26th of Tammuz

This is my wallpaper for July. It's another Dear manga wallpaper I made a while ago. I didn't actually create the art. I just stretched the image big enough to make a wallpaper out of it. There's another manga named Dear that's sports related. This one's by Cocoa Fujiwara, and is fantasy-based. Quite different. These are all the main characters. Subaru is so tall! (Compared to the others.) Taller than I remembered when I was reading it. Hopefully, someday I'll finish reading it. I only stopped because the rest of the chapters weren't available. I liked it a lot. The story was unique, and each character was interesting. This seemed like a nice summery one. 

The weather calendar's main pic's of a shelf cloud in Kansas with a storm behind it during a sunset. They captured a bolt of lightning from the storm. It's cool looking. The smaller pics are of tornado-producing supercell clouds, that were also in Kansas. They seem pretty hung up on tornadoes. There are plenty of other weather-related phenomena they could capture. 

The month-long holidays for July are: National Grilling Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Blueberries Month, and National Honey Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Lots of good food ones. Also, locally, it's like we have another Pride month. 2 months is a bit much...

My shoulder is a lot better than it was. The heating pad and Vicodin seemed to have helped quite a bit. It's still not 100%, though. It aches every so often throughout the day. I'll probably have to continue to use the heating pad for a little longer. Went for the entire day yesterday and today without taking Vicodin. Yay! I really didn't like how it was making me feel. My stomach was worse on it, too. Had more headaches than usual. So, I was determined to stop even if I was still in a lot of pain. I don't understand how people can get addicted to it. It just makes me feel sicker the longer I'm on it. I also was taking Benefiber for a few days while I was taking Vicodin. I might have had too much each day with it. It made my intestines hurt more than they already were. It helped with the constipation I had with the painkillers. I might try taking it once a day in the future, just to get more fiber. I'm always low on it. So, even if I didn't have colitis it might still be a good thing. I'll see how that goes. I managed to get to most things today, despite the shoulder still slightly hurting and my gut pain getting worse. 

I tried to eat lighter yesterday to help a bit. Haven't eaten much different today, I just have to figure something plain/bland for dinner again. Yesterday, I had a salmon onigiri (rice ball) and some vegetable spring rolls. They were pretty bland enough, and still really tasty. Maybe I'll have something with the rest of the spring rolls? Today, I've also gone back to being strict with tracking my calories (keeping to my 1200-1600 daily range) and such. I didn't last week, because I didn't really care and I was in a lot more pain. 

Went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond this weekend. I hadn't been to one in a very long time. I tend to forget what's actually there. There was a ton of kitchen/cooking stuff. Things that most places locally don't have. It was interesting to look at it all. My old mattress protector was ripped to shreds enough that I had to throw it out a couple of years ago. I had forgotten what it was called at the time, and kept telling myself I'll look for it online. It's difficult to sleep without it. Considering, it usually has some padding. It's felt like I've been sleeping on the floor or something ever since I threw the old one out. It even feels weird to the touch with my other linens on it. Anyways, they had them there. At first, I thought what I threw out was a mattress pad. That seemed too thick, though. I looked at the mattress protectors, and they seemed to be the right thing. I also looked at the info they had on mattress protectors and pads. They of course had the twin mattress protectors just barely within my reach. Almost had to jump for one of them. The one I picked supposedly keeps the bed cool, is hypoallergenic, and has other interesting features. When I took it out of its packaging, it felt nice and soft. I decided to wash it before I used it. Today was not only a laundry day, but also a day I usually launder my bed stuff. I do it every other week, along with my eye mask. Although, the mask has to be washed by hand. So, it worked out that way. Maybe I'll sleep better with the new mattress protector. At least, it'll be more normal.

I didn't get to writing more of Alliance 3 today. However, I did think more about the promos and my other books. I might lower the paperbacks' prices when the promos start on the 14th. That way I can have something close to a promo for them. It won't be the same as having Amazon promote the ebooks through Select, but it'll be something. Their Select program is only for the ebooks. I wish they had one for paperbacks. Maybe they will in the future. It's still kind of a new thing for them. Someone told me yesterday that they just got a copy of the cookbook and can't wait to use it. That's great! 

Went through the Adjectives and Adverbs unit for Chinese. I'm slowly getting better with the pronunciation. I get confused sometimes with the up and down tones. Had many 'perfect' sentences this time with speaking. They turn the color of the mispronounced words (sometimes parts of words) red when you get them wrong. Green is when you get them right. If they're all green, you get a quick 'perfect!'. I'm glad they highlight them this way. You know your weaknesses more. For the rest of it I've been doing really well. Even with the grammar and sentence structure. I'm getting better with quickly learning new characters, too. The next unit is Clothing. That should be interesting. 

Kuroshitsuji or Black Butler's manga had an update. It's put out monthly, although sometimes there's nothing for a couple of months. The story just keeps getting darker. I wonder what Undertaker's true relationship was to the Phantomhives. Yes, we know that he was in love with Ciel's grandmother. However, it seems much deeper than that. The Undertaker said he needed the bloodline to continue. Why? And, he seemed like bringing back 'our' Ciel's dead identical twin brother was only part of his plan. (We still don't know the true name of the one we've known as Ciel throughout the series. It's his dead brother's name.) I'm thinking he's planning to bring back Vincent. He's their father. A couple of the other shinigami showed up at the end of this chapter. After reading this one, more questions have sprung up.

