Mood:
Wow! It ends really soon.
Kind of an odd, and definitely not a normal Hanukkah for us. But, some of it has been great!
Thinking about going to the Hanukkah party that's tomorrow night. They always have a ton of latkes and interesting things to eat at this one. (Most of the time there's an assortment of kosher Chinese food! Good stuff!
) Almost lit my arm on fire last year, because someone pushed me a bit while I was lighting our menorah. (I think it was an overly excited little kid.
) This is at the other synagogue that we occasionally go to. Met someone who was originally from Japan, last time. Haven't seen her since. It'll be cool if she goes to it this year, and I could try and talk to her again in Japanese.
Probably will be one of the better parties this year.
Went to Olive Garden last night. Had their steak gorgonzola-alfredo. It was amazing!
I'm not usually that 'adventurous' there. The steak medallions had a balsamic vinaigrette glaze. The pasta's sauce had a bit of a bite from the cheese. There was spinach and tomatoes mixed in with the pasta, as well. I couldn't eat it all. In fact, I've managed to make 2 more meals from it. Probably much more healthy that way. Rather than have all those calories at once.
Not to mention having the breadsticks and the salad. I hate how they don't have an individually-sized salad. It's usually big enough for at least 3 people. So, couldn't eat all of that either. Took 2 breadsticks home, so I could have 1 for each of the extra meals from it. Or, Dad could have the 2nd one. Either way, they'll be used. We love their breadsticks. And, apparently, they have bread to-go bags. So, other people must like them as well.
Watched half of Gokusen The Movie. Interesting so far. A bit more outlandish than the actual series, but that's what makes it fun. Interesting to see Yankumi's previous students have major roles in it. This is the last of the series, so it'll be kind of sad when I finish the movie. Gokusen has been an interesting ride. Parts of some of the stories were recycled from previous seasons, but they still had something that made them different. A lot of the actors have made it big after starring in this. So, it's kind of a classic, too.
Watched Hitman Reborn. It's becoming more and more interesting! Tsuna seems to be getting stronger slowly, and maturing quickly as a person. He still has his moments, but I like that they won't have him appear as weak and unsure of himself as before. It would have been lame if that kept up. He still gets scared, which seems more 'real'. But, he doesn't run away as much. The story behind the Vongola family has been interesting so far, too.
Buster Keel actually had an update! I thought it would never have one. It's been 5 months.
But, nice to see. Blue and Lovey make it into an adventurer's tournament, where the prize is a jingi. (A Jingi is a very powerful musical instrument, and no one knows what they really do. There's only a few, and Keel's group is after them. He thinks it can turn him back into his dragon-ape self, with his powers fully restored.) Keel couldn't enter, because it can only be a 2-member team. So, he searched around for another person to pair up with. He found someone, but knows nothing about him. Even his name sounds suspicious, meaning masked-man in Japanese. Anyways, he makes it through the prelims as well.
Played my clarinet. Which I haven't done in a while. Felt nice. Did some Klezmer tunes. I've decided I probably shouldn't rush through the books, without semi-perfecting the pieces. Just glossing over it is not going to help me improve.
So, I'm going to listen to some of the recordings from my Klezmer book next time, to really hear how they play it. It's different than what's written down, and the recordings are much older than the book itself. They're supposed to give you more of an idea of how to make your own style based on the old ones. Can't do that if you haven't heard it. What's written is really the base melody, and what people start off with. (Have to obviously perfect that before you can do your own thing with it.) Klezmer can be difficult that way. Also, I'll go over every piece until I get it right, and review it the next time after that. If I just keep glossing over things, I not only won't improve, but I might end up making even more mistakes. I'll try to do similar stuff with the rest of the books I have from different genres. This way it may take me a while to get through each book, though. That's ok, there's no reason to rush through it.
Wrote some more of chapter 19 of Alliance. Still getting even more exciting, and yet I'm hoping to finish this first book with the next chapter. I already know it's going to be a HUGE cliffhanger. Worked a little on that big drawing meme, that features my original characters from Alliance. Trying to figure out how to draw a side profile of 2 of them facing each other. It's good practice for me.
