National Black Forest Cake Day!

This holiday was actually a couple of days ago. It's my fave type of cake!😍To have a day devoted to it is awesome! It has chocolate, cherries, and whipped cream, which makes the perfect combo. Now I'm craving it...😋

I feel kind of bad that it's been so long.😔I thought I'd be better about posting this year. I still can, but at my current rate, it's pretty sad. Sometimes my computer slows down as I'm writing a post, so that's one of the reasons why I haven't posted as much as I used to. Also, just saw recently that Firefox is going to drop support, at least security-wise, of Windows XP users. So, I left Chrome because of this, and now Firefox is doing it, too? Crazy!😖

Anyways, I finished Naruto Shippuden last Friday. It ended on its 500th episode. Before that there was roughly 200 episodes of Naruto. That's a long time...😲I only skipped about 3 months of it, because they were getting really ridiculous with the side stories or 'fillers' as the main story was nearing its end. They really wanted to stretch it. (They did it before, but I think this was the worst time for it.) I still think the series overall was pretty good. The animation improved quite a bit over time, too. Hopefully this isn't too spoilery, but I knew Naruto would end up with Hinata, and they ended it with their wedding. A sweet end to it.😊 I think the actual ending was what happened right after Naruto and Sasuke's final fight. The rest seemed like they were just appealing to the fans. That's ok, though. It wasn't like those annoying side stories before. These had substance, and apparently they were based on the mangaka's (the creator of the manga/series) light novels. The last arc about the wedding was goofy and lighthearted, and that's probably what it needed. I didn't like Naruto's haircut during that time.😒 They aged everyone after that fight with Sasuke by a couple of years. Everyone else seemed ok, and some actually looked better than they used to. However, with Naruto, his hair was super short and spiky. I don't think I would have had so much of a problem with it, if they had made it fit his head better. If that makes sense? It made that part of the animation look 'off'. There's apparently another series starting next month called Boruto. It's basically about the next generation. The main character being Naruto and Hinata's kid. I think Naruto's finally Hokage in it. I might watch a couple of episodes to see how certain character's kids turned out, who ended up together, and maybe who stayed single. Interestingly, I think Sasuke doesn't care for romance and such, so the love (more like obsession) Sakura has for him might be one-sided. Sad for her, but would be interesting to see how that turned out. I'm not going to watch more than that, because it feels like it'll be a rehashing of everything for the next generation.😑

Finished Ao no Exorcist or Blue Exorcist's 2nd season. It was ok. Interesting to see that arc animated. I think the next one in the manga would have been even better. The one about Izumo's family/past. They grow a lot as a group, too. Shima being a spy was a big thing as well during that one. The current arc (in the manga), I think, is a lot more complicated than the previous ones. A lot of questions throughout the series are being answered. However, with that, more questions are popping up. Even the guy who raised Rin and Yukio might not have been who he said he was, or what people thought of him. Anyways, I hope they animate the other arcs in the future.

Finished watching elDLIVE. I haven't caught up to where the anime ended in the manga. There's obviously more, since the manga's still ongoing. The anime left it wide open for a sequel, too. It was pretty good. There were little references to the mangaka's previous series: Hitman Reborn. In fact, it sounded like it was in the same universe. Like, the mafia boss' ceremony was mentioned on TV. I think Reborn's hat was in one of the episodes. Just little details, but they were nice to see.😌 Reborn is one of my faves, especially the manga version. The main character, Chuuta, in this seems a lot more capable and has more confidence in himself early on than Tsuna in Reborn. I thought that part was actually better. It was cute that the last image of the finale was elDLIVE characters dressing up in Hitman Reborn cosplay. A nice touch, too. 

Also finished the most recent season of Gintama. I hope there's another one, since they also left it open. I know it'll be the last season, so it'll be bitter sweet.😔 I thought this one would be, but they basically said it wasn't over yet at the end. They still haven't stopped Utsuro/Shoyo. He seems to have a split personality. At least Kamui seemed to come to his senses about killing his own father, and his sister if she stepped in. I like that ultimately, Kagura (his sister), won the fight and saved him from essentially killing himself. It was interesting to see who was Shoyo's first student. (When Utsuro was a teacher he used that name.) They basically set things in motion. 

