it. Reminded me a lot of when Mom made them. People also might have pomegranates. The pomegranate is said to have 613 seeds, corresponding to the 613 mitzvot or commandments. (A mitzvah is more like a good deed, too.) There are many more symbolic foods. Since many can be customary/traditional to certain areas around the world (maybe even just within families), I think I hear about 'new' ones every year. Really fascinating. The holiday ended last night. 

However, Rosh Hashanah is just the start of the High Holy Days. Including this holiday, it's 10 days long, and goes until the end of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is also known as the Day of Atonement. It's the most important holiday on the Jewish calendar. (RH comes in second.) You're supposed to fast. No food, water, gum, etc. for 25 hours. Except if you are: elderly, pregnant, have a medical condition that requires meds, a little kid. If these people fast, it's considered a sin. I fall under this group. I can't go without my meds, and food also is important to keep me balanced with what I have. Almost every med I take says to take it with food, too...If I don't eat the way I should, it does affect my IBD. I usually feel guilty that I can't fast. It's a weird conflicting feeling when you know if you do fast, it's a sin. I like that there's this 'rule', though. It goes with the idea that life trumps everything else.We can still make the holiday meaningful, too. 

Went to RH services online this time. It was with Central Synagogue in New York City. They live-stream every service they have. Even the ones for Shabbat. It's a huge synagogue, too. Beautiful inside. They acknowledged people who were watching the live-stream during the beginning services of RH. They even had a video of people from around the world, that watch, wishing people a shana tova. Shana tova lit: Good Year. It's a greeting for the holiday. There's also l'shana tova (for a good year), which is short for: l'shana tova tikatev v'taihatem. It means: May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year. Actually felt like I was there that way.People can even listen to it on their phones. There's a hotline to call into. It's great for people who are immunosuppressed (like me), stuck in a hospital, in a place where there isn't a synagogue anywhere near them, etc. They say they reach people from over 100 countries. They have captions in multiple languages for the live-stream, too. 

The only thing I usually feel odd about is how many rabbis they have. They have, what looks to be 4, and one of those is like a retired rabbi that occasionally comes in to sing or give a very quick sermon. (His singing voice is amazing!) Or, even the 2 cantors that are up with them. It seems a bit crowded on the bima.They also have several people from the board and guests of the community, sitting next to them up there, too. I'm mainly used to one rabbi and one cantor up there...Also, not used to a choir with a bunch of other musicians, but it sounded nice. Normally, the cantor might play an instrument or two for Shabbat. Occasionally, there might be one or two other musicians that play during High Holy Day services. It's never like what Central had. The main rabbi is interesting, too. She's one of the first, I think, Asian-American rabbis. She has Korean ancestry. She's a convert. I think she said she converted early in life. People would tell her things like: she couldn't be a Jew if she was Asian, she didn't 'look' Jewish (whatever that means...I've had the same thing said to me), she's not Jewish because her mom isn't Jewish, etc. The thing is those people didn't know that there are Jews from all over the world, including Asia. She talked about this in the first night's sermon or drash, and said that it wasn't very Jewish of them to say. We're told to love and treat the stranger as yourself, as you were strangers in a strange land. So, to treat others like that, let alone a fellow Jew, goes against it.I like a lot of the general things she brings up, too. Has a great singing voice, as well. I'll 'attend' their services for Yom Kippur.

Yesterday was also National Taco Day. Tacos are great!I can't really have the normal corn tortilla (there's the flour kind, at least), or any other product of corn in it. It still is really good, even without that stuff. I can still have the meats (like beef, chicken, fish), cheese, light seasoning, some salsas (not too hot, because of my gut...), some vegetables, etc. Corn upsets my gut. I've found the 'harder' forms of it are the most difficult to digest. If I don't have it too often, I might be able to tolerate a tamale. That has a softer form of corn. I think I've read that things like corn are hard to digest normally, because of how hard the fibers are. They can scrape up an already affected and inflamed digestive system, too. (Like with IBD.) That in turn makes it more inflamed and painful. Many people have problems with corn. Yet, it's so good!I miss popcorn, too. Especially kettle corn. The popcorn with salt and sugar. I can't have certain sausages that I love, either...For some reason, my system has such a hard time digesting those, that my belly fills up with air.I end up feeling like I'm going to burst at some point like a balloon. It's different than with the corn. I should really pinpoint some of them more. I know for sure beef summer sausage has this effect. I think others do, too.

