Mood:
Wahoo for strawberries!
They always seem to calm me down. Might be because when I was little and scraped up my knee pretty badly, someone gave me strawberries to get my mind off it. Not my fave berry, but they're good.
I had meant to post more often this month.
Oh well, might have more next month. This week, I'm up to 65 sit-ups twice a day. My stomach/abdomen area actually feels a bit tighter. Feels like a work out every time I do them. Got back to my walking schedule. Only missed 4 days, but I can feel it. Missing that many actually made me feel more tired, bloated, etc. But, after getting back into it, I'm feeling much more energized. Clothes are becoming more and more baggy, too. Kind of an interesting feeling. During yesterday's walk, the sunset was glorious!
Made me feel good, too.
Had an appointment with my primary care doctor on Monday. I thought it had been a while since my last check-up, so I made an appointment for one. Also, had a few things to discuss with him. Apparently, since the last time I was weighed by the clinic, I lost 16 pounds. It might have been more, for a number of reasons. First, the nurse I was stuck with always is a little off. He told me she sometimes adds pounds in her notes.
Also, I may have gained a lot since the last 'weigh-in' up to when I started my own 'fitness' plan. Also, probably gained a bit more with those 4 days without going for my walks. But, 16 pounds is a lot!
She was also off with my height and blood pressure. My doctor said it didn't seem right, and therefore I should ignore what she got. She's always been that way. She gets the wrong reading, and I tell her that it doesn't sound right. When she checks it again, it's totally different. Weird. Apparently, I lost an inch off my height, my blood pressure was a really weird high reading (I'm never high for my blood pressure), and I had a 100(F) degree temperature.
With the blood pressure, she tried again later, and got a normal reading. 100 degree temp?! I sure didn't feel like I had a fever.
Talked about replacing my IUD. He made a referral to see a gynecologist. Apparently, they were really trying to push for me to have a pap smear. Put out all the 'stuff' for it. Even my doctor thought that was odd. I apparently have to have it done while I'm knocked out. (It says it in my records.) I have an odd condition, where it's difficult to do if I'm awake. Anyways, they'll do that while they replace my IUD.
Didn't really get a chance to talk about my migraine-like headaches, or the lump on my back. But, managed to cover a lot of things. Apparently, if it's a check-up or wellness visit, it's free. No copay. Didn't know that. In fact, after I made the appointment, they sent an email saying that there would be a copay. I was prepared for that. Kind of a surprise. So, I just paid for the bus down there and back. Got off a little early from the one back, because at first I was freaked out by the guy who sat in front of me.
But, I also thought it would amount to being close to what I would normally walk. It was nice and sunny too. So, why not walk a little further?
The curry came out pretty good. But, somewhat bland and a bit lacking as a main meal. So, I've been messing with the leftovers. The last 'experiment' with it, I think turned out much better than the original recipe. It has red beans, peas, raisins, cornstarch (to thicken), cinnamon, more garlic, more red pepper flakes, and a little more sugar. Turned out a lot more 'hearty'. It's still vegan, so sticking to the 'theme'. Still have some leftover. It's like the never ending curry.
Was making hamantaschen virtually all day Friday. The recipe said it'd make about 60 of them. Ended up being 73. That's a lot!
There's 7 different flavors: nutella, red currant, blackberry, strawberry, orange marmalade, peanut butter, and umeboshi (sour plum) paste. Wanted to experiment a bit. It might be the first time I've made them entirely by myself. The recipe for the dough was online. The one mom had that was adapted from an old book, was a bit more of a 'production'. So, I looked for a simpler one. This wasn't too bad a recipe. Although, I had to add a lot more flour than what it called for. And, as it froze, the 'log' flattened out so there was no way I could just use it after I sliced it like they said. I waited a bit for it to defrost, then sliced it, formed the slice into a ball, flattened it, and then put it on the cookie sheet. A bit more of a 'to do' than I wanted.
Oh well. Came out ok. Could still taste the vanilla in the dough after they were made. Even through the flavors.
Finished chapter 19 of Alliance! Yay!
Next is the final chapter. When I finish that, I have to edit the whole thing again. Maybe two or three times, just to be safe. Then, I have to decide whether I want to self-publish or get a publisher. But, it's great that I'm pretty close to finishing it and getting it out there. Maybe even figure cover art, and such. Was thinking the cover might show a wall of some sort. Having a lot of symbolism to the story. I don't know. I just have to get on it everyday, and it will get out there quicker. I took down most of the chapters I had up on dA. Only kept the ones with comments that were helpful. But, just before I publish it, I'm thinking of taking them all down. Including from the only forum that still has the first few chapters on it. I'll tell people that if they want to read it, they should buy it from wherever it'll end up being at. Also, I plan to end this first novel with at least 2 or 3 cliffhangers. So, people will crave a sequel to it. But, the sequel will only happen if it's successful. So, yay! Exciting times! Also, printed out the last 3 chapters. So, I'm up to date with my 'hard' copy. It's looking pretty hefty.
