Sakura

Mood:

Sung by Saori@destiny. It's a cover of Kyogo Kawaguchi's song of the same name. I think this version is much better. Her voice is amazing and calming. It's about always being by someone's side, even through the happy and sad times. Sakura means cherry blossom(s), by the way. Saori@destiny started off as a street performer in Akihabara, early 2007. Her debut song was used in an online game. Her songs are cool and interesting. Still new to her, so there might be more of her songs that I like. 

Friday was a crazy, but awesome day!We went to the mall to get some jeans for me. The ones that I had were starting to get holes in them. Plus, they were getting pretty loose. Found out that I had lost enough weight to go down a size!I can't believe it. I've gone down at least 3 sizes since my heaviest weight.That's pretty cool. Wearing my new jeans now, after I washed them. They're still a bit roomy. So, maybe I'm in between a size right now. Not quite enough to go down again one full size. I'll get there, though. 

Then, I had my first pedicure. First time getting nail polish on my toenails, too. So, they said I had 'virgin' nails.Also, the person who worked on my feet kept telling me how tiny my toes were. After the nail polish, all of them except my big toes looked like tiny dash marks. Kind of funny. I was worried about my big toes, but the pedicurist said that the only problem she could see was that my body had produced too much skin under those nails. So, it was making them very painful, discolored, and weird looking. She cleared them out of the extra skin. There was so much of it, that I ended up bleeding when she was done with that part. Very painful.They do feel a bit better now, but I think they're still healing. I decided on a sparkly kind of dark teal color. She told me it reminds her of mermaids. Really nice looking color. Also, might have another sell of Alliance. Another pedicurist was very interested in it when I talked about it. So, yay! 

After that, I attended another Friday night service on OneShul. This time, I really felt more connected with it. The person who led it had a lot of the same views on things. He was also interesting, because he was a Sephardic Jew, and into shofars. A lot of the music he had throughout the service had shofars, and had a Sephardic influence. Really cool and moving.The topic after the service part was on idolatry. Which, sadly, I couldn't stick around for. 

Went to a support group meeting, and had a late dinner out with the group. One of the members decided to pay for everyone's meals. We weren't a small group, either. Very nice of her.I got their 'Tacoma Dome Dip'. It was a big French dip sandwich with garlic and parmesan fries on the side. The sandwich was packed with beef, had a little cheese on top of that, some horseradish sauce, all on a ciabatta-like bun. The dip part was really good, although slightly saltier than I'd like. She told us that she'd buy everyone dessert as well, and urged us to get some. Dad and I shared a humongous chocolate cake. It had a huge pool of extra icing on the side, and a scoop of ice cream on both sides of the cake. We only ate half the cake and all the ice cream, and took the rest home. I had the rest of it for breakfast this morning, and the extra icing had turned into fudge. Really good stuff.

On our way back to the car, a lightening storm had started. We got home at around 12:20am that night. I was really tired, but thought the storm was cool to watch on our way. Not too cool that it kept going when I tried to finally sleep. Lots of bright flashes, and a heavy downpour. Plus, my ears and sinuses were acting up because of the pressure. I have a Eustachian tube problem in my ears, and it only gets worse when there's a change in pressure or there's too much of it. It's pretty painful, and felt like my head was going to explode.

My computer mouse was dying, so we got a new one. It's wireless this time, which should be interesting. It's very fast, so I had to adjust the settings. Also got a real mouse pad. I had made a makeshift one out of a notepad. Worked for a while. But, that mouse from before had made some burn marks and holes in it.First time using a mouse pad, and so far it's pretty good. 

In Namonaki Doku, it was the conclusion of part 1. I thought it would be more exciting and complex at the end. But, it was kind of anti-climatic. The death of the chauffeur was really an accident. His daughter wasn't kidnapped when she was 4. And apparently, the younger sister was seeing the older sister's fiance. Just kind of a bland ending of it.Hopefully, the next part will be more interesting. It's about someone literally poisoning people. (I say literally, because the English title is Nameless Poison. The first part was referring to 'poison' figuratively.) A woman is putting poison in drinks at convenience stores. She's had 4 victims so far. Not knowing her background too well, the company hires her to replace the intern that is going to be studying abroad. Sounds more exciting already. 

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, Misaki and Usui grew even closer. They had entered a butler contest. The people who were behind it were thinking of buying off Maid Latte. So, Misaki thought she could make them back down if she won. She had to hide the fact that she was a girl in order to participate. Her partner ended up being Usui. He tried his best to win, and to keep her from hurting herself. He ended up badly injured after he stopped her from falling. He still went about things like everything was fine. Even played his violin while in agony. I think it was the first time Misaki stopped him and actually worried about him. After she told him to stop and gave a short speech to the people behind it, they let them go and agreed to leave Maid Latte alone. After that, Misaki went over to Usui's place to see how he was doing and take care of him. She found out that he lives alone in an apartment. I kind of want to know more about him. 

In Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, Kiri was discharged from the hospital. They found out who the next Order Made Author would be. Don't really know much about him yet. But, couldn't they have waited until he was at least out of the hospital? They managed to sneak out without being noticed. Kiri said that he doesn't want to fight anymore. I think he'll have to soon. 

日本語

Studied more of the compounds for 神. 神学 or しんがく (shingaku): theology. 神官 or しんかん (shinkan): Shinto priest. 神経 or しんけい (shinkei): nerve, sensitivity. 神社 or じんじゃ (jinja): Shinto shrine. 神髄 or しんずい (shinzui): true meaning, mystery, essence, quintessence, soul, core, kernel. Translated more of a You Maga article. 

Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's site. It was on the filming of the sequel to the live action movie version of Rurouni Kenshin. I haven't seen the first one that was put out last year. Only seen snippets of the anime. I know it's a classic. Just haven't gotten to it. Maybe in the future I'll watch the whole thing. The live action movies look interesting, too. Just like I feel like some day I should watch Ranma 1/2. I've only seen parts of that one, too.

Today, I started doing 60 sit-ups twice a day for the week. I'm surprised I was able to do that many this morning. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep adding on 5 sit-ups (for both times) each week?It'll be fun to find out. Last time I got up to 65 sit-ups twice a day, and then was forced to stop because of that weird cyst thing. Now I don't have that problem...I'm hoping to add an extra walk to my day tomorrow. So, I can do the 4 miles thing, and see how it goes. If it's not that bad for me, I can keep it up. It'll probably make me lose weight, and feel even healthier, faster. Still sticking to my way of eating. 

Youtube:

3 cool and creepy Pandora Hearts amv's (first one has some scenes from Kuroshitsuji, as well): 

National Lasagna Day!

Mood:

Yay, I love lasagna!Especially the vegetarian, cheese, and sometimes beef ones. I've tried eggplant lasagna, and didn't like it. Even though it looked so good...I also hate eggplant in general, but people kept telling me they have a different 'texture' in this form.  

Went to a different trans support group on Friday, the one Dad used to go to more often. They loved that I was an ally. (They all kept hugging me, and brightened a bit after I told them.) They seemed very nice and warm. (Maybe more so than the other group.) It was a much bigger group, than the one Dad facilitates. And, I was surprised by how many people I knew or met once before. Since it was a large group, check-ins were really long. The topic was interesting. 

Went to a place called the Hub afterwards. I was just going to share some Cajun fries with Dad, but they were too spicy for me and I was really hungry. So, I got their rustica pizza. It had artichoke hearts, olives, and huge cloves of roasted garlic. The pizza itself was huge! (Supposed to be for one person.) Was really tasty, though.Ate half like usual, and was pretty satisfied. (Got to have an awesome lunch the next day!) 

Somehow ended up having a 'deep' conversation with one of the members across the table for me. It was hard to hear her at times. Didn't expect to be answering such deep questions.I think she started those as soon as I told her I was Jewish. Some of the questions were related to my religion, but some were just on my life in general. She seemed fascinated with me. Don't know if that was good or bad...Made it interesting. They want me to come to the next one. The only problem is that it's on Friday nights. Shabbat starts then. So, I don't know.

I naturally got up pretty early this morning. Which isn't normal.At least I felt a bit rested. Started my 50 sit-ups twice a day for this week this morning. I could really feel my abs and surrounding areas tightening. Also, at the point where I'm building up a sweat. Before having that 'medical' week in March, I had made it to 65 sit-ups twice a day for that ending week. I'm getting closer to it. And, then I can surpass that. Yay!

I'm not going to add those 2 exercises into my routine. I remembered that I had lost a lot of weight until March, just on what I've been doing. So, why add more things? Unless I'm at a plateau, then maybe. Been more on top of my 2-mile walks, too. 

Trying to stick more closely to my way of eating, as well. It's easiest at restaurants. I'm good at home, but occasionally I have a tendency to just eat it all. It's easy most of the time for me to eat half of things, though. Thinking of limiting a bit more of my breakfasts, but I'll see. Already feel like I'm losing weight again. Even though it's not entirely why I'm doing this. It's also for overall health.

