On May 3rd, or 18th of Iyar, it was Lag B'Omer. People usually have bonfires, do archery, and get haircuts. A fun one. I guess we celebrated Cinco de Mayo a day before. Went to Azteca, and got their burrito blanco. It had grilled chicken, white rice, beans, peas, carrots, and jalapeno cream cheese on the inside. There was a flour tortilla with cheddar, cojita, and a cream sauce on the outside. It was amazing! Humongous, though. It was also Herb Day on the 5th. Cooking with herbs is great! A lot of the time they make the dish. It was also National Astronaut Day. That's cool that there's a day devoted to them. They go through a lot.
This is my wallpaper for May. It's the first of the Hitman Reborn manga wallpapers I made recently. I obviously didn't make the art. I just placed two chapter pages together. I like how this one turned out. However, it would have been nice if I was able to make the one on the right big enough to be a standalone wallpaper. It would have stretched the image way too much. Oh well. Tsuna, the main character, is in his Dying Will mode on the left. Xanxus is on the right. I think, with the one on the left, Tsuna was in the middle of his big fight with Xanxus. Xanxus and his family, Varia (an offshoot of Tsuna's Vongola mafia family), were villains at first. They eventually sided with Tsuna and the Vongola. Xanxus thought he was the rightful next boss of the Vongola. He fought the previous head, which resulted in those scars. He was certainly not happy that Tsuna was next in line instead. He felt even more humiliated having an 'outsider' take over. I like Xanxus and even his character design is cool. He's a complex character. He's never truly 'good'. Just like some of the other people that eventually ally themselves with Tsuna.
The weather calendar's main pic's of a storm cloud. They describe it as a big spaceship. It looks more like a giant mushroom to me. Still, it's impressive. The two smaller images are of a lightning storm in Texas.
The month-long holidays for May are: National Asparagus Month, National BBQ Month, National Egg Month, National Hamburger Month, National Salad Month, National Salsa (the sauce) Month, National Strawberry Month, National Vinegar Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Mental Health Month, National Inventors Month, National Pet Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. So many this time.
Yesterday, I decided to start keeping more of a schedule through my google calendar to be more on top of things. Things like blogging more often, if not every day. This blog was originally meant to be daily. There will be shorter posts that way. I usually make a to-do list every day, except for Shabbat. With my calendar, it seems easier to stick to. Before, sometimes I'd spend too much time on something, so it's a little nudge this way. Mainly the too much time was with my computer being too slow when I wrote, edited, with online stuff, etc. Now, I'll have set times to cut it off and move on. I might end up writing less, but at least I'll get to things. I've gotten everything from my list done so far today. Writing, editing, cleaning, etc.
Also, trying to get up and go to sleep at decent times again. I plan to get up at 8am most days, and go to sleep as close to 10pm as I can. That's really not bad. For a while I'd get hooked on my phone and stay up until about 1am, which isn't healthy.
I'm also trying to not go through my fb feed during the week. Going through it mostly on the weekends, but with set times. That cuts quite a bit of time out. I plan to mainly look at notifications, share what I find through my google news alerts or other places I might stumble upon outside of fb, and write personal posts. Blog posts are counted as personal posts...So, in many ways I'll still be active on there, just not nearly as much as I used to be. I know a lot of my friends have gone through periods of totally swearing off fb. They'll even deactivate their accounts. They were just so addicted to it. I understand that. I'd like to still be in contact with people, get world news, see funny LGBTQ+ memes or stories, occasionally be active in the groups I'm apart of (the enby one has been helping me the most), etc. I'll just limit it more. Mainly for my sanity, trying to sleep a decent amount, time for other things, my eyes (I can tell my eyes are straining more lately), and more.
Instagram is different to me. I mostly just post what I eat, my cats, drawings, landscapes, etc. It's not all the time. Also, I don't follow many people. I'm following 26 people currently. A much smaller percentage of those people seem to actually be active. I have a lot more people that follow me. Up to 82 right now. I'm rather surprised by that. With every few posts lately, I seem to gain at least one follower.