I didn't much extra cleaning besides the laundry and cat stuff. I don't want to stress my shoulder too much. I did get to drawing today. Drew the assassin's head/bust from the first book of Alliance. She had no name in that book, she does have one now, but considering it's in the book I'm currently writing, I won't mention it yet. She's also like a bodyguard for one of the Dark Healers. She'll protect him, and kill anyone he tells her to. 

Started watching Satsuriku no Tenshi (Angels of Death or Slaughter) a couple of days ago. It's apparently based on a horror game. I like it so far. Puts more of a spin on it personally when the main character has the same name as me. They have quite a few things written out in English on the walls, too. It seems to be some sort of survival game. Rachel had witnessed a massacre, and went to see a therapist about it. At some point, she woke up from the session and walked out of the room. It seemed very different compared to the hospital before. She heard an announcement in an elevator that she was the next sacrifice. Each floor has a killer, and she has to get through them all. She met Isaac on one of the levels. He has a huge scythe and seems to be blood thirsty. He came close to killing her. She made it to another elevator just in time. On that floor, she met her therapist again. Turned out he was another 'killer' in the game. Only he seemed more interested in ripping out her eyes. After Isaac travels to that level and kills the therapist, he's branded as a sacrifice, too. He was not supposed to travel to another level. It ended with her wanting him to kill her. So, apparently they team up. I'm unsure how that will go. I wonder if it's real or something she made up. I guess that's part of it. I like psychological/horror/survival anime. Actually, pretty much any medium that has that combo. Hopefully, they can pull it off well. 

Close to finishing Shiyan Pin Jiating (Creatures Family Days). It's only been available in Chinese dub with English subs. It's supposed to be a Chinese and Japanese collab anyways. Very interesting to hear the Chinese while learning it this way. They even have Chinese subs above the English subs. So, I can try to read along with that at the same time. Although, that gets a bit difficult and dizzying. This is a much darker anime than it seemed at first. 

Started watching Hataraku Saibou or Cells at Work on Saturday. This one's interesting. It's about the world of cells in our bodies. The main characters are a red blood cell (rbc) and a white blood cell (wbc). I don't think they have actual names, but numbers with what type of cell they are. Like, Red Blood Cell 200. I think people that don't have any previous knowledge of biology won't truly get everything. They can see how things work, though. I like that they anthropomorphized all of them, and they've made it seem like an actual world. The white blood cells are hilarious to watch when they've found an invader. They immediately swarm it and scream things like: "Die, germs, die!" Then, they attack until the invaders become nothing but a bloody mess. It's rather violent, but that goes along with what actually happens. It's fitting that the red blood cells are mail people. They're constantly delivering things. It was the first day for the main rbc, and she was having a hard time finding where to go. She needed to go to the lungs. The platelets are cute little kids. The T-cells are even more crazy about killing things than the white blood cells. The main wbc met the rbc just after attacking a bacteria. He helped her find the lungs, and saved her when one of the bacteria found its way into the rbc's package. They got rid of him by stuffing him in a rocket and setting it off as a sneeze. It's also interesting to watch this from the perspective of having an autoimmune disease.

Started watching the 2nd season of Gintama.: Shirogane no Tamashii-hen (Gintama.: Silver Soul Arc) yesterday. I didn't realize it'd be out so soon. I get notifications from MyAnimeList of anime on my 'plan to watch' list that's about to premiere. It was nice to see. Gintama is my fave, and this is it's last season. (It's the 2nd half of the last arc.) So, it's bittersweet for me. The first episode didn't disappoint. I wonder how it's all going to end. 

Finished watching Samurai Gourmet on Netflix. It was cute. He slowly realized that you should enjoy your food however way you want. Also, that you should try to be adventurous, but old favorites are good to have as well. I like how they dealt with foreigners in one of the last episodes. They were at a yakiniku place, and the chef seemed to really hate foreigners. The retiree on the other hand thought that since they traveled so far, they should be treated with utmost respect. The fact they decided to come to Japan instead of somewhere else was something to be proud of. The foreigners in this one didn't understand Japanese, and the retiree helped them with figuring out the menu. The chef lectured the foreigners in Japanese when they started sprinkling red pepper flakes on the meat. The retiree was scared to confront the chef, but another man slightly older than him stepped in. He made the chef realize that what's important is that the customer should be able to eat their food however they want. They'll enjoy it more that way. The chef apologized and the waitress told them they can have something on the house for their troubles. The retiree tried it with some red pepper flakes, and said it made the meat even better. Next, I'll watch Million Yen Women on Netflix. I watched at least the first episode a while back. It's a weird one, and I'm unsure if I'll finish it.

National Meatball Day!

This holiday was on Friday. I love meatballs! As long as there isn't pork in them, I'm all good. (If there are shellfish meatballs, I won't have those either.) I've made meatballs a couple of times. They're simple and somewhat fun. Lamb with mint meatballs are really good and different than the typical beef or poultry ones. Fish meatballs can be good, too. You can put meatballs in so many different dishes. I normally like spaghetti or other pasta dishes with them. 

