Tu B'Shevat!

Mood:

It's our New Year's for the Trees. One of my favorite, yet underplayed, holidays. To celebrate we eat a lot of fruit and nuts. Some do a 'seder' or ritual dinner/get together based on trees. (Lit. seder means order. So, things have to go in a certain 'order'.) Lots of symbolism throughout it. It's fun, and reminds us of how important they are.

Tuesday, I got up late because I had stayed up later than I should have...Ended up going through a bunch of messages I had put off. My email accounts were flooded, the deviations I get from dA were overflowing, and several other places with a message system were full. Felt good to clear them out at least. 

I also found out that someone I knew from elementary school up until our graduation in high school is moving in to the house next door. I'm not really sure what to make of it.For one, I'm happy to see someone I knew and might catch up with her. Another, don't know if she'd care about me living that close. She also has 2 little kids and a husband now. I think her husband went to school with us, but he doesn't look familiar to me. There are other factors, I guess. But, it's an interesting development. We saw them when they were checking out that house at first. I thought she looked familiar, and said she looked an awful lot like someone I knew. (They might have thought the same thing. They kept pointing towards our house that day.I don't know...) Later, since we have a lot of mutual friends on facebook, I saw a recent post of hers where she said that they're finally getting their first house. It was all ready to go. They just need to move in. I did a double take at the pic. You could tell that it had all the same details. Like the little green bunny near the garage door that faces our green bunny. 

Another interesting thing is my friend who moved to the east coast a while ago is going to be visiting the area for a month before she moves to Wales. She used to be my best friend through elementary school. Still were kind of connected off and on in junior high and high school. After we graduated, I don't think we connected again until a couple of years ago through facebook. Facebook's been amazing that way.It'll be interesting if I get to see her during that time.

I decided to drop the second season of Doctors. It was just the same stuff I got tired of by the end of the first season. It gets old.I'll look into a new one next week to replace it. Caught up on the episode I missed of Toshi Densetsu no Onna, though. That series never gets old. Plus, they switched up a few things. 

Tokyo Ravens has been very interesting. I like it more than I expected. There's still a lot that hasn't been explained, and I saw that it apparently has a ways to go. So, it's not ending at the same time many are for the season. Kind of like Log Horizon. Although, I like Log Horizon more. I think with Tokyo Ravens they're trying to make it more complex than it is. And, people are saying they're confused. Log Horizon is very complex, and they're constantly growing on it. It makes sense, too. Still, 2 very interesting shows this season. 

I'll finish up Kyoukai no Kanata this week. It's been really good, but the last episode was really crazy. They must have been trippin'.The finale shall be especially interesting then. I finish the last episode to the first season of Tsubasa Chronicle this week as well. I think there's another season that's just about as long. I've liked it for the most part. I still like xxxHolic more. That was another series done by the all women's mangaka (manga artist/creator) group, CLAMP. But, I want to try their other shows as well. They like to meld story lines and characters from other anime/mangas they've done in the past into newer ones. A lot of the time the story lines actually overlap. So, it's almost like all their work is just one giant series. It's fascinating. 

There was another update of Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge. They were updating once a month, but there were 4 months in between this one and the last. I love this series! There's a new character named Ichirou Jinkei. His 'Killing Good' is called Rapid Shot of Pinpoint Penetration. He's an Order-Made just like Emily is. Only Emily realized she was in the wrong and became an ally. Order-Mades are scarier than regular authors, since they have original weapons that use their own ability. They weren't used by some previous mass murderer, that somehow gets handed down through the generations. Once he shoots, and his target sees him the bullet will go directly through their heart or brain. Even if he didn't aim correctly. He's a ruthless sniper. Anyways, he thought he could kill Iwai or the 'Hair Queen' easily. The bullet went straight through her hair instead of those areas. He was aiming for her head. Apparently, his bullets sensed her life force was her hair. Her hair is constantly growing, and only one pair of scissors will cut it. So, after seeing that it went through her hair, Iwai suggests that she can be used like a shield for both of them. They run for a while, and then take a rest. (I don't think I'd take a breather if some crazy sniper was after me. I'd get out of there as quick as I could...) Witchy finds them, and tells them that the holster she gave to Kiri earlier was from Iwai's father. He had it just before she executed him. (Witchy is head of the Gossip organization. Gossip is pretty much behind everything. She knows about almost every author, good, instead, and order-made. Her ancestor killed the 'Hair Queen' or Iwai's ancestor. Before Iwai's ancestor died, she put a curse on her. So, there's this weird grudge thing going on with her.) Later, Ichirou catches up, and is about to attack Kiri, then Iwai throws him the holster and his pair of scissors back. Ichirou was killed brutally at the end. At least, that's what it looked like. If he's not dead, he's close to it and in a great deal of pain. Besides having a G-d complex and the killing, I liked his personality. It was a little too 'cute'/happy, and yet scary at the same time. You didn't know what he'd do next. It'd be interesting to see what happens next in the story. Something needs to happen to Witchy, at least. 