It was also Kanelbullens Dag or Cinnamon Bun Day. The cinnamon bun apparently originated in Sweden. It's a Swedish holiday that started in 1999. I love cinnamon buns!They're fun to eat. The Swedish version is a bit different than the Americanized version. It has cardamom in the dough. They tend to not have the heavy icing, either. Instead, they sprinkle it with a little sugar, or a very light glaze. They also don't fry them like they do in America.

This is my wallpaper for October. It's Atsushi from Bungou (Literary) Stray Dogs. I try to pick more contemplative, or more serious, wallpapers with the month that the High Holy Days fall in. It's usually either September or October. We have a lunar calendar, so it seems to move around on the solar calendar. I might change it when Sukkot rolls around to one that's more Halloween-like. I love Halloween, too. Anyways, Bungou Stray Dogs was really good. Every character was based either on a famous author, their work, or a character from those works. (Sometimes all 3.) Very fascinating idea for a show. Most of them have some sort of power. One of them doesn't, but has remarkable deduction skills. Atsushi is based on a Japanese author of the same name who lived from 1909-1942. His ability to turn into a white tiger is based on his most famous work, Sangetsuki or the Moon of the Mountain. They call it Beast Beneath the Moon in the anime. The main character in that one is a scholar who goes crazy in his quest to become a great poet, and then transforms into a tiger. A 2nd season of it starts soon. I didn't think it'd be so soon, but that's awesome!

My beagle calendar has a beagle standing in a field of leaves. In a similar pose to what Buster used to do when something caught his attention. The blurb this time is about heroic tales of beagles. The fun fact mentions that beagles are sometimes used as therapy dogs, because of their gentle demeanor and funny personalities. 

My Jewish calendar features a Torah shield, made by Koninklijke Begeer, out of silver, from Alkmaar, Netherlands; 1878. Still looks like it's in good condition compared to how old it is. It has the tablets with the main 10 commandments, trumpets and shofars coming out its sides, a plaque below the tablets with a lot of Hebrew that I can't read, a big crown at the top also with Hebrew I can't read (there are no vowels, and I can't make out those words without them), and a floral design of things hanging from it. It looks like there are clouds behind the tablets. Cool effect. It's one of the cooler looking ones. It also features a Torah finial (finials sit on top of the Torah scroll's rollers), made by Pieter van Hoven, out of silver and gilt, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1717. This one's even older, and still in great condition. At least, from the pic. There are bells around it, vines, a crown on top, and a spire on top of that. The last one that's featured is a tzedaka box (box for charity), has an anonymous maker, made out of iron and copper, Netherlands; 1900. Oddly, it's not as old as the others, and it looks more beat up. Might be a good sign that it was well used. It says something in Dutch on a small plaque on the side. There's also a number plate in it that has the number '84'. Don't know what that means, but interesting. It's rather plain besides that. 

The month-long holidays are: National Apple Month, National Caramel Month, National Chili Month, National Cookie Month, National Dessert Month, National Pasta Month, National Pretzel Month, National Seafood Month, American Cheese Month, Bat Appreciation Month, Corn Month, German-American Heritage Month, LGBT History Month, National Cookbook Month, Pizza Month, Sausage Month, Spinach Lovers Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. A lot of them this month. I'm part German, so yay!A part of my heritage is being celebrated. LGBT history is important, too. Asexual Awareness Week is towards the end of the month, so that'll be another good thing. 

I probably would have finished this post yesterday, but something was slowing my computer down. Turns out Google decided to try to get me to fill out a survey about this blog. Firefox kept blocking it. So, again, Google has somehow figured out a way to slow things down...Since the survey popped up today, and I filled it out, things have been running much faster and smoother. Someone assumed it was a problem with the computer itself. Nope, it wasn't. I actually really like my computer. Things run so much better, most of the time, without Google products. I know Google owns Blogger, but it's just a site, not something like their browser or Google Earth. (That survey was rare.) I still also use their search engine, my gmail, youtube, etc. through my computer. I might even try using youtube more often on here, now that things are much better than they were. I usually look at youtube through my phone. So, we'll see. I also still use their browser on my phone, but that's a different thing.