Went over another kanji and a few compounds. I still would like to learn new kanji and compounds. It's kind of fun. Also, translated a little more of a You Maga article.
Burned one of my fingers a little tonight lighting the Hanukkah candles.
I wanted to melt the bottom of one of the candles, so it could meld into place. So, I used a flame from another candle. Turned out they had another wick at the bottom, so it quickly burned up. Luckily, I saved it (and my hand), and went about it like normal. These are apparently fast burning candles too. They didn't last more than maybe an hour. Took a pic of it lit up, because we probably will be going to the party tomorrow night. I was going to on the last night show what it looks like all lit up. But, second to last night is probably good enough. It's somehow really cool to see it all lit up. Seeing a room full of them lit up is even cooler.
(Which is what will happen if we go to the party.)
Mood:
This was actually yesterday, but I love bread so why not talk about it a day later?I hope to someday get around to making my own bread. Already have some ideas on what ones I'd want to make. Like whole wheat, challah, potato bread, honey-oatmeal, etc. Mom, for a few years, made our challah. It was amazing!(Better than any store bought one.) We still have the recipe.
Well, my meds finally came yesterday, and I already feel much better.
So, it was because the previous ones were so old. It's weird how well these work, when they're fresh.I actually felt rested when I woke up this morning. (Got up earlier than usual, which was a nice surprise.) I was feeling so bad with the other ones, I couldn't sleep. My new therapist (who I haven't met yet), seemed to almost go out of her way to find the perfect appointment time. A few days ago, she called me 3 times in a row. Then, a couple of days ago, called twice. So far, she seems better than many of my previous therapists. None of them worked that hard to set up an appointment with me. Although, she may be worried because its been so long since my last one.
I had agreed with my previous therapist that I'd try to at least go every 2 months. Once a month was preferable, though. Its been about 3 months since my last session.
Finished the finale of season 3 for Gokusen. Still have the last special, and that's it for the series, sadly. It did get a bit repetitive, but I still think the seasons had their own unique stories. I wonder what happens to all those pairs of glasses Yankumi throws across the room? And, what about all those hair tie things? She probably won't end up with anybody, either. It's just the running gag. Yet, I think there has been at least one student who ends up semi-falling for her. More so than any of the guys she keeps fawning over. Which to me is very weird. Sure, they could look up to her as a role model, but anything more gets a bit creepy to me.
Went over some more kanji and compounds. Finally got to the last lesson in my Japanese book. I'll review everything up until the test on the 2nd. I can't believe it's coming up so soon!Found some more Japanese tunes, so look out for those in the future!
I forgot to mention in the last post that we had the worst service at one of our fave restaurants recently.
I had a few strands of hair in my Vietnamese-style tofu spring roll. Dad found out that the tapioca starch they used wasn't cooked all the way. They weren't that busy, so it was weird. When we told one of the waiters we knew about Dad's dish, he proceeded to tell us we just didn't know about Vietnamese cuisine. It was clearly not cooked all the way! Very globular, and not very good looking. He gave me a new spring roll and said it was free of charge. They're usually so good.
Well, this week seems like it'll be interesting. We have Dad's support group on Tuesday. (They keep telling me it's my group too. So, maybe I should stop saying that it's 'Dad's' group.) We usually go out to Shari's with the group, and have a very late dinner there. Also, found out about a group called Colage. One of their sub-groups is called Kids of Trans. Decided to sign up for their newsletter. The Colage group of Seattle is having their first meeting on the 2nd. (Same time as the test.) So, sadly, I won't be able to go.
Wednesday I'll be at the cafe like usual. Thursday's Thanksgiving. We're going to someone's else's place for it, like usual. The couple has been friends with our family for a very long time. Haven't seen them in a while. Haven't been to their place since their sump pump flooded. It destroyed the entire first floor. They had to renovate it, and that takes a lot of time. And, Friday I have my therapy appointment. So, yay! Interesting week.
Mood:
Yay! 5 more days until my birthday!
It's been really dreary looking out today. Kind of set the mood.
I finally made another therapy appointment. This time it'll be with someone totally different. The last therapist I had decided to transfer to another place. So, I have to essentially start from scratch with another therapist. I'm also trying to figure out how I'm getting there. Many people have told me that they're there for me, and would help me with whatever I need. But, when it comes to actual situations like that, they either say no or they have to wait and see.Kind of funny.