Wrote some more of the 5th short story to my nightmare anthology. It seriously is one of the most gruesome. But, hopefully it's also thought provoking to people. It, I guess, has more of a philosophical feel. The scary thing is I'm imagining it all in my head as I type it out. It's kind of creepy. 

Played the clarinet. Did some pieces from one of my solo books, a few Gershwin tunes, some Duke Ellington, and some from my 'advanced' classical solo book. Quite a bit. Sounded pretty good. 

日本語

Yesterday, I studied the kanji: 畑. It can be pronounced as either はた (hata) or はたけ (hatake). はたけ (hatake) is preferred though. It means: field (for fruits, vegetables, etc.), cultivated land, vegetable plot, kitchen garden, plantation; (n, suf) (はたけ [hatake] only) (ばたけ [batake] when suf) field (of specialization), sphere, area; (はたけ [hatake] only) (col) womb, birth, birthplace. I started to study the kanji: 発. It generally means: departure, counter for gunshots, discharge, disclose, emit, publish, start from. Next, I'll study more details on how it's pronounced for certain meanings, and compounds. There are quite a bit of common compounds listed. 

Last night I decided to try and make something from my Jerusalem cookbook. I had been itching to really cook something for a while. I made what they called sweet and sour fish. It was pretty tasty. But, the more I think about it, and after having some of the leftovers, I didn't really like it.The sauce itself tasted amazing. But, the coriander seeds kind of threw it off a bit. There were so many of them...The way they had me lightly bread the fish didn't really turn out. The breading slid off as I cooked it. I don't really need that much fry, though. I used cod. The sauce also had bay leaves, tomatoes, onions, garlic, sweet bell pepper strips, vinegar, sugar, curry powder, and more. It smelled very curry-ish. Kind of like a hybrid of the eastern European sweet and sour sauce used for stuffed cabbage (which I'm pretty familiar with), and an Indian curry. Interesting to say the least. It was great to try the book out, too.

Sakura

Mood:

Sung by Saori@destiny. It's a cover of Kyogo Kawaguchi's song of the same name. I think this version is much better. Her voice is amazing and calming. It's about always being by someone's side, even through the happy and sad times. Sakura means cherry blossom(s), by the way. Saori@destiny started off as a street performer in Akihabara, early 2007. Her debut song was used in an online game. Her songs are cool and interesting. Still new to her, so there might be more of her songs that I like. 

Friday was a crazy, but awesome day!We went to the mall to get some jeans for me. The ones that I had were starting to get holes in them. Plus, they were getting pretty loose. Found out that I had lost enough weight to go down a size!I can't believe it. I've gone down at least 3 sizes since my heaviest weight.That's pretty cool. Wearing my new jeans now, after I washed them. They're still a bit roomy. So, maybe I'm in between a size right now. Not quite enough to go down again one full size. I'll get there, though. 