Google also emailed me recently saying some of the links I listed came back with an error code, and may cause a bad visitor experience. Something like that. I like how they called me a webmaster.I suppose I am for this blog. It doesn't like that I listed links (not very many of them) that had just http, and no 's' at the end. I kind of figured I'd get something like that from them. I mentioned in my last post that to go to those links, you can click them, and it'll redirect you to a page saying it can't find it within my blog. Then, just take out my blog's url in the address, and hit return or whatever and it'll go to those sites. Or, people can just search for those sites by using the names of them. I don't like that their new thing is they won't go directly to those sites unless they have that 's'. There are quite a lot of sites that haven't switched to that yet. That policy just started at the end of last month. I read somewhere that that will change soon. Like, they're upgrading the system. I hope so. 

I managed to get the 2 x-ray views done. It was pretty late, and no one was at the radiology check-in area. One of the receptionists at Urgent Care helped me out, and talked to someone who was in the radiology department. It was really quick. I hope something that's easily handled shows up. I want something to show up, because if it doesn't, it's even harder to pinpoint why I'm in so much pain. I asked if I could get the results, and they said the radiologist has to look at it first. My gastro might show me it to go over what's shown, and then I might be able to get a copy of the results. I still have to schedule the MRI. I'm kind of nervous about it, and the High Holy Days have been on my mind.I'll call them tomorrow. 

I also got the miralax, which I still hate, but am trying to take at least one dose a day. I think I remember her mentioning that it might be best to try for 2 doses, but I can only tolerate one right now.I also got a probiotic, like she recommended. This one is a gummy version. When I tried probiotics years ago, I got the huge chewable tablet ones. They fizzed in my mouth as soon as I started chewing. Kind of felt and tasted like candy. The gummy ones are interesting. They don't fizz, and pretty much taste and feel like the fiber gummies I used to take. I don't think I'll get tired of them, at least. Apparently, each dose has 500 million 'viable' cells. That's a lot. They apparently lie dormant in the gummy, and then once the stuff hits my intestines, they 'wake up'. Interesting. Hopefully my system doesn't kill them all off. 

I tried to get the levsin, which is supposed to be an alternative for bentyl, if that doesn't do anything. Read that it's more potent, too. Turns out my insurance doesn't cover it, and only 9 days is like almost $30. I can't justify in my head getting something that expensive.It may or may not work. Also, apparently there was a recent recall of it. So, I've decided to go back to the bentyl I still have, and occasionally have tylenol. I figured if bentyl makes me sleepy, and I'm still having issues with sleep, I might as well take it for that. It has helped with that a bit. The tylenol only takes the edge off when I have 'mild' pain. Doesn't do much at all when it's bad, which is quite often now. 

Started a new cheese of the month yesterday. Barely had much of the gorgonzola last month. Turned out I didn't like it...At least I tried it. This time, it's a Welsh cheddar. It's made inside caves. The last cheddar I had, I think, was from Ireland. This one's pretty good. It's a bit stronger/sharper. I'm not used to the sharper stuff, but that's ok. It seems to go well with mustard. 

Went to Costco to start our big monthly grocery shopping on Saturday. They had a big thing of madeleines, and a 5-pound box of Dutch butter cookies. Got both of them. Probably will take a while to get through both of them, but they're really good. Got a few other things we were totally out of. Also, got to taste their chocolate covered pumpkin seeds. It was surprisingly good. Went to Trader Joe's, which I haven't been to in a while. That's where I got the cheese. It was relatively cheap. Most of their international cheeses seem cheaper than many places. Also, got a broccoli and cheese quiche. Haven't had a quiche in a long time. 

Looked around a local market for a round challah. They normally have 2 different challahs for Shabbat. I usually like their bigger one. Anyways, I looked for them in the usual place, and they weren't there. Dad found a display for one of the brand's versions. Really cool that they had it on display.I didn't think they would, and that's probably why I didn't see the table of them at first. They've come a long way from when my mom tried to educate them...They had either plain or raisin, and I got the plain. It's nice and big. Comes from the same company that does the larger normal Shabbat ones.