I called someone who has been helping me get to Shabbat services, but she's going to be out of town. So, she said to talk to someone, the same person I was thinking of if she didn't work out. I called her, and she spent roughly 30 minutes mulling over it, and then asked me what else was going on in my life. It's a yes or no thing, really.
She said she doesn't have anything that day, but things may pop up. Eventually, she said she'll call back next week to tell me if she can or not. After I gave her directions through an email, she called back and kind of lectured me for 10 more minutes. I don't need that.
But, she'll still see if she can drive me later. Also makes me think that maybe I shouldn't ask her to drive me again...She called again, for a longer time! This time not lecturing me, but talking about life stuff. I think I've talked to her for close to 2 hours today! What a headache...Nice person, but crazy at times. Meanwhile, I think I'll email another person, who has also helped me out before. If this doesn't work out for this appointment, I can make another one, but have it not too much later than this one. It's really important that I see someone soon.
Watched Gokusen. The students found out about Yankumi's family. (Like the other classes she taught during the other seasons.) They seemed to think it was cool. One of the students' had parents who were going through a nasty divorce. The father blames it on him. His father was cruel towards him. Telling him he'll never be happy, and telling him that he failed at life. In a way, I think it's good for the family that his father splits up with his mother. His mother took a lot of the verbal abuse too. At the end of the episode, he realized he had great friends that no matter what, if he was with them, he'd be happy. He was also touched by Yankumi's story. About how her parents died in an accident while she was very little. And, that her grandfather took her in. The next episode is the finale. So, that should be interesting. This is the last season of the show, so I'm a little sad that'll end soon.
Gintama really trolled its fans this week. It was a rerun, but felt like it'd be a new episode. Although, I kind of like the one they showed. It's the type of show that if there are reruns, you'd still want to watch it. A bit disappointing, still. It was about Madao trying to find a cheap apartment. Ended up being shown a haunted apartment. Where a violent murder happened in the main room. Blood was everywhere. No one came back out of that room, by the end of the episode. Madao's girlfriend peeked in, and also got sucked in. Perfect episode for Halloween.
Hetalia was interesting. Saw Australia's character for the first time. It was part 2 of their interviews with the clubs at the 'school' segment. Also, about how the Germans would sneak into America's troops during World War 2. Mentioned a rivalry between England and America. The mangaka puts interesting twists/portrayals to things.
Managed to play some of my clarinet. Did some Gershwin, and some pieces from my advanced classical music book. Was pretty good this time.Went over another kanji, some compounds, and a Japanese lesson.
deviantART faves: Warm cats Little Ben Mr Skull Made a Friend... I did not make these! First, is a drawing of Zazie from Letter Bee with a cat holding onto him. Done by an artist I watch. Haven't seen too much Letter Bee fanart. Zazie loves cats. Interestingly done. Second, a cool yet creepy drawing of a boy and his shadow. Also, done by another artist I watch. I'd be scared if I had a shadow like that. Third, kind of a cool skull cake with a fondant snake coming out of it. The skull still has an eye.
Mood:
By Ace of Base. Almost forgot about this song.'Rediscovered' it through my musical odyssey from the time I was born up to now. It was put out in 1995. Ace of Base is a Swedish band. I'm surprised to see they're still going. They have 2 new members, and 2 recently dropped out.
It's really warm today! Got up to 85 degrees. Funny, because after tomorrow, we'll be in the high 60s for a few days. That's a big difference!
Posted another fair pic. It was the start of the rabbit section. Played my clarinet. Did a lot of klezmer tunes. Again, not too bad. Worked on trying to make a name for the zoo in my story. I like my process of making names, whether they be for people or things. But, it does take a bit of time.
Rosie has a vet appointment later today. So, I tried to clean up the carrier. It was covered in filth, from the garage. I started with wiping it off with paper towels. But, found a few spiders.I didn't want to have to deal with them, so I decided to get the vacuum cleaner. And, vacuumed them up, plus all the junk inside of it. Felt bad about doing that to them, but I didn't want to stomp on them either.
I still feel a bit itchy, just seeing them. (I always feel like they're crawling on me, just from the sight of them.) There was still a towel in there from the last time we used it. It was nasty looking, so I threw it into the washer. I put 2 fresh towels inside the carrier. Hopefully it'll feel comfy. It was a lot of work, but I did it!
This season of Gokusen seems slightly different to me. Nice, that they're trying to switch it up a bit. Still a lot of the same theme. Which is fine. This time the class learned what camaraderie really means. And, that fighting for just themselves was meaningless. Kuma's married now, and has a baby on the way. Kind of nice to see him so happy. I like him a lot, and the actor's pretty good.
In Hitman Reborn, Reborn gave Tsuna 2 tickets to the zoo. Saying he was going with Kyoko. He thought it'd be a nice date. But, Reborn was really looking at which animal would be a good companion animal for Tsuna. Since the previous family's boss he worked with has a turtle. Everybody from the 'family' showed up in the end. They 'absentmindedly' blew up the animals' cages, and let them roam free. Bianchi was looking for an animal to add to her poison cooking. She found a king corbra later. It looked a bit scared.
Read part of the last section Hetalia's volume 4. Kind of funny chapter was Estonia dreaming that the rest of the male countries had turned into girls. He thought they looked really attractive, but at the same time was disgusted by it all. There was also a section called: Hetalia-like Food Column. It was about the countries and their food. Apparently, the mangaka thinks there's not too many slow-cooked meals in America. Kind of interesting to see his view. He likes American food, but thinks it's weird. Had the story about how noodles originated in China. And, another one about French dining etiquette, and how its changed.
Today's kanji is: 雪. Or: ゆき、せつ (Yuki, setsu.) It means snow. I knew the meaning of it, but hadn't really practiced writing this kanji out before. So, it was good to do for that. Also went over more compounds for 引. Went over another lesson from my Japanese book.
Mood:
By D-51. It's also the theme song for Gokusen's 2nd season. A touching and upbeat song. Has a slight reggae feel too. D-51 is a 2 member band from Okinawa. Their music is usually upbeat and has a summer feel to it. They tend to mix pop with reggae and Latin-like influences. Their name was taken from the steam locomotive type D51, which was invented by Japan National Railways and was built in 1936. This is the ending sequence to Gokusen's 2nd season last episode:
This my wallpaper for the month.It's Gintoki from Gintama. Has a matsuri or festival flare to it. Kind of fun. I've heard Gintama might be coming back soon, after a movie is put out. Can't wait!
My herb calendar has a lot of vinegars with different types of herbs in them. Interesting. Not sure if I've tried a vinegar like that.My Jewish calendar has 3 different parochets. Parochet literally means curtain, or veil, or screen. It's used as a curtain in front of the Torah ark, that holds the scrolls, in a synagogue. Not every synagogue has this. (Ours doesn't, for example.
) They usually change them during big holidays, especially for this time of year. Speaking of that, there's only about 13 more days until Rosh Hashanah or our New Year.
It's coming up so fast! Anyways, the main one's from Lyon from around 1760-1765. Another's from Germany in 1728. And the last one's from Amsterdam from around 1840-1855. Kind of cool to see such old ones.And they don't look damaged.
Here's the month-long holidays: Apple Month, National Bourbon Heritage Month, Chili Peppers and Figs Month, Happy Cat Month, National Chicken Month, National Honey Month, National Piano Month, National Rice Month, Passion Fruit and Peach Month, Whole Grains Month, World Animal Remembrance Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Biscuit Month, National Breakfast Month, National Potato Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Interesting mix this time.
Dad goes back to work tomorrow, and I can tell she's getting really nervous. I would be too, with all that's been going on. But, it gets a bit weird on my end. So, I felt a bit funky earlier because of it.It was a nice summer with her, though. Got to do a lot of things together. Anyways, I read about a really cool event that'll happen on the 22nd, called Seattle's Night Market and Moon Festival. It'll be at Seattle's Chinatown. There's going to be tons of Asian stuff. Not just Chinese. Some from the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, India, Thailand, and more. There's food, music, shopping, performers, and other stuff. Also, read that they'll have a 'JK Pop Dance Night' thing. Apparently, that group meets once a month normally. Sounds like so much fun!
