5th of Tishri

This is my wallpaper for October. It's Gilbert or Gil, who's sometimes referred to as Raven (because of his 'chain'), from Pandora Hearts. This seemed Halloween-like. Pandora Hearts as a series fits well with the holiday. It's loosely based on Alice and Wonderland, complex, some horror, and very dark. The anime didn't really do it justice. I might switch it to something else halfway through the month. 

The month-long holidays for October are: National Apple Month, National Caramel Month, National Pasta Month, National Pretzel Month, Bat Appreciation Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, German-American Heritage Month, National Cookbook Month, Spinach Lovers Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.

Rosh Hashanah was Sunday night until Tuesday night. It was our New Year (lit. translated to Head [of] the Year), and the first month is Tishri. For RH, we eat honey and sweet things for a sweet year. We eat round challah (an egg bread), which has many meanings. One of them that I like is that it represents the life cycle. Time isn't truly linear in Judaism. Instead, it goes in cycles. We're just starting another one. There are also things like Tu B'Shevat which is the New Year for the Trees. There are technically 4 'New Years', but RH is the main one. I 'attended' the 1st night and 1st morning/afternoon services online. Central Synagogue in NYC live-streamed it all, like their Shabbat ones. It's also the start of the High Holy Days or Days of Awe. That goes for 10 days, and ends with Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. During those 10 days, it's supposed to be a time of deep introspection, asking forgiveness, how we can better ourselves and the community, and more. The day after RH ends is a minor fast day called the Fast of Gedaliah. I've never observed it, and can't even if I wanted to. I did eat less than usual on Wednesday, though. Some people think it's a warm-up fast day for YK, but it's really remembering the assassination of Gedaliah, who was a governor of Judah. YK is considered to be the most important holiday on the Jewish calendar. It's considered the Shabbat of Shabats. (Shabbat being our day of rest.) We're supposed to fast from sunset to sunset. 25 hours. It doesn't just mean no food, but also no drinks, gum, etc. I can't fast because of my meds and colitis. They say if it'll harm your health, it'll be a sin if you do so anyways. I still feel guilty about it almost every year. Children are also exempt from fasting. 

The elements calendar features copper this time. There's a mini periodic table made out of pure copper, copper in bullion form, a weave chain made out of wired copper, and a brass, which is a copper alloy, ring. It's a very useful element. 

I looked at the test results that recently came back. The x-rays appeared normal. Even though my hands certainly don't seem normal. The lumps are soft tissue-based then, which is better than them being something like calcium deposits. My fingers look more twisted, but they said it looked fine in the x-ray...Pretty much everything but one test came back as normal or negative. The ANCA titer was a strong positive. They said the pattern may suggest 2 rare diseases, but other aspects might go along with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), and a couple of other autoimmune diseases. He did warn me that it might pick up on my colitis and be positive that way. The scleroderma blood test noted that getting a negative result doesn't necessarily rule it out. ~20% of patients with scleroderma have positive results for that one. That seems like a small amount. They suggested other tests to try. I'm thinking of asking about those in an email to my rheumatologist. I still haven't made a dermatology appointment, and they might order more tests. My rheum. told me depending on the results, my next office appointment with him would be in 6 months. If the scleroderma test had come back positive, he would have made a phone appointment. He also briefly mentioned lupus and how he didn't want to start treatment for that before they tested for other things. I don't think that's what it is, but at least he seems to be trying to help me. Hopefully, he'll agree to running those other tests.

I've also been getting weird red fluid filled sacs in my mouth. They're not particularly painful, but annoying and a little off-putting. One of the most recent ones showed up right next to where the jaws hinge together in my right cheek. Really far back there. I thought it was a wad of food or something. That's kind of kept me from enjoying food, and deciding to eat less on Wednesday. Most of the time those sacs show up on my lip. The area inside that rubs against my teeth. They end up popping after a while (probably from the rubbing), letting out stuff, and leaving behind craters. I don't think the one near my jaws has popped yet. Although, it does taste weird sometimes. 

I apparently am going to be a social media and camera person for the local trans group. I'm going to create Instagram and twitter accounts for the group. They already have 2 facebook groups. 1 public page, and 1 secret group. Those are essentially covered. There are admins and mods there, and quite a few active people. We just don't have any other social media presence. Not everyone uses facebook. We can't even access the old website, for a variety of reasons. One of the facilitators is going to create a group email account, then I'll create the Instragram and twitter accounts with that. Nice I won't have to use my personal email. I'll also ask members of the secret group on fb, once I've created those other accounts, if they have other social media suggestions. I think these are the main 3 that are the most popular, but I'd still want input. I'll create an image for Instagram to share every time we have a meeting coming up, and maybe one for when the facilitators won't be available (that's rare). With twitter, I could just type that out. I'll create images for events and other announcements, too. I can take pics of the group at special events, like Pride or ones that we create, and post them to those accounts. Of course, I'll ask people before I take the pics if they're cool with being in them. That's important. We could have a record of what the group has participated in this way. I'm thinking of also posting things that are trans related, possibly memes and articles, there as well. That way those accounts can still seem active. We only have 2 or 3 meetings a month. It might be nice to see things in between. I love taking pics, and since I'll be taking them, I might not be in a lot of them. I'm happy with that. Oh and I'll mention if people want the location, they'll have to pm those accounts. It's a safety issue if the exact address is listed publicly. We might need to change to a different room anyways, since a class was meeting Wednesday night in our room at that time. We thought it was cleared up already, but they might need to be 'reminded' every quarter. It's at a college currently. 

Finished watching Kimetsu no Yaiba. The animation was amazing! Apparently, the next story arc will be a movie. They ended it with them making it on a train for their next mission. Only Zenitsu knew what a train was. It takes place during the Taisho period (1912-1926). Tanjirou grew up in the mountains and Inosuke is used to living in the forests. So, of course they aren't going to know much about it. Inosuke thought it was some sort of demon and tried to attack it as soon as he saw it. It's interesting that they sneak in some of the modernization and cultural shifts that were going on at the time. Hopefully, there will be another actual season after that. There were a lot of twists and turns. 