I'm thinking of being a pirate for Halloween. Interestingly, going by my current measurements, I can fit into most brands' 'normal' sizes. Just to try them out, at least, would be interesting. When I was at my heaviest, I felt horrible that even the 'plus' sizes wouldn't fit, if they had it. So, this is like a new frontier for me.Also, the only time I really remember actually coming into contact with other aces, was at a Pride event years ago. (Not sure where.) I was scared of them, because a lot of them were dressed as pirates, and acted like them. This was before I knew I was ace. The pirate thing apparently came from a meme saying something like: Ace pirates: we don't need your booty. Then, people ran with it. (There are even jokes about how we'd be immune to sirens.) Reading about that kind of gave me the idea of being a pirate for Halloween. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to be before that, so why not? I was a pirate for Halloween when I was really little, so that will be interesting in that light, too.

I've been watching some of Pieces of Ace's vids on youtube. It's a group of aces who talk about ace-related things. They're from England. They started with just 3 guys, and I've noticed they have a girl added to it now. Which is good. 2 of the guys are engaged to each other (they're cute together), the other guy is aro/ace (aro is aromantic, which means he doesn't experience romantic attraction), and I'm not sure where the girl falls on the romantic spectrum but she's ace as well. I watched most of the first couple of episodes, and a couple of the most recent episodes. They've had some interesting topics lately. Things like fetish/kinks among the ace community, how family members feel about the person who's ace, and coming out stories. The fetish/kinks thing can be a bit weird for the community. We see it in a different way. Some consider it taboo, some are surprisingly really into it, some aren't really sure. For the family members one, they had the aro/ace one's brother show up, and talk about how he felt. Very interesting to hear his point of view. They also have people call, email, there's a chatroom, or text in during the show, since it's live-streamed. They have a site where they post surveys, and have recently created a forum on there. They used the anonymous survey to ask people about their fetish/kinks, and talked about it on air. The newest survey is about coming out. They'll read some of the responses next time, and that should be interesting, too. They usually end each broadcast with a cake tasting. They ask others, who are watching (or listening to the podcast version), to try a cake of their own and text/chat/etc. about it. It's been interesting to see what kind of cakes there are in England. For some of the ones they've tried, I've never heard of, but sound really good.

National Pecan Pie Day!

Mood:

One of my fave pies!I think it's a difficult one to get just right. Some are too sweet, some barely have any pecans, and some have way too many (making it extremely dry). But, when it's a perfect balance, it's amazing! Apparently French immigrants living in New Orleans baked the first American pecan pies. 

I marched with the local Pride group in a 4th of July parade. There was also the trans support group represented within it. Kind of like there was a mini Pride parade within the regular one.I got to hold a huge Pride flag, along with about 6 or 8 other people. It was quite impressive. Before deciding to help hold it, I checked to see if they had any ace flags. I was a bit disappointed when there wasn't any.There were quite a variety of different flags for people to hold individually. I think one of the Pride organizers said that he saw it in the office they store them in, but forgot to bring it. Oh, well.

It was cool, weather-wise, at the beginning. It warmed up as soon as we started, and there wasn't much shade. At least, it wasn't as warm as last year. Like last year, we went to Starbuck's afterwards. I needed something cool to drink (that being an iced chai), and some sort of snack (a sugar cookie). It was at the newer, louder, busier one. Surprisingly, not very many people there. This one also has a drive-through. Kind of weird.

I still haven't emailed my gastroenterologist, yet. She told me to do so 2 to 3 weeks after our phone appointment. It was the 4 week-mark yesterday. I don't know why I'm reluctant about it.Especially, after she clearly seemed to want to help me during that appointment. Unlike how I felt when my blood test results seemed to indicate remission, but I still had symptoms. She seemed to ignore them that time. But, she's different now. I still haven't done that nasty test she wanted me to do. I'll email her today or tomorrow, even though I haven't done that test yet. 