Then, I had my first pedicure. First time getting nail polish on my toenails, too. So, they said I had 'virgin' nails.Also, the person who worked on my feet kept telling me how tiny my toes were. After the nail polish, all of them except my big toes looked like tiny dash marks. Kind of funny. I was worried about my big toes, but the pedicurist said that the only problem she could see was that my body had produced too much skin under those nails. So, it was making them very painful, discolored, and weird looking. She cleared them out of the extra skin. There was so much of it, that I ended up bleeding when she was done with that part. Very painful.They do feel a bit better now, but I think they're still healing. I decided on a sparkly kind of dark teal color. She told me it reminds her of mermaids. Really nice looking color. Also, might have another sell of Alliance. Another pedicurist was very interested in it when I talked about it. So, yay! 

After that, I attended another Friday night service on OneShul. This time, I really felt more connected with it. The person who led it had a lot of the same views on things. He was also interesting, because he was a Sephardic Jew, and into shofars. A lot of the music he had throughout the service had shofars, and had a Sephardic influence. Really cool and moving.The topic after the service part was on idolatry. Which, sadly, I couldn't stick around for. 

Went to a support group meeting, and had a late dinner out with the group. One of the members decided to pay for everyone's meals. We weren't a small group, either. Very nice of her.I got their 'Tacoma Dome Dip'. It was a big French dip sandwich with garlic and parmesan fries on the side. The sandwich was packed with beef, had a little cheese on top of that, some horseradish sauce, all on a ciabatta-like bun. The dip part was really good, although slightly saltier than I'd like. She told us that she'd buy everyone dessert as well, and urged us to get some. Dad and I shared a humongous chocolate cake. It had a huge pool of extra icing on the side, and a scoop of ice cream on both sides of the cake. We only ate half the cake and all the ice cream, and took the rest home. I had the rest of it for breakfast this morning, and the extra icing had turned into fudge. Really good stuff.

On our way back to the car, a lightening storm had started. We got home at around 12:20am that night. I was really tired, but thought the storm was cool to watch on our way. Not too cool that it kept going when I tried to finally sleep. Lots of bright flashes, and a heavy downpour. Plus, my ears and sinuses were acting up because of the pressure. I have a Eustachian tube problem in my ears, and it only gets worse when there's a change in pressure or there's too much of it. It's pretty painful, and felt like my head was going to explode.

My computer mouse was dying, so we got a new one. It's wireless this time, which should be interesting. It's very fast, so I had to adjust the settings. Also got a real mouse pad. I had made a makeshift one out of a notepad. Worked for a while. But, that mouse from before had made some burn marks and holes in it.First time using a mouse pad, and so far it's pretty good. 

In Namonaki Doku, it was the conclusion of part 1. I thought it would be more exciting and complex at the end. But, it was kind of anti-climatic. The death of the chauffeur was really an accident. His daughter wasn't kidnapped when she was 4. And apparently, the younger sister was seeing the older sister's fiance. Just kind of a bland ending of it.Hopefully, the next part will be more interesting. It's about someone literally poisoning people. (I say literally, because the English title is Nameless Poison. The first part was referring to 'poison' figuratively.) A woman is putting poison in drinks at convenience stores. She's had 4 victims so far. Not knowing her background too well, the company hires her to replace the intern that is going to be studying abroad. Sounds more exciting already. 

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, Misaki and Usui grew even closer. They had entered a butler contest. The people who were behind it were thinking of buying off Maid Latte. So, Misaki thought she could make them back down if she won. She had to hide the fact that she was a girl in order to participate. Her partner ended up being Usui. He tried his best to win, and to keep her from hurting herself. He ended up badly injured after he stopped her from falling. He still went about things like everything was fine. Even played his violin while in agony. I think it was the first time Misaki stopped him and actually worried about him. After she told him to stop and gave a short speech to the people behind it, they let them go and agreed to leave Maid Latte alone. After that, Misaki went over to Usui's place to see how he was doing and take care of him. She found out that he lives alone in an apartment. I kind of want to know more about him. 

In Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, Kiri was discharged from the hospital. They found out who the next Order Made Author would be. Don't really know much about him yet. But, couldn't they have waited until he was at least out of the hospital? They managed to sneak out without being noticed. Kiri said that he doesn't want to fight anymore. I think he'll have to soon. 

