Radioactive

Mood:

This is a cover sung by the Kaito vocaloid. The original is by Imagine Dragons. I might like this version more.The person who created this version seems very talented. Originally Kaito was made with a Japanese voice bank, and his English version is rather new. Interestingly, the first vocaloids were English. (Leon and Lola.) But, I've always liked the way Kaito sounds. (I think he's my fave vocaloid.) Even if they purposely make him sound computerized, he still sounds good. He goes a little lower in his singing than usual in this one, but I think it gives it more depth. 

I managed to get my morning walk in!It was just starting to heat up, and was rather humid. So, halfway through I was sweating like crazy.I manage to do more of my normal speed, too. (Enough to be considered a 'brisk walk'.) Haven't done that in a while. An hour or so after, there was thunder, and soon after that a downpour. Glad I wasn't stuck out in that.I've kept up with my 5 sit-ups twice a day so far, too. Got my second walk in for the day after dinner, again. That was nice.

My gastroenterologist emailed me back last night. She first said that the IBD test I recently got back isn't 100% reliable, and it doesn't change if they repeat the test. She also mentioned that it's hard to distinguish between Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis with some people. While I'm on azathioprine, she said I should stay away from 'live' vaccines like anthrax, intranasal influenza, MMR, OPV, smallpox, BCG, typhoid live oral, varicella, and yellow fever. It's ok to get things like the flu shot and the vaccine for pneumonia, since they don't contain a live virus. Going off of another question I asked her, she said I probably have a very irritated colon.She said that should improve over time. I love how at the end of the email she says to ask her more questions during the phone appointment on the 21st. Like, go away, I'm busy right now...At least that's how it feels. Other people say things like if you have a question, ask your doctor. Meaning contact them, and that's what their messaging system is for. Oh, well. Maybe she just wants to hear directly from me rather than read it? Or, she'll go over new stuff that might answer my questions? She'll probably ask for another test of some sort.

I'm really liking Magico so far!There's a lot of unique qualities to their world, some of the characters, 'quests' or rituals, how they get their ability to use certain magic, etc. Very interesting. I hadn't seen much about it beforehand, but I'm glad that someone recommended it. I didn't think it'd be very long either. I'm glad it is, though. Their most recent 'ritual' was to attain the wedding dress, ring, and something else I'm forgetting. A group of 3 brothers had stolen them from a vault, and told Shion that if he wanted them he'd have to kill them. Those brothers just wanted the items in order to get Emma, so they could get her special hidden power that can destroy the world. The main ritual is to essentially counteract that. Shion and Emma have to go through the 'marriage' one in order for her to be/stay 'normal'. (It has lots of individual rituals they have to fulfill in order to finish the main one.) Her power can wake up on its own and goes berserk when it does. Anyways, they beat the brothers, and get the items fulfilling that part of the ritual. The brothers had a really sad story, by the way. The remaining brother seemed to continue to go through turmoil after he was captured and thrown in jail. They'll punish him with their magic for a 120 years...Emma tried on the dress, and it immediately started attacking and she went up into the air. Apparently, if you're really emotional, the dress defends itself from what it deems as threatening. It sprouts wings, legs, attacks anything around it, and flies. The only way to keep it under control is to say 'closet'. She was emotional because she's feeling even more for him than before that ritual. She's not sure what to make of it. Luu's fight was cool, too. She can summon her 18 year old self (she's like 12 right now), and fight with 100 times the power she currently has. It lasts for a 100 hits that she lands on the enemy. So, it's not really a long time, but she might not need much time. She's kind of considered an adopted daughter to them. I like the talking cat, too. She seems like the only one who has common sense. Very bright, too.

I finally decided on a title for my nightmare anthology!It's: Sweet Endless Terror: An Anthology of Nightmares. It was either that or A Dreadful Nightmare World. I was going back and forth between them for so long.Sweet Endless Terror might sound the best out of the two. Next time I'll finally get to putting everything together. I'm glad I finally got this out of the way.