Finished watching the last season of Fairy Tail. It was ok. Somehow the last season didn't seem as great as the previous ones. Fairy Tail's manga started in 2006 and ended in 2017. The anime started in 2009. It's had a lot of breaks between seasons. A lot of people thought the last battle ended too soon and too easily. However, Natsu had the power of all the dragon slayers against that final villain. That was a huge power-up. Some made fun of it because the magic coming off of him at that point was rainbow colored. Saying it was too 'gay' or something. I don't mind the idea of LGBTQ+ community defeating the most powerful villain...I'm surprised they didn't say it looked more like a Power Rangers thing. People also didn't like the idea of friendship giving them boosts. Like friendship is magic. As corny as it sounds, I like that, though. I felt that they considered the guild members as family, not just friends. In fact, the series mentioned that numerous times. That's a stronger type of bond to me. Many fans were pissed off that Natsu and Lucy didn't kiss at the end. I have a feeling Natsu might be aro ace. Lucy obviously isn't. She expected him to kiss her at the end, too. Instead he said that they'll be best friends forever. That was pretty awesome in my view. Many stories that have a boy and girl as protagonists make them end up as a romantic couple. This was a good break from that. They seemed to hint at another season at the end. Even though this was supposed to be it. I don't think I'll watch it if there is.

Finished watching Darr Sabko Lagta Hai or Everybody Feels Fear on Netflix. I liked it overall. Some of it was overacted, corny, and low-budget. Some of the stories were based on Hindu mythology, and others on Indian culture in general. That was really interesting. The 'scariness' was more psychological. Each episode ended with an uneasiness and hints the story never actually ended. I thought that was a smart way of doing it. The last story was the goriest and most brutal. I didn't like that one as much as the others. 

Started watching the 2nd season of Radiant and Ascendance of a Bookworm. I still find it interesting that Radiant is an adaptation of a French manga. There are hints of French culture, history, and humor in it. Ascendance of a Bookworm is another isekai (different world) anime. This genre seems to just be getting more popular every season. It's about a librarian who absolutely loves books. She died one day, but as she was about to she begged that in her next life she'd be able to read all the books she wanted to. Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where a man who loves books ends up in a post-apocalyptic world with just books around him, however his glasses break. So, he can't read any of them. She woke up to find that she was reincarnated as a frail little girl. In their world, there are no book stores. Only the very rich can afford books. Each copy is made by hand. Very similar to what it was like before the printing press in our world. Most people in theirs are illiterate. The only thing they can read are numbers for things like prices. She did find one book, but the shopkeeper wouldn't let her touch it. It was too valuable and her reaction was too suspicious. She's decided to write and make her own books instead. Haven't gotten to it, but apparently she has some sort of magical powers in that world. I tried another isekai yesterday, but couldn't stand more than 5 minutes of it. 

Started watching The Truth Seekers on Netflix. It's a Singaporean detective drama, mainly in Mandarin (there's a little English and Japanese). It's aka Cold Case Investigators. Bai Qingxiong, a veteran cop, creates a detective agency that specializes in solving cold cases. He was tired of not bringing closure to the families of the victims in such cases. At the moment, they meet at a Japanese restaurant that his wife owns. Looking at the opening, it seems like they might get an actual place for it eventually. Each case might affect them personally. In this first one, one of the detectives, Huang Yuyang, was in a relationship with the main suspect briefly. That main suspect was actually the one that hired them to solve the case. I guessed right on who the real killer was. Yay! It looks like the main suspect from that case (he wasn't the killer) will join them. A couple of the actors look familiar. I haven't watched too many Singaporean dramas, but I looked up one of the actors and he was in Against the Tide. It'd make sense that I'd remember him since he played a main character.

Youtube:

One Piece:


Dr. Stone:

Kimetsu no Yaiba:

1st of Av

This is my wallpaper for August. It's Natsu from Fairy Tail. Thought it was cool and captured a lot of emotion. In recent episodes, he's had a lot going on. Almost died, realizing that he actually had blood relatives alive (he was raised by a dragon), embracing his humanity instead of becoming a demon or dragon, fighting his best friend, almost losing said friend to the main villain, etc. The war in general is getting more intense with each episode. It's the last season, so it makes sense. 

The month-long holidays for August are: National Panini Month, National Peach Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Not many this month...I love peaches! The skins upset my gut, so I end up getting the pre-cut ones. Peeling them every time can be tiring. Paninis are fun. 

For the Jewish calendar, both pics are of decorative plates. The main pic is from the '50s, and the other is from c. 1910. The main one is in blue print on white with both Dutch and Hebrew around it. The middle has a dining room scene with a table, place setting, a candle, window, and curtains. The older plate is bronze looking with an intricate design. 

The elements calendar has carbon this month. A very important element. Makes sense that it would be featured at some point. 

Rosie seems to have gone back to urging me to eat more often. I've mentioned it before on here. She thinks I'm not eating enough. It started around the time of my first colitis flare. I would (still do sometimes) forget to eat. When she does it, it's not like she's hungry or begging for food. There's plenty of food in her bowl, and she doesn't actually eat it when she wants me to have something. She's like my therapy cat. She's been guarding me often, too. Tasha seems to be becoming more protective of me. That's a little new. In a way, it's like they both think of me as their child that they have to protect and help. Maybe they can sense the health stuff I'm going through and are reacting to that? It's so cute and great to see such creatures caring about me so much. Makes me feel loved. Although, sometimes Rosie takes things to stalker level with guarding/following me around. That gets creepy. 

Recently there was the 4th anniversary of me being diagnosed with IBD or colitis. It's changed how I view food a lot and other things I may have taken for granted. The most surprising part of it, so far, has been the massive pain from my scarred colon while in remission. I was told that I wouldn't have any symptoms once in remission. In fact, that's apparently one of the signs that you are. No one told me about what happens if it causes a lot of damage before going into remission. Would have been nice to have known. It can affect so many things. Plus, there's an added risk of having another type of autoimmune disease. I don't need another one, but it looks like I do.

Went to a Kitsap Safe Schools potluck last night. They're a pretty cool organization. They've donated to the Q Center in the past. Q Center is basically an LGBTQ+ youth group. They've also helped with Pride. My parent's a member, and I've been to a couple of meetings. Came out to them as agender at the meeting before the potluck. I didn't want to be referred to as daughter and/or one of the women, since I'm not one. One of the older, somewhat leader of it, members seemed to perk up when I talked about it. They liked that I'm an author, as well. Even wrote down my pen name. Anyways, I had to remind some of them that knew, and explain to the ones that didn't. They took it in stride, which was nice. Felt I had to explain why I don't call my parent mom, since they kept referring to her that way around me. They seemed to understand. There was a lot of food I could have. Most of it was homemade. A couple of pasta salads, potato salad, salad greens, bread, and a few other things for the dinner part. My parent made cherry clafoutis for dessert. It's like cherries in a thick pancake/crepe cake thing. She made it last year. It was way too much for 2 people, so why not make it for a potluck instead? Strawberry rhubarb pie, a thick brownie, pocky, chocolates, and I think a couple of other things for dessert. Good stuff. Ended up talking a lot about Judaism. I was surprised people wanted to talk about it for as long as we did. They told me they were very fascinated by it. I try to educate people if it comes up. Some people really don't know much about it. We also talked about politics towards the end, which was fun in a way. 

