Bodhran

Mood:

By the Young Dubliners. One of the few Irish tunes I have. I really need to get more...(Considering it's a part of my heritage.) The bodhran is a type of drum, which can be heard clearly at the beginning, before a bunch of other instruments join in. It's a cool looking one. I think we have a bodhran here at home. The Young Doubliners are an American 'Celtic' rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1988. They fuse traditional Irish instruments and music with modern rock. The lead vocalist and guitarist founded the band, and is a Dublin native. (Makes sense to call the band that, then.) I've found a couple other cool tunes from them. So, look for those in the future!

Managed to finish my 'design' for a book poster. I'd like to advertise it somehow, and I thought maybe printing out a poster/flyer and putting them up in cafes, shops, and such will help. Noticed another person downloaded the sample today! Yay! Up to 14 downloads!Hopefully, some of them will eventually buy it...We'll see. I looked at the online retailers list to see if they have gotten the 'shipments' of my book yet. I know it's up on Sony (Kobo), Apple (iTunes), and obviously Smashwords. For some reason, some are revising their shipments, and taking a while to finally have it up. These are mainly Barnes & Noble, and Baker and Taylor Blio. It's available for libraries to purchase directly, now. For Amazon, they said it will be shipped. Same with Baker-Taylor Axis360. So, things are coming along, just a bit slower than I expected. It was going so quickly at the beginning. Like, making it into Smashword's premium catalog within just 3 days of publishing it.I might start writing my next book soon, too. I'm itching to write this one!I think it'll go quicker and smoother. 

In Otenki Onee-san, the killer was a yoga teacher. Funny thing is, she taught Abe and Mitsuyo the same day she killed someone. Abe's frustrated, and feels like she doesn't know how to express emotion. It was interesting to see that side of her. She fearlessly decided to confront her yoga teacher on her own, about the murder. The teacher only confessed, told her why, and stared at her until the police arrived. Kind of awkward, but Abe couldn't move because she had started with doing yoga before interrogating her. So, she was stuck in one position the entire time. One of the anchors for the regular program has a stalker. He's been following, watching, and forcing her to meet with him. Now, he's gained a position with the network as an AD or assistant to the director. As close as he's ever gotten to her. He believes that they are dating, and yet she's told him numerous times that they aren't. Looks like something big's about to happen. Should make it even more interesting. This show has only gotten better with each episode. Great acting, hilarious at times, interesting background music, and seems to feel more 'real' to life.

In Hitman Reborn, it was 'Parent Participation Day' at Tsuna's school. I don't remember this happening in the anime...But, it was just a fun goof-off chapter. Tsuna was worried, at first, that he'd answer a question wrong in front of his mom. Turned out that Reborn, Bianchi, I-Pin, and Lambo had tagged along. Every time Tsuna was about to answer a question incorrectly, Reborn threw something dangerous at him. Saying that it was his duty as a home tutor to make sure his student is progressing. Gokudera knew everything right off the bat. He's really smart book-wise, but not so much with common sense. Eventually, Lambo, Bianchi, and I-Pin disrupted the class, and were forced to leave to help Gokudera go to the nurse's office. (He gets a stomachache every time he sees his sister, Bianchi.) While their regular teacher went to help them as well, Reborn took over. He would be a scary teacher! Odd that he knows so much and is so violent, when he's just supposed to be a baby. Although, he never appears to age. (And, a lot of the time, he looks more like an old shriveled up man than a baby, to me.) This was the end of the volume, so there were some 'extras' and fanart submissions. Always interesting to see. Next time will apparently be about Futa. He's kind of an odd character. It'll be interesting if his story will be slightly different or have added stuff to it in this version. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 州. (This one's kind of fun to write.) When pronounced as しゅう (shuu): state, province, county; continent. (This isn't used too often for continents. Mostly for states, provinces, or other regions.) As す (su): sandbank, sandbar. 九州 or きゅうしゅう (kyuushuu): Kyushu (the southernmost of the 4 main islands of Japan). 本州 or ほんしゅう (honshuu): Honshu (largest of the 4 main islands of Japan). 欧州 or おうしゅう (oushuu): Europe. 豪州 or ごうしゅう (goushuu): Australia. 

Started figuring out how many and which characters I still haven't drawn the heads of. For my character 'face' sheet designs, based on my novel, Alliance. I stopped a while ago. Apparently, had skipped a bunch of the characters that were towards the beginning of my story. Also, skipped Doina. All in all, about 6 of them. Just the right amount for a full 'sheet' or page of them. Hope to start that new page next week. 