Woke up in the middle of the night (early Monday morning) with the worst sharp stabbing pain in my right mid-abdomen area. I actually screamed a few times.It came in waves. Scared me, too. Hurt to even breathe. I called the 24/7 nurse hotline about it after brunch that day. It really feels like they ignored the actual problem. They think I'm constipated. Yet, I'm a lot better than I was about a month ago. I didn't have this sort of pain back when I was the most constipated. I'm not 'regular' yet, but I'm certainly better. That doesn't explain why the pain in my side has suddenly gotten much worse...I still think it has to do with an organ or a section of my small intestines. 
I'll go with their suggestions for now. Which is to go back to having Citrucel twice a day, and take Milk of Magnesia. I absolutely hate Milk of Magnesia.Also, my gastro recommended it as a last resort. Actually found a bottle yesterday that has its own dosing cup, and is cherry flavored. Tasted like pepto-bismal. (Better than the last time I had it.) Had a full dose last night. The nurse said if the pain doesn't improve in that area after using it, I need to see someone. In the email I'll send out to my gastro, I'll mention this stuff, too. See what she has to say. Right now the pain in that area's a bit duller. But, I do have 'attacks' where it turns spiky throughout the day. (Not sure if attack is the right word...)

I'm also having some lower abdominal pain, still dizzy quite often, feeling sick to my stomach, etc. I'm getting really really tired of this!We'll see what my gastro has to say, though.

Despite the pain and symptoms making me feel less motivated to do my walks, I think I'm still losing weight. In fact, if I do any type of exercise like the marching or doing the garbage, it seems to be coming off of me even faster. I'm not sure if that's really a good thing. I still like to think as long as I'm not underweight, it's good for now...It doesn't seem normal, though. I'm still trying to stay within the calorie range I've set up for myself. Even with that, I'm slightly more lax than usual lately. Maybe I need more calories? I don't know. 

Decided to enroll both my novels into the July promo on Smashwords. It's only through them, and goes until July 31st. With the coupon, Sweet Endless Terror: An Anthology of Nightmares will be 50% off. Making it $0.99. Alliance will be free with that coupon. I've sold 4 copies of Alliance so far. 2 were sold today. One early in the morning, and one in the afternoon. (Kind of adds on the excitement for me to have 2 in one day!) For a while, it seemed to be one copy sold every other day. It's good that they were free copies of Alliance. They can read it, possibly review it, and tell their friends. It will probably take them a while to read...It is categorized as an 'epic'. I think Smashwords was the one to put it under that. Must be if they reach a certain amount of words. By the time they tell their friends, it might be after the promo. Who knows? And, even if they're still able to take advantage of the promo, they can tell their friends, as well. The other one is an anthology of 12 short stories based on my recurring nightmares. I'm not sure if that's a turn-off, though.They might be more interested in the fantasy one, rather than the horror one. (Although, Alliance does get pretty dark, and there are slight horror moments as you go through.) Here's Sweet Endless Terror's direct Smashwords' link: SET And, here's the other: Alliance. 

I'm also thinking about writing a sequel to Alliance. Hopefully, won't be as long. I ended it with a huge cliffhanger, and creating their world was fun.There's a lot more I can do with this one. I think I'll reread the whole thing beforehand. I never make outlines of what I write beforehand, which makes the story open to the many different directions it can go. However, it makes it a bit difficult to remember the main story line after not reading it for so long. I'll probably take notes/make an outline of Alliance as I read. Kind of backwards to the way some people do things, but oh well.I do brainstorm before I write things, though. With Sweet Endless Terror, I wrote one-liners about the recurring nightmares that I might use. That triggered memories of them, and I didn't have to write much for that to happen. With Alliance, sometimes I would brainstorm made up names of places, people, etc. Sometimes, would write out ideas for just that chapter. Or, of building designs. Also, on character backgrounds. I guess it depends on what I was writing about at that moment. While I'm writing I usually make a mental map of the story. I can remember tiny details, and bring them back in at some point. So, things aren't all over the place. There's certainly a framework and logic to it. But, when I'm done, I kind of forget about it all. I have a lot of other ideas for novels, too.