日本語

Studied more of the compounds for 神. 神学 or しんがく (shingaku): theology. 神官 or しんかん (shinkan): Shinto priest. 神経 or しんけい (shinkei): nerve, sensitivity. 神社 or じんじゃ (jinja): Shinto shrine. 神髄 or しんずい (shinzui): true meaning, mystery, essence, quintessence, soul, core, kernel. Translated more of a You Maga article. 

Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's site. It was on the filming of the sequel to the live action movie version of Rurouni Kenshin. I haven't seen the first one that was put out last year. Only seen snippets of the anime. I know it's a classic. Just haven't gotten to it. Maybe in the future I'll watch the whole thing. The live action movies look interesting, too. Just like I feel like some day I should watch Ranma 1/2. I've only seen parts of that one, too.

Today, I started doing 60 sit-ups twice a day for the week. I'm surprised I was able to do that many this morning. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep adding on 5 sit-ups (for both times) each week?It'll be fun to find out. Last time I got up to 65 sit-ups twice a day, and then was forced to stop because of that weird cyst thing. Now I don't have that problem...I'm hoping to add an extra walk to my day tomorrow. So, I can do the 4 miles thing, and see how it goes. If it's not that bad for me, I can keep it up. It'll probably make me lose weight, and feel even healthier, faster. Still sticking to my way of eating. 

Youtube:

3 cool and creepy Pandora Hearts amv's (first one has some scenes from Kuroshitsuji, as well): 

National Lasagna Day!

Mood:

Yay, I love lasagna!Especially the vegetarian, cheese, and sometimes beef ones. I've tried eggplant lasagna, and didn't like it. Even though it looked so good...I also hate eggplant in general, but people kept telling me they have a different 'texture' in this form.  

Went to a different trans support group on Friday, the one Dad used to go to more often. They loved that I was an ally. (They all kept hugging me, and brightened a bit after I told them.) They seemed very nice and warm. (Maybe more so than the other group.) It was a much bigger group, than the one Dad facilitates. And, I was surprised by how many people I knew or met once before. Since it was a large group, check-ins were really long. The topic was interesting. 

Went to a place called the Hub afterwards. I was just going to share some Cajun fries with Dad, but they were too spicy for me and I was really hungry. So, I got their rustica pizza. It had artichoke hearts, olives, and huge cloves of roasted garlic. The pizza itself was huge! (Supposed to be for one person.) Was really tasty, though.Ate half like usual, and was pretty satisfied. (Got to have an awesome lunch the next day!) 

Somehow ended up having a 'deep' conversation with one of the members across the table for me. It was hard to hear her at times. Didn't expect to be answering such deep questions.I think she started those as soon as I told her I was Jewish. Some of the questions were related to my religion, but some were just on my life in general. She seemed fascinated with me. Don't know if that was good or bad...Made it interesting. They want me to come to the next one. The only problem is that it's on Friday nights. Shabbat starts then. So, I don't know.

I naturally got up pretty early this morning. Which isn't normal.At least I felt a bit rested. Started my 50 sit-ups twice a day for this week this morning. I could really feel my abs and surrounding areas tightening. Also, at the point where I'm building up a sweat. Before having that 'medical' week in March, I had made it to 65 sit-ups twice a day for that ending week. I'm getting closer to it. And, then I can surpass that. Yay!

I'm not going to add those 2 exercises into my routine. I remembered that I had lost a lot of weight until March, just on what I've been doing. So, why add more things? Unless I'm at a plateau, then maybe. Been more on top of my 2-mile walks, too. 

Trying to stick more closely to my way of eating, as well. It's easiest at restaurants. I'm good at home, but occasionally I have a tendency to just eat it all. It's easy most of the time for me to eat half of things, though. Thinking of limiting a bit more of my breakfasts, but I'll see. Already feel like I'm losing weight again. Even though it's not entirely why I'm doing this. It's also for overall health.

Namonaki Doku is getting really interesting. The more Sugimura finds out the more complex the story gets. But, I love that sort of thing. The episode ended with him getting run over by a bicyclist. He had some pretty serious injuries. But, he's the main character, so it'd be pointless to kill him off just like that. 

I'm liking Kaichou wa Maid sama a lot as it progresses. At the end of this episode Misaki and Usui almost kissed. I'm usually not into the romance genre, but they make it really fun. 