DeviantArt's different, too. I haven't actually been going through my deviation stack notifications. Those are the ones of art/journals of artists and groups I 'watch'. Those have been really stacking up. I mostly look at reactions to my own art/profile. When people fave, collect, give me llamas, and watch me. So, I don't spend that much time usually. At some point, it'd be great if I went through that other stuff that's just piling up...
I only managed to write a page of Alliance 3 today. My computer was super slow at the time. I gave it an hour...I normally type fast, especially when I don't have a block, so it was extremely annoying. Got a lot more editing done of the cookbook. My computer suddenly decided to speed back up to normal for that. Only have about 15 more pages to edit of that. Then, I'll make a source list.
Today's German lesson was on language. That was interesting to go through. I only got one wrong on that.
Finished the manga Animal Sense recently. It was much shorter than I expected. It's about a girl that can 'possess' any animal around her. She saved many people around her, including herself, with that ability. The end was interesting. She was so emotional, apparently all the animals from the forest she was in came out and helped. She didn't possess them. They just were drawn to her. They could have done more with that and continued the series...The only thing I didn't like was the main character's hair. It was bizarre.
I'm a little disappointed that there was no update for the manga of Ao no Exorcist or Blue Exorcist today. It has been 2 months. Normally it's once a month. Maybe the next one will have an added special chapter or it'll be longer than usual? I read some of +Anima instead. That one has been pretty good so far. From where I stopped today, there's about 10 more chapters left.
I finished drawing and inking Ravel's head today. I don't think it turned out as great as my previous designs of him. Not bad, though. I was hung up on his horns and hair for a while. Started drawing Nico, too. I'm slowly learning what my style is, what looks good, how to improve in general, etc. It's kind of fun getting back into it again.
I hope to get a walk in after dinner. That way it's cool enough and it's still sunny out. Might do that for a while. Eventually, I'll add another walk in. I'm realizing I'll certainly have time for another one if I keep this up. If I recork my clarinet, I'll probably have some time to cram playing it in as well.
I dropped Dances with the Dragons a couple of days ago. It was really boring. I gave it 4 episodes. It was way too into politics, dialog, and the story didn't progress much. I normally love complex shows that make you think. However, this one tried and failed horribly. They promised dragons, yet we only saw them a few times. There was Middle Eastern sounding music as a soundtrack, but it didn't seem to fit any of the scenes. The main characters had long names. I think their full names had 6 names each. None of them were catchy either, so they were hard to remember. They really tried to do something with this show, so it's sad.
I started more food 'journeys'. I was and still am doing a cheese journey, where I try new (to me) cheeses. I'm adding journeys in bread, jams/preserves, teas, etc. I don't know why I didn't start those when I started the cheese one. I like trying new things. It takes me a while to get through stuff, especially if it's just me, but it's still fun. I started the bread one with sheepherder's bread. It's originally from the Basque region of Spain. It seems to be a mix of French and sourdough. Tough on the outside, very soft inside, and has a slightly sour aftertaste. The loaf is huge and round. Has an interesting design, too. It's good. I won't be able to try some of the really seedy breads, because they affect my gut. Should be interesting to see what I can have. Tried the lingonberry jam that my dad had. This one actually comes from Sweden. It tasted like cranberries, but stronger somehow? Very interesting. It was good with the bread.
Mood:
I would love to get more into baking, and this reminded me.
I'm usually kind of nervous about it. Like, I'll screw it up somehow. But, whenever I have baked things, they came out pretty tasty. Baking also kind of fascinates me for some reason.
You can make so many different things with it. It's also Victoria Day for people who live in Canada.
Yesterday was Lag B'Omer. It's a minor holiday during the 33rd day of counting the Omer. The Counting of the Omer starts during Passover and goes until Shavuot. Specifically for 49 days. An omer is an old type of measurement. When people sacrificed things like barley, they used an 'omer' amount. During Lag B'Omer people light bonfires, have weddings, parties, haircuts (some refrain from having a haircut or a wedding during the rest of the days of counting the Omer. Or, even refrain from listening to music. It's a semi-mourning time during the rest of it), some kids have their first haircut (usually when their 3), do archery (especially the youth), parades, and other traditions. It's kind of fun.