Youtube:

A hilarious/awesome Naruto Shippuden amv by someone I subscribe to:

2nd Day of Shavuot

Mood:

Didn't do much for the 2nd day. Thought I would do a little more of studying Torah. But, I felt really horrible today.My meds came later than I had planned, so I had to 'ration' out what I had. Thus, making me function on a lower dose than I'm used to. When this happens, I tend to worry a lot more, feel like something is weighing me down, don't want to do or eat much, etc. It's lovely...But, luckily, they came today!So, I'm already feeling a lot better. There was also another reason for not feeling so great, but that was more 'natural'. 

Even though I felt this way, I was still able to keep track of my eating, do my sit-ups, etc. Hopefully, I'll go for my walk soon. I have to get in the mindset of even though I'm feeling crappy, I have to keep these things up.And, I feel good after doing them. 

Otenki Onee-san was interesting. A man who was Aoki's middle school teacher was killed. At first it seemed that someone accidentally ran him over. But, after the autopsy, they realized he died of hypothermia long before being hit by the car. Not only that, but the weather was balmy outside. He had been out drinking with Aoki and a few of his other previous students just before he died. They let the guy who 'ran over' the teacher off the hook. Little did they know that he made it look like that so they wouldn't suspect anything, and he could quietly kill himself. His daughter had died of hypothermia while on a trip in the mountains with 2 teachers and a few other students. (One of those teachers being the one that was killed.) It was hot that day, but the temperature suddenly dropped and there was a heavy downpour. Her body couldn't warm itself back up, and she died on the teacher's back as he tried to run to get help. The father blamed him for 20 years about it. After drinking with his students, the teacher had a few more drinks with the father, and later they visited her grave. The teacher apologized to her over and over. Suddenly, there was a heavy downpour while they were out there. Afterwards, the father let him in his car, talked a bit with him, turned the temperature setting to the coldest, left things running, and walked out of it. He froze to death quickly, then the father staged it to look like he had been run over by a car. Abe actually showed some emotion this time. She was furious by the man, using the weather to kill someone, and slapped him. It seems Aoki and Abe are growing pretty close. He hugged her from behind, but she wasn't sure what to do. I like them together, though.

Naruto Shippuden was another filler. Nothing that added to the story. There wasn't even any fighting. (They're still in the middle of a war.) In Hitman Reborn, Gokudera was trying to prove to himself that he deserves to be Tsuna's right hand man. Same kind of stuff they did in the anime. I like his character, but sometimes he reads the situation totally wrong. Makes it funny, I guess. 

日本語

Today's kanji was: 主. Pronounced as あるじ (aruji): (abbr) head (of a household), proprietor (of a store), landlord, master (of a servant). As おも (omo): chief, main, principal, important. As ぬし (nushi): head (of a household, etc.), leader, master; owner, proprietor; subject (of a rumor, etc.), doer (of a deed); guardian spirit, long-time resident (or employee, etc.). As しゅ (shu) or しゅう (shuu): (one's) master; (しゅ only) Lord (Christian ref.); (しゅ only) the main thing, the majority, the primary concern. 主観 or しゅかん (shukan): subjectivity, subject, ego; one's personal opinion, one's own idea. 主義 or しゅぎ (shugi): doctrine, rule, principle. 主権 or しゅけん (shuken): sovereignty, supremacy, dominion. 主宰 or しゅさい (shusai): supervision, chairmanship. 主食 or しゅしょく (shushoku): staple food. 主体 or しゅたい (shutai): main constituent, core, nucleus. 主要 or しゅよう (shuyou): chief, main, principal, major.

Desert Road

Mood:

From the Liar Game season 2 OST. I loved this Jdrama!The music was amazing.

Today's been a bit warmer than yesterday. Yesterday must have been a fluke or something. Since, we're pretty close to what was forecasted. It felt really chilly yesterday. 

Otenki Onee-san was interesting. Abe was wrong for the first time about the weather. She thought a dust devil had lifted a man up, and dropped him on a hospital roof, killing him. What really happened, was the guy had fallen from high up on the stairs somewhere outside. As he laid there on the concrete, he saw an 'upside down rainbow'. He thought he'd show it to a little boy at a hospital, so even though he was severely wounded from the fall, he texted the boy at the hospital telling him to meet him on the hospital's roof. He wanted to show him the rainbow. Once the guy made it to the roof, he collapsed and died. Later, while Abe and Aoki are telling the boy what happened, they see that same upside down rainbow. Kind of was cool and sad at the same time.

Naruto Shippuden was another 'filler'. I feel like truly calling it that. (Some of the ones that they've marked as fillers, didn't really seem that way to me.) I didn't get anything interesting from it. No progression of the story, no character building, really. I hope they get back to the action, and actual story soon.In Hitman Reborn, they did a special thing for New Year's. Much like what they did in the anime. 

Edited more of that last panel of that drawing meme. It's looking a lot better. I had drawn myself with my main character, Shadow, from Alliance in this one. My hair looked horrible, before I edited it today. Now it looks semi-decent. It's funny drawing myself in my 'style'.At least it's just my head...That's another thing. My head turned out much smaller than Shadow's.Didn't mean for it to happen that way. Oh well. 