This is my wallpaper for March. It's Subaru from the manga Dear by Cocoa Fujiwara. There's another manga called Dear, and that's why I mentioned the creator. That other one is a sports-type manga. This one falls under the supernatural and adventure genre. Quite different. This wallpaper came out cleaner than last month's Hell's Kitchen one. I like the effect, too. I only stopped reading this manga when there wasn't an update for a few months. I eventually gave up and put it in my 'dropped' list on MyAnimeList (they also have manga lists). It's been a very long time since I've read it, and I've noticed most of it, if not all, is available now. I really liked it. Even the romance aspect was done well enough that I actually enjoyed that. That's rare. If I ever do go back to it, I might have to reread the whole thing. I barely remember Subaru, and he's one of the main characters. The manga started in 2002 and ended in 2008, so it's a bit old. I might have stopped reading what was available in '09 or '10. That's how long ago it was. It's a longer series than some, too. 

The weather calendar has an aurora above some mountains in Alaska. The smaller pics are a couple more supercell clouds with lightning coming out of them. Friday's blurb is about heavy rains and high winds (113 mph gusts) that happened in Russia in 1995. The only fatality was a goldfish. That seems sad that any life was taken, yet somewhat of a miracle that it was just a goldfish. 

The month-long holidays for March are: National Frozen Food Month, National Noodle Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, National Women's History Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Frozen food is quite a nifty invention, and definitely should get some recognition. I love noodles! I'm part Irish-American, so that's a more personal one for me. Women should be recognized for their achievements, how they've changed history, etc. 

Thursday was International Women's Day. I feel a bit strange about it. Some afab (assigned female at birth) enbies had very mixed feelings about it in the fb enby group I'm in. It seemed every other post on there that day was about how dysphoric it made them feel. Especially, when people would tell them Happy Women's Day, like they assumed they were women... Some responses had very good points. Society views us afab enbies as women, and therefore it's our day, too. We experience much of the same things. I understand this and somewhat agree, but it still doesn't feel right to me. This way of thinking would probably apply to trans men, too. They're men, but some might not be out  or might not 'pass' as well others. (I hate the thing behind 'passing'...) They also have similar issues with reproductive health, with some added stuff to it. Some cis women exclude trans women, but they are definitely women and deserve this day. There are a lot of misconceptions that cis women that exclude trans women have. They still go through similar things. I don't know...Maybe it's the wording, or assuming everyone who looks a certain way should be included, or people that look a certain other way are excluded. There are issues behind it. Maybe everyone but cis men? And then for Men's Day (I think there is one), everyone but cis women? Still not right. I definitely can get behind the idea of Women's Day, though.

Pesach or Passover starts at sundown on March 30th, and will go until April 7th. In relation to the 'regular' calendar, it's earlier this year. (It's always on the same day on the Jewish calendar.) I keep thinking there's a lot more time before it starts. It must be because of it being colder out than usual and that it snowed relatively recently. The temp is supposed to warming up, though. 

I might have a lot more people this time for my seder. Dad will most likely be there for all of it. She has 3 colleagues that have shown interest, and if they do go they might bring their partners. Pretty different compared to last year. I'd have to prepare and/or think about more food for it.

Haven't gone to the QFC at U Village yet. Was thinking about going today, but it's more likely Tuesday or this coming weekend. It has one of the largest selections of kosher for Pesach food in the area. Probably for the year round kosher food, too. Many people trek out there just to get things for the holiday. If you wait too long, there might not be much left. I think they set it up about 2 months before the holiday. I think, they have people who make sure things are kosher in that area in case people have questions. (Maybe they're from Chabad?) That's interesting in itself. They usually have interesting new things to try. 

It'd be great if there was a pre-made charoset, and that it was in a jam form. I saw something similar online. Our tradional family one is chopped up apples, walnut pieces, grape juice (originally wine, but I don't drink it), and cinnamon mixed together. It's really good, but not good for my gut now that I have colitis. Even if it might still be in remission, it can irritate the damage I already have. I also still have trigger foods. Whole or pieces of nuts and uncooked (usually unpeeled) apples are triggers for me. Last year I mixed applesauce, peanut butter (might not be ok for it, considering I'm Ashkenazic), grape juice, and cinnamon together. It was weird, but still good. I only made a little for myself, considering I was the only one for most of my seder last year. (Dad came in at the end.) It also didn't upset my gut, which was a plus. It wasn't something I wanted to repeat. More like an emergency thing. I don't know what I'm doing for it if they don't have a pre-made one. I might have to do what I did last year, which might be weird for guests. Or, actually get a jam for it instead. Pesach food isn't exactly kind to people with colitis. I ended up ending the holiday early last year.

I did figure out what was leftover from last year, and what I'd still need. I did pretty well last year. Finished most of everything. Still have an unopened box of matzo farfel (matzo pieces), and another box that's barely been used. One packet of matzo ball mix left. Each packet makes roughly 10 balls. That's a lot. Unsure if I'd need more. Last year the soup part was chicken broth, carrots, celery, and parsley. Simple but good. There's half a canister of matzo meal left. Certainly not enough for at least making popovers for both my seder and our friends'. There's lots of potato starch left, so that's good. 

I think I only used one box of matzo, so I might do that again. It's sometimes hard to figure this stuff out when it'll just be you that's eating it, besides at the seder. Dad doesn't follow it, nor does she need to. It was a bit easier when we had to plan for Mom and I. 