Namonaki Doku is getting really interesting. The more Sugimura finds out the more complex the story gets. But, I love that sort of thing. The episode ended with him getting run over by a bicyclist. He had some pretty serious injuries. But, he's the main character, so it'd be pointless to kill him off just like that. 

I'm liking Kaichou wa Maid sama a lot as it progresses. At the end of this episode Misaki and Usui almost kissed. I'm usually not into the romance genre, but they make it really fun. 

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, finally had an update! They were able to post a few more chapters, instead of having readers wait for a chapter every few months. So, yay! I'm thinking they might make another season of the anime version, once there are enough chapters out. Since, the anime ended with essentially what happened in the last chapter I read in the manga. The one I read today was kind of a fluff one. Kiri was finally able to see Iwai after the incident, while still at the hospital. The staff allowed him to cut her hair. They introduced his sister. She was feeling guilty over saying horrible things to Kiri about him enjoying cutting other people's hair, but he managed to help patch up their relationship. Of course, with the help of Iwai. 

Played my clarinet. Did a lot of classical pieces from my advanced solo book, and a couple of jazz tunes. Was pretty good. Only a few parts where I goofed up, but not too bad. Started the 2nd story to my nightmare anthology novel. I think this one will be even better! Thought I'd base it on a few of my short nightmares, and make it flow into each other. I think each short story is going to have a different 'style', I guess. Not exactly sure what the end product of this will be, but it's kind of exciting.

Finally managed to cook something for dinner Saturday night. I haven't really 'cooked' for a while. Made an Indian dish that was basically chicken with a red bell pepper curry. It was pretty good. Found several new songs on Sunday, so look forward to those soon!

日本語

Today, I studied some of the compounds for the kanji: 神. It generally means: G-d, gods, deity, mind, soul. 神仙 or しんせん (shinsen): Taoist immortal, supernatural being. 神罰 or しんばつ (shinbatsu): divine punishment. 神意 or しんい (shini): divine will. 神像 or しんぞう (shinzou): idol (e.g. carving or painting of a deity). 神韻 or しんいん (shinin): exceptional artistry. 神格 or しんかく (shinkaku): divinity, divine. I'll do more of them next time. Also, translated part of a You Maga article. Read an article in Japanese from Asahi's website. It was about a massive recall on top loading washing machines put out by Sharp. They were the cause of 3 house fires. No one was injured, thank goodness. 

Youtube: 

Another hilarious scene from Azumanga Daioh:

Stand Up!

Mood:

By Lead. This was Hitman Reborn's 6th ending theme song. I really love this one.The harmonizing is awesome, and even the rapping part is cool. Has a fun jazzy feel. Looked through some other Lead songs, but it doesn't seem like this is their normal 'style'. So, it's interesting that this is so different. Lead debuted in 2002. The music video with the band is kind of weird with all the corn, but it somehow grew on me too.I like the ending sequence to Hitman Reborn more, but it's not the long version. The band looks like they're having fun, though.

I didn't feel very well last Friday. (Or most of last weekend.) So, I didn't go to the mini-reunion event at a local bar and grill. Sounds like it would have been fun. Although, for some reason, I feel like I made a fool of myself at the mini-event before that. Maybe that was just because I was so nervous.Probably a lot of other people were too. 

The next one is Friday night. But, I won't be going to that one. There are 2 other events happening at the same time. One of them seems more personal to my family, so chances are I'll go to that. That would be the Trans Pride march. I'm an ally, and my dad's trans. Plus, I've gotten to know a lot of other trans people. There are other fun things after the march related to it. The other event would be Pride Shabbat. That can be fun, but we don't really know anyone that's going. So, the reunion mini-event would be least important to me.

At some point, either Wednesday or Thursday, I might get to see one of my cousins, too. I've never met her before, but should be fun meeting another family member.

The next day is the reunion's main event. So, I'll definitely be there!It's for a good chunk of the day, which is nice because we'll get a chance to catch up a bit with people. Apparently, dinner's going to be a buffet. They told us to pick what we wanted, so I thought it would be like they serve you or something.I picked the salmon dinner with mashed potatoes. Another thing is that they said they won't be able to make the mashed potatoes, and now it's just going to be roasted potatoes.I think the food part could have been better planned, but they're doing what they can. A classmate's going to be playing a large portion of the music. So, that should be interesting. There's going to be a slideshow, open mic, dancing, and more. They'll be selling memory books too. With answers to the questionnaire people filled out online. They're going to be checking everyone at the front door, so nobody needs an actual ticket. Should be a very interesting experience. I'll be with people I was more comfortable with in high school. So, I might be a little less nervous.They're up to 130 people so far. Seems like a lot, but we had a large class of 500. At least some are coming. The next day is a potluck at a local park for lunch. I might go to it. Still semi-undecided about that.Not sure what I'll bring. 

Then, not too long after, a couple I've known for a while (who are also our neighbors) are finally getting married. They were essentially waiting until they legally could in this state. I'm so happy for them!About a month after that, another couple we've known for a while (I'm not as familiar with them) are getting married. For similar reasons. So, yay! Happy times for people!

In Tokage, they found out that Terashima is really the spy who's working for the Spider. But, even he doesn't know who the Spider's real identity is. This is getting intense, but interesting. 

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, they held their athletics tournament. Almost every anime seems to have at least one episode devoted to this kind of thing. Kind of like the obligatory summer episodes too. Anyways, Misaki tried to participate in as many events as she could. It was boys against the girls. She nearly collapsed from winning so many events. The last event was a cosplay one. Usually it's so the people who aren't very athletic have a chance at winning something. You have to run over to some bags full of costumes, grab one, get dressed in a tent with no light inside, then run back in costume to the finish line. Supposedly, this way you can't see what you get until you're already in costume. She helped one of the boys in the end for that event. He was being laughed at, because he was stuck with a maid costume and kept tripping over it. And, he's a serious cosplayer. She stuck up for him, saying what's so wrong about being serious about it? She purposely disqualified herself by using a bunch of miscellaneous costumes she found lying around, and ripped them up to get a certain look. Usui helped with it all. I'm starting to really like this show! 

In Mix Vegetable, Hayato introduced Hanayu to his father. Apparently, he was the sushi chef that made the tamagoyaki that made her want to become a sushi chef when she was little. She tried to get that same taste, but nothing worked until he made some again for her. His dad offered her an apprenticeship at his sushi shop. She told him that she wouldn't agree to it until she finally told her parents that she wanted to be a sushi chef, instead of becoming a patissiere and taking over their family's shop. The chapter ended with her saying she needed to say something to her father. Hopefully, she'll finally say it.

Played my clarinet. Did some klezmer tunes. Sounded pretty good this time. Wrote more of the first short story to my nightmare anthology. For some reason, I think this will be the hardest one to put into a story-form. But, I'm giving it a shot!

日本語

Did 2 kanji for today. 商 and 章. When the first one, 商, is pronounced as しょう (shou): (suf) (math) quotient; dealing, dealer, store. As あきな.う (akina.u): to trade in (commercial goods), deal in, sell. The second one, 章, is just pronounced as しょう (shou). It means: chapter, badge, composition, design, poem, section, medal. This one only had one compound listed. (Well, common one.) 文章 or ぶんしょう (bunshou): sentence, article, composition; (writing) style. Translated more of a You Maga article. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's site about how they're celebrating Mt Fuji becoming a World Heritage Site with chocolates and souffles. The chocolates are milk chocolate at the 'base' and white chocolate is used on top to look like the snow on top. They look interesting. The souffle looks huge. And, it seems like there are many different flavors. All kind of shaped like the mountain, too. 

National Apple Strudel Day!

Mood:

Apple strudel's awesome!The oldest known strudel recipe is from 1696, a handwritten recipe now at the Viennese City Library. They say that the pastry has its origins from earlier Middle Eastern pastries. Also, last Friday was National Strawberry Shortcake Day. Another one of my faves! 

For my dad's birthday dinner, I made some pasta with tomato sauce and meatballs. Had some chocolate eclairs for dessert. Then, later we grabbed some snacks, and watched Moonrise Kingdom. It was really weird, but I liked it. Didn't LOVE it, but it was good.One of the main characters looked a lot like one of my friends, even though the actress is supposed to be 12. It kind of added another odd element to it. It seemed that they got the time period pretty accurately. Which was a plus. Anyways, that was a nice way to celebrate her birthday during the week.

On Friday, I did a ton of cleaning around the house. Didn't realize I could get the candlesticks so clean! That was nice. Another 'highlight' of my cleaning, was taking down a massive cobweb in my room. It stretched to all the corners of it, and was like spaghetti.I freaked out a bit when something flew rather lazily out of it. Maybe it had been caught, was paralyzed, and about to be eaten. Then, I saved it, and it woke up a bit, and flew. It was kind of funny the sound it made as it went by. I don't really know what it was. 