日本語

Went over more compounds for 実. 実らなかった努力 or みのらなかったどりょく (minoranakatta doryoku): fruitless (resultless) efforts. 事実を曲げる or じじつをまげる (jijitsu o mageru): (exp) to falsify a fact. 実を言えば or じつをいえば (jitsu o ieba): as a matter of fact, to tell the truth. 実業学校 or じつぎょうがっこう (jitsugyou gakkou): vocational school. 実験 or じっけん (jikken): checking, inspecting. 動物実験 or どうぶつじっけん (doubutsu jikken): experiments on animals. Tried another new language site, but didn't really like it. It's called busuu. Not even as good as nciku was.Couldn't use too many of the features, since I opened a free account. They didn't even have a kanji section.Looked at it, because someone suggested it on one of the forums I'm on, a while ago.  Oh well, it was worth a shot.

deviantART faves: Chibi Maker 1.1 Nijuunis Wardrobe Meme BLANK First, an interesting flash game where you can customize a chibi. Lots of options for clothes and expressions. Second, another interesting drawing meme I might fill out in the future. This one you can either draw yourself or an oc in different outfits. Like for sleepwear, everyday, casual, etc. 

Youtube:

2 cool amv's featuring many different anime shows:

A nice Gintama amv, about a pretty recent touching/amazing story arc:

A hilarious Gintama vid, featuring Katsura's running gag:

Happy Days!

Mood:

By Ai Otsuka. Kind of fits my mood for the last couple of days. Haven't posted an Ai Otsuka song in a long time! This one's kind of an old one, but it's fun and energetic. Although, a bit weird too. But, that kind of fits Otsuka. She's an amazing singer!Does a wide range of musical genres. From rock, to pop, to ballads, etc. It would be cool if she was currently more active. 

This is my wallpaper for the month. Kind of thought it was funny, and a bit awkward. It has the vocaloids Rin, Luka, Miku, and Len. The girls are apparently thinking about putting Len in a kimono. Haven't had a vocaloid themed wallpaper in a while. 

My spice calendar features saffron, which is the most expensive spice on Earth. It apparently originated in Greece. While Iran is the biggest producer of saffron in the world currently, Spain is its biggest exporter. They explain what it was used for in the past, what you can make with it, and what wines you can pair those dishes with. 

My Jewish calendar features a self-portrait, oil based painting on canvas, by Else Berg. From Amsterdam in 1917. There's also a mizrach, maker's unknown, out of paper, from Germany in 1900. A mizrach, is a wall decoration on the eastern wall of a house or synagogue in the direction of Jerusalem towards which we face during prayer. (Mizrach literally means 'east'.) Always cool to see the old stuff.

The month-long holidays are: National Asparagus Month, National BBQ Month, National Egg Month, National Hamburger Month, National Mediterranean Diet Month, National Salad Month, National Salsa (food) Month, National Strawberry Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Haitian Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, National Mental Health Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. I love all of those foods! Cool, that it's Jewish American Heritage Month! Mental health is very important. Good to raise awareness for it.

Actually got up a bit early today. Before my alarm went off.I've been sleeping in a little the last couple of days, so this was nice. 

Yesterday was the anniversary, on the regular calendar, of my mom passing away. Oddly, I didn't really feel depressed.She popped up in my mind occasionally, but I wasn't really that emotional about it. It might be that I'm still on a 'high' from publishing my book. Not only that, but getting into the 'premium' catalog really made me feel good. I think she'd want me to be happy. So, maybe it was ok to feel this way on such a day. My grandparents called mainly because of what day it was, and to see how I was. It was a nice conversation. I told them about my book, and they seemed happy for me. They also said they were proud. Makes me feel even better!Not sure if I've felt this happy before. If I have, it would have been a loooong time ago. 

There has been 11 downloads of the sample on Smashwords, so far. It's available now on Kobo, Apple, and Page Foundry. It was shipped to Barnes and Noble, I saw they got it, but they haven't listed it yet. This is so exciting!If anyone's interested, here's the link to it on Smashwords: Alliance. (Can't believe I didn't post it last time...)

Went to the support group's meeting Tuesday night. This time, since it was the 5th Tuesday of the month, we had a potluck and watched a movie. There wasn't much to the potluck this time. We brought some regular popcorn, and some Kettle Corn. There was a good red velvet swirl cake with icing, some chips, and gummy bears. I think there was soda, although I didn't drink anything. The movie was interesting, yet extremely trippy.