Played my clarinet. I'm thinking of increasing the practice time each week until I hit an hour. I'm starting with 30 minutes. I just feel better when it's an hour long. Like I get a lot more done, I can 'feel' it more, I think I improve faster that way, etc. I sounded a lot better than I expected today.Did some Duke Ellington, Gershwin, and a little of my advanced classical solo book. Seemed like there was more of a flow between high notes. Fixing the keys probably helped a lot with that. Sounded nice and rich, too. It does 'feel' better. I'm happy with what they did.

Went through the bottom part of my closet. Spent a couple of hours on it, and filled 6 bags' worth.Last time I went through about 1/3 of the hanging stuff. I've never gone through the bottom part before. I feel like I lost so much, and am somewhat lighter. I can move my closet doors a lot more freely. Probably the way it was meant to be...Got rid of most of my shoes. In fact, of the ones that were there, and the 2 pairs I keep on the outside (slippers and sneakers), I probably have around 9 or 10 pairs left. I think there might be more on the top storage area of the closet. A lot of the shoes I threw out were once Mom's. Some don't fit me, and some aren't my style. Either way they weren't suitable to go to Goodwill or something. There was a pair that looked brand new, had the tags still, and the elastic string connecting them still as well. I thought if it didn't fit me, or I didn't like it, or something; I certainly should be able to donate it. Nope.Turns out the leather to those sandals was incredibly brittle, and became more so over time. It made weird crunchy sounds, and there were stress marks. Not really suitable to donate this way. I found my old jellies from when I was little. That was interesting to see. I loved them so much and wore them everywhere, so of course they were really run down and beaten up. Had to toss them. What's the point in keeping them if I won't be able to use them?Also found 3 pairs of marching band shoes. All of them looked pretty bad. Not sure why I had 3 pairs...I know I had some in college that were different than my high school ones, and I'm not sure about the 3rd. Had to toss all of them, too.

I was just going to stop at the shoes, but everything seemed to flow into each other in there.Turned into one big mess that I had to dismantle. Found some old large blankets piled up that I think I was just storing them there. That would have been ok, except they got in the way and they were deteriorating quickly.There were a ton of clothes down there, too. Things like old jeans with holes in them, old pj's, cardigans, and other things crammed in there. I found 2 shirts and a cardigan that I thought I had lost. I'll wash them before I try them on. Found my old rust colored dress with a leaf pattern that I wore to a high school band dance in New York City. It was just after a big international competition, and collectively we played at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. It looks really wrinkly, but I might try it on in the future and try to iron it if it fits. I really liked it.It actually goes from a red color to an orangey rust color going from the top to the bottom. I still have the pearl necklace, earrings, and bracelet that go with it. It's not a normal sort of pearl necklace or bracelet. It's got an interesting gold pattern interwoven between large spaces of pearls. Really cool. I think they're a bit more metallic-looking, too. So, if it fits, I could have the whole matching outfit. Even found the small top jacket thing that goes over it. I'll try it on once I go back to the hanging stuff.

Found some boxes full of old letters and such. It was cool to see, and I think that's something to keep. Found my old electronic keyboard I played when I was a little kid. I thought I had lost it. It still had power even though it had been sitting in its box for years.I'm keeping that. Found my rock collection. Didn't think it was very impressive, and decided to toss it. Found a box full of art stuff. Everything looked too old to use, and the art I had in it didn't look that great to me. So, I tossed it. I had let Rosie, my cat, into the closet once everything was cleared for the first time. She seemed to like it, and looked cozy in there. I can see my closet floor now! Yay!Made quite a dent going through stuff in there. 

Hai wa Hai ni

Mood:

Or: Ashes to Ashes. Some people have been writing out the romaji as Hai ha Hai ni. The 'ha' is pronounced 'wa', since it's used as a particle. But, I've read that some people are confused about the title. In the original video, they give the title out in romaji, too. So, they should just use that...(I think the confusion might be that the title's written in katakana the rest of the time, instead of hiragana or the kanji. It's just not used as often. Normally it's for foreign words/companies/etc. But, can be used to emphasize other words.) Anyways, this is sung by the Kaito vocaloid. I love his songs (he's one of my favorite vocaloids), but people tend to make his songs comical. Which is fine, but it's good to hear the serious/cool ones too. He has a nice vocal range. This one is kind of sad, yet sounds amazing. 