There are a lot of interesting anime coming up for the next season. Kekkai Sensen was supposed to have their 2nd season during that time, but apparently that was moved to October. That's a while.😯 At least Uchouten Kazoku's 2nd season will start next month. It's been a while since the first season. Many of the others I don't know much about, but might give them a try. 

I'm getting close to finishing Bleach. I think it's been good. I've skipped the fillers, though. I think it would be frustrating to sit through them, because it seems like half the series is like that.😒 An episode before the last one I watched, had a time skip of 17 months. Some of the characters changed their appearance, which was interesting to see. This arc seems like it'll be interesting.

One Piece has grown on me. I recently read that in an interview with the mangaka, they basically made the main character, Luffy, aro ace.😲 They said he doesn't care about romance or sex. His only loves are adventure and food. His friends are like family. Now that I've gotten a decent amount into it, that actually makes sense. Which makes me a little more interested in it. He seems childish at first, but I think he's a lot more 'with it' and mature than he lets on. Especially, when they show him alone, or his thought process when he's fighting an opponent. I think there are time skips in this one, too. The series is still ongoing with close to 800 episodes. I'm close to the 200 mark. A long ways to go, if I keep watching it.😉 I'm also skipping fillers with this one.

At the 2nd local ace meeting, someone else actually showed up besides Dad and I. Yay!😀 I knew them from the other group, but it was still nice. They also landed on the ace spectrum, so it was definitely a group for them, too. It was a laid back meeting, and we veered a few times away from ace stuff, but that's ok. To be expected with so few people. I think I like the cafe it was at that time. It's a lot more open, and it feels like there's a more private area with plenty of seating in the back. So, I decided that's where the group will meet for now. I had a berry scone and an iced vanilla chai. The scone was so huge! Cake-like, too. I couldn't finish it. For the chai, it seemed like they used actual vanilla beans rather than an extract or premade stuff. They had quite a lot of different flavors for the chai. It was very interesting, and tasty. 

I'm hoping that more people come to this Saturday's meeting. I think the person that went last time liked it, so maybe they'll be there. If we have more people, we can have it more like an 'official' meeting. I can set guidelines, have people introduce themselves, talk about how we want the group to be, ask questions, talk about topics, bring up any news about the community (locally or otherwise), etc. Like many support/community groups. 

Also, at some point, I want to start a list of ace-related media. Maybe people who come to the offline meeting can give input on that, too. Media, meaning TV shows, movies, books, comics, music, etc. that might have ace characters, or ace themes, or about asexuality itself. That sort of thing. I've come across a few with just looking at news articles that groups on fb post, but never actually sat down and searched for it. Things like the uproar with Jughead from Archie, who the creator has said is ace and most likely aro, and the show Riverdale making him straight. Or, like I said with Luffy from One Piece. Even documentaries would be fine. I've seen a couple, but there aren't many of those either. I've read that there are a few ace-related songs, too. There are some ace singers/other band members. It might turn into something really cool...😎

I'm close to finishing the formatting for a print version of Alliance. After that, I'll just need to design the front, side, and back cover. I have the art designs already for the front and back. It shouldn't be too difficult to add a description on the back, do the side part, and put it all together. I think with the size I chose, which is apparently 'standard', Alliance is still going to be thick. In the Word doc, where the pages are already the size they'd be for the print, it's 300 pages. That's pretty sizeable. I think when I do Sweet Endless Terror's print version, I'll pick a smaller size for it. It has 12 short stories, and normally with Word, it's much shorter than Alliance. Like, close to half as long. Should be interesting. Also, Alliance's promo will start on the 6th. It'd be interesting if the print version is available on Amazon around the same time. It seems like having both the ebook and print versions of these will promote themselves even more. There would be more exposure, and maybe some people like having an actual book in their hands rather than staring at a screen. It'll be cool to see them in print, anyways. I think I read that they distribute their print books to many actual brick and mortar bookstores. That'll be good. I don't know what I'll price the print versions at yet. They'll probably have suggestions. It has to be enough to cover the labor involved in making them, materials, shipping them, etc. Of course, you still want enough for yourself. That's why print books are more expensive than ebooks.