We went to Shari's after. I got the yogurt parfait that comes with an English muffin. They just listed it coming with a 'muffin'. That can mean a lot of things.The English muffin was already heavily buttered. Kind of looked nasty that way. Isn't it better to let your customers put as much or as little as they'd like on it? The parfait was pretty good. I asked for strawberries in mine. So, it was those, yogurt, and some crushed up pieces of granola (kind of like they took a bar of it, and smashed it into chunks. Then, put it in the parfait). Also, had my regular strawberry lemonade. 

Found out that one of the members of the group wanted me to help teach her daughter about Judaism. Her daughter's very interested in it, but doesn't know anyone who is Jewish. Her daughter's thinking of possibly converting in the future. She also isn't really sure if her daughter actually knows how big of a commitment that is. I'm more than happy to educate people. Even if it just ends up being that way, it's still cool that she's even slightly interested. I think people should be educated of others. I was always the only Jew in school (except college, and even then, there wasn't very many of us), so I have some experience in talking to people who have absolutely no idea what Judaism is about. In the past, its led to some really interesting questions and debate.

I thought I'd take her to a Saturday morning service first, to kind of let her have a feel of it. But, now I'm starting to think that it'd be best to just meet and talk first. So, she knows some of the basics, and she's not totally confused. Both congregations are very open to people who aren't Jewish and that are just interested in how we do things. So, I'm sure they'd be fine with it. Back in high school, I think (might have been in junior high), I took a couple of my non-Jewish friends to services. They thought it was very interesting and fun. The congregation said if there's any questions you have, just ask. So, this should be very interesting.

We went to Taprock for dinner yesterday. Mammy J had gotten another check from Smashwords!So, that was good to celebrate. I got a ciabatta sandwich with smoked chicken, provolone, and pesto. The sandwich also had some sundried tomatoes, red onions, and green pepper. It came with a side of steak fries, and a long deli pickle. Had half of it, and the other half made for a nice lunch today.

In Cartoon KAT-TUN, they had their second to last episode of the 'love' project. Which is good, because their project has lasted longer than I was expecting. And, things got tiring quickly. Although, I really loved Kame and Taguchi's parts in the project. The others I could have done without. Ueda didn't really do much until the last couple of episodes. This episode was actually a compilation of footage that they had cut out throughout the project. I think that they had the best moments. They should have kept these scenes in. Kame met some kindergarteners doing a relay outside. He talked to a little boy in the group, and asked him about love. He kept saying that the only thing he loves is meat. Kame asked him if there was anything else he loved, and he continued to bring up meat. Then, eventually he ranked his favorite meats. It was cute. Then, Kame talked to an 86 year old man, who was tending to his 'vegetable and fruit' farm. He showed Kame how to prune an apple tree. He said the only thing he loves, at his age, is tending to his farm. He started doing it when he was 18, and hasn't stopped since. Ueda talked to some middle school girls about love. That was rather interesting, too. One girl tried to confess to a boy she's had a crush on through her cell phone, but had to leave a message. Taguchi watched how animals court each other. It was cute and funny. In the last episode of this 'project' they'll do something together. And, from the preview, they look like they're brought to tears.

In Otenki Onee-san, people are starting to notice that detective Gota has a photographic memory. He keeps trying to avoid the subject, saying anyone can do it. This time, it was about a woman who suspected her ex of stalking. She got a restraining order when she thought that he was setting fires around her. Turned out, that those fires had started by using the sun's rays and making them bounce off of something like a crystal, and aiming it towards something. Like using a magnifying glass as an example. He just wanted to talk to her. Her assistant, and friend, acted like she was protecting her from the crazy ex. When it was really her who 'rigged up' those areas to catch fire. She wanted her all to herself. She thought the only way they can be together forever is if they die together, and set a fire up in a greenhouse that the other woman's family owns. Then, locked her and herself inside. They found them in time, but she was really creepy.

日本語

Yesterday, I went over some more compounds for 実. (There's a lot on the list, and I'm maybe a third of the way through it.) 質実 or しつじつ (shitsujitsu): simplicity, plainness. 老実 or ろうじつ (roujitsu): loyalty, fidelity. 充実した or じゅうじつした (juujitsushita): full, complete, substantial (meal), solid (reading), productive (day). 実しやかに or まことしやかに (makotoshiyakani): as if it were true, plausibly. 事実に照らして or じじつにてらして (jijitsu ni terashite): (exp) in view of the facts. 実のところ or じつのところ (jitsunotokoro): (exp) as a matter of fact, in fact, to tell the truth. 実印 or じついん (jitsuin): officially registered seal. 実員 or じついん (jitsuin): actual number of people. 現実化 or げんじつか (genjitsuka): realization. 現実感 or げんじつかん (genjitsukan): sense of reality. 実記 or じっき (jikki): true account. 実況放送 or じっきょうほうそう (jikkyouhousou): on-the-spot or live broadcast, running commentary, blow-by-blow report.