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, finally had an update! They were able to post a few more chapters, instead of having readers wait for a chapter every few months. So, yay! I'm thinking they might make another season of the anime version, once there are enough chapters out. Since, the anime ended with essentially what happened in the last chapter I read in the manga. The one I read today was kind of a fluff one. Kiri was finally able to see Iwai after the incident, while still at the hospital. The staff allowed him to cut her hair. They introduced his sister. She was feeling guilty over saying horrible things to Kiri about him enjoying cutting other people's hair, but he managed to help patch up their relationship. Of course, with the help of Iwai. 

Played my clarinet. Did a lot of classical pieces from my advanced solo book, and a couple of jazz tunes. Was pretty good. Only a few parts where I goofed up, but not too bad. Started the 2nd story to my nightmare anthology novel. I think this one will be even better! Thought I'd base it on a few of my short nightmares, and make it flow into each other. I think each short story is going to have a different 'style', I guess. Not exactly sure what the end product of this will be, but it's kind of exciting.

Finally managed to cook something for dinner Saturday night. I haven't really 'cooked' for a while. Made an Indian dish that was basically chicken with a red bell pepper curry. It was pretty good. Found several new songs on Sunday, so look forward to those soon!

日本語

Today, I studied some of the compounds for the kanji: 神. It generally means: G-d, gods, deity, mind, soul. 神仙 or しんせん (shinsen): Taoist immortal, supernatural being. 神罰 or しんばつ (shinbatsu): divine punishment. 神意 or しんい (shini): divine will. 神像 or しんぞう (shinzou): idol (e.g. carving or painting of a deity). 神韻 or しんいん (shinin): exceptional artistry. 神格 or しんかく (shinkaku): divinity, divine. I'll do more of them next time. Also, translated part of a You Maga article. Read an article in Japanese from Asahi's website. It was about a massive recall on top loading washing machines put out by Sharp. They were the cause of 3 house fires. No one was injured, thank goodness. 

Youtube: 

Another hilarious scene from Azumanga Daioh:

National Apple Strudel Day!

Mood:

Apple strudel's awesome!The oldest known strudel recipe is from 1696, a handwritten recipe now at the Viennese City Library. They say that the pastry has its origins from earlier Middle Eastern pastries. Also, last Friday was National Strawberry Shortcake Day. Another one of my faves! 

For my dad's birthday dinner, I made some pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs. Had some chocolate eclairs for dessert. Then, later we grabbed some snacks, and watched Moonrise Kingdom. It was really weird, but I liked it. Didn't LOVE it, but it was good.One of the main characters looked a lot like one of my friends, even though the actress is supposed to be 12. It kind of added another odd element to it. It seemed that they got the time period pretty accurately. Which was a plus. Anyways, that was a nice way to celebrate her birthday during the week.

On Friday, I did a ton of cleaning around the house. Didn't realize I could get the candlesticks so clean! That was nice. Another 'highlight' of my cleaning, was taking down a massive cobweb in my room. It stretched to all the corners of it, and was like spaghetti.I freaked out a bit when something flew rather lazily out of it. Maybe it had been caught, was paralyzed, and about to be eaten. Then, I saved it, and it woke up a bit, and flew. It was kind of funny the sound it made as it went by. I don't really know what it was. 

I also applied to be a bakery clerk at the new Safeway that'll open soon. If I get it, I'm guessing I'll have to be trained somewhere else, and maybe work temporarily there, until this new store's open. I like baked goods. And it may be fun to work there. Not sure how many things I'd actually be 'baking', but that would be fun, too.The smells would be great. They have a shorter waiting time compared to Starbucks, for when benefits kick in. Like, health/vision/dental insurance. So, it might work out even better for me. Interestingly, everyone will be new to this store, as well. So, I won't be alone. I liked Safeway when I went there for things while I was in college. There were 3 other positions that sounded interesting to me, but this one seemed to have the biggest draw. They need to fill 25 more positions. That's quite a lot of people still. By the way, it's so close to where my house is, when the store finally opens, that I'll most likely walk there. (It won't be a very long walk.)