National Authors Day!

Mood:

This holiday was yesterday. Yay! A day just for authors! They should be appreciated more. I'm not just saying that because I am one.Authors have the ability to create worlds, open people's minds, to educate, give people an escape, etc. Pretty amazing!It was also National Vinegar Day. I love vinegar! It makes some dishes more intense and flavorful. Also, one of my fave types of potato chips are salt and vinegar. Malt vinegar is good with fish and chips. Some people say that vinegar is the 'secret' ingredient they use for baked goods. 

This is my wallpaper for November. It's my birth month. So, I usually use a fun, party-like, feel good, beautiful, etc. one. I think this goes with a laid back feel good one, and is perfect. It's Rin and Kuro from Ao no Exorcist or Blue Exorcist. Kuro also has a much larger form. He's basically a cat demon that becomes Rin's familiar. I don't usually find very many good AnE wallpapers, but I did a couple of months ago. You can look forward to some more of those in the future. Also, the anime version is coming back for a 2nd season. The anime ended in 2011, and is coming back in January. That's a long hiatus.The manga started in 2009 and is still going. I'm up to date on that. I remember the anime diverged at some point from the manga, and had an original ending. I'm not sure if they're going to go back to the manga, if they can, or it'll just be something totally different. A lot of stuff happened since it diverged from the original plot. I guess we'll see. Still exciting.

My beagle calendar has one sitting on some grass near a body of water, looking on. The info blurb is about their temperament. The fun fact mentions that a beagle was mentioned in Shakespeare's 12th Night. 

My Jewish calendar features a tevah cover, has an anonymous maker; made out of silk, metal thread, copper; from Persia; 1600. I actually had to look up 'tevah cover'. I don't think that term is used that often. It's a cover for a reader's desk. It looks really worn down, but I'm surprised it's from 1600. It's got a floral pattern. Kind of reminds me of a Persian rug design. It also features a parochet, made by Coenraads; out of velvet, cotton, glass, and metal threads; from Rotterdam, Netherlands; 1875. Parochets are curtains that cover the Torah ark. Often times these are switched to a white versions during the High Holy Days. This one's mostly red with a golden-looking design. In that design there's a slightly unrolled Torah, with lots of writing underneath it (It's so small, I can't read it), interesting banner that encompasses it with tassels on the sides, then a stylized crown on top of that, what looks to be stars at the very top with an interesting border separating the stars and the rest of it. Kind of cool. 

The month-long holidays are: Georgia Pecan Month, National Pomegranate Month, Banana Pudding Lovers Month, National Adoption Month, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo). Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. I love all those food related ones! I don't think I could write an entire novel in one month.That's what NaNoWriMo is about. That's a monumental feat. Even if you're going for the bare minimum amount of words for it.

My birthday's on the 7th!Coming up fast! Not sure what I'll do for it. Might do a somewhat low key one like last year. Probably will celebrate during the weekend. I kind of got an early present this past weekend. It's an adult dot-to-dot book. I found it at Barnes and Noble, which was the same place I found an adult coloring book a couple of years before. That coloring book was designed by a tattoo artist. Most of them are really cool looking even before coloring them in. I wouldn't personally want a tattoo (for many reasons), but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the art.This dot-to-dot book seems complex and intricate. Probably would be good to focus on when I'm in a lot of pain...There are animals, landscapes, famous artworks, monuments, etc. that are featured. Some of them have over 400 dots, and some have 2 different lines. One with numbers, and the other with letters. Sounds fun to me. They also encourage people to color them in after completing each one.