Played my clarinet. Going over some Mozart pieces. It's not the advanced book, like I thought it was. (I think as you go further in this book, it gets close to advanced level.) The next book I'll go through is advanced, and features famous classical tunes. Anyways, with the Mozart tunes, things seem to be flowing quickly and easily for me so far.
I've gone over a few kanji, and a lot of compounds the last few days. Found out that I didn't pass the JLPT this time. I don't think I was in the right mindset, with what's happened this year. But, I was really close to passing again. Finished editing 2 panels from the drawing meme. I have another drawing idea. Having all my characters standing next to each other, next to a height chart, and color it. This way I can show their heights, a bit of their personalities, and clothing designs. I might update some of the character designs that I didn't really care for before.
Mood:
This was yesterday, but who doesn't love cookies? There's so many different kinds. It'd be impossible to not find one that you'd like. I love chocolate chip, snickerdoodles, pumpkin walnut, cowboy, and I could go on for a very long time with all the flavors I love...
This is my wallpaper for the month. It's Gauche from Letter Bee. I miss this show! Very artfully done, their world is interesting, and the story is complex. Thought it was a nice, somewhat wintry looking wallpaper (I didn't make this!) for this month. Although, those things falling from the sky aren't snowflakes.Still, most of the scenes look very wintry.
My herb calendar has various edible flowers. Nasturtium, dill, fennel, onion flowers, calendula, and chive flowers. Kind of nifty to see them all together.
My Jewish calendar has 3 different types of menorahs. The main one's maker is unknown, made out of copper, from the Netherlands, from around 1850-1900. Another one is made by Abraham (Bram) van Gelderen, made out of metal and wood, and from 2001. (They don't say where it's from.) For the last one, the maker and origin are unknown, made out of copper, from around 1800-1900. (Wow! Huge gap there!) Interesting to see the older menorahs.
The main one looks so nice and clean, they must have taken really good care of it.
By the way, Hanukkah starts the night of the 8th and goes until the night of the 16th. It's coming up fast!There's apparently 2 parties on Saturday that we've been invited to. One is at someone's house with a few other people. She said all we have to do is bring ourselves. Then, there's the main congregation's party at 5. (I say main because there's 2 congregations we're welcomed at, but only one where we're actual members of. Been a part of that congregation for years. Anyways, that's our main one.) I'd honestly like to stay at that person's house instead, if it's still going on. Then, with the same congregation a few days later, there's a Current Jewish Issues Forum thing called a Special Hanukkah Concert. Probably won't go to that either, considering the school psychologist holiday party is very close to the same time. (My dad's one, and they invited the families of the coworkers to a party at a restaurant too.) Finally, the other congregation has their party on the next Saturday. Supposedly, they're glazing mezuzahs (or mezuzot), as well. Kind of sounds odd.We have a few, but why would we want to glaze them? Maybe they have new ones or something. I guess, if we go, we'll find out. I still haven't checked if we have Hanukkah candles, or even really thought about decorations.
It's going to be busy during that time.
Here's the month-long holidays: National Tie Month, Quince and Watermelon Month, Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month, Universal Human Rights Month, National Egg Nog Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Not many this month, surprisingly. I love watermelon, some root vegetables, exotic fruits, and egg nog. And, human rights is a great cause.
I'm really not feeling very well today. Might have been something I ate, I don't know. My mouth and throat are very dry, nose is going like mad, head is throbbing, sneezing constantly, and my stomach is churning. Not too well in the bathroom department either.
So, I felt bad enough that I decided not to go to the cafe today. Trying to cheer up and comfort myself with things.
