National Peanut Butter Cookies Day!

Mood:

I love peanut butter!I love almost any type of dish/baked good that has it. So, of course I'd love peanut butter cookies, too. The Aztecs invented peanut butter, but the version that is known today originated in Quebec, Canada in 1884. Oddly, I'm not as fond of whole peanuts.Have to be in the mood for it. Oh, and today is my dad's birthday! Hope she's having a great one!

I decided to go to bed earlier than I have been. Wasn't getting quite enough sleep, even when I slept in a bit. So, I went to bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual. Then, I naturally got up an hour and a half before my alarm went off. Odd, but really nice.Felt like I actually had a morning. Instead of going on autopilot and being in a daze after getting out of bed, or sleeping a good chunk of it away. So, yay! I already feel much better overall with this. 

In Cartoon Kat-tun, half the guys were interviewed by an actress/comedian posing as a journalist for a teen magazine. She loves to mess with people with her questions and skits. She's a great actress and comedian, and I love it when she gets a chance to show off more of her quirky personality. She made them feel a bit uncomfortable, yet curious about the whole thing. She asked them about what they love about themselves, what they love to do, etc. Then, she made them act out skits about how to treat girls. One was they were on a date at a restaurant, and they suddenly noticed that there was bird poop on the girlfriend's shoulder. How would they deal with that? Tell her up front about it in front of everyone in the restaurant? One of them, I think it was Koki, was very sly, and cleaned it off without her noticing. So, she had no clue. Another situation was how to deal with a girl who wants to kiss you, but you're not really interested. She was apparently drunk in this skit. I like Koki's response to this one too. He told her that she needs to take better care of herself, and wouldn't it be better if they kissed when they were sober and more aware of things. The other guys had to do skits about how to deal with annoying high school girls. She posed as an 'entertainment' manager. The whole episode was hilarious! I love when they do skits.

In Earl and Fairy, Edgar essentially tricked Lydia into marrying him. But, he saved her from being trapped in the fairy world forever. She had made a pact with Kelpie, that if he helps her save Edgar from the poison; he can take her to the fairy world. He's been pursuing her for a while. In fact, she tried to use a spell to ward him off. Sure enough, he helped her, and Edgar woke up. She left him, even though she promised she'd stay. Edgar finds out, and tricks the fairies who want him to marry their queen, and agrees. Just to get to their world, and rescue Lydia. Eventually they find each other, and Edgar proposes to her. He tells her that if she fakes saying yes to him, than Kelpie might back off, and they can get back to their world. Also saying that humans don't have to keep promises. Once they get back he says she can't back out of it now. Kind of funny, because she's already fallen for him, but denies it. She thinks he's messing with her every time he says he loves her. He looks hurt every time, too.

In Tripeace, Shiro found out about Nana dressing up as a girl. It was the only way he could advance up the ranks quickly, and she wouldn't kill him. She really looks up to strong women, so she idolized him or 'Nanako'. Now she looks pissed.He also got some of his memory back. He used to be really ruthless, and seemed to be evil. But, there were hints that he was also once a part of Tripeace. He could do powerful attacks with his hands, making them look like 'foxes'. Now, he's remembered how to use that attack, and has used it to save someone. It'd be cool if they reveal more of his past. Still don't know much about it.

Managed to play my clarinet today.Haven't done it in a very long time. Did some Gershwin tunes. Didn't sound too bad. I'll be even better once I play more often. Also, read a bit more of my Kabbalah intro book. About halfway through it, and it's very interesting. Parts of it seem too wordy, but good overall. 

日本語

Finished going over more compounds for the kanji: 重. It generally means: heavy, heap up, -fold, pile up, important. 珍重 or ちんちょう (chinchou): prizing, value highly, esteeming. 慎重 or しんちょう (shinchou): careful, cautious, prudent, discreet, deliberate. 荘重 or そうちょう (souchou): solemn, grave, impressive. 多重 or たじゅう (tajuu): multiple. 三重 or さんじゅう (sanjuu): triple, treble, threefold. 重苦しい or おもくるしい (omokurushii): heavy, gloomy, awkward,  oppressive, laden. 八重咲き or やえざき (yaezaki): double blossom. Also, reviewed some previous kanji and their compounds. Went over translating a bit more of a You Maga article on kids who have allergies, and what parents should do to help them. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's website. It was in their opinion column about recent political ads. Very interesting. 