I haven't really celebrated it for a while, though. The bonfire and archery are probably the best known ones.
Last week was a lot warmer than usual. The weekend was a little on the cool side, but nice still. This week isn't expected to get as warm, but it'll be up there.
I guess the warmer than usual weather will help me prepare for going to Scottsdale, AZ at the end of July. I'll explain a bit more as to why I'm going there soon. As it gets closer to when we leave. Probably not the best time to be there though...
I'm going to do 70 sit-ups twice a day this week. It's starting to feel like a workout each time, again. Hopefully I can get both walks in everyday, too. If I keep up with the way I'm eating, I might lose it even quicker with all this again. Although, it's also more for just getting healthier in general. Even though I'm the healthiest I've been in a long time. I think I'm close to dropping another size. Yay!
I've also noticed that I'm getting a bit more loose skin. But, I think as I keep losing, it'll bounce back.
Started watching Smoking Gun a week ago. It's been very interesting so far. I was a little reluctant about it going from the summary that's online. But, it also has one of my fave actors playing the lead. The other actors have been really good, too. (And, there's also an actress I like that's in a supporting role.) Researchers at a private CSI lab solve cases using their scientific techniques. A lot like a Japanese version of CSI. Right down to everyone being at least somewhat quirky. But, it somehow feels like it's done better. And, the researchers don't have really fancy looking labs, offices, etc. Enishi Nagareta is one of the researchers, and tries to solve cases that the police may have overlooked. He has a thing for eating donuts. Especially while at a crime scene. (Which can't be good around evidence...
) He proposed to a woman at the beginning, which was a few months ago. She seemed to be turning him down, so he walked away from her. The next thing he knows is he wakes up on the floor near her, and she's covered in blood. She was murdered, but he can't remember anything from when he left her until then. Which is a pretty good chunk of time. When not at work, he's constantly trying to remember. He even has a notebook with the times he can't remember, which he tries to backtrack with. Some detectives are still looking into him as being a suspect. And, he doesn't know himself if something like that happened. Kind of sad. The other researchers have their own 'problems'. One refers to her husband (I think) as a cactus and her only family. Her husband seems to be in a coma at a hospital. She also put a cactus near him there. One's a retired cop. A newer member basically deals with the more 'human' aspect with getting to know the victims. The boss is a rather eccentric, but awesome, woman. I loved that she says things like she's allergic to shady men. She also makes a huge feast for everyone every Wednesday. If you finish everything on your plate or say 'this is delicious', she'll just give you more. She's taking care of her late sister's kid. The kid helps sometimes, too. Very interesting group of people. Another seems 'normal', but he takes care of his siblings. I think they mentioned him having like 10 little siblings.
I might have finished writing the 8th short story of my nightmare anthology yesterday. I still have to go through and edit it one last time. Kind of turned the original nightmare into something totally different, but still kind of disturbing. It's oddly fun to write, though.
Played my clarinet yesterday. Did a lot of klezmer tunes. Wasn't too bad. Only a few mistakes. Some songs sounded particularly good. But, I think those are the ones I like the most. Got to get the others like that, as well.
Spent a while yesterday on JapaneseClass' site. Mainly doing the practice section. For attendance each day, you have to do 20 of them. But, you can continue doing them after that. It has a mix of kanji and vocab, new words/phrases, oblivion kanji/vocab, and weak kanji/vocab. It's a pretty good practice tool, like it suggests. You can do long combos of things you get correct, too. I think I beat my personal record this time with getting an 83 combo before I got one that was incorrect. Pretty good.
I've seen some people have chains of 200 word/kanji combos. I want to do that! I probably will at some point. I made it to the 412th rank on the site. There are about 30,000 people registered on there. (A lot of them are active.) That's pretty good. I was in the top 20 for the day yesterday. (Although, I have been on it quite often when I go on that site.) Yay! I'm getting up there.
Yesterday, I decided to see who some of the contestants were for the Eurovision contest. None of them really impressed me.