I also applied to be a bakery clerk at the new Safeway that'll open soon. If I get it, I'm guessing I'll have to be trained somewhere else, and maybe work temporarily there, until this new store's open. I like baked goods. And it may be fun to work there. Not sure how many things I'd actually be 'baking', but that would be fun, too.The smells would be great. They have a shorter waiting time compared to Starbucks, for when benefits kick in. Like, health/vision/dental insurance. So, it might work out even better for me. Interestingly, everyone will be new to this store, as well. So, I won't be alone. I liked Safeway when I went there for things while I was in college. There were 3 other positions that sounded interesting to me, but this one seemed to have the biggest draw. They need to fill 25 more positions. That's quite a lot of people still. By the way, it's so close to where my house is, when the store finally opens, that I'll most likely walk there. (It won't be a very long walk.)

Yesterday, for Father's Day, we went to Point No Point. It's a beach that has a lighthouse. Lots of people with kites, cloudy, people barbecuing stuff, others drawing in the sand, kids running around, birds chirping, lots of shells and kelp scattered across the sand as you get closer to the ocean, barking dogs, and other things. It was nice. Went to a newly renovated Chinese buffet place. We used to frequent there quite often before it started renovating. It looks a bit nicer, and there's more choices to choose from. Now they have a steak bar, BBQ bar, and ice cream bar. At these new bars, they have people ready to make things fresh for people. You just have to pick the ingredients at the steak and BBQ place, and they'll grill it for you on the spot. The people at the ice cream bar, hand scoop the ice cream for people. Didn't look at what flavors they had, but from afar it looked like a good selection. Seemed like a better selection of sushi, too. The stuff I usually get, tasted maybe even better than it did before.

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, Misaki and her friends went to find out where Usui lived and to find out more about his private life. He played them the entire time. Going to fancy looking places, helping out elementary school kids, etc. Eventually her friends got tired of waiting for him to go home and left. Usui had found a stray kitten, who immediately attacked him. But, he took him in anyways. Misaki loved seeing that side of him. He said if she really wanted to know where he lived, she should have just asked and gave her a card with his address. She of course denied that she was interested in seeing where he lives. But, later kept staring at it. From the ending, it looked like he lives by himself in an apartment. But, don't really know. This all started when Usui had helped Misaki's absent-minded mother with apples that she kept dropping. As a thank you, she invited him into their place for the first time, and they ate some of the cut up apples. He helped them out more with fixing the rotting floor boards. As soon as Misaki saw him, she misunderstood and grabbed him taking him to a nearby park to talk about what happened. Her friends were passing by when they saw her gripping his wrist, and heading out from her place. Her friends assumed they were dating, and later said they wanted to know more about him. I don't like how Misaki has been so mean to him. With whatever he does, she automatically assumes he has an 'agenda'. Hope that changes soon.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge finally was updated. I think because they want to stay ahead of the anime version. I'm actually surprised at how fast the anime is going through the story. Anyways, Kiri finally was able to 'dream' about Grayland. But, it was as he lay on the ground badly cut up. Emily thought she had killed him, doused him with gasoline, and was about to light him on fire. His dream changed him, and he became a mindless killing machine. The worst part for Emily was that Grayland was into torturing his victims with as much pain as possible. So, every time Kiri slashed her she was in agonizing pain. (Much more than whatever pain comes from being slashed by a pair of scissors.) She cried out, and dropped the lighter. Iwai heard her scream, and was going to carry her out of there. But, Kiri found them. Iwai thought if she came in between him and Emily he would come to his senses. But, he slashed part of her neck and parts of her hair, and then collapsed. She was in a great deal of pain, and suddenly her hair grew back. Almost like the curse kicked in again. 

Managed to play some more of my clarinet. Sounded much better this time.Played some of the classical pieces from my advanced book, and some jazz tunes. Wrote a bit more of my first story to my nightmare anthology. Also, remembered another nightmare to add to the list of possible stories. Looked for more writing memes. But, didn't find anything interesting.

日本語

Today's kanji is: 所. If pronounced as しょ (sho): (suf) counter for places. As ところ (tokoro): (n, suf) (also pronounced as どころ (dokoro) when a suffix) place, spot, scene, site; address; district, area, locality; one's own house; point; part; space, room; (after plain past form of a verb) whereupon, as a result; (after present form of a verb) about to, on the verge of; (after past form of a verb) was just doing, was in the process of doing, have just done, just finished doing. とこ (toko) is an informal form of ところ (tokoro). 一所懸命 or いっしょけんめい (isshokenmei): very hard, with utmost effort, with all one's might, desperately, frantically, for dear life. 近所 or きんじょ (kinjo): neighborhood. 住所 or じゅうしょ (juusho): address, residence. 所為 or しょい (shoi): act, deed, one's doing. Translated more of an article from You Maga. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's website about McDonald's losing sales there after giving a huge discount on the Big Mac. Interesting.