I was going to be a pirate for Halloween. Didn't have the makings for one, though. So, I ended up going with an ace flag color theme. All the clothes to it were/are really big on me. Kind of felt like I was swimming in it, but it was still fun.Used the cat gloves from the costume I wore last year. I don't have too many grey colored things, and the pads to those gloves are. I was going to use my octopus earrings and matching necklace for the pirate costume. I wore them with this one instead. They're silver, so I used it for more of the grey part. Tried to use all the colors for the eye shadow, but they didn't really stand out.Found the most purple-like lipstick I had, which was really fuchsia with 'blue pearl'. Used quite a bit of foundation to make my face look whiter than usual to follow it. It's normally pretty white. I usually have to get either ivory or porcelain colored foundation.My face also turns red quite often, so it looks like I'm blushing most of the time. I think I ended up with more of the black in my costume than the other colors. I'm ace, so that's ok with me. The black stands for asexuals or aces. Also, we got Halloween candy just for Dad and I. We stayed in, turned out the lights (that way we didn't have trick-or-treaters), and watched things. I think we watched an episode or 2 of Glitch, which is really interesting. I watched the Lazarus Effect after that. It wasn't that great. Seemed it had some potential at the beginning, but it went off the rails quickly.

I had some spanakopitas for dinner on Halloween. I love spanakopitas! They were from Costco. Turned out pretty good. I cooked them in the oven, like they suggested. Ended up really crispy and flaky on the outside, and soft on the inside. They're packed full of the spinach and cheese filling. (In case you didn't know what it was, and there was more filling than I expected.) Each one was filling in itself.Still have quite a lot left in the box. Of course, I had some candy for dessert. We got these candies: candy corn, mini mounds bars, twix, snickers, milky ways (dark and regular), and 3 Musketeers. The last 4 were a bagged mix, and bite sized. We both love candy corn, which apparently is rare?I can only have a few of those at a time, because of how sugary they are. The only candy I don't really care for are the mounds bars. Those are Dad's favorite, so she can have them. I mixed them up in a big bowl, and after having some for dessert, bagged them all together. So, yay! A fun mix!

On facebook, I posted my thoughts on people telling me they see my mom through me. I've posted in the past about that on here. I mentioned it on fb this time, because I was starting to get a couple more people telling me that phrase. It's incredibly creepy.Anyways, some people commented about how people look like their parents, and there's no helping it. That wasn't the point of it.There's a difference between looking like your parents vs seeing them through you. I think some people also don't want to admit that most of my physical traits are actually more like Dad's. They want my mom to still be there somewhere, and force that image on me. That's not cool. Not cool for anyone.I did look a lot more like her when I was little, and was even told that we looked like sisters. As I matured, I've looked more like Dad. Also, this saying gets somehow even more creepy with the context that my mom was very sick for a while. Their image of her might be different, but this still frames it a bit more for me. If she hadn't been sick for so long, it wouldn't feel like that. Although, it still would be odd. I'm still glad I put that post out there. It's been eating at me for a while.

I went back to watching Naruto Shippuden recently. I stopped because of all the 'fillers' that seemed pointless. I'm only about 3 months behind at the moment, but I can skip the pointless episodes now. (I've skipped a lot of them already.) There are lists for those fillers. So, I'll catch up pretty quickly. Especially if I watch 2 at a time. The episodes aren't that long. (It's the normal length of just over 20 minutes without the opening and ending.) They say there isn't much left of the story, anyways. The manga finished a while ago. There's even a movie, I think, about what happens after the manga. At the point I'm at, it's really good. Even the animation seems high end to me. (It's ranged with quality in that throughout the series.) Almost making the characters seem real. I didn't forget the main story either, which is only getting better. Kind of the reason I'm going back to it is to see how it turns out.

Youtube:
A Naruto Shippuden amv:

A Pandora Hearts amv:

Happy Halloween!

Mood:

Yay! One of my fave holidays!I'm not going to dress up in a costume this year, although that's a lot of fun in itself. I am wearing some pumpkin earrings. Each one has a string of 3 orange outlined flat metal pumpkins. Got them several years ago, but rarely wear them. Also, wearing a long black beaded necklace. So long I have to wrap it around my neck twice. And, even then it hangs pretty low. Lower than it used to. (Yay! Thanks to losing so much weight!) I don't wear it too often either. But, they go well for a Halloween theme. 