I'm also thinking about using Youtube's vlog or video blog. I normally hate seeing myself in media, but maybe I could get myself to be more used to it and/or comfortable. I've always felt weird around being photographed, on video, hearing myself in a recording, etc. Many of that stuff got worse when I was at my heaviest. It's gotten a lot better now, though. So, maybe it'll help a bit more. I'm not expecting a lot of subscribers, although that part should be interesting. I already have 6 right now. The only vids I've posted in that folder were a couple of them testing my iPhone camera with Rosie, and one of a fountain with no noise. (Should be another way to test my iPhone's camera as well.) Maybe those 6 like what I fave, and the playlists I make. I think of any of that sort of stuff as a social experiment. The only thing I don't want are the infamous trolls.I can block those people, though. Also, moderate the comments before they're posted. But, I would still have to see at least some of it to determine if they're trolls. Some people don't allow anyone to comment on their vids. I'll probably start with an intro series. Eventually, it'll just be things going on at that time, or topics that pop up in my head. It might be weekly or biweekly. But, hopefully not a longer time in between. I don't think I want them too long, either. If the vlog is supposed to be like a blog, why not use it like that? Hopefully, they'll be somewhat short. Also, might be another way to get the word out for my novels.

Went through my desk for the first time in a long time. Found 2 really old cameras. One was my first camera. Not that great, but ok for the time I got it. It was one where you had to turn a dial to take another pic. Also, used a roll of film. There were 17 pics on it, but I don't really care what they were of. So, I tossed it. I don't know how many places would actually develop the roll, anyways. The other one was a step up, and I think only took black and white pics. It wasn't that great, and I think I had it because I was taking a photography/video class in junior high. I think they wanted us to explore different techniques, and I decided on doing a series of black and white pics. I loved that class.It had a dark room, so we could develop our own film. Anyways, it's not that great, and uses rolls. So, I tossed that one, too. 

Found 2 large photo albums filled with stickers. I was really into them as a kid. Plus, everywhere I went, they gave me a sticker. They gave them out at banks, after seeing the dentist, sometimes at grocery stores, etc. Kind of fun. A lot of them were '90s designs. The more recent ones were from a friend in college (I think?) that gave me a ton of Chococat stickers. I think they're made to be put on envelopes when you send letters out to friends. Chococat is a Sanrio character. I think he's the counterpart to Hello Kitty. He is kind of cute. I don't write letters, though.In fact, I had a heard time with writing them when they were more popular. My grandparents used to urge me to write to them, but most of the time I forgot. To me, it's a lot easier with email, messaging (through Yahoo, facebook, forums, etc.), and texting. It's instant, too. So, I never opened the Chococat ones. I also found several different kinds of stationary. I'm keeping most of that stationary and the sticker albums for the time being. Some of the stationary are different kinds of Thank You notes. That might still come in handy.

Also, found some sewing stuff. 2 big plastic containers, that I think were originally used for jewelry. They have divided sections in each one. They're filled with different types of threads. I think one of them has some needles, too. Nice, but might be more than I would need in the future.

Also, found the 2 fringed shawls I had been planning to turn into tallitot (plural for tallit or prayer shawl). One has really fancy feeling material, and the other seems slightly tacky to me. The first one feels kind of like silk, is cream colored, and has an interesting clear beaded pattern. The other one is a bright pinkish fuchsia color, and looks a bit more rough. My mom and I made a tallit for my Bat Mitzvah. I chose the materials, did the cross-stitch of the atorah (an area near the neck), and the tzitzit (basically knotted tassels on each end. There are a certain amount of knots it has to have). Mom used her sewing machine to sew the atorah on, the stripes on, and the corners on. (I think she also made button holes for the tzitzit in the corners.) It already had a fringe. Mom continued to make many more tallitot after that. I thought I would try to fully do my own at some point, too. So, I found these 2 shawls. Maybe I'll get to them in the future.I think I still have the instructions on how to make your own. Also, have a really old sewing machine in my closet. Never used it, but that would be interesting. Found some cross-stitch projects as well. Hopefully, I'll get to them eventually.

Also, had to toss most of the pens and pencils I had collected. They were either broken, or the ink had dried up. Oh, well. Now that I've gone through my desk, it's a lot more roomy.I now have a designated writing/novel drawer. Everything related to either novel will be there. That includes notes, promo ideas, some of the drawings, and printouts of both stories. I only have up to the 8th story printed out for Sweet Endless Terror. There are 4 more. I have all of Alliance printed out. Nice to have some physical part of them. But, those last 4 of SET are still just floating in my computer and at online retailers.I'll get to those at some point. Found another unopened black ink cartridge, so that would help.