Youtube:

A hilarious Gintama amv:

Shavuot

Mood:

Well, I didn't stay up all night studying Torah, but was up for a while.I think I stopped at around 12:30am. Studied some of the Mishnah from a site that has compiled about half of it. Which was very interesting, but made me very sleepy. The Mishnah's a huge body of literature where a group of Rabbis debate/teach oral laws and traditions. It's also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It reflected debates between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE. It also teaches the oral traditions through examples. They go into great detail with things, but that makes it fascinating as well as tiring to read. I love that kind of stuff.There weren't many laws/traditions already in place for women. Almost sounded like they weren't sure what to do with them. It's separated into 6 'orders' or sections. 

I also read that for a while, women were prohibited from studying the Mishnah. Kind of disturbing.But, many Rabbis went against this, and said it was 'optional' for women. I remember in my private Jewish philosophy class that we studied a bit of the Mishnah. (Took the class when I was 14. So, quite a while ago.) Although, I was the only girl in the class. Made for some amusing times.

I've had a few dairy things too. Some chocolate milk, some milk in my oatmeal, and some creamer in my tea. It's something. I'd love to have something like cheesecake, which is traditionally eaten. But, we don't have any...It's not a must, but any excuse to have dairy stuff is all awesome to me!

On Cartoon Kat-tun, they discussed what you can order through delivery. Their guest this time loves to get stuff through delivery. They wanted to look at things that weren't food related, because that'd be too boring. Plus, most of the things they saw on the list were pretty expensive. So, they 'ordered' a quiz show, and cheerleaders. It was pretty hilarious watching the whole thing unfold. First, the quiz show people showed up. They gave everyone little buzzers and light signals. Brought in their own table, a quiz 'book', etc. It was pretty elaborate. The contestants get to choose what the prize will be, and if they want, a punishment for the loser. They said they can easily do all this in someone's apartment. Koki was losing, and halfway through the cheerleaders came in. They did a hilarious routine to cheer Koki up. He lost the game in the end, so his punishment is to be a part of a 'celebrity delivery' thing. Don't know what he'd do at someone's apartment or home. It was all a much more hilarious episode than the previous ones have been. I think they ordered more things from the 'delivery' services. It's also interesting to see what you can get. Their guest said she sometimes orders a mani-pedi.

Earl and Fairy has been interesting so far. They introduced Brownies and Spunkies. Also, talked about fairy circles. Starting to like this anime a lot. Not sure if I 'love' it yet. But, I like the Scottish folklore stuff. 

In Tripeace, they started the war against Xyece by flying and ramming their hammerhead shaped submarine, that's their headquarters, into Xyece's headquarters. Nana is now in Shiro's group as 2nd in command. Of course, he has to keep the charade of him being a woman up. Otherwise, she'll turn on him. For some reason, she seems to have a soft spot for other strong-looking women. I'm surprised that she still doesn't know that it's him and not 'Nanako'. Belial seems to have gotten himself into a pickle. Hope he can get through it.

Played my clarinet. Did more of my advanced solo pieces. Also, finally switched to a 'new' reed. I haven't switched to another one in a while. I say 'new' because we got this pack of about 10 of them at least 2 years ago. I consider them still good if I haven't used them yet. Sounded much better. My reeds tend to last for a long time. Still sounded like I needed to practice more, but it wasn't bad. 

Decided to drop The Silmarillion. It was getting boring, and it went into WAY too much detail.So, I decided that my next book from my list will be The Essential Kabbalah by Daniel C Matt. I've always thought Kabbalah was interesting. (The real Kabbalah, not the fake commercialized stuff.) It's short, too. Read that it's really a beginner's book. But, that's fine. It'll still be interesting.

日本語

The kanji for today was: 者. Pronounced as もの (mono): (rarely used without a qualifier) person. As しゃ (sha): (suf) someone of that type or nature, someone who does that. 新聞記者 or しんぶんきしゃ (shinbun kisha): newspaper reporter. 人気者 or にんきしゃ (ninkisha): popular person. 愛国者 or あいこくしゃ (aikokusha): patriot. 愛読者 or あいどくしゃ (aidokusha): subscriber, reader, admirer. 悪者 or わるもの (warumono): bad fellow, rascal, scoundrel, ruffian, (the) bad guy(s), villain. 芸者 or げいしゃ: geisha. 配偶者 or はいぐうしゃ (haiguusha): spouse, wife, husband, partner. 被害者 or ひがいしゃ (higaisha): victim, injured party, sufferer. 利用者 or りようしゃ (riyousha): user, end-user, consumer. 担当者 or たんとうしゃ (tantousha): person responsible, person in charge. 忍者 or にんじゃ: ninja. 医者 or いしゃ (isha): doctor, physician. 若者 or わかもの (wakamono): young man, youth, lad.