Also, found out that Dad and I will finally be going to Leavenworth for 3 days. Her spring break covers most of Pesach. We've been wanting to go since at least my birthday back in November. It was going to be a birthday thing...It can still be that and a spring break thing. The only downside is we'll be gone for 3 of the days of Pesach. Since a lot of the food doesn't sit well with me, I'll take a mini break from the holiday. I'm not skipping chametz (food not kosher for Pesach) on that trip anyway. They have things like pretzel, gingerbread, and chocolate factories. Plus, I'm sure most of the options at restaurants will be full of chametz. I'll observe at least the first day and second night of the holiday, and maybe when we come back I'll go back to eating Pesach food. It'll be 5 days instead of 8...I might just go back to eating that way when we come home to finish whatever I get for the holiday. I don't know.

I'm up to 160 pages with writing both books. So much! I think I'll finish writing the cookbook before Alliance 3. However, I'm going to have to do a lot of rearranging, making more sections, and a lot of editing of it. My mom had things in a weird order. The dessert section is the longest, and I might break it down further with pies, cakes, candy, etc. sections. I'm up to 6 chapters for Alliance 3. I'm surprised at the direction it's going. I just let the story flow out of me. Of course, with the framework of the story so far. It definitely builds up on itself, and I can be more creative with it that way. 

I've decided to have some sort of promo for the ebooks every month. The one for this one has passed, but it was a countdown deal for the memoir. It started off at $0.99 and worked it's way back to the regular cost. Next month, I plan to have Alliance as free and Alliance: Dawn with the countdown deal at the same time for the first week. That might boost the series a bit. In May, I'm going to set Sweet Endless Terror to free for the first week. The only promo options I have are free or the countdown deals. The more books I publish, the more I can promote and have a presence. I think Alliance 3 and the cookbook will be done by the end of April. So, I'll have 6 out and be able to promote them more. Might have 2 promos a month when those 2 are out. Each 'select' period is 3 months long. However, A2 and the memoir are a month off from the other 2. So, the next ones might not be the same as either of them...So, technically, if they're staggered like that, I might be able to promote them even more. Once things pick up more, I'll lay off doing the promos a bit. I plan to embed A2 and the memoir on here, too. That way people can see it everytime I post and check it out. After I publish the 2 I'm currently writing, I'll start the next 2. Can't believe I'll have 6 published, let alone 8. I plan to continue the Alliance series for a while, and I have lots of ideas for other books. 

I also got back into drawing. Not drawing a lot, but a little almost each day during the week. I'm drawing different perspectives of Shadow's wings. He's the main character of Alliance. I'm trying not to give too many things away of the series, but It's a big thing in it and I was tempted to draw it. I'm not used to drawing or even thinking about wings. The first 'perspective' didn't turn out the way I wanted, but was still good practice. It's seeing them head on from the back when they're down. The second perspective is better, and I'm finding my 'style' more with it. Still not perfect, but better. Looked better before I inked it and erased the pencil drawing part. It's of them completely outstretched, and head on again from the back. The next perspective will be from the side. I might finish that 'series' with that one. I have a lot more ideas for drawing. Many of them having to do with Alliance or Sweet Endless Terror. 

Still keeping up with my German. According to Duolingo, I'm 56% fluent at the moment. It doesn't feel like it. Some of it really does remind me of Yiddish, which has been interesting. Yes, Yiddish is a combo of German, Russian, and Hebrew. It still's interesting. It also somehow sounds like 'family' and 'warm' to me. 

I started being even better about my health last week. Making sure I go to bed at a decent time (getting ready at the latest: 10:30pm), and getting up at a more decent time (about 8 or 8:30am), too. Better than going to bed as late as I was, and getting up at around noon. I have more of a day this way. I'm still not getting enough sleep during that time. It takes forever for me to get comfortable, fall asleep, then I toss and turn, am wide awake at certain times for a while, etc. I get maybe 5 hours of sleep in total now. More than I was getting a couple of weeks ago. So, at least that's getting better. I'm not going to care as much about the time I go to bed and get up during the weekend. Unless I'm going somewhere in the morning.

I also went back to being more focused on my set amount of calories for the day. The 1200-1600 calorie range. (Sometimes I'll allow myself up to 1800 for non-treat days.) I'm not keeping each meal to 280 calories, like I tried to do recently. I've noticed the best way for me is to only care about getting to the minimum and not going over the max by the end of the day. Breakfast and snacks tend to be less calories than what I have for lunch and dinner. Lunch isn't that much more. With this way, I'm surprised at how much I can have for dinner. My Fitness Pal is very handy for not only keeping track of the calories and nutrients, but also planning out my day. 

Since I've managed to get a little more energy and 'time', I've also been doing some cleaning. I haven't cleaned my bathroom in a while, because of the fatigue from lack of sleep and my colitis...I managed to sweep the floor one day, do the toilet another day, and the sink another day. I still feel I only have enough energy to do a little bit at a time, but at least I'm getting to it. Feels like I'm accomplishing more this way. Hopefully, I can keep it up this coming week. 

World Rat Day!

Mood:

Yay! One of my favorite animals!They should be celebrated, even though many people consider them to just be pests. But, they're amazing as pets. I will post eventually about more songs. Just haven't felt like it, even though I've found a lot more interesting ones.I'm also trying to post more often, like I used to.