Youtube:

One Piece:

One Punch Man:

Charlotte:

Black Clover:

Fairy Tail:

Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer):

Juuni Taisen (Zodiac War):

Gunjou no Magmel (Magmel of the Blue Sea):

World Nutella Day!

I love Nutella! I avoided trying it for a long time. I don't know why I felt uneasy about it at first. It's chocolate and hazelnut. A great combo. It's good on graham crackers, in a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich, crepes, brownies, and so much more. It's also the Chinese Lunar New Year. It's the year of the Pig. Next year will be the Rat, which is my zodiac animal. 

This is my wallpaper for February. It's (from left to right) Gray, Erza, Natsu, and Lucy from Fairy Tail. Everything in February seems devoted to Valentine's Day. In other words, amatonormativity is especially shoved in people's faces right now. Amatonormativity is the idea that everyone who's human strives for romantic love/relationships and marriage. Everything else takes a back burner. The idea stresses that there are no other very close relationships, like queerplatonic ones. If you're single and/or don't feel romantic attraction, you're looked down upon, thought of as lonely, or something's wrong with you. Also, a certain kind of romantic love: monogamous, straight, and cis. It's harmful to pretty much everyone. Even those that are cis, straight, and monogamous. It's a term from the aro community, and wasn't meant to relate to sex/sexual attraction. That's different. Even some romantic aces say things like: "At least we can love!" Love, meaning romantic love. That hurts aros and aro aces. There's a lot more to the term, but that's the basics. It can be somewhat tough for an aro this month. We have Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week the week after Valentine's Day. Yay! We have that at least. Anyways, I thought it'd be nice to see some good platonic love this month. They're all good friends, even if Gray and Natsu sometimes butt heads. The atmosphere is nice and warm, too. 

The month-long holidays for February are: Celebration of Chocolate Month, National Canned Food Month, National Cherry Month, National Potato Lovers Month, Barley Month, National African American History Month, National Women Inventors Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. 

For my Jewish calendar, the main pic's of a Torah crown, gilded in silver, made in 1837. It has a lot of bells, and a vine-like design. The other pic's of a wooden tzedakah (basically charity) box, made in 1900. This one has sculpted birds on the sides. 

For my elements calendar, it's bismuth this time. Kind of made me gag that they shaped some of it into a heart for the main pic. It's the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol. Apparently, 57% of it in a bottle is bismuth. Both elements to the left (lead) and right (polonium) of it are toxic. Despite this, bismuth, as far as they know, is nontoxic. It's considered the very last stable element in the periodic table. However, recently it was discovered that bismuth has no stable isotopes, either. They show it forming crystals, 30 lb ingots of pure bismuth which is how they're sold commercially, and a multimetallic chain containing a link cast from 99.99% pure bismuth. 

I'll try to stay more on top of posting than I have been. Apparently, missed a week. I've been feeling really awful off and on, and distracted by things like snow. It snowed Sunday afternoon until the next morning. They said there would be more later on Monday but there wasn't. It was a lot for us. We're not used to that much snow. Certainly not in February. It's also been cold enough that the snow isn't completely melting away. On Monday, the highs were in the mid-20's (F), and felt like 9 degrees. The strong winds made it worse. Again, all this isn't our norm. According to the forecast, there's a lot more snow coming Friday and Saturday. They predict 4" on Friday, and 2" for Sunday. That's a lot more than we got recently. Why can't it be more spaced out? I have my eye appointment on Thursday, so it'll be good before it snows again. 

I made an appointment to see a new gastro. She's an MD, which is already a plus for me. They said I can't make an appointment for a colonoscopy until after I see her. I got a reminder in December (I think?) to get another one soon. The last one was in January of 2017. The one before that, which was my first, was at the end of July 2015. The receptionist said that it was definitely time. IBD patients are encouraged to get one at least every 2 years. So, I'm going to have the 3rd soon. It just might be sometime at the end of March or April. My appointment's in the beginning of March. I don't think I'm in remission anymore, and haven't been at least since this past summer. I hope they let me have the Miralax/Gatorade prep. That worked a lot better than the Golytely stuff. That's the only thing I really hate about it. The prep. It can be difficult to go on a completely liquid diet for a couple of days, too. Maybe she'll have insight on what to do about scarring, at least. I think that's given me the most pain. Although, I don't really know what it's like now. So, there might be something different, and/or if the disease is active, the focus will be different. We'll see. I might need to stop Lialda, because I'm not sure it's doing anything. Haven't been monitoring it, and haven't had any related blood tests in about a year. If I do stop it, it was my last choice before starting a biologic. Biologics are either taken through an infusion or self-administered through shots to the gut. I'm really nervous about those, but especially the shots. 

I realized LingoDeer only let's you have one free 'lesson' for each language in their 'free' app. (Doesn't really seem free to me.) I like that I was able to go into detail with the alphabet and one lesson, but I'm disappointed. I went back to Duolingo's Korean course. It seems better than the last time I tried it. Then again, I had a better intro to the alphabet this time. It seems like a shorter course than the other language courses. I'm doing it a little different this time. After finishing the 1st level of the 1st unit, I did one part of the next, and then started the next level of the 1st, and kept going back and forth for each part of a lesson. Each lesson can have anywhere from 4 to 20 (I think) parts to it. Once I finished the 1st level of the 2nd unit, I did a part of the 1st unit, then a part of the next level of the 2nd, then the first part of the 3rd, and went all the way back to the 1st again. Eventually, I'll level out (there are 5 levels to each unit) of units, so I won't always be going back to them. This way I'll be able to review it and have some new stuff in the mix. It'll take longer, too. I'm almost finished with level 1 of Basics 1, and the 1st unit, which is Alphabet, is up to level 3. There are 3 Alphabet units. It seems to be going faster than I thought. I hope they updated it to have speaking exercises. Haven't encountered them yet, but if they do have them, maybe it's after the first checkpoint? This section is about the very basics. I have been repeating and sometimes saying what the native speaker says at the same time. It helps a little. 