In Tokyo Bandwagon, Ao and Suzumi got married. It was kind of overshadowed by a reporter getting a 'scoop' on Ao's birth mother. Apparently, she's a famous actress, and wanted him to have a better life. So, she allowed his father to raise him. He's a rock star, and she also felt she couldn't be associated with him in public. Kind of sad. His father would send pics of Ao to his mother once a year. They were usually pics of him celebrating his birthday with the rest of the family. Anyways, this reporter repeatedly threatened them about going public with the whole thing. Ao never was actually told who his birth mother was by the family before. But, the reporter mentioned it to him, and he retaliated by punching him. Eventually, they managed to get the reporter to stop and not to publish his big scoop. Instead he was reassigned to work for the rock music section of the company. (It was bought out by a friend of the family, so he could pull the strings in the background. Basically cornering the reporter, and showing him how powerful he really is.) The rock music section was Ao's father's suggestion, since the reporter used to write articles pertaining to that music scene. The wedding itself went off without a hitch. His mother managed to watch it, and was even in the family wedding photo. She had told them that part of the wedding ceremony would be a good setting for a scene from her movie, and that when she thanked them, they encouraged her to be in the photo. It was kind of a touching episode. She never came out and told him who she really was. The episode ended with Ao's father coughing up blood, and collapsing. I hope he isn't dying or anything like that. They had finally resolved their differences. 

I decided to drop Toradora. The only characters I liked were the 2 main ones. They seemed to have been growing closer to each other, but both of them are in denial of it. Kind of painful to watch. Especially when their crushes don't like them romantically. It just doesn't seem to be progressing much. It's cute at times, but just 'eh' most of the time. Sad, since so many people seem to gush over this series. I can't seem to really get into it.

World Embryo has been very interesting so far. Much better than I expected. Plus, I thought it was going to be short, but apparently it's not. Funny how the author refers to the first 2 volumes of the manga as a 'prologue'. There was a ton of stuff in that prologue. We still don't know who or what Neene is. (The little girl in the pic.) She's growing up much faster than a human would. She also 'hatched' from an egg Riku found. The egg was surrounded by Kanshu, so she has something to do with them. Kanshu are humans who get infected by some sort of virus that's transmitted through cell signals. (Or, if you're bitten/attacked by one.) It turns them into weird grotesque 'monsters', and they go off on a killing spree. People who knew them before start to forget about them. The Kanshu themselves have forgotten who they were. Riku was forced to kill his childhood friend, Youhei. Before a person gets totally taken over, they have the option of becoming a Jinki user. Jinki users get weird little metal balls implanted into their hands. This prevents the infection from spreading further, and they can use it to awaken what Kanshu they have and turn it into a weapon. They fight the Kanshu that way. But, if the 'ball' is taken from them, they must be exterminated. They'll revert to becoming a full Kanshu otherwise. Riku has joined the Jinki users organization, and his partner is now Rena. Rena was Youhei's partner. There are Jinki hunters, as well. The main one so far is Takao. He's trying to locate the source of the infection. He's a ruthless mass murderer, and kills anyone who gets in his way. He tried to take Neene and Riku, saying that their power will aid in his search for it, and to defeat it. They managed to get away though. It'll be interesting to see what happens next. 

Finished writing the fourth short story to my nightmare anthology. I think I like this even more than my other ones. It's a little bit longer, though. Fun to write. Should be interesting to see how the next one turns out.

Played my clarinet. Did some more klezmer tunes, and some 'advanced' Mozart pieces. Sounded pretty good this time, too. 