National Empanada Day!

Mood:

I love empanadas!There's so many different kinds. The peach ones are one of my favorites. It's also Yom Yerushalayim or Jerusalem Day. 

Today was much cooler than they forecasted. About 12 degrees cooler.Quite a bit cooler than yesterday. Oh well. 

Last night I went to the support group meeting. There were a couple of new people this time. More allies! Yay!Our group seems to be really expanding. The sad thing was that this was the last meeting at our current building. The organization as a whole is in the process of moving. So, they've found a temporary place until they actually can move to the new spot, which is at a church. Nice of them to let us use it. We're just a bit worried that people won't get the info about it in time for the next meeting. But, we'll see. 

Went to Shari's afterwards. This time it wasn't such a big group. I wasn't going to order anything, because I'm kind of sick of the high calorie/fat content in everything they have. (Even the 'healthy' stuff has quite a bit.) Plus, it's not the greatest food ever. But, I was really tempted to try their pie shakes. I'd heard about it before, and was still curious. So, I got their S'more's Pie Shake. It was really good!They literally take the pie, blend it, and add it to the shake. So, there were things like mini marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate chunks, etc. that didn't blend all the way and made it chunky. We had the waitress who previously was very rude to us. But, this time she was right on top of things and nice. Maybe she was in a good mood? Also, a certain member of the group that went with us to Shari's acted really jerky towards me a little while before we left, which made it strange. But, I think, maybe he was just cranky or something.

Started watching Hakushaku to Yousei or Earl and Fairy, last week. It's very interesting so far. There are few shoujo anime shows out there that I'll even bother with. But, the plot drew me in, and most of the time the character design isn't too 'shoujo-ish'. I heard it was popular, too. So, why not give it a shot?

It's set in 19th century England, and centers on a 'fairy doctor' named Lydia. (Interesting that Lydia is actually from Scotland.) Her life takes a 180-degree turn when she meets a legendary blue knight earl named Edgar. He hires her as an adviser during his quest to obtain a treasured sword that was supposed to be handed down to him by his family. Lydia has the ability to see and interact with fairies. The fairies are protecting the sword. Hence, why he needs her. Already know that Raven, Edgar's servant, has a sprite spirit residing within him. He's kind of more 'mysterious' than the earl. 

In Tripeace, Nana found out that Shiro is from Xyece. The country that's trying to 'take over' the places that have seisui, while waging war against every country in its path. Nana goes crazy, and doesn't feel he can trust her anymore. But, after finding out that the person who makes his fave ramen at one of the shops is from there too, he has a change in attitude. Figuring out that there are good and bad people everywhere, including in Xyece. Just because the government might be corrupt, doesn't mean the people who come from there are. He apologized, saying that he knew Shiro was really a good person. Later, Shiro murmurs something about not really being a good person. Interesting.

日本語

Today, I went over more compounds for 実. I think this kanji has the most compounds I've ever gone over. Just means it's an important one.実力 or じつりょく (jitsuryoku): (real) ability, true strength, merit, competency. 実力行使 or じつりょくこうし (jitsuryokukoushi): use of force. 実例 or じつれい (jitsurei): example, illustration, precedent. 実話 or じつわ (jitsuwa): true story. 信実 or しんじつ (shinjitsu): sincerity, honesty, truth, faithfulness. その実 or そのじつ (sonojitsu): in fact. 種無し果実 or たねなしかじつ (tanenashikajitsu): seedless fruit. 実の心 or まことのこころ (makotonokokoro): one's real intention. 実の有る or じつのある (jitsunoaru): (exp) faithful, sincere.  

deviantART faves: I Just Wanted to See You Again Baragaki (Thorny) First, a cool Naruto fanart of Naruto and Minato, done by an artist I watch. Minato apparently coming back as a 'zombie' like many other 'greats' in the series have in the war. It'd be cool if this happened. Although, he'd have to fight his father... Second, a pretty cool Gintama fanart of Hijikata. One of his nicknames is Thorny. Plus, there was a really awesome story arc on it, where he did things like stop a bullet with his sword. (Many other characters became a 'Thorny' during it, too.)