I don't think they did last year, either. I really didn't care for the top 5 or so. The first place one didn't sound that great, and seemed to be more into that person's looks and message, but not of the actual music. There was one that seemed kind of catchy, but didn't draw me in. I think it was Switzerland's entry. A couple of years ago there were a lot more interesting ones. I kind of feel like they have a bias towards songs that use primarily English, and not their original language. Which is sad. I love hearing songs from other countries that are in that country's language.
It seems a whole lot more interesting, and you get a wider view of what the rest of the world sounds like. Also, decided to listen to some of the Pandora Hearts OST. It wasn't as exciting as I remember in the anime. (Although, a couple of tracks from the 2nd one sounded interesting.) The manga got me thinking about it again. Might look into Ranma 1/2's and Rurouni Kenshin's OSTs, too. For both, the background music seems to be interesting. Kenshin seems to have a cool fighting sound in a lot of it. Some of the ones from Ranma sound like they're enduring something big, and interesting fighting ones, too. I'll probably look at those next week. Kind of fun to look at, and I might be able to find some that I like...
Drew more of Vincent's clothes in my new drawing project. This was what he wears currently, as his vampire self. I did the other one for when he was human already. He was human around the mid 1800's, so he had to have changed his style to 'fit in'. It makes it fun, though. Next will be Gun's outfit. He wears clothes that are based on traditional Chinese clothing. He is a Chinese dragon after all. (He's in his human form in the story.) Should be a bit more of a challenge, but fun nonetheless.
Mood:
I've been feeling a bit weak, so I took it easy. Today's Lag B'Omer, or in English, the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. The Omer is like a countdown from the second day of Passover until Shavuot. (49 days.) Shavuot is a holiday celebrating the Torah. It's also a harvest festival. Lag B'Omer's a very joyous holiday. There's many reasons behind celebrating it. People celebrate with bonfires, barbeques, getting haircuts, weddings, picnics, listening to music, and parties. (The fires represent the light of the Torah.) Archery's also big during the holiday. My parents went to someone's place to celebrate. They're going to do some archery, have pizza, sit outside, and I'm not sure if they're going to have a bonfire. I just didn't feel like going. Also, Dad's going there as Jill, which should be interesting. I'm thinking of changing the template of my blog, to a more wider version, I guess. Hopefully, it'll look good. 
It gave me more of a background on him. He used to be a popular Host. He was walking along a sidewalk on a busy street and the metal street walls fell on him. He was rushed to the hospital and they had to operate on his brain. Apparently, during the accident, he injured a part of it. His brain tried to compensate for the area. Which, in turn, has made him a lot smarter. So, he goes back to college and becomes a Neuroscientist all within 5 years. The IPS gave him the smallest lab, and said they don't know much about it. His assistant is Yuri, and she's new to neuroscience and had begged to be transferred somewhere else. After learning a bit more about it from Tsukumo, she's grown to like it a lot. He also has a pet rat that gets into things. 
He likes to eat a lot when he's trying to think clearly, mostly bananas and sweets.
The cases are very interesting. The first one I saw was about a killer who likes to eat his victims after he's killed them. The murders are still happening even after his death. The other case was after the killer murdered his victims, he left what the police thought was a calling card. A giant 十 painted with the victims blood, which they either thought meant the symbol for 10 or was a religious symbol. They saw tinier ones in a corner and ignored them. These were a dying message from the victim that was the kanji for the killer's name. The killer tried to distract everybody with the giant one. It didn't distract Tsukumo for too long, and was the only one who noticed it. There's a dirty cop, who's been working with the Yakuza on the side. They thought it was him at first. But, after Tsukumo noticed the message, he knew it couldn't be the cop. So, they couldn't touch him.
Apparently, a lot of the actors of the show are very famous and have won awards over there. This has sparked my interest in watching more Japanese dramas. As it is now, I've started watching Ando Natsu, Bambino!, and now Mr. Brain. All have been good so far. 
I hope to maybe make something from that recipe site either this week or the next. There's so many good looking ones. I just have to decipher the ones I want and make it. Also, I should find more music for my player this week.