We won't be handing out candy this year, either.We usually get a lot of trick-or-treaters, so this'll be interesting. I didn't put decorations up, and we'll leave the outside lights off. So, that will hopefully give them a sign of some sort. I bet we'll still have kids knocking on our door and ringing the doorbell. Especially the ones that come early. Those are the really little kids. Tomorrow we're hoping to catch the discounted candy at the stores.That'll be good. Most of the trick-or-treaters look so cute.But, that's ok if we pass on it this year. Won't terrorize the cats as much either.

I was also invited to a Halloween party on the 1st. It feels nice that they invited me, but they have it kind of late in the day and we might be out shopping for most of the day beforehand. I might be too tired, and I don't have a costume.Although, I know they said if you didn't have one you could just wear black. But, that would stand out a bit...

I usually try to watch some of the movie marathons that might be on TV, too. I think one station usually marathons the Twilight Zone, as well. They're always fun to watch. And, there are other movies we could watch on things like Netflix or Hulu. I love horror movies. Even the ones that are hilarious and meant to be spoofs of others. It's an interesting genre. 

This also marks a week until my birthday.I love celebrating my birthdays, but this one's also kind of a big one. I look at birthdays as a triumph of sorts. Might be because of what I've gone through. It's a miracle that I'm still here and able to celebrate another birthday.That's kind of why I feel a bit odd when people hate celebrating their birthdays. I'm not sure if I'll ever understand that...Plus, it's a day for celebrating you.That's pretty cool. I still have people tell me that I look much younger than I am. (Some say I look like I'm in my mid-teens and have even asked me what grade I'm in.) It'd be cool if I looked closer to my actual age. Just a little closer. I didn't make a list this year, and I'm not sure where I want to go for it yet...

Yesterday, I decided to call people to clear up 2 things.For the first one, my primary doctor is leaving soon and the one that they chose to switch me to, I've had before. I didn't like her at all. She didn't listen and was incredibly rude. She tried to take over my meds several months ago, even though I had a different doctor. I don't need someone like that.I'd prefer a female one. Simply because she might be able to understand where I'm coming from better. I did have one awesome male doctor, but he was the only one who actually listened. Apparently it's hard to find male doctors like that. So, I ended up with someone I haven't heard of before. There was only one other doctor as an option. So if I don't like her, there's only one more choice.I've never heard of her either. I googled the name of the one I decided to try out first. Apparently she was up for the Washington State Best Doctor of the Year award recently. That sounds promising. 

Another thing I wanted to clear up was very interesting and confusing at the same time.The clinic that my insurance referred me to for my minor surgery a couple of months ago, gave me a check of a sizable amount telling me that we overpaid. I first thought: "Wow! That's cool! It'll be helpful." Then a few days later we got a bill from them for that amount plus what looks like a copay amount. Seemed very fishy.So, after about an hour of going back and forth with that clinic and my insurance, we finally figured it out.Apparently, that amount on the check was supposed to pay something that they thought was paid for twice for some reason. Turned out that they made an error somewhere down the line. The customer service rep told me that they have 4 different programs they use for all of this, and that mixed it all up. Why do they need that many?! I could understand, at most, maybe 2. But, that sounds crazy. Anyways, she said I can write a note on the check saying to give it to her (she gave me her name) and mail it to them. It should be fixed that way. At least that parts figured out. I told her about the copay amount, and that I know that all of them were paid for already. She said to find it in the bank statement and mail it to them with the same message. That seems outrageous! Every time I deal with this clinic, they screw something up. And, they're so laid back about it. It pisses me off!At least I got the nerve up to call and figure it out. 