Watched the finale of the drama version of Ouran High School Host Club. It was rocky at the beginning, but the rest of it turned out pretty good. It's not phenomenal, but not bad either. I really didn't like the actor who portrayed Honey. He looked really demented, and more deformed than in the anime. Plus, his voice didn't quite seem to fit.The actor who portrayed Tamaki is always amazing at whatever role he takes. And, he seems to be in a lot of things. His appearance didn't really 'scream' Tamaki, though. Oh well, made for an interesting take on the character. The twins were perfect. They looked/acted the most like their anime counterparts. The actress who portrayed Haruhi was ok. Wasn't really great, but not bad. I'll be watching the movie next. 

Naruto Shippuden was another filler this time. I rarely actually say 'filler', because I consider the manga and anime separate entities. They may have the same plot, but the anime is an 'adaptation'. Meaning it's a take on the manga, so it's not exactly like it. I love to see different takes on things. But, even just looking at the anime, it seemed like the last couple have been fillers. Nothing happens during them. It's gotten so bad, that some of the sites where I watch it have put up [Filler] next to the title of the episode.These fillers are mostly just flashbacks. A couple of weeks ago it was getting intense again with the 'real' episodes. Maybe that's why they made fillers, to take a little break from the intensity. There was a new opening and ending this time. So, that was nice. Another goofy one for the ending...

In Dear, nothing much happened. In the chapter before, Kisara had kissed Chiruha. Ever since then, she's apparently been hiding from him. Everyone has been keeping watch over Chiruha's bedroom, making sure no one comes to kidnap her again. Things seem to be tense for everyone. Subaru, according to the kidnappers, was behind it all. So, Purino, Carol, Komomo, and Kurenai are shocked by it. At the end of the chapter, a couple of new suspicious people came to the door saying hello to Kisara. They'll probably try to take Chiruha, as well. I guess I'll see. 

Watched Brave last night. It wasn't as great as I was expecting. Just about the only thing that really stood out was her hair. They did pretty well with some of the stuff like the highland games, and clan meetings. But, the plot seemed a bit...weak to me.I don't know, something about it didn't sit well with me, too. Oh well, it was good to try. 

I put all the extra Passover stuff back where I had the stuff from last year. I'm keeping certain things where they are for now, because I'm still finishing them up. Stuff that I'd gladly have after the holiday, anyways. So, stuff like chocolate covered matzah, mandel cuts (biscotti like things) with chocolate drizzle on top, fruit (jelly) slices, macaroons, my homemade granola, etc. I also did some cleaning in my bathroom. Kind of tired from those now. 

日本語

The kanji I went over today were: 持 and 式. As 持つ or も.つ (mo.tsu): to hold (in one's hand), take, carry; to possess, have, own; to maintain, keep; to last, be durable, survive; to take charge of, be in charge of. As 持ち or も.ち (mo.chi): (suffix) hold, charge, keep possession, in charge; wear, durability, life, draw; (suffix) usage. As 持てる or も.てる (mo.teru): to be able to possess (hold, get, etc.); to be well liked, be popular, be pampered (spoiled, doted upon, etc.); last; possessed; possessing riches, having wealth. And, when in compounds, it's pronounced as じ (ji). 式 is pronounced as しき (shiki). It means: style, ceremony, expression, formula, equation, function, method, rite, ritual. Here's its compounds (the other one didn't list any): 式次 or しきじ (shikiji): program of a ceremony. 式辞 or しきじ: ceremonial address. 式日 or しきじつ (shikijitsu): day of a ceremony or event. 式典 or しきてん (shikiten): ceremony rites. 式服 or しきふく (shikifuku): ceremonial dress. 儀式 or ぎしき (gishiki): ceremony, rite, ritual, service. The next kanji that I'll work on has a ton of compounds. Should be interesting. 

National Ravioli Day!

Mood:

This was yesterday, but Ravioli's awesome enough to celebrate for another day! And there's so many different kinds. I really like the ones that are just cheese filled, instead of with meat. Although, the beef ones aren't bad. Yesterday was also the First Day of Spring. So, happy spring!Today's National French Bread Day, and Memory Day. 

Tuesday, Dad and I went to the support group. There was another new person this time, who brought their family along with them. They were incredibly nervous, just like the new person from the time before that was (and still is). But, hopefully both of them will warm up to the group. The new person from before, seems to be slowly getting better with their nervousness already. It was another lively discussion. 

After that, we all went to Shari's again. I got their parmesan tater tots, and like usual, a strawberry lemonade. The lemonade seemed a bit anemic this time. The tater tots were awesome!Made a good lunch the next day. The waitress we had was extremely rude to everyone.She seemed to forget about us at one point. And, when we asked why the food was taking so long, she said something like: "Eh, I'm not the one making it!" And, threw her arms up in the air. She also called everyone hun, honey, babe, etc. in a rather condescending way. I know addressing people by a lot of those is common in the South, which I'm cool with most of the time. But, the way she said them, sounded very rude. The manager came to check on us more often than she did. I was going to order a slice of the s'mores pie, but everything else was taking too long, so I gave up on it.