Started drawing Shadow's clothes. I want to add folds and such to make it 'act' like fabric. So far, I'm not happy with the results. I've just starting experimenting with that, though. He's not wearing anything fancy. Just a shirt, jeans, and sneakers. It shouldn't take me long with this part. Eventually, I'll ink over everything, then color it in. 

Managed to practice my clarinet today. Haven't in about a week because of that weird respiratory thing I'm still going through. I'm still coughing stuff up, have a hard time breathing normally let alone controlling it for playing, still sneezing a lot, nose is stuffed up, and more. I shouldn't still feel this way...Anyways, it makes it more difficult to play a woodwind instrument. Played all of my Duke Ellington book, and a little of the Gershwin one. Sounded better than I thought I would, but had to take way to many 'breaks' to catch my breath. It actually hurt. I did it for a short time, too. I might do it for the same amount of time tomorrow, if I can. Edited about a page worth of Alliance.

Recently, someone on AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) posted a thread demanding people 'enlighten' her on the 'issues of gender'. I thought she genuinely wanted to know about what she was asking in the 1st post. She wanted to know what gender identity is, what gender dysphoria is, what does it mean to be trans, how can someone have dysphoria if they're agender, and more. She claimed she was also asking this stuff because she wanted to confront her transphobic brother. Seems like a worthy thing. Especially if a cis person does it. She wouldn't listen to a single person on there about the gender identity part. A lot of them went in a roundabout way, so I thought maybe she needed it to be simpler. I also answered the other things in the 1st post and gave her my experience and perspective. We went back and forth on gender identity for a while. Eventually, she said: "I can't accept something I don't understand!" At this moment, I really felt like she was hung up on terf rhetoric. I couldn't quite tell if she was actually a terf herself, trolling, or just really not wanting to listen to others. I told her it comes off as saying: "I don't want to understand something I didn't accept in the first place!" I also said there are many things in this world that people should/have to accept, even if they don't understand it. She came back with claiming not to know what terf rhetoric was, and she doesn't accept most things in life. That last part seemed especially troll-like. She said she doesn't know modern culture either. That seemed odd...For some reason, especially on an AVEN forum, and in the gender subforum. That's a positive place where many trans people are active. The whole 'discussion' felt nasty afterwards. I let her have the last post, and it proved that she was at least a troll. People agreed with me. I've blocked her now. I think I'll still be able to see if there have been other responses and reactions to my posts in that thread. I looked at all the threads she started, and they seemed to just be there to get a rise out of people. A lot of demanding of things to be explained, too. In one thread she used the awful 'Abrahaimic religions' term that gets pushed around. It lumps 3 very different religions together. Plus, in Judaism, our focus is more on Moses, not Abraham, if we're talking about people. Neither of the other 2 focus on Abraham either. I'm glad someone told her to stop using it and said why. 

Mob Psycho 100 II's most current episode was epic! They know how to do crazy battle scenes. Black Clover probably should be taking notes. The art seems to change a lot normally in MP. However, this seemed to really push things and do it well. For the first time, Mob got in touch with his positive feelings. Before, his negative feelings were feeding his psychic powers. He seems stronger with the positive ones. We don't know what his ??? power is like now. As he feels things his power goes up a certain percentage. (The 100 in the title is for 100%.) ??? is when he's over his supposed limit, extremely powerful, tends to be unaware of his actions, and turns into something that doesn't seem human. We still don't know much about it. This show just keeps getting better.

18th of Kislev

Got through all of Adject. 2 in Duolingo's Italian course. There were a lot of lessons to this one. I only missed a couple of questions. One was because I couldn't see one of the translated words in a word bank. For some questions, they give you an Italian sentence to translate using that word bank. I noticed it a second after I pressed 'continue'...The next unit is Infinit. 1. That one is slightly longer with 10 lessons.

For drawing, I tried to fix Shadow's hair. For some reason I usually have a hard time with the left side of hairstyles. Even the left eye gets a little weird. (Left side is technically the character's right side considering it's head on...) I'll try going over it again tomorrow, and then move on. 

Got through a lot of editing of Alliance. I'm close to halfway through. Still surprised at how many mistakes I've found so far. At least it'll be better in the long run. 

Didn't make it to a full hour for practicing my clarinet. I was really close, though. Finished the generalized clarinet solo book, Duke Ellington, and made it through most of the Gershwin book. Quite a lot. For a couple of the tunes, I actually played much better than usual. However, there were a lot that sounded worse...I haven't played on a regular basis in a while. So, it's understandable. 

One thing that has bothered me, with a lot of the Jewish news pages I follow on fb, has been them not saying that 'Messianic Jews' aren't Jews. They say they're a 'controversial' topic. That it's widely debated. No, no it's not. This has come up again because of the 'Messianic rabbi' that was asked to say something about the Pittsburgh shooting a while ago. It angered a lot of Jews. Recently, one rabbi on fb explained why that was so offensive, who 'Messianic Jews' are, and the history behind it. He clearly said, in all caps, at the beginning: Why there is no such thing as a 'Messianic Jew'. It was a lengthy post, but it said what needed to be said. They're essentially a Christian group that have been trying to convert Jews. They sometimes call themselves 'Jews for Jesus'. There's a counter group called Jews for Jews that try to educate other Jews about them. The thing is, and the rabbi referred to this often, you can't be Jewish and believe in Jesus. If you do, you are a Christian. Simple as that. I remember when they would wait right outside our Hillel (campus Jewish youth group) meeting at WSU and confront us as we left. They're pushy. I think one even followed me back to my dorm once. I closed the door in their face.

I decided to unsubscribe from Hadassah's magazine. I was given a lifetime membership from a local chapter I was a part of for a while. In fact, I was there from its inception until it dissolved. (I don't know if it was revived later.) I was also secretary for a while. Hadassah is a Jewish women's group. I somewhat liked what it stood for, but felt left out somehow...Now that I know I'm agender, I know what that weird feeling was. Anyways, the membership feels especially odd right now. I'll keep it, since I don't know if I'll want to join another chapter in the future. There might be other enby members, too. The magazine is very female-oriented, which is understandable. I just didn't get much from it. With a lifetime membership, you get a subscription for life to that magazine as well. I did like the little Hebrew lessons at the end of most issues. Some of the recipes looked interesting, but too elaborate for me. It'll be less paper out there, at least. The person I emailed was kind of snippy about it. They also didn't answer my question about if I unsubscribe from the magazine, do I get to keep my lifetime Hadassah membership? Hopefully they didn't just drop me completely. 