Ah, What a Wonderful Cat Life

Mood:


Sung by the Gumi and Len vocaloids. First time I actually liked a song sung with Gumi in it. Although, I haven't heard many that feature her, yet.It's a cute song. Really reminds me of Drifter and Shana. The first 2 cats we had. Drifter was a stray, and Shana was an indoor only cat that my parents got when she was a little kitten. So, the 'rogue' reminded me a lot of Drifter. I think Shana was afraid to go outside before, too. (Later, she went outside, but it was as long as Drifter was with her.) I heard they used to coo at each other through a glass window, before we took him in. They were inseparable after that. Really was like a love story.I kind of miss them.

Sorry that its been so long since my last post!I've got to get back into this!I thought I'd relax a little by taking a bath on Tuesday. Haven't taken one in ages! I usually just take showers, but they're not always so relaxing. Anyways, some water ended up getting trapped in my ear. And, because I have an earwax problem it mixed with that, and plugged it pretty good.


Couldn't hear anything out of that ear until after I went to a doctor yesterday. Was a pain in the butt.Had to keep asking people: 'huh?' or 'What did you say?'. Not only do my ears produce too much earwax, but I have a eustachian tube problem. Yay!I had to have both ears irrigated. Apparently, the other one was about to plug up too. It's a pain at first while they're trying to flush it out, but once they get everything it's amazing!I usually can be hyper-sensitive to sound afterwards. I've only had my ears irrigated 3 or 4 times. Apparently, I should be self-irrigating every 3 months.I'm nervous about that. My ears are very important to me, and I feel I could damage them if I don't do it right. Kind of dangerous.At least I'm good for now.


Since I had that ear problem, I decided to cancel my appointment with the orthopedist. I still need to talk to him, but I'd rather be able to hear what he said. The pain in my shoulder has been gradually returning. It was great for a while after the cortisone shot. Not only is the pain slowly coming back (it's really not as bad), I'm hearing the popping sounds again.I told this to the other doctor during my ear appointment, and he gave me some pain killers that may be more effective and have far fewer side effects. They don't cause any kidney, liver, or blood problems. He said the only thing some patients may get is a rash. He said I can take it for a longer period of time, as well. We'll see how it goes.Made another appointment for the orthopedist towards the end of next month. Thought it'd be good timing then. 

Started another manga called Grim Reaper. It's a bit dark, but interesting so far. Yuuka Shinchiro is a 2nd year high school student, whose parents passed away several years ago in an accident. He has, what he thinks is, a horrible dream. He's walking through a park at night, a child's head jumps into his hands, and he's bitten by an alien. After telling himself it was just a dream, he notices he has a bite mark in the same place as in the 'dream'. The next morning, the news reports that a child's head and lots of blood were found in a park. He goes to check out the scene, and finds a ruthless man asking him about the 'abyss'. Later, the man attacks him in his own home, and calls him a Grim Reaper. Kind of bizarre, but interesting enough story. It seems to be a bit short, though. Only 5 chapters, and I'm on the 3rd one. The other manga I was reading for that time, didn't have an update. (Still doesn't.) So, maybe it's good for the time being to read something else while it updates.


Been able to play the clarinet everyday since the last time I posted. It feels so good to get back into.Today, I played mostly jazz and Beatles tunes. 


Also, got back into writing everyday. This chapter's going pretty quickly. I'm still editing previous chapters on the weekend, too. Maybe I'll finish the first novel soon!I've heard for fantasy/sci-fi novels, most new authors shoot for about 80,000-100,000 words. I'm up to just a tad over 60,000. Getting close to the bottom end. I already have an idea of how it will end. And, it will be a huge cliffhanger.This will hopefully turn into a series. There's so many directions it can go. 


Started the planning phase of the next drawing meme I'm working on. The first panel says that #4 or Zero (in my case) is having a pleasant dream. What's he dreaming about? There's many things I can draw for that. Should be fun. Hard to narrow it down though.Also, started planning out a building diagram from my story. Just to get a better 'visual' of it. 


