National Croissant Day!

Mood:


Croissants are so good!Yay for having a day for them. The croissant originated in Austria, but was modified a bit by the French soon after. I thought it started out in France, so that's interesting.


I finished watching Jikou Keisatsu or Time Limit Detective. It was a bizarre and hilarious show. Reminded me a lot of Monty Python. Humor was a bit dark too. Interesting stories, and interesting ways the cases were solved. Characters really stood out on their own, and had many 'quirks'. Really enjoyed it. Supposedly, there's a 2nd season. Might see if it's up, and start watching that. 


Finished watching LADY~Saigo no Hanzai Profile (The Last Criminal Profile)~. Thought the title was weird until the last episode. Makes sense now.The last case was about a murderer dubbed 'Lady Killer'. It was a really good series, too. It was pretty much like a Japanese Criminal Minds. I like that they acted through everything the killer did trying to get the 'mind set'. There's a good possibility, I think, for a 2nd season. But, this season just ended like a few months ago (it was that new), so I don't really know.

I managed to make everything I planned to last week! Yay!First's a Chinese dish that's fish with hoisin sauce and carrots. Surprisingly good. Thought it might turn out too plain, but it had a nice light flavor to it. Second's a Middle Eastern dish of sauteed chicken with curry spices. (With Israeli couscous [from a box] and green beans as sides.) Good, but could have used a little less cayenne and black pepper. 


The 3rd one was another Chinese dish with chicken and bell peppers. It was really good, but needed a bit more sauce for the amount of chicken I used. Somehow, after cutting up most of the vegetables, I managed to dislocate my shoulder.The side I wasn't using to cut with.Mom helped out a lot after that. Managed to pop it back in twice just before it was served. Wahoo! For some reason, I felt sick after that, and still do. Wonder if it's from shock or just the enormity of the pain.


I felt good enough after eating the chicken and peppers thing to make the last dish up there. (It needed to be refrigerated overnight to set.) Which is a Hershey pie. More like a s'mores pie, though. This was awesome!I think I've only made one other pie, and that was a long time ago. (It was a chess pie.) It has Hershey bars, marshmallows, milk, and whipped cream in the filling. Also, has a graham cracker pie crust, and since the filling didn't fill it up all the way we put more whipped cream on top.


Started another drawing, this time using my new pen set. (The pencil has been great!) It's going to be a Chinese dragon, or my take on it, anyways. I want to take my time with this one. Shaping, experimenting, and molding it to how I want it. So far, his head's looking kind of cool. Also, worked a little on the outline of his body. 


Didn't do my own Shabbat services this time. Wasn't feeling well. But, I still read the portion. It was the last of the plagues, the Israelites leaving Egypt, plus some laws on Pesach (Passover). Quite a jam-packed one.

Started Daily Lives of High School Boys on Saturday. Thought it would be stupid and lame. But, it was really hilarious!(First few minutes were a bit dry, but the rest was really funny!) The type of humor's very similar to Gintama. It's directed by the same guy and has a lot of the same voice actors. Seems a bit unique in the way that there aren't many slice-of-life anime shows centered on guys. Most of the time it's cute girls doing cute things. The guys in this aren't doing 'cute' things, but that might be one of its charms. Better than I thought it would be. Hopefully, it keeps it up!


Finished Earth by Jon Stewart. It was really long and wordy, but I was so hooked on it I couldn't stop reading.It was really hilarious! 


Dropped Himitsu no Arashi Chan for now, since I can't watch anymore episodes. (Even with looking at those LiveJournal groups.) Oh well. Leaves room for something new. 


Went out and ate at Hale's Ales on Saturday. They screwed up all 3 of our orders. So, the manager comped our meals, and we only had to pay for our drinks. Nice.


Finished watching Yamada Taro Monogatari (The Story of Yamada Taro). Really, a very sweet show. Had a pretty good ending. I'd recommend this show to pretty much anyone. Seems like I'll be starting at least 4 new shows soon. It's like a new season for me. Yay!


My therapist and psychiatrist, have apparently both left the clinic. They assigned me, already, to a new psychiatrist. Thing is I had no idea that my old one left. No one told me.Although, it had been 6 months since my last appointment. Supposed to do it every 3.But my last psychiatrist told me if I'm not feeling anything different with the meds I'm on, I don't need to come in. It's a waste of money and time otherwise. If I go with him and the other guy my therapist recommended, I'll be seeing 2 guys for the first time for it. Hey, as long as they're good and don't treat me like crap, I'm more than happy.What's going on with me isn't gender specific (for example, 'women's issues'), so it shouldn't be a problem. 

Happy Chinese New Year!

Mood:


It's the year of the dragon. Cool! I hope people who celebrate it had fun!It's also National Pie Day. Pies are awesome! 