I've decided to try and go to bed earlier than I have been. I was slipping into the old habit of going to sleep too late. I put a reminder on my calendar for me to get ready for bed at certain times. (Different for the week and weekend.) It'll be like a little nudge. 

I also am planning to make Sunday afternoon kind of like a spa time for myself. Clipping nails (fingers and toes), filing them, using a filing block on my feet, massage feet with a foot remedy cream, clean my ears with a kit, and shave. I did mostly everything yesterday. Felt really good. The filing block really smoothed out my feet. It was gross seeing so much come off of them. Probably the more I do that, the less stuff will come off. Felt like I was grating my feet, though. The cream has tea tree oil and menthol, so it's tingly. It softens, deodorizes, and heals feet. Nifty, except that it's very old. I'm not sure when or if something like that expires? Or, if it is expired, maybe it's just not as effective anymore? Either way, it felt nice. 

I have to clean my ears with a special kit at least once a month. Much more often if they're bad. I have a feeling it might be best to do it every Sunday. Especially, because I have not been keeping up with it, and it's been difficult to hear things at times. I have to do it because essentially the Eustachian tubes in my ears are upside down. Makes for a host of issues. Changes in air pressure hurts (I've actually thrown up because of this), they plug up with too much 'stuff' and fluid, balance is affected, etc. Cleaning them can be painful. I didn't get them clear this time, which means they're pretty bad right now. At least they're better than they were. 

I got to shaving my facial hair, but not my legs. That's ok. I could get to it next time. I try to shave the facial stuff every day, but forget. So, if I set a for sure day like Sunday, it might be easier. I'll at least have it done then. 

Also, decided to cut down on time spent on my phone. Specifically, on fb. I've been on it a little too much lately. It was mainly because a lot of stuff has been happening. I'll try not to look at my phone while I eat. That'll help a bit. A few months ago I tried to cut fb out almost completely for the week, and catch up with some things during the weekend. I would only look at notifications, and possibly respond during the week. Not sure if that'll be the best way now...We'll see.

I was pleasantly surprised to see positive trans representation in Zombieland Saga. With the most current episode, that I watched last night, they revealed that Lily is a trans girl. The show is about a zombie idol girl group. It's not really like an idol anime, though. It's really off-beat and they've thrown a lot of interesting surprises out there so far. This one is the biggest one yet. The girls are different ages and come from different times. Lily is the youngest and most recently died (I think). She was a very successful child actress. I didn't quite get that she was trans until Saki said it didn't matter what 'junk' she has, she's still Lily and one of the girls. It was vague before that. Apparently, when Lily was first talking about her past with Sakura, there was a little trans flag. I didn't even see it, but a reviewer showed a snapshot of it. It was something Sakura was wearing, but it was right there. That's saying something. The way Lily died seemed comical at first. She died right after finding a hair on her chin. She had been complaining to her father about getting hair on her legs just before. She didn't want to go through puberty. She was overworked as an actress. So, the immense amount of stress with that, wanting to not age, and being very dysphoric about her body hair all mixed together was too much for her. Her father was very supportive and accepting of who she was, and she wasn't bullied for it. They treated deadnaming well, too. The producer of the group acted like it wasn't a big thing and that she's just like them. He was very supportive of her, which was surprising considering how much he yells at all of them. They all treated her with respect, too. I don't see such positivity around it in anime often. So, now we know how 4 of the girls died. Sakura was ran over by a truck, Ai was struck by lightning, Junko's plane crashed, and Lily died from stress. It seems they'll go over Saki's next. It looks like she might have died in a motorcycle accident, but they've been known to twist things. I wonder if Tae will ever 'awaken'. She's the only one left that hasn't yet. She's the one that's the most zombie-like. Although, she seems to be aware enough to learn dance moves, and is getting better about not biting people and things. I like her, but I want to know what she's like when she's more aware. 

Watched the Fairy Tail: Dragon Cry movie yesterday. It was ok. Not the best or worst. I remember seeing something about how some new things will be introduced in the movie that only manga fans knew about. Stuff that would carry over to this current final season. Like, Gray being able to control his 'demon' side, Lucy being able to equip new outfits and weapons based on the zodiac spirit she summons, possibly hinting at who or what Natsu really is, Acnologia and Zeref being enemies, etc. However, it seemed like that stuff was just thrown out there and made it a bit chaotic. 

I'm glad I started watching this season before watching Dragon Cry. It makes more sense this way, I think. Also, recently they named Erza as the new Fairy Tail guild master. They were told about why Makarov disbanded FT, and plan to save him. I'm glad they also went over Zeref's story more. He's supposedly the biggest 'villain' in the series, and almost everything revolves around him. He's not really evil. In fact, they make you feel sorry for him throughout most of the series. If he thinks about life, he kills everything around him. He's immortal and has been trying to find a way to kill himself. Another big revelation about him and Natsu makes a lot of sense. Also, makes sense why his book is titled E.N.D. Part of it probably does stand for an 'end' to his life. It's a book of demons he created to kill himself. (The majority of them failed.) However, it actually stands for Etherious Natsu Dragneel. Etherious are the type of demons in Zeref's book. Zeref's last name is Dragneel. I didn't realize this until he final said it recently. Before Zeref was 'cursed' he was trying to find ways to bring his deceased brother back. It seems Natsu is his brother brought back to life, but he might be a demon, too? Very interesting. This also probably means that he expects Natsu to kill him in the future.

30th of Tishri

I apparently have another thing I should bring up next time I talk to my primary. I've noticed it in the past but ignored it thinking it wasn't a big deal. It's back with a vengeance this time, though. My right pinky finger is numb/tingly, and sometimes there are shocks of pain. Sometimes my other pinky finger feels the same way, just not as strongly. I think parts of both my ring fingers are affected, too. Just not all of it with those. Sometimes it feels like my pinky is gone, or like it's dead or something. It also affects how I grip with those fingers. I thought since it's just mainly a pinky that it wasn't a big deal. It's not all the time, either. Although, this time that 'feeling' is staying longer than usual. It might be Ulnar Nerve Entrapment aka Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. It's similar to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, just deals with a different nerve. For this, it's a nerve that gets trapped in the elbow. It happens to people who bend their elbows for extended periods of time. Particularly those that sleep on their sides with a hand under their pillow. I tend to sleep like this. It's the most comfortable position for me. I usually try to sleep on my back with my arms out at my sides at the beginning. I always end up on either side with a hand under the pillow by the end. It's a subconscious thing...There aren't many times during the day where I have my arms out straight. Sometimes I 'feel' this numb thing after playing my clarinet. You can't play it without bending your elbows. I've read the only way to get rid of it is to talk to a hand specialist. Sometimes you just need physical therapy. I don't want to...