Yesterday, we went to the trans support group my dad started. I was calling it my dad's group, but it's also made for people like me who are allies or SOFAs. (SOFA's stands for Significant Others, Family and Allies. I've also read that it can be spelled as SOFFA, and that means Significant Others, Friends, Families and Allies.) I actually got into several of the topics that were brought up. They liked that I found that group called COLAGE, and the off shoot of it called Kids of Trans. They, oddly, were more interested in the JLPT and other things I brought up related to Japan. (Mainly about what we did on Sunday, but I'll get to that a bit later in this post.) I'm not going to mention much else, because of confidentiality, but it was very interesting. (I thought I could mention these things, because I brought them up. Didn't say what they actually said.) We all, except for one person, went to Shari's for a late dinner. I had a salad that wasn't that great, and a bleu cheese burger with fries. The bleu cheese burger normally comes with bacon, and I told them since I don't eat pork products, to leave it out. It had a ton of onions, and they somehow tasted a little like bacon. Kind of like they had it in there, but once they remembered, took it out. Not much bleu cheese either. The fries were ok. I really liked their strawberry lemonade. Had chunks of strawberries in it.
For Monday, I just kind of took it easy, because of the craziness the day before. I got up early on Sunday (around 7:20. Early for a Sunday), and took the JLPT N5 (Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 5. Level 5 is the 'easiest', and Level 1 is the toughest one. Level 1 seems almost impossible to pass.
Level 5 is still pretty difficult) from around 12 to 3pm. I think I could hear the listening part much better than last time. I think I was better with the other sections too. I'm not supposed to say much about what was actually on the test, because again, of confidentiality. They could void my test. We won't know until February about our score. It's a bit grueling, and mentally drains you. So, I always feel tired after.
Then, we went to Uwajimaya. I love that place!
I'm happy just looking around. Went through their bookstore that has several interesting books and magazines in Japanese. Some I could actually read pretty clearly. This is a branch of a Tokyo bookstore. They also have branches in New York City, and Paris. They had a similar magazine that looked like Cat Fancy, only with a lot more content.
They have such a wide variety of fish as well. And, a small Russian food area. We got some cherry Russian cookies. Very tasty stuff.
All the frozen stuff looked so good! But, they would go bad by the time we got home, so we couldn't get any. I love looking at the stuff from other countries besides Japan, as well. It's a fun cultural experience. We got some yakisoba that comes with some sauce packets. Several servings in a bag too. All you need to do is add meat/vegetables/etc. while it's cooking. Also, got a noodle bowl. Kind of similar to those ramen ones, but I think it has a different noodle. Don't remember if it's soba, udon, etc.
After having some fun there, we went to a Japanese restaurant called Maneki. (The full name is Maneki Neko, but for site listings and such they have it as Maneki.) I had some salmon onigiri (which I thought would come out like rice balls of the same name, but was more like sushi. Maybe they didn't expect foreigners to know... It was good though), tempura, takoyaki (octopus balls, the only exception I'll make for a non-kosher or treif thing. It's too good!), miso soup, chicken teriyaki, the salad and rice that the chicken comes with, and fried green tea ice cream for dessert. All of it was awesome!(Except the teriyaki sauce could have had a little stronger taste.) I couldn't eat most of it. Barely could eat half of everything. Managed to take a lot of it home. Sadly, I couldn't bring the rest of the ice cream with me. Only could eat half of it. It also had cherry flavored whipped cream on the sides, and a cherry on top. It was a great ending to a Japanese-themed day.
On Saturday, we did a lot of shopping. Was going to just grab a snack or drink at Hale's Ales, but we ended up having an early dinner. Had a turkey and cranberry sandwich with fries. Very good, but again, I couldn't get passed eating half of it. So, it was just another thing to take home. It's great to get at least 2 meals out of one. There was also a mishap with a sausage place at the mall. We wanted beef summer sausage, and I could have sworn we went to the register with it. But, once we got home, and were putting things away, I noticed that it was ham instead. I don't eat ham. So, we rushed back, and they gave us the beef one. I think the girl earlier who rang us up, switched the sausage to ham before she placed it in the bag. Which is pretty disturbing.
We also got some cranberry mustard there. Which tastes great.
Later, we went to Trader Joe's. I've only been to the one in Seattle, not the one that's local. It was pretty interesting. Not as much stuff, but still a great variety of things. Found some pretty awesome new things there. They also sell a lot of kosher (some glatt) things. Glatt meats are especially hard to find in markets in the area. (Not that I try to go that far. Glatt is really strict kosher.) They have a pretty tasty turkey bacon, and good plump dried apricots (I love when it still has little plumpness to it, not like leather). We also got frozen falafel, frozen latkes, some cheese, a panettone cake (a very tasty Italian cake with bits of dried fruit), frozen blueberry waffles, and some other things.
Youtube:
An awesome amv showing the serious side of Gintama:
Mood:
From Bleach's first soundtrack. This is an eerie, almost ethereal sounding track. I love the mood it gives off. Also, comes in at some pretty awesome moments in the anime.