Well, most of the snow's finally melted. It was a crazy storm. Started raining heavily on Friday, and essentially stopped today. There are still a lot of people without power. We're lucky to live on a hill, since there's also been a lot of flooding. Today's been really nice and sunny out.


Kept up with practicing my clarinet. Only missed one day this past week. Not bad.Worked on editing the heritage meme. And, wrote a bit more of chapter 15. I haven't focused on my writing like this in so long. Feels good.


I'm going to make a Hershey's Pie for Friday. It has chocolate, marshmallows, whipped cream, and a graham cracker crust. It sounds sooo good!I'll have to start making it Thursday night, so it can set in the refrigerator. It'll be hard not to eat it right away.I might make a Chinese dish called Fish Fillets with Hoisin Sauce. Sounds pretty tasty. I just have to figure out the sides.


Did my little service again for Saturday morning.Rosie was really interested in what I was doing this time. When I was sitting she came over to investigate what was going on. And, when I was standing she sat where I had just been before, meowed, and watched me intently. It was cute.This time it was the start of the plagues. Kind of an interesting and happening portion. 


We went to Taco Time that night. I haven't been there in so long!Things looked a bit different. I had the soft burrito meal. I used to get the bean one, but I tried the beef. Not as good, but not bad.


Then, we went out for some stuff. I got an incense stand. I've wanted something that you could smell almost right away, but wasn't overpowering. The spring meadows candle was close, but just wasn't quite it. Mom felt the same way with her candle, and decided to try some incense. She got a sampler that had 3 scents and like 90 sticks in it, plus a stand. Since it had so many sticks, we decided to share. We just needed to get another stand for me. I don't think I've used incense before. Hope to start soon.Had to finish off my candle first, which I did yesterday. Should be interesting. 


Turns out I'll have to wait a bit to watch more of Himitsu no Arashi Chan. The rest of the episodes out there aren't subbed. Although, I've been looking at an episode list on livejournal, that seems to have links to more episodes. But, they're blocked to non-members. If I join, I might be able to watch more. We'll see.


D no Arashi took too long to load, so I only watched the first couple of minutes. It looked like it would have been boring anyways. It was about segments they edited out of episodes, because they thought they were too random or something. They were doing it from their hotel room too. Apparently, 2 hours later than normal, so they looked exhausted. Oh well, maybe next time it'll be better. 


Yamada Taro Monogatari was touching. Taro's family had suddenly been able to move into a mansion, and were treated like royalty. It was a reward from the person who owned it, for the art Taro's dad did for her. Everyone, but Taro loved it. He couldn't relax, couldn't smile, and it was too quiet for him. Plus, everytime he looked at the food the staff made, he wondered how much it would cost. In the end, Taro told everyone he wanted to go back to their poor run-down house. He had too many good memories there, and things seemed cozier. Everyone agreed and moved back in. It's been a very interesting story so far. The next one's the finale. Taro might move to America to study under Ehara and Clemens (the guy he idolized as a kid), as their assistant.


Gintama was a bit lame. It's rare for them to be lame.Next week's looks awesome though! 

日本語

Looked over lesson 3 in my book. It was on これ or kore, それ or sore, and あれ or are. これ is this or these. それ is that or those. And, あれ is that over there, or those over there. Their polite forms are こちら or kochira, そちら or sochira, and あちら or achira, respectively. When modifying a noun, it's この or kono,その or sono, あの or ano. I was a bit confused before, but it does explain some things. I think I might have to go over it again next time, to really get it down. (Before, it was kind of hard to distinguish which is which and when do you use it, so this helps. I knew what they meant, though.) The kanji I worked on was 駆 or karu, kakeru, or ku. It means to advance, drive, gallop, impel, inspire, run, or to spur on depending on its context. 

National Hot and Spicy Food Day!

Mood:


I love spicy food, but can't eat too much of it anymore.Something about how my gut's still screwed up from when I went to the hospital twice a few years ago. (And, supposedly it'll never be the same.) Now, every time I have really spicy food, it doesn't agree with me.I was the type of person, who would see how many jalapenos I could eat when I went to a Mexican restaurant. Hot curries were great too. So, if you can eat it, then celebrate! It's also Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He was a great man, and definitely deserves a day in honor of him. 


We actually got some snow this weekend.There's a storm passing through that might bring more. There really hasn't been much sticking to the ground in our area. But, there has been huge snowflake bursts. Kind of impressive.Got really cold last night, too. 


Translated a Japanese recipe called Seasoned Imperial Chicken in English. It was interesting. Might not use it, but it was fun to translate.Didn't find any good Malaysian recipes online. Next time I'll look for Singaporean recipes. 


Watched Kill Me Baby on Friday. It was, I think, a bit funnier than the 1st episode. It feels like the segments during the episode should be longer or the episode should be shorter. The format's weird I guess.