Decided to try the Pokemon Go app for iPhone last night. It seems like it'd be a fun app. Gets people out there, and they can explore the area around where they live. Or, explore other places. Kind of fun to be able to interact with something that isn't really there, but still interacts with the environment. I have 7 pokemon so far. I still remember the Pokemon craze in the '90s. I wasn't very into it, but some of my friends were. Kind of the same thing as with pog back then. I've noticed a lot of people around my age are into it, along with some teens. Some people who are much older than me are into it, too. I think with my generation, it's kind of like a touch of nostalgia. Some people say it's helped them get more exercise than several actual fitness trackers have. I can definitely see why. I think turning learning or fitness into games, is smart and helps people. It makes it fun.It's a lot more encouraging. I noticed that there weren't any pokemon in our neighborhood. (Unless you have incense.) There's a PokeStop at a Mormon church just outside of the neighborhood. Not sure what's beyond that. I haven't actually visited that area while playing the game. I pass the church during my regular walks, though. I noticed while we were at Shari's last week, two of the people we were with were playing it for the first time. There was a pokemon on the table, and a couple others in other places near us in the restaurant. It's probably good for when you're waiting for a table or in line for something, too. 

Finished watching Spec, and I'm unsure if I'll watch the next season. The last two episodes were really good. The only time I felt it was well acted. I kind of predicted that the one who was the real villain wasn't who he said he was. He could erase memories and write new ones, if he touched your head. He continuously did this to Toma. Making her think that they were in a relationship, and that her brother died in a fire along with the rest of her family. In reality he was a creepy stalker, and had manipulated her brother. Her brother was poorly misguided and was made to look like a villain. I think he went crazy towards the end. Killing people left and right. I kind of hope they didn't really kill him off at the end. Both him and Toma realized the truth by then. I kind of feel like the organization that's full of spec users were actually behind Toma and the others killing the main villain. They wanted him to be eliminated, but it had to be in a way that he didn't see it coming. He was annoying, so in that way, it was a good ending. I'm not sure how there could be another season, but I might try it.

Finished watching Koutetsujou no Kabaneri. It was pretty good. Left it open for another season. The opening and ending music were lame, to me. Opening sounded a lot like the Star Wars theme. Both were overly dramatic, too. 

Finished Bungou Stray Dogs. I loved this one!This is going to have a 2nd season coming up in the fall. It was witty, most characters were based on real life authors, some were based on an author's famous work, there was and still is a lot of mystery, interesting powers, one character doesn't have powers but seems to be very powerful anyways, every character is packed full of personality, and more. It was fun to watch, even when it was supposed to be serious. Apparently, most of the scenes were based off of real places in Yokohama, too. Someone did a comparison, and they were pretty spot on.

Finished reading Prayers for the Dead by Faye Kellerman. I think it was one of the longest ones I've read of the series so far. It had a bittersweet ending. Not much having to do with Judaism in this one. Most of the books in this series have a Jewish theme. Some have it more subtle than others. This was the 5th book I've read of the series. The next one that I'll read is called The Forgotten. From the synopsis, it seems to be somewhat Holocaust related. I'm skipping 3 books this time. It's the next one that I had. In total, I've had to skip 9 books. Maybe sometime in the future I'll find and read those others. 

Started watching Fukigen na Mononokean, or The Morose Mononokean. It's pretty good so far. Reminds me a lot of xxxHolic. Only, the person who exorcises things is a guy. The 'demons' are cute so far. Kind of feel bad for them. 

Started watching 91 Days yesterday. I'm unsure about this one. I'm giving it one more episode. It takes place during the Prohibition Era in America. The main character has been plotting his revenge on a mafia family for over 7 years. He plans to carry out this revenge within the next 91 days. (Don't know why that number exactly yet.) That mafia killed his entire family over a misunderstanding. His friend is a bootlegger. Apparently makes good enough alcohol that the mafia wants him. It's very dark, violent, depressing, not much humor, etc. so far. I like 'mature' shows, but this doesn't really have a good mix of things. The art is beautiful, and at times very realistic. It's interesting that it's based in America, too. I know that's a very dark time period, anyways.