Yesterday, for Father's Day, we went to Point No Point. It's a beach that has a lighthouse. Lots of people with kites, cloudy, people barbecuing stuff, others drawing in the sand, kids running around, birds chirping, lots of shells and kelp scattered across the sand as you get closer to the ocean, barking dogs, and other things. It was nice. Went to a newly renovated Chinese buffet place. We used to frequent there quite often before it started renovating. It looks a bit nicer, and there's more choices to choose from. Now they have a steak bar, BBQ bar, and ice cream bar. At these new bars, they have people ready to make things fresh for people. You just have to pick the ingredients at the steak and BBQ place, and they'll grill it for you on the spot. The people at the ice cream bar, hand scoop the ice cream for people. Didn't look at what flavors they had, but from afar it looked like a good selection. Seemed like a better selection of sushi, too. The stuff I usually get, tasted maybe even better than it did before.

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, Misaki and her friends went to find out where Usui lived and to find out more about his private life. He played them the entire time. Going to fancy looking places, helping out elementary school kids, etc. Eventually her friends got tired of waiting for him to go home and left. Usui had found a stray kitten, who immediately attacked him. But, he took him in anyways. Misaki loved seeing that side of him. He said if she really wanted to know where he lived, she should have just asked and gave her a card with his address. She of course denied that she was interested in seeing where he lives. But, later kept staring at it. From the ending, it looked like he lives by himself in an apartment. But, don't really know. This all started when Usui had helped Misaki's absent-minded mother with apples that she kept dropping. As a thank you, she invited him into their place for the first time, and they ate some of the cut up apples. He helped them out more with fixing the rotting floor boards. As soon as Misaki saw him, she misunderstood and grabbed him taking him to a nearby park to talk about what happened. Her friends were passing by when they saw her gripping his wrist, and heading out from her place. Her friends assumed they were dating, and later said they wanted to know more about him. I don't like how Misaki has been so mean to him. With whatever he does, she automatically assumes he has an 'agenda'. Hope that changes soon.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge finally was updated. I think because they want to stay ahead of the anime version. I'm actually surprised at how fast the anime is going through the story. Anyways, Kiri finally was able to 'dream' about Grayland. But, it was as he lay on the ground badly cut up. Emily thought she had killed him, doused him with gasoline, and was about to light him on fire. His dream changed him, and he became a mindless killing machine. The worst part for Emily was that Grayland was into torturing his victims with as much pain as possible. So, every time Kiri slashed her she was in agonizing pain. (Much more than whatever pain comes from being slashed by a pair of scissors.) She cried out, and dropped the lighter. Iwai heard her scream, and was going to carry her out of there. But, Kiri found them. Iwai thought if she came in between him and Emily he would come to his senses. But, he slashed part of her neck and parts of her hair, and then collapsed. She was in a great deal of pain, and suddenly her hair grew back. Almost like the curse kicked in again. 

Managed to play some more of my clarinet. Sounded much better this time.Played some of the classical pieces from my advanced book, and some jazz tunes. Wrote a bit more of my first story to my nightmare anthology. Also, remembered another nightmare to add to the list of possible stories. Looked for more writing memes. But, didn't find anything interesting.

日本語

Today's kanji is: 所. If pronounced as しょ (sho): (suf) counter for places. As ところ (tokoro): (n, suf) (also pronounced as どころ (dokoro) when a suffix) place, spot, scene, site; address; district, area, locality; one's own house; point; part; space, room; (after plain past form of a verb) whereupon, as a result; (after present form of a verb) about to, on the verge of; (after past form of a verb) was just doing, was in the process of doing, have just done, just finished doing. とこ (toko) is an informal form of ところ (tokoro). 一所懸命 or いっしょけんめい (isshokenmei): very hard, with utmost effort, with all one's might, desperately, frantically, for dear life. 近所 or きんじょ (kinjo): neighborhood. 住所 or じゅうしょ (juusho): address, residence. 所為 or しょい (shoi): act, deed, one's doing. Translated more of an article from You Maga. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's website about McDonald's losing sales there after giving a huge discount on the Big Mac. Interesting.