I also need to decide whether I want a new primary soon, and make an appointment. It's been too long (over a year), and there are things like this that I need to bring up. In addition to asking how to get the ball rolling for medical transition stuff. If only to talk about it with them. If they don't know anything, that's ok. I also haven't seen anyone for my colitis in over a year, and they say it needs to be closely monitored. (At least, once every 3 or 4 months.) Even while in remission. My 'GI' (she's not an MD, and is really an assistant to an MD that I don't have) recently messaged me saying she renewed my prescription for another year of Lialda. However, without seeing me or someone else for so long, she can't order more. So, I need to find someone at the very least before that year's up. She does want me to find an MD, and thinks they'll be able to help me more. I'm glad she actually sent me a message. My primary hasn't, yet she usually sends a paper letter as a reminder for my annual physical. That tells me quite a bit right there. Maybe she expected that I'd switch to someone else, yet she's still refilling my prescription for Lamotrigine. It's weird.

Recently someone posted in one of the IBD groups about how they couldn't take it anymore. Seemed suicidal. She kept saying she had had enough. None of the treatments were helping, and she doesn't want surgery. That was the last option. I was told almost as soon as I was diagnosed that many people with IBD become suicidal over time. Or, develop other mental health issues. It's a tough disease. The idea that it'll be with you for life, and most likely get worse over time, is a difficult pill to swallow as it is. Let alone going through so many different treatments, living with that pain (even if you're in remission, you may still be in pain, like I've been), not being able to keep anything down, constantly going to the bathroom, the fatigue, having malabsorption issues, etc. It's difficult to live with. Some have it more severe than others, and/or may have different symptoms. Again, it's more likely to worsen over time. Some people even refuse treatment altogether, and end up dying from complications. Heck, people can still die from complications even with treatment, although it takes longer and is rare. It's even more rare, but the treatments themselves could cause fatal complications. Most of the comments to her post were not good. Saying things like: "Been there, done that." "It'll get better. You're just having a bad day." "Think positive." That's not helpful. Sure, things might get better, but what if it doesn't for her? Some seemed dismissive. A couple of people posted about suicide hotlines, which was better. Some suggested she pm them. I think that was one of the best responses. She needed someone to talk to, and maybe even just to have someone listen. Someone who knows what having this is like, even if theirs isn't as severe. I didn't want to make it worse and didn't say anything. I'm sure the admins saw it at some point. Maybe they helped her out.

I played some of Fable: The Lost Chapters during the weekend. Haven't done so in so long...I think I only managed to play it on my laptop, which fried about a decade ago. I had to mess a little bit with the graphics. I like that they give you that option. The faces of the people in it looked scary at first, after tweaking it, they were a lot better. More normal. Everything else looks great, especially knowing how old it is. I had to essentially turn off the shadow quality. Still have faint shadows, at least. The shadows were a weird bright green beforehand. I also managed to change the resolution to what my computer is now, so it's full screen. That's 1920 x 1080. I didn't think it could go that high. It might go higher. The game itself runs so smoothly on my new computer. It's great. I realized why it has you start with a wasd config for the keyboard controls. It makes it a lot more fluid than the arrow one, oddly. I essentially only got to the point of almost the end of the 'tutorial' part. After joining the guild, passing the guild test, and the guild master is about to tell me about their home portal and getting around. That takes up a big chunk. It was fun, though. Next time, after the portal thing, I'll start really playing it and completing quests without it guiding me. I realized it starts you off with 'sexuality: unknown'. I didn't remember that he can end up being other things besides straight. Looked it up, and apparently he can. Technically, only 'unknown', straight, gay, or bi. That's still something. It changes if he marries other characters. I think I made him flirt with male npc's in the past, just to see what would happen. Never had him marry anyone, though. Apparently, he can have sex if he's married to his partner or he finds a prostitute. I didn't remember that...Not that I want that either. It's a complex and immersive world, so I guess there's a lot of possibilities. The expressions you can give him are funny, too. I like that there's quite a bit of humor mixed in with the seriousness. Like, you can become a chicken chaser with different titles the more you kick or punch chickens. It's rather dark...You can choose to be evil or good based on your deeds. Evil deeds are things like stealing, killing innocent npc's, farting in people's faces, etc. Good ones are helping others, watching stuff for them, beating up a bully, beating/killing villains (there's a difference in this), and more. Right now, I'm pretty neutral, but I'll probably end up being good. Maybe in the future I can play it again and make him as evil as possible. 

Managed to edit quite a bit of Alliance today. Finished the Questions unit, and started the People 1 one for Russian. I'm half thinking of dropping Russian, because of how awful Duolingo's course is. I'm remembering a lot of it, but I'm not sure how long I can overlook how glitchy it is. 

I think my next drawing 'project' will be drawing full bodies of my characters. Maybe different angles of their heads, too. I'm starting with Shadow, the main character. I'm trying to plan it out a bit more than I did with the heads. I've drawn a full body of him, but it was weird. I don't like his head's design from that heads thing recently. The hair wasn't right, face shape was weird, eyes were a little odd, etc. So, I'm saving pics I find to my phone that I can use as guides for parts of him. I found a chart of hairstyles a month or so ago. I also now have the 2 hairstyles I know that I merged together for how Shadow looks in my head. They're not exactly like his, but close. Also, found eye, mouth, and nose shape charts. Hopefully, I can get a better design using these as guides. I'll look for head shapes next. Might look for charts for other body parts, too. I want to improve, and haven't done many full-body drawings. I have a really old artist's anatomy book (I think it was my grandma's), but it's not the best. It helps sometimes, though. It's sad that every time I've drawn Shadow, I haven't liked his design. I should find something I'd like that's solid, considering he's the main character.

Practiced my clarinet. Played from the general solo book, jazz, Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and some pieces from the advanced classical solo book. I think I played better than last time. 

Started watching the last season of Fairy Tail. It's been about 2 1/2 years since its last season ended. A long time. I wasn't sure if they were actually going to make another one. It was like seeing old friends again. Natsu and Lucy are planning to gather the guild members again and rebuild the guild itself. The guild master is missing, and no one know's why he disbanded it. Natsu has become a lot stronger. We don't know about Lucy or Happy yet. Carla (people can't seem to agree on how to spell her name) can take on a human form now. She's an Exceed, who are essentially strong talking cats that can fly. (They hatch from eggs, too.) It was an interesting surprise. Wendy's apart of a different guild and they're trying to persuade her to quit and rejoin Fairy Tail at the moment. If she does, Carla will probably go with her. She's always with her, like Happy is with Natsu. Happy's another Exceed. Should be interesting to see how this season turns out. 

Finished the most recent season of Gintama. They told fans that it'd be the last season, but they really trolled us. In fact, they trolled viewers big time during the last half of the finale. At least they explained what the situation was for the series. The mangaka (creator of the manga) announced a while back that he was finishing it, but he still hasn't. He apparently is taking a hiatus? That's what I gathered. The anime staff said they had pretty much caught up and there wasn't enough material to adapt at the moment. They try to stay true to the manga. Over the years, I can tell the anime staff must be close to him. They seem to be fond of him in a very Gintama way. Joking about him a lot, but with some seriousness to it. Whenever he appears in the anime, he's portrayed as a gorilla and hardly ever talks. He usually writes them something like a letter or on a wall. He also comes in with a golden aura. Like, he's their G-d. Well, he essentially is to his characters. I think he does have a hand with some of the anime. Not sure when the next season will be. Not even sure if the mangaka really is ending the series. He loves to troll people and does it well.  

The last 4 episodes of Satsuriku no Tenshi are going to be available as specials. I watched the first of those. (It was the only one up so far. It'll probably be put out weekly like usual, which is odd considering how it came out this time.) It was pretty intense. Should be interesting to see how this one ends.

National Black Forest Cake Day!

Mood:

This holiday was yesterday. One of my fave cakes!I even had a black forest cake for my birthday back in November. What's better than having chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries all made into a cake? A few of my fave things. It also looks pretty. Last Friday was National Pecan Day. One of my fave nuts!I think it's a tie with this and walnuts, for me. 

I wore part of my Halloween cat costume during the day for Purim. Just the punk looking black ears (the ones with a bunch of silver studs), the spiky collar, and some silver cat earrings. The earrings seem to have an 'I don't care' sort of attitude. Just wore regular clothes with it. Thought it'd be fun to have something on for it.I read one of the megillot (plural for megillah. Has the story of Esther) I have, watched a couple of music vids, and watched a Purim spiel. A Purim spiel is a play based on the story. The Purim spiel I watched was actually broadcasted from a synagogue. One of the Reform ones that broadcasts their services so people can feel like they are there, when they physically can't be. Really cool for people who might be worried about getting sick when they go to a synagogue. Especially when it might draw a big crowd.I'm still a bit weary of big crowds, knowing how easily I can get sick now. Theirs was funny and cute. Basically Broadway themed. Some Cats, Phantom of the Opera, etc. parodies. They had someone imitate Donald Trump for the Haman role.Haman's the villain. The songs were hilarious, and most of the time they did great with them. The kids were slightly off, but not bad. (The adults played the main roles. Many congregations have the kids do the whole thing.) I kind of felt like I belonged there, since there were cats in the play. All in all, it was a nice Purim. 

Yesterday I watched the last episode of the 2nd 'season' of Fairy Tail. I think it should be more like a 2nd 'series', since it was just over 100 episodes. (Also, has a different look compared to the 1st season.) Same with the 1st season. The last episode seemed a bit lacking.And, kind of teased us. Acting like a new arc was just starting. I think I read that Fairy Tail will be on hiatus for a while. Not sure exactly how long. Should be interesting to see what happened to the members after Fairy Tail disbanded. We only know what happened to Lucy and Natsu. Apparently, if I really want to find out before it comes back, I can read the manga. I like the anime a bit more. But, then again, I only read the first few chapters. The designs and how things are laid out might be different at this point in the manga. 

It appears Gintama's going on hiatus after this week's episode, too. This is my top fave anime, so I'll be more upset about this one.Although, I think in order to keep up its greatness, they may need some time off to lay out and plan more stuff. These last couple of story arcs were really intense and depressing at times. They've killed off 2 major characters already. The 2nd one happened during last week's episode. It was surprising. He was painted as a villain for one of the arcs a while back up until that episode. He really wasn't. He even wanted to help the 'good guys' in the end. Actually made me feel something for him. I didn't really care for him much when he was first introduced. A lot of things about him made more sense in the end, too. Both the 'elite' police and the Shinsengumi united in order to defeat the enemy. (They normally hate each other.) Apparently, Shouyou is alive. Or, at least he seems to be. He also seemed to be the enemy's boss. But, Gintoki was forced to behead him in the past. I'm thinking maybe this 'imposter' just has his head. But, he smiles just like Shouyou did, and has the same memories. Even moves similarly. It seemed to mentally break Gintoki when he saw that his teacher was still alive. Should be interesting to see how they end it.

I'm almost through with MAR, too. It appears that 3 main characters were killed off in 2 episodes. For some reason, I think they might have been whisked away to the real world. But, they did disintegrate in their world...I don't know. I think the king of Chess is really Ginta's father. (Ginta's been told that his father was killed in battle.) He's finally shown himself, only he's masked. A couple of the characters said the way he talked and fought was familiar. Also, I think he's the one that's suddenly bringing landmarks from the real world to theirs. They already had the Eiffel Tower fall in the middle of a field. Plus, some famous statues. The queen of Chess wants to kill all humans in both worlds. What is she then? Or, does she want to kill everyone but her and that king? She seems to be the most powerful character in the whole series. Maybe more powerful than the king. She also managed to clone the princess, Snow, and put her in the real world. Koyuki, who's from the real world, is possibly the original princess. Both of them can sense what's happening to each other in either world. That part's really interesting. Snow felt like a fake when she found out, though. 

Apparently some people think IBD is essentially just about 'bathroom problems'.I noticed this when I talked to someone who I thought had a similar thing, recently. I've also read some questions that were asked on a Crohn's forum, that were similar with the subject. I've read articles and other forum posts (from that same forum) explain that it's a lot more than that. Some blogs, too. Many of us, no matter which IBD we have (Crohn's or UC), have extraintestinal issues on top of it. Extraintestinal manifestations have to do with things outside of the intestines. So, here are some of mine. My hair's starting to fall out again, although slower than it did last time. My nails have become much softer, bend easily, crack easily (already had one of them crack straight down the middle), and grow quickly. My skin seems to be doing something weird. Hard to describe. Sometimes I feel so full, I don't want to eat. Yet, this might be before I've eaten anything for the day. There's no food in my system at that time. I know I have to eat in order to take my meds, but if I didn't have to have food to take them, it'd be a different story.I get sick a lot more often. This is mainly because of the meds I'm on, but this contributes to it anyway. I also feel a lot more tired and weak half the time. I think people should realize that there's a lot more to it. Not to pity others, but realize it's not just a 'bathroom problem'.I'm also nervous to take heavier/more potent meds than what I've already had. Maybe it'll be the opposite of what I'm thinking will happen, and they'll help with the extraintestinal issues, too. That would be awesome! 