Yesterday morning, I suddenly had a bunch of ideas for the ending of Alliance. I wrote so much in my notebook, I thought my hand was going to cramp up. I essentially wrote out the ending.Today, I typed up in Word a transition into the spot that my ideas started, and then typed like crazy half of the stuff I had written down in my notebook. My hand hurt too much to finish it up. But, I was writing really fast. Just seemed to really flow together. I love when something like this happens. Wish it happened more often though.Last night, I came up with more ideas for the sequel. That's how crazy it is right now. I don't know yet if I'll make a sequel.This story can go on forever, but could still stay fresh throughout. It's really been an interesting ride so far.

In Ouran High School Host Club, Hikaru (one of the twins) went out with Haruhi. He became very jealous when a guy she's been friends with since they were little offered to give them a ride. A thunderstorm was starting to roll in. He was very inconsiderate of Haruhi, and ran away. After a talk with Tamaki, he realized, what he had done and went off to find her. She's terrified of thunder, but had gone off to search for him. She eventually was too scared, and decided to hide in a church until the storm passed. Hikaru found her there, and Tamaki came to the rescue soon after. It was kind of a test to see if Hikaru could learn to care about others. He became even more jealous when Tamaki scooped her up into his arms. He's really falling for her. I actually don't remember too much about this point in the anime, so couldn't tell how close they were to it. It's been getting better as the show has progressed. 

In Naruto Shippuden, Naruto managed to find Kiba's, Shikamaru's, Neji's, and Choji's trapped souls. He saved them, and obliterated the enemy. He's become super strong, it's interesting to see.

Read the final extra before the next volume of Dear. I really love this manga! The humor is off-beat, the style isn't too shojo-ish, each character has such personality, and the story's interesting. They were talking about what the characters were like when they were younger. Some were hilarious, but most were just cute. I love Ume! That 'dog' doesn't seem to age apparently. He spits up really expensive looking clothes (actually, makes it somehow in his stomach), eats everything, always has a smile, eccentric, mysterious, etc. 

Scanned the second page of the OC Mad Lib I'm filling out. Edited the first panel from it already. Funny how it's just a table full of food. But, they asked what Vincent's true love was. And, that's it. He loves food. 

日本語

For today's kanji, I just continued writing out compounds for 事. It's one of the kanji I get confused with. Particularly, its meaning. As こと (koto) it can mean: thing, matter; incident, occurrence, event, something serious, trouble, crisis; circumstances, situation, state of affairs; work, business; (suffix) pretending to...; playing make believe...; (suffix) (especially as AことB or AとはBのことだ (A alias, B formal)) alias, aka, nickname, alternative name. As じ (ji) it means: (Buddhist) individual concrete phenomenon (as opposed to a general principle). The compounds I wrote out today were: 事典 or じてん (jiten): encyclopedia. 事犯 or じはん (jihan): crime. 事物 or じぶつ (jibutsu): things, affairs. 事変 or じへん (jihen): accident, disaster, incident, uprising, emergency. 事務 or じむ (jimu): business, office work. 事由 or じゆう (jiyuu): reason, cause. 事例 or じれい (jirei): example, precedent, case. 

Ah, What a Wonderful Cat Life

Mood:


Sung by the Gumi and Len vocaloids. First time I actually liked a song sung with Gumi in it. Although, I haven't heard many that feature her, yet.It's a cute song. Really reminds me of Drifter and Shana. The first 2 cats we had. Drifter was a stray, and Shana was an indoor only cat that my parents got when she was a little kitten. So, the 'rogue' reminded me a lot of Drifter. I think Shana was afraid to go outside before, too. (Later, she went outside, but it was as long as Drifter was with her.) I heard they used to coo at each other through a glass window, before we took him in. They were inseparable after that. Really was like a love story.I kind of miss them.

Sorry that its been so long since my last post!I've got to get back into this!I thought I'd relax a little by taking a bath on Tuesday. Haven't taken one in ages! I usually just take showers, but they're not always so relaxing. Anyways, some water ended up getting trapped in my ear. And, because I have an earwax problem it mixed with that, and plugged it pretty good.


Couldn't hear anything out of that ear until after I went to a doctor yesterday. Was a pain in the butt.Had to keep asking people: 'huh?' or 'What did you say?'. Not only do my ears produce too much earwax, but I have a eustachian tube problem. Yay!I had to have both ears irrigated. Apparently, the other one was about to plug up too. It's a pain at first while they're trying to flush it out, but once they get everything it's amazing!I usually can be hyper-sensitive to sound afterwards. I've only had my ears irrigated 3 or 4 times. Apparently, I should be self-irrigating every 3 months.I'm nervous about that. My ears are very important to me, and I feel I could damage them if I don't do it right. Kind of dangerous.At least I'm good for now.


Since I had that ear problem, I decided to cancel my appointment with the orthopedist. I still need to talk to him, but I'd rather be able to hear what he said. The pain in my shoulder has been gradually returning. It was great for a while after the cortisone shot. Not only is the pain slowly coming back (it's really not as bad), I'm hearing the popping sounds again.I told this to the other doctor during my ear appointment, and he gave me some pain killers that may be more effective and have far fewer side effects. They don't cause any kidney, liver, or blood problems. He said the only thing some patients may get is a rash. He said I can take it for a longer period of time, as well. We'll see how it goes.Made another appointment for the orthopedist towards the end of next month. Thought it'd be good timing then. 

Started another manga called Grim Reaper. It's a bit dark, but interesting so far. Yuuka Shinchiro is a 2nd year high school student, whose parents passed away several years ago in an accident. He has, what he thinks is, a horrible dream. He's walking through a park at night, a child's head jumps into his hands, and he's bitten by an alien. After telling himself it was just a dream, he notices he has a bite mark in the same place as in the 'dream'. The next morning, the news reports that a child's head and lots of blood were found in a park. He goes to check out the scene, and finds a ruthless man asking him about the 'abyss'. Later, the man attacks him in his own home, and calls him a Grim Reaper. Kind of bizarre, but interesting enough story. It seems to be a bit short, though. Only 5 chapters, and I'm on the 3rd one. The other manga I was reading for that time, didn't have an update. (Still doesn't.) So, maybe it's good for the time being to read something else while it updates.


Been able to play the clarinet everyday since the last time I posted. It feels so good to get back into.Today, I played mostly jazz and Beatles tunes. 


Also, got back into writing everyday. This chapter's going pretty quickly. I'm still editing previous chapters on the weekend, too. Maybe I'll finish the first novel soon!I've heard for fantasy/sci-fi novels, most new authors shoot for about 80,000-100,000 words. I'm up to just a tad over 60,000. Getting close to the bottom end. I already have an idea of how it will end. And, it will be a huge cliffhanger.This will hopefully turn into a series. There's so many directions it can go. 


Started the planning phase of the next drawing meme I'm working on. The first panel says that #4 or Zero (in my case) is having a pleasant dream. What's he dreaming about? There's many things I can draw for that. Should be fun. Hard to narrow it down though.Also, started planning out a building diagram from my story. Just to get a better 'visual' of it. 


Finished drawing Kenta's face. Looking better than my last drawing of him. Anzu's next. I might post this sheet of faces when I'm done, on dA. They're much better than my previous characters have been. I can tell I'm improving.Also, finished the current character descriptions. There might be another one I have to fill out soon. Especially with what goes on in my current chapter.


Found a few more songs. Also, wrote out the kanji for the days of the week on my calendar. Just to remind me and practice. If I see it all the time it sticks more. So, since today's Thursday, it's 木曜日 or mokuyoubi, which can be shortened to 木 or moku. Also, got back to being active in the forums this last weekend. Another person faved my Hetalia meme this week! 


Went to a Friday night Shabbat service. (Which is kind of rare.) It was nice to see people.Most of the food was good. There was a kid next to me who was a bit weird, but she's known to have some sort of issue (not sure what), so it didn't bother me too much. I know she didn't mean anything mean by what she said. In fact, I could tell she was trying to comfort me in some way, but it didn't come out right. Poor kid.Anyways, they also had these really addicting chocolates that had a dusting of more chocolate. Really strong, but also had the consistency of fudge. The bowl kept moving around the table while we ate dessert.


Didn't feel like going to Saturday morning services that weekend. Which meant I also got to sleep in. Yay!I'm thinking of going this time. Plus, Shavuot starts that night. And, they're doing a Torah study thing with both rabbis from both congregations in honor of it. It celebrates the giving of the Torah. We're supposed to eat a lot of dairy foods. So, there's also a dairy potluck. There's already going to be a 'blintz'-fest.Dad said she'd like to go, but she might not be able to eat much. (She hates cheese.) Maybe she can have something small beforehand, and then see what's there. The tradition is to study Torah throughout the night. But, we'll stop at the synagogue at around 10. Maybe I can keep it up or something at home. 


Managed to go to the cafe on Wednesday like I usually do. But, it was just before my doctor's appointment, so I could barely make out what people were saying. But, I'm glad I was able to see everybody again. Since I wasn't feeling very well, I just got some bottled water there. Not my usual tea, mocha, or hot chocolate.


Naruto Shippuden's getting good again. Naruto's continuing his training. Apparently, rasengan, is really a 'tail-beast bomb' jutsu. The fact that his father passed it on to Jiraiya, and then to Naruto amazed Bee. They talked more about the reanimation jutsu, which obviously Kabuto was leaving things out when he told Madara. The Shinobi Force found a bunch of the white Zetsu clones, and blew them up towards the surface. Looked pretty spectacular seeing thousands of them 'erupt' from the ground. They all looked surprised. Not sure if that was part of the other side's plan, though. Not sure what they really can do. But, that's what makes it fun to watch, finding these things out.

They finally updated Dear! One of my faves, but takes forever for each chapter. I guess it's worth it, though. Some demons (in the pic) are after Chiruha. Kurenai and Carol are fighting them. Carol left Chiruha unconscious with Purino and Komomo, at the Captain's place. They broke in, though. Chiruha was hoping to go on a journey to find a cure for Kisara.

日本語

I've been going over a new kanji everyday. But, I'm also writing out most of the previous ones on its own line for practice. Just writing them over and over again, until I get it, or it's the next grade level. Speaking of which, I'm up to reviewing/practicing grade 2 stuff. Wahoo! (Most of it I know, but don't really have 'cemented' yet.) The kanji I worked on today was 後. It can be pronounced as あと (ato), のち (nochi), うし.ろ (ushi.ro), おく.れる (oku.reru), ご (go), or こう (kou). It means [depending on how it's pronounced] behind, back, later, the rear, after, afterwards, since, remainder, more (i.e. five more minutes), butt, consequence, delayed, or overdue. 

deviantART faves: T-Shirt Need More Coffee I did not make these! First, a funny comic by an artist I watch. It's true, I guess it would be hard to search for a 3XL shirt online. Second, a funny T-shirt graphic from an artist I watch. I don't think he needs more coffee...

youtube:

A cool song sung by the Kaito vocaloid. He's one of my fave vocaloids:

Wired Life

Mood:


By Meisa Kuroki. This is the 2nd ending theme to Ao no Exorcist. Really cool sounding.And, looking at the lyrics, not sure if it really fits the series, but it's interesting. Basically about people living their lives on the internet, and how we're all connected now. The pros and cons about it. I guess it's also about being held back from achieving your dreams, and that would fit the series more.Here's that ending to Ao no Exorcist:

It was actually warm today!A tiny bit below normal, but I'll take it. Although, I'm wearing a sweater. So, it didn't get that warm out. Posted chapter 3 of Alliance to mangafox. A lot of people seem to be reading it. Not much in the way of comments though.


Got my new ligature yesterday! I'm so happy!I apparently have to keep lubricating it with cork grease. Haven't used that stuff in so long...When I run out of it and can't get to the store or something, I could just use chapstick. I've known a lot of people who only used chapstick. So, should be interesting. Also, every once in a while I'll have to use Windex on it and part of the mouthpiece. Just for cleaning and if it needs more of a grip. Also, it'll move a lot as I play it more. As it adjusts to the mouthpiece, reed, the way I breathe, and the air that leaks around the reed as well. Kind of creepy.You can push it up the reed to get a brighter sound, and down the reed to get a deeper and richer sound. 


I played with it for the first time today!It started to smell like burning rubber as I kept practicing.That supposedly was it adjusting. It feels like it was adjusting really fast, since it started sounding better and better with each song I played. Experimented a bit with moving/cocking it. Kind of fun to hear the different tones. Also, easier to play the really high notes. Before, I was using a metal lig., which one of the screws was stripped and not holding it together. It gave me huge pressure headaches. I had to use a lot more air just to get the sound through. Today I didn't have that problem, and I wanted to keep playing. But, I think an hour's enough. 


Also, got that blues and jazz book. For a first run through today, I liked it. Only a couple songs I didn't really care for. Also, played some klezmer. Which sounded better than before. After going to the store yesterday, Dad and I went back to the cafe Mom goes to for mahj. Got an orange creamsicle. It was good, but needed a tiny bit more cream. I wrote more of the You Maga article out, and read a little of Soy Source. Dad looked really bored. Even though she was reading a book she seemed really into before. I was ok until the last 20 minutes. But, there was a nice view of the bay, so it was alright just to stare out at it until they were done.


Watched the finale of Control yesterday. I'll really miss this drama!Another great one, that I hope will come back for another season. It was a satisfying ending, but they could continue with more cases and such.


Caught up to the next chapter of Dear. Subaru's slowly dying because of the effects of the curse. He doesn't want to tell Komomo, because he wants to spend his time with her happily. Chiruha meets a random guy on the street suffering from heatstroke. And, she brings him to the squad's headquarter's to recover. He's tall and wearing very heavy black clothing. He's looking for Subaru. He's a distant relative, named Kanade. But, they were close and felt like brothers. He's quite a character. I like his weirdness.He's nice and polite, but comes across as scary. They go from chapter 38 to 50 on the update. Nothing in between. I won't read 50, until they post the other chapters. That's skipping way too far in the story for me. 

日本語

Finished another sentence from that stress relieving exercise article in You Maga. 息を吐きながら前足裏で床を押しつつ体を最初の位置に戻します。(Iki o haki nagara maeashi ura de yuka o oshi tsutsu karada o saisho no ichi ni modoshimasu.) While taking a deep breath, press your front leg back on the floor, and return to the first position. 

In Naruto Shippuden, they're still at sea on the way to the island (Lightening Island?). The group comes across a ghost ship. Interesting story, and you don't really know if the kid is a ghost until the end. Naruto fought a giant skeleton crab, much the same way he did with the sword fish. His fights with them have gotten kind of monotonous.But, the stories are interesting. I've seen comments about the last few episodes, saying why are there so many fillers?! And, when are we going to get back to the main story? I like the random stories that are thrown in there. Makes it more interesting than them suddenly appearing in some places. Plus, the stories are usually really well done. Although, I do feel like they need to get back to the main stuff soon, too. 

Just got back from the grocery store. Tried their new 3 cheese pesto pizza, and a slice of BBQ'd chicken. Really good stuff.The pesto one could have had a little bit more pesto in it. And, we're going to have peach pie for dessert tomorrow. I think we're having salmon and asparagus, too. Good all around! Perfect for Shabbat.

deviantART faves: Somei-yoshino Takasugi Shinsuke Grass Kisses Lolrat haz cheezburger I did not make these! First, a really cool drawing of the Vocaloid Kaito with an electric guitar. Second, an interestingly designed drawing of Takasugi from Gintama. Third, a cute pic of 2 gazelles kissing. Fourth, a funny Lolcat related thing. It's a rat that actually looks like he might be eating a cheeseburger. 

Youtube:

This is one of the songs that's in my new book. This guy's awesome!