In Buster Keel, Blue revealed that he's a monster too. (On the left in the pic.) He's a suiki or water demon, supposedly the last of his race. He's looking for revenge against Kurokiri Setsuna, who wiped them out. They're successful with their first team job, and Blue finds out a little more about Setsuna. 


Went to my therapy appointment on Friday. It was the last one with this therapist. Since she's retiring soon. I've liked her a lot. Except, this time it almost felt like I was cheated.She was running about 10 minutes late, and I got out about 15 minutes early. And, we talked a little about what I might want to do with my next therapist. Did one of those weird questionnaires on depression and anxiety. (It's the closest thing on paper to checking up on any bipolar 2 symptoms I might have. Not the best though.) I scored really low this time, which is good. The lowest the score the more normal you 'feel'. (It means my meds are working. I love those meds! They're like miracle pills.) I remember I filled that out the first time I was diagnosed with depression. (Before we knew what it really was.) But, they use it on almost anyone with a history of mood disorders. Also, talked about her recommendations for the next therapist. She's not really sure, but suggested the newest/youngest person on staff. He's so new that he doesn't have a patient yet.Not sure if he's good though. Anyways, it was interesting, but that took a pretty large chunk of time out of the session as well. Maybe had about 15-20 of normal therapy. That's nothing!I'm happy for her though. 


While we were at the grocery store on Friday, we bumped into someone we knew. He was going to be all alone for Shabbat, since his wife was in Seattle for something. So, Mom asked if he'd like to join us for Shabbat dinner. He agreed and seemed very excited about it. As soon as we got home, I put the groceries away, cleaned up a lot, and started making dinner. Which was gumbo. Even though it was from a box, it was my first time. I added fish (cod, I think), green beans, and corn. So good!We told him it would be 7:15 for dinner. About 8 or so we felt that we couldn't wait any longer, and ate. Also, had an awesome key lime pie!We left his food out hoping he would come at some point. But, he never showed up.


We got a call the next night, while we were eating out at around 7:30. Asking if anyone was home, and saying how he waited a while at our door, and then left. I'm very confused as to how he would mix that up.Shabbat dinner's always Friday night, not Saturday night. Shabbat has passed by then. Maybe he had one of those weird air-heady/tired moments, I guess. Nice guy, but weird. 


By the way, we went to Pho T&N again. I got what I like to call their beef yakisoba. It was really good this time.A couple of burnt bits, but good nonetheless. Also had a Vietnamese tofu spring roll. I love the sauce it comes with. The roll is pretty good too, just not as awesome as the sauce.It was the first time in a long time that I couldn't finish it, but Mom finished hers. Oh well, made for a nice lunch today.


Had my own little service again Saturday morning. It's been interesting. This last portion was the beginning of Exodus. A lot of stuff packed into it, too. Rosie watched me intently again. I'm getting a chance to really read the portion, instead of just showing up at shul (or synagogue) and hearing someone else's summary of it like I'd normally do. I kind of feel more involved with it, and yet I'm not.I mean I did read portions before we stopped going for Shabbat morning services, but it wasn't everytime. And, I got lazy half the time with it. Gives me a bigger picture I guess.

Started watching Another on Saturday. It's based off of a mystery/horror manga. (Which apparently was based off of a novel before that.) 26 years ago, in a 3rd-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. She was an honors student, good at sports, charming, and was very popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. In the spring of '98, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to that classroom, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in the classroom. There's a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures. No one seems to notice her, except Kouichi. 


Sounds like my type of anime.So, it's one of the shows I really wanted to see this season. The first episode wasn't as amazing as I thought it would be. But, it still looks like it has a lot of potential. The art and background music's perfect. The opening song didn't seem to fit with the overall mood. The only real downside of the first episode, was that it dragged at times. It could be that they were trying to build up the mood. Hopefully, that'll pick up soon. A lot of critics online mentioned that it was slow in areas too. So, I guess we'll see. 


Pandora Hearts just keeps getting better. The story seems very intricate. They revealed a bit more of Gilbert's past this time. 


Himitsu no Arashi chan was hilarious. They're still on their vacation. This time, Sho is with them. Last time he was covering the Beijing Olympics. (Yeah, I know it's a while back.) The funniest part was when they went to another haunted house. Whoever screams the most loses and gets the title of biggest scaredy-cat of the group. Aiba screamed so much! Even at things that were stationary and normal.(They had planned traps where things would spring up at them.) Apparently, if I don't find a sub for the next episode, I'll have to jump 10 episodes. That's a lot of raw ones. Oh well, I'm just grateful some of them are up. D no Arashi was about finding a mole again. They did it this time! At least most of these episodes are subbed. (Probably, because it's an older series.)


I'm kind of sad that I'm nearing the end of Yamada Taro Monotagari. It's been a fun series. Although, this episode seemed a lot more serious than usual. Gintama was hilarious!I'm surprised with what they can get away with in that series. Tons of Dragonball references. Managed to get a little playing done today as well!