I'll ask my gastroenterologist about referring me to a nutritionist at my next appointment with her. I'll ask her, because I'll have to have someone that knows how to deal with people who have IBD. Some have never dealt with that. My primary care doc might not know where to start. It might help to talk to one for most of these things. I already know some of them are caused by malabsorption problems. So, a nutritionist can help more with those. Like, tell me to have a certain amount of protein, which would probably be more than the average for someone who doesn't have that problem. I know some people have to have more calories than people who don't have IBD. I don't really want that. It might be hard to keep up half the time. But, I guess I'll just have to see what happens with that. My primary doc also wanted to schedule an appointment. My yearly physical is coming up, so it might partially have to do with that. It's scheduled for a week after my gastro appointment. She's also trying to keep track of what's going on with me. 

On Saturday, I went to the democratic caucus for the first time. The only other time I might have gone to a caucus was when I was little. I certainly wasn't of voting age back then, though. This was held at my old high school. I hadn't stepped foot on that campus since I graduated. It was a bit weird.Many things had changed. I know when I attended there was a lot of construction going on. So, it was interesting to see parts of the finished product. We all met in the gym. I think the gym was different, too. Like it wasn't there when I went. (I think we had a different one.) Maybe it was the layout? Our precinct seemed pretty large, and luckily started out near the entrance. I knew some of the people from it. At least, 4 neighbors and one person I went to high school with. Might have been 2 more members from the neighborhood I'm semi-acquainted with. But, I found out a lot of the neighbors I didn't know were there, too. It was nice to see. The majority were for Bernie Sanders, including me. Some people ended up switching from Hillary Clinton or undecided to Sanders after some discussion. Some people seemed to be a lot more passionate than me, so I let them speak up about Sanders. Clinton's side was interesting, too. Everything was kept civil, which was great. Sanders actually won our state, Alaska, and Hawaii by a landslide. It was close to 75% for Sanders and 25% for Clinton for our state. That's pretty good.


Thinking it was so nice and sunny looking out on Sunday, I decided to go for a walk. It stayed nice out until about halfway through it. It started to really downpour, and got heavier until I got home.I was absolutely soaked, but it felt good. It wasn't really cold rain, which might be why it felt good. Felt like I had a natural shower. But, my coat, which isn't made for rain, is still slightly damp. I also wanted to take a pic of the gorgeous view we get of the mountains, but the clouds rolled in. You could barely see them. So, I took a pic of the trail through a green belt I usually go through. There was a robin that made it into the pic. Didn't realize it was there until after I had taken a few shots. It was funny and cute.I tried to get a pic of a squirrel that was darting around, but it was too fast. Ended up just getting bushes with weird grey blurs under them.

Decided to try out Smashwords' self interview feature. It was interesting. They have questions already prepared, or you can add your own. You can flip through their questions, too. So, you don't have to answer all of them. I decided on: What are you going to write next? I mentioned possibly a memoir, a sequel to Alliance (my first novel), or a detective novel. Those are essentially the ideas for my next novel I have at the moment. The only thing I didn't like was after every question you answer, you have to save and then 'publish' it. Why not just have it be submitted with one click?Also, you get an email every time. Even if you just edit that one answer, you get another email with the same info. You can have up to 10 questions and answers. I only did one. Had to go back to edit it, though. Each one goes to their author's interview section. People get to see the newest first on there. So, it's like a little bit more publicity.

Got to playing my clarinet yesterday. Played for the full 45 minutes. (Hopefully in the near future, I'll get it up to an hour.) Felt good. I got to get back to playing it on a regular basis. I continued with the way I planned to do my practices, last time. Where I go over something repeatedly until I improve on the areas I always mess up on. The way I used to practice. It can be tiring, though. Did pretty well, anyways. Didn't have to stop and repeat things that often. I could tell that there was some improvement, too.

日本語

Studied a bit more of the kanji 残, and the kanji 士. When 残 is pronounced as 残す or のこ.す (noko.su): to leave (behind, over), bequeath, save, reserve. As 残り or のこ.り (noko.ri): remnant, residue, remaining, leftover. When 士 is pronounced as さむらい (samurai): warrior, samurai. As し (shi): man (esp. one who is well-respected); (suf) person (in a certain profession, esp. licensed), member. 騎士 or きし (kishi): knight. 士卒 or しそつ (shisotsu): officers and soldiers. 戦士 or せんし (senshi): soldier, combatant, warrior. 博士 or はかせ (hakase) or はくし (hakushi): (usu. はくし [hakushi]) doctorate, PhD, Dr. (as a title); (usu. はかせ [hakase]) expert, learned person. 武士 or ぶし (bushi): warrior, samurai. Interesting that there are a couple of ways of referring to samurai. Took one of the vocab chapter tests on JapaneseClass' site. Got about 93% on it. Not bad.Also, this one tested less vocab than the previous one. The one before that had about 150 words/phrases. This one had about 67. Quite a difference. It'd be great if they spaced the amount of vocab evenly for each chapter. Oh well. I didn't miss a single one from the practice part this time. Translated another line from a You Maga article.  

Read an article in Japanese on RocketNews24's original site. It was about Hanami or sakura viewing. Apparently, having lavish banquets under the sakura trees while they're in bloom is becoming popular. Normally people have casual parties. They usually drink a lot, too. The author of the article mentioned how much it sucks when you brought the alcohol to those banquets, and there isn't a bottle opener of some sort. So, there's a new ring (like you put on your finger) out that's designed to be used as one. I think there are other ways of opening it, besides getting a fancy ring...He said it looked cool, though. 

Tomorrow night should be fun.Since it's the 5th Wednesday, the support group's going to have a potluck. This time at someone's place. It's usually a nice social thing. A 5th Wednesday doesn't pop up that often. We usually bring some KFC chicken tenders. Although, one of the times we brought donut holes. I think donut holes would be better...Either way, it'd be nice.