Finished drawing Kenta's face. Looking better than my last drawing of him. Anzu's next. I might post this sheet of faces when I'm done, on dA. They're much better than my previous characters have been. I can tell I'm improving.Also, finished the current character descriptions. There might be another one I have to fill out soon. Especially with what goes on in my current chapter.


Found a few more songs. Also, wrote out the kanji for the days of the week on my calendar. Just to remind me and practice. If I see it all the time it sticks more. So, since today's Thursday, it's 木曜日 or mokuyoubi, which can be shortened to 木 or moku. Also, got back to being active in the forums this last weekend. Another person faved my Hetalia meme this week! 


Went to a Friday night Shabbat service. (Which is kind of rare.) It was nice to see people.Most of the food was good. There was a kid next to me who was a bit weird, but she's known to have some sort of issue (not sure what), so it didn't bother me too much. I know she didn't mean anything mean by what she said. In fact, I could tell she was trying to comfort me in some way, but it didn't come out right. Poor kid.Anyways, they also had these really addicting chocolates that had a dusting of more chocolate. Really strong, but also had the consistency of fudge. The bowl kept moving around the table while we ate dessert.


Didn't feel like going to Saturday morning services that weekend. Which meant I also got to sleep in. Yay!I'm thinking of going this time. Plus, Shavuot starts that night. And, they're doing a Torah study thing with both rabbis from both congregations in honor of it. It celebrates the giving of the Torah. We're supposed to eat a lot of dairy foods. So, there's also a dairy potluck. There's already going to be a 'blintz'-fest.Dad said she'd like to go, but she might not be able to eat much. (She hates cheese.) Maybe she can have something small beforehand, and then see what's there. The tradition is to study Torah throughout the night. But, we'll stop at the synagogue at around 10. Maybe I can keep it up or something at home. 


Managed to go to the cafe on Wednesday like I usually do. But, it was just before my doctor's appointment, so I could barely make out what people were saying. But, I'm glad I was able to see everybody again. Since I wasn't feeling very well, I just got some bottled water there. Not my usual tea, mocha, or hot chocolate.


Naruto Shippuden's getting good again. Naruto's continuing his training. Apparently, rasengan, is really a 'tail-beast bomb' jutsu. The fact that his father passed it on to Jiraiya, and then to Naruto amazed Bee. They talked more about the reanimation jutsu, which obviously Kabuto was leaving things out when he told Madara. The Shinobi Force found a bunch of the white Zetsu clones, and blew them up towards the surface. Looked pretty spectacular seeing thousands of them 'erupt' from the ground. They all looked surprised. Not sure if that was part of the other side's plan, though. Not sure what they really can do. But, that's what makes it fun to watch, finding these things out.

They finally updated Dear! One of my faves, but takes forever for each chapter. I guess it's worth it, though. Some demons (in the pic) are after Chiruha. Kurenai and Carol are fighting them. Carol left Chiruha unconscious with Purino and Komomo, at the Captain's place. They broke in, though. Chiruha was hoping to go on a journey to find a cure for Kisara.

日本語

I've been going over a new kanji everyday. But, I'm also writing out most of the previous ones on its own line for practice. Just writing them over and over again, until I get it, or it's the next grade level. Speaking of which, I'm up to reviewing/practicing grade 2 stuff. Wahoo! (Most of it I know, but don't really have 'cemented' yet.) The kanji I worked on today was 後. It can be pronounced as あと (ato), のち (nochi), うし.ろ (ushi.ro), おく.れる (oku.reru), ご (go), or こう (kou). It means [depending on how it's pronounced] behind, back, later, the rear, after, afterwards, since, remainder, more (i.e. five more minutes), butt, consequence, delayed, or overdue. 

deviantART faves: T-Shirt Need More Coffee I did not make these! First, a funny comic by an artist I watch. It's true, I guess it would be hard to search for a 3XL shirt online. Second, a funny T-shirt graphic from an artist I watch. I don't think he needs more coffee...

youtube:

A cool song sung by the Kaito vocaloid. He's one of my fave vocaloids: