Wow! It ends really soon.
Kind of an odd, and definitely not a normal Hanukkah for us. But, some of it has been great!
Thinking about going to the Hanukkah party that's tomorrow night. They always have a ton of latkes and interesting things to eat at this one. (Most of the time there's an assortment of kosher Chinese food! Good stuff!
) Almost lit my arm on fire last year, because someone pushed me a bit while I was lighting our menorah. (I think it was an overly excited little kid.
) This is at the other synagogue that we occasionally go to. Met someone who was originally from Japan, last time. Haven't seen her since. It'll be cool if she goes to it this year, and I could try and talk to her again in Japanese.
Probably will be one of the better parties this year.Went to Olive Garden last night. Had their steak gorgonzola-alfredo. It was amazing!
I'm not usually that 'adventurous' there. The steak medallions had a balsamic vinaigrette glaze. The pasta's sauce had a bit of a bite from the cheese. There was spinach and tomatoes mixed in with the pasta, as well. I couldn't eat it all. In fact, I've managed to make 2 more meals from it. Probably much more healthy that way. Rather than have all those calories at once.
Not to mention having the breadsticks and the salad. I hate how they don't have an individually-sized salad. It's usually big enough for at least 3 people. So, couldn't eat all of that either. Took 2 breadsticks home, so I could have 1 for each of the extra meals from it. Or, Dad could have the 2nd one. Either way, they'll be used. We love their breadsticks. And, apparently, they have bread to-go bags. So, other people must like them as well. Watched half of Gokusen The Movie. Interesting so far. A bit more outlandish than the actual series, but that's what makes it fun. Interesting to see Yankumi's previous students have major roles in it. This is the last of the series, so it'll be kind of sad when I finish the movie. Gokusen has been an interesting ride. Parts of some of the stories were recycled from previous seasons, but they still had something that made them different. A lot of the actors have made it big after starring in this. So, it's kind of a classic, too.
Watched Hitman Reborn. It's becoming more and more interesting! Tsuna seems to be getting stronger slowly, and maturing quickly as a person. He still has his moments, but I like that they won't have him appear as weak and unsure of himself as before. It would have been lame if that kept up. He still gets scared, which seems more 'real'. But, he doesn't run away as much. The story behind the Vongola family has been interesting so far, too.
But, nice to see. Blue and Lovey make it into an adventurer's tournament, where the prize is a jingi. (A Jingi is a very powerful musical instrument, and no one knows what they really do. There's only a few, and Keel's group is after them. He thinks it can turn him back into his dragon-ape self, with his powers fully restored.) Keel couldn't enter, because it can only be a 2-member team. So, he searched around for another person to pair up with. He found someone, but knows nothing about him. Even his name sounds suspicious, meaning masked-man in Japanese. Anyways, he makes it through the prelims as well. Played my clarinet. Which I haven't done in a while. Felt nice. Did some Klezmer tunes. I've decided I probably shouldn't rush through the books, without semi-perfecting the pieces. Just glossing over it is not going to help me improve.
So, I'm going to listen to some of the recordings from my Klezmer book next time, to really hear how they play it. It's different than what's written down, and the recordings are much older than the book itself. They're supposed to give you more of an idea of how to make your own style based on the old ones. Can't do that if you haven't heard it. What's written is really the base melody, and what people start off with. (Have to obviously perfect that before you can do your own thing with it.) Klezmer can be difficult that way. Also, I'll go over every piece until I get it right, and review it the next time after that. If I just keep glossing over things, I not only won't improve, but I might end up making even more mistakes. I'll try to do similar stuff with the rest of the books I have from different genres. This way it may take me a while to get through each book, though. That's ok, there's no reason to rush through it.
Wrote some more of chapter 19 of Alliance. Still getting even more exciting, and yet I'm hoping to finish this first book with the next chapter. I already know it's going to be a HUGE cliffhanger. Worked a little on that big drawing meme, that features my original characters from Alliance. Trying to figure out how to draw a side profile of 2 of them facing each other. It's good practice for me.
Went over another kanji and a few compounds. I still would like to learn new kanji and compounds. It's kind of fun. Also, translated a little more of a You Maga article.
Burned one of my fingers a little tonight lighting the Hanukkah candles.
I wanted to melt the bottom of one of the candles, so it could meld into place. So, I used a flame from another candle. Turned out they had another wick at the bottom, so it quickly burned up. Luckily, I saved it (and my hand), and went about it like normal. These are apparently fast burning candles too. They didn't last more than maybe an hour. Took a pic of it lit up, because we probably will be going to the party tomorrow night. I was going to on the last night show what it looks like all lit up. But, second to last night is probably good enough. It's somehow really cool to see it all lit up. Seeing a room full of them lit up is even cooler.
(Which is what will happen if we go to the party.)