Dad and I had our portraits done on Friday. Haven't had a portrait 'session' since senior year of high school.
So, it was interesting. Dad wanted some for her dating profiles and her book cover. I did it also for my dating profiles and maybe for the 'about the author' section for my book. They made us do really weird poses. A lot of them seemed to be geared towards the dating theme. There were some somewhat cheesy ones. They took a lot of pics, but I only liked 7 of them. Interesting to see the reaction to them on FB. Gotten a lot of likes and comments. Funny how the ones people told me in a comment were their faves, didn't have many 'likes'. The ones that barely anyone commented on, had a lot of 'likes'.So, I went with the one with the most comments for my profile on there. As soon as I changed that pic, I had even more people 'like' it. I didn't think I looked that great.
Also, changed my cover pic to the one I took of the Russian Charlotte Apple Cake I made a while back. Looked interesting for it, and now I'll be hungry everytime I look at it.
No one seems to have seen it. Oh well, still cool. FB kind of feels like an experiment sometimes. Let's see what people like/comment about...
Went back to our local DOL on Friday, too. They were confused as to why I never got my 'official' plastic driver's permit card. So, they took my pic again, and said we'll send it out again and see if it gets delivered. Turned out to be a better pic of me, anyways. So, that was kind of a plus. Only downside was waiting for about an hour to talk to them 'in person'.
We got a couple of new cookbooks on Saturday. Dad got an Italian one for herself. And, I found an Asian one for me. It's huge! Has recipes from China, Thailand, India, Japan, and more. Went through the whole thing, and found a bunch of new recipes that I might want to make.
Friday night, I had horrible nausea.Felt like I'd throw up multiple times. On Saturday, I was fine for a while when we went to the mall. Towards the end, I had that same nausea crash down on me. I was very dizzy and sweaty too. Found out later, that it probably was because I haven't been eating very well lately. I thought, whenever we eat out, the next day I'll barely eat anything.Not good. As soon as we got something at Hale's Ales in the mall I felt much better. Had some root beer and a chicken pesto calzone. Not drinking much of anything during the day may have contributed a bit to it too. So, I have to be more on top of that now.Don't want to go through that again.
Also, during Friday night, I had this weird thing with my ears. Had my earplugs in, and occasionally they ring. Well, this time one had a continuous ring, and the other ear sounded like a loud mournful choir all night long. It was disturbing.As soon as I took my earplugs out, it was gone. Didn't have it the last couple of nights, so I guess it's ok.
Yesterday, we had another night of, as Dad calls it: Cheesy Lobster night. Again, I try to keep a somewhat kosher diet, and she hates cheese. So, we each get something we really love and the other doesn't eat. She had mussels and some clam spaghetti, I had a deep dish 4 cheese 'personal' pizza. It was so good!And, she said hers was good too. We had mini eclairs for dessert.
In Ghost Mama, they tried to find a home for Miko, a stray cat that lives in a box next to a local hospital. This cat seemed far too docile. At times I thought it was dead...
Besides that, it was a pretty good episode. There was a girl that was very sick who liked to play with Miko while she was at the hospital. When she died, she looked after her. Her parents agreed to take in the cat, without knowing she was actually in the room with them. And without knowing it was the cat she played with. In the end the girl was at peace and went to heaven. Choko's starting to think that maybe she too will leave soon. Feeling that maybe Tonbo is growing up so fast, he might not need her to look after him. After all, he still has his father and sister.
Baka to Test was weird. Funny how on youtube, they consider it 'mature' and block out people who are younger than 18. It's not that 'mature'. There's really nothing graphic, besides the constant nosebleeds from the guys. There's less 'ecchi-ness' than most regular shows that aren't restricted. So, I find it odd. (Unless the series later on gets more mature.) Anyways, this one was about fulfilling Shouko's wishes of some day having a wedding. Just to have the 'experience'. It was cute in a way. Disturbing for her 'groom', Yuuji. He didn't know what was going on through most of it. Since it was a surprise. He suspected something was up, though.
deviantART fave: A Slice of Life I did not make this! It's an amazing pic from Jaffa, Israel. It looks surreal to me.