I also voted a few days ago. I was putting it off, because some of my friends seemed to be complaining on facebook about how difficult it seemed. I admit some of the wording was a bit confusing, but not as much as they made it out to be. The weird thing is there was a couple of initiatives that sounded awfully similar, but really had opposite meanings. One of those was for or against more gun regulations. Another was one, I think, on class sizes. There were a couple of candidates for judges that seemed to be hard to decide on. They were really close with their credentials and views, and seemed equally qualified.Some candidates were easy to vote for, because they either were apart of a party I support or there was only one option. Now that I've voted, the ads on TV seem to be even more annoying.I seem to be getting a lot of them through the mail too. Oh, and it's kind of cool that there's an app for the elections. I have it now, but apparently none of the ballots have been counted yet. So, the results are blank.

I decided that I didn't really like World Customize Creator, and tried out Dawn- Tsumetai Te in its place. Or, Dawn- Chilly Hands. It's been very interesting so far. It's a josei, and I'm not too used to that 'category' (haven't read too many of them at least), but it's good. Josei is intended for young adult (or in their early 20s) women on up. Seinen for young adult (same age group) men on up. Shoujo's for younger girls and shounen's for younger boys. A lot of the time these categories can blend, become blurry, or the creator doesn't wish it to be under any of them. I really don't like shoujo. Just the general 'style' isn't for me. There are a few rare ones that I do like, and they're not in the typical exaggerated shoujo style.I mostly like shounen and seinen. Takashi Nagasawa's a high school student and is a member of the biology club. One day he gets bitten by one of the mice in the lab. He starts freaking out about what if he gets the Black Plague, since it was carried by rats and mice. The other members think he's crazy and just tell him to disinfect it. After school, during that same night while walking home, he hears a crash of some sort and goes to investigate. He finds out it was a car accident, and the driver's dead at the scene. What seems like out of nowhere, a rat that looks like it has a mutation of some kind, attacks and bites him. After calling the police about what happened, a strange doctor arrives and takes him to the hospital. He stays there for 2 weeks, but doesn't remember much. Apparently, he has contracted a disease called Nightshift. (They haven't said that yet from where I'm at in the story...) He starts changing after that, and everyone around him seems to get infected. At the part where I stopped, without thinking he beheaded someone with his bare hands that had a horrible case of it. His friends had just told him about a serial killer prowling about who beheads his victims. This seems like a very interesting story, and I love the horror genre. So, it's right up my alley.

Also started reading Karneval for my Friday slot. It's interesting, but I'm unsure if I like it yet.I'll give it more of a try before I describe it more on here. I dropped World Embryo, because it seemed to be going really slow with the story. Also, it seemed to feel like it was getting 'stale' and tiring. It didn't have the 'it' factor anymore to keep people interested in it. It's a very interesting story though.

I've been keeping up with playing my clarinet everyday for the last week and a half. I feel like I'm really improving with it.Also, has a different feeling now. I might increase the practice time for some of the days at some point. My fingers feel a lot more flexible, making it easier to play as well. 

Started writing the 12th short story to my nightmare anthology. This one's probably going to take a little more effort to make into a 'story', since it wasn't necessarily a dream.It's based on what my ears picked up one day. It freaked me out, but might have just been fluid moving through. I have issues with my Eustachian tubes and wax buildup. It gets so bad sometimes, I have to use a kit to 'clean' them out. Otherwise I have a hard time hearing, get dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, they feel like they're on fire or something pierced them, and other stuff. Sometimes even just changes in weather or the Barometric pressure affect them. I can hear extremely well once it's cleaned out. It's disgusting, but oddly interesting to me. I thought it was an interesting idea to use, and it'll be even more interesting to see how it turns out. 

Naruto Shippuden is getting really interesting. I'm glad that there haven't been too many flashbacks or 'fillers' lately. Another thing that's interesting is the manga version of Naruto is ending this coming week. Apparently, it's been going for 15 years.If they had aged normally during that time the main characters would be older than me...15 years is quite a milestone. It's one of the longest running manga/anime. And it's been extremely popular for most of that time. I read some of the manga, but got tired of it since most of it was in the anime. It's a good series, except for when they go for months in the anime with filler episodes.