I was hoping to post more than I have been for this month.Well, maybe I'll get around to posting more next month. I'm a bit nervous about the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) on Sunday. I think I'm a lot more prepared this time, so I should feel more at ease. Went over different verb forms and types, and the na and i adjectives today. I know them pretty well by now, just wanted to review them. Don't want to forgot about one of the forms and get it wrong on the test.
Yesterday, I went over all the 'recent' kanji (about 100 of them that I've gone over the last few months. I know more, though), compounds, and some lessons from my grammar book while I was at the cafe. I fried my brain enough that when a guy there asked me something in Japanese, I stood there like an idiot thinking about it.
Later, on my way home, I figured out what he was asking. He said it in a very polite way, and without a question marker. (It'd be something like: 'Thou speakest Japanese.' in English.) So, it'd be understandable why it threw me off. He also ended one of the words with -sumasu (-すます), when it should have been -shimasu (-します). He said he just started learning it. So, that might be why.
If I see him again, I might tell him about some of his mistakes. Although, I might just forget about it by then...Also, had an English toffee hot chocolate.
Went to my new therapist's appointment last Friday. I can't make up my mind on whether I like her or not.
She had this almost constant fake look to her face. So, I'm just wondering if maybe that's just how she is. She seemed very nice.
On one of the forums I'm apart of, there's an interesting thread. It just asks Do You Believe in G-d? There wasn't any side thing at the beginning, like religion v science, but now it's a bit different. There's a guy on there who obviously is ignorant of other religions besides Christianity. (And even that, I have a feeling he doesn't know much about.) He thinks all religions are the same, that they're in it for the money, and that they brainwash their followers.Also, apparently, in order to be religious, you can't 'believe' (his word for it) in evolution and science as a whole. First of all, evolution isn't a belief, it's a theory. But, everytime someone talks about their religion, he brings up random scientific 'evidence' to try and sway people. It almost sounds like he has some sort of mental thing going on. When people try to debate or tell him that they're religious and into science, he usually ends it with 'typical religious response trying to defend your religion'. On mine, I apparently got him pretty good, and it pretty much ended with him saying 'well I don't know much about Judaism'.
A lot of people have liked my posts in that thread. Someone told me it was very level-headed, and I tried to give examples on what we're different on, or even just what Judaism's about. They said I gave a clear answer everytime. I just want to educate people. They can believe what they want, but don't make crazy accusations.
Plus, bringing up unrelated scientific articles doesn't do much. Pretty much everyone is annoyed and/or slightly amused by his ignorance. Even people who aren't religious. Interesting to keep reading the responses others give him. He's starting to sound a bit desperate. Plus, this is interesting, according to the poll 80% of the forum members believe in some sort of G-d or G-ds. I thought the percentage would be lower. Kind of cool.
The person I met on Thanksgiving day, who also invited us to her Hanukkah party sent a very 'glowing' email about both of us. It was very nice. She said we were both amazing women. Also, that I'm a compassionate, wonderful, special, delightful young woman.And that she's proud of me. For the party, she told us to just bring ourselves. Don't worry about bringing food. Of course, right after I read her email, I read my dad's dedication section for her book. She said I was a delight and an inspiration. So many good compliments, I'm not sure what to do with them.Just not used to it. Something kind of chased those good feelings away on Sunday night through Monday. Which was kind of sad, because it was giving me some courage with things. Anyways, I've recovered somewhat. (Plus, it didn't help that my meds aren't up to par yet. My body is still flushing out the old 'stale' ones from my system while I take the new ones. So, I'm not completely stabilized yet.)
There's a possibility of at least 2 more Hanukkah parties coming up. Sounds like it'd be fun!Hanukkah goes from the night of Dec. 8th until the night of Dec. 16th. It's coming up faster than I realized! It's also earlier in the regular calendar than usual. It's really a minor holiday, but it's fun.
I posted 2 drawings on dA. Both faces from one of my new original character sheets. They're of Zero and Sin. Both are from Greece, and I love the original mythology they come from. (I put my own spin on their stories, of course.)
Youtube:
An awesomely made amv:
A hilarious and well done Gintama amv. Parts of it are perfectly timed:
Mood:
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!(Well, those who celebrate it, of course. To the others: hope it was a great day!) Ours was great. Went to someone else's place. The hosts have known our family for a very long time. They're almost like family. Some years they have a lot of people, and some years maybe one other person besides us. (Felt weird without Mom, though.)
Seemed more cozy and welcoming with just one other person, so it was nice too.They have 2 big dogs who are always so hyper when we see them. They seemed more so this time. Jumping, licking, and sometimes giving us tiny bites. One of their cats, Cassidy, was rubbing and licking me while we played games after dinner. Her brother Butch died recently.
That one other person was very nice. She was a writer and a Jew. So, already we had a lot in common.She loves to cook, make knickknacks, etc. Very interesting person. Talks a lot, though. She thought I was 15 years old for a while. When we told her how old I actually am, she was very surprised. (I don't know why, but everyone thinks I'm younger than I am. No one has guessed my actual age, and it's always younger. Usually around high school age.) We got along with her so well, she invited us to her place for a Hanukkah party next month.
She also said that if I need anybody to give me feedback on my novel, I should contact her. She's very willing to help. She said she doesn't know much about the sci-fi/fantasy genre, so she can't give me much advice about that part. Just on how its written, editing, and getting it out there. To me, that's a lot.She suggested that I should go to the Writers Guild of America-West site, and pay $20 to have it copyrighted. You get a certificate in the mail. I'm thinking about it. I'm not even finished with it. Should I try to get one before I'm even finished writing the thing? Wouldn't make sense to me. Maybe when I'm done with writing it.
She also suggested that since I've gone through so much in my life, maybe I should write something like a memoir. I thought people much older than me did that. I mean, yes I have gone through a lot, but I thought I hadn't experienced enough years of my life to do it.Other people say I've gone through plenty to make up for that. And, they think it'd be a great idea. So, maybe in the future I'll start it.
Meanwhile, I'm thinking of starting 2 projects after the JLPT. (Since I'm trying to study as much as I can for it right now. It's on Dec. 2nd.) One would be about featuring a mentsch every week or so. (Maybe it'll be more like every other week.) A mentsch is an upstanding citizen, a good person, or like a good samaritan. All around great people. It'll be something positive, and these people usually need more recognition.
The 2nd project will be on, as I think I'll call it, 'aging beautifully'. Showing that youthful beauty isn't all that's out there. There are many beautiful people older than 40. This is physical and inner beauty. Men and women, people from all over the world, etc. I myself am not that old. But, I think the older generations should be admired at the same time. I don't know it might sound funny right now, as I'm still figuring it out myself. Got the idea when I saw someone on one of the forums make a list of beautiful actresses who were 25 and over. Mind you, they only went up to 34 years old.That, to me, doesn't sound impressive or really that interesting. I mean great that they look amazing, but that's like at their peak. So, it shouldn't be as surprising as some people commented. I thought what about the older people? Somehow, our society thinks that after around 35, people aren't as beautiful. There's something wrong with that. Plus, they only showed women from Korea. (This was a site that focuses on Asian drama.) Which is great, but what about actresses from other countries? I want to feature not only actresses, but athletes, politicians, 'regular' people, etc. People from all walks of life.
I'll make 2 separate blogs for these projects. I think I'll do 1 on one week, and the other on the next. Alternating between them. I'll also make 2 separate facebook pages for it. Announcing when a post is up, featuring pics of people I've talked about, and maybe for suggestions of who to do next. This way people who aren't in my friends list can check it out too. For some reason, I'm getting really excited about these projects. Maybe something good will come out of them.
Anyways, we brought an olive spread, red pepper spread, crackers, and small slices of bread for hor d'oeuvres. For dinner, they smoked their turkey, made stuffing (one with chestnuts and one without. I hate chestnuts), candied yams (another thing I hate), cranberry-orange relish (which is nasty and I think they are usually the only ones that eat it), and had canned cranberry sauce as an alternative.
The other person who came did a green bean and almond thing, and a very strange raspberry yogurt jelly mold. After I asked what the raspberry thing was (it was bright pink and scared me anyways), she immediately threw a huge amount on my plate without telling me. Only after I tried a tiny bit did she tell me what it was. It didn't go with the meal at all, and it was very hard to eat more than a few bites.The green beans were pretty good.
For dessert, the hostess made her brownies that everyone loves. And usually she makes a somewhat bland pumpkin pie, with some bland whipped cream. It's ok, but it's ho-hum, not much flavor. This year they won a pumpkin pie, and used that. It was a bit better, but still not the best. That other person made these huge truffles. They were very good, but one of them goes a long way.
We played a little Trivial Pursuit. The hosts were winning, but we couldn't finish the game. We all wanted to talk more instead. The game almost put me to sleep too.
No one showed up to Dad's support group. And, I wasn't able to go with her, before she found out. So, that was a bit of a downer. I didn't feel like going to the cafe this week. And, I have my therapy this afternoon. Turned out to be an odd week.
