The month-long holidays for October are: National Apple Month, National Caramel Month, National Pasta Month, National Pretzel Month, Bat Appreciation Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, German-American Heritage Month, National Cookbook Month, Spinach Lovers Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun.
Rosh Hashanah was Sunday night until Tuesday night. It was our New Year (lit. translated to Head [of] the Year), and the first month is Tishri. For RH, we eat honey and sweet things for a sweet year. We eat round challah (an egg bread), which has many meanings. One of them that I like is that it represents the life cycle. Time isn't truly linear in Judaism. Instead, it goes in cycles. We're just starting another one. There are also things like Tu B'Shevat which is the New Year for the Trees. There are technically 4 'New Years', but RH is the main one. I 'attended' the 1st night and 1st morning/afternoon services online. Central Synagogue in NYC live-streamed it all, like their Shabbat ones. It's also the start of the High Holy Days or Days of Awe. That goes for 10 days, and ends with Yom Kippur or Day of Atonement. During those 10 days, it's supposed to be a time of deep introspection, asking forgiveness, how we can better ourselves and the community, and more. The day after RH ends is a minor fast day called the Fast of Gedaliah. I've never observed it, and can't even if I wanted to. I did eat less than usual on Wednesday, though. Some people think it's a warm-up fast day for YK, but it's really remembering the assassination of Gedaliah, who was a governor of Judah. YK is considered to be the most important holiday on the Jewish calendar. It's considered the Shabbat of Shabats. (Shabbat being our day of rest.) We're supposed to fast from sunset to sunset. 25 hours. It doesn't just mean no food, but also no drinks, gum, etc. I can't fast because of my meds and colitis. They say if it'll harm your health, it'll be a sin if you do so anyways. I still feel guilty about it almost every year. Children are also exempt from fasting.
The elements calendar features copper this time. There's a mini periodic table made out of pure copper, copper in bullion form, a weave chain made out of wired copper, and a brass, which is a copper alloy, ring. It's a very useful element.
I looked at the test results that recently came back. The x-rays appeared normal. Even though my hands certainly don't seem normal. The lumps are soft tissue-based then, which is better than them being something like calcium deposits. My fingers look more twisted, but they said it looked fine in the x-ray...Pretty much everything but one test came back as normal or negative. The ANCA titer was a strong positive. They said the pattern may suggest 2 rare diseases, but other aspects might go along with IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease), and a couple of other autoimmune diseases. He did warn me that it might pick up on my colitis and be positive that way. The scleroderma blood test noted that getting a negative result doesn't necessarily rule it out. ~20% of patients with scleroderma have positive results for that one. That seems like a small amount. They suggested other tests to try. I'm thinking of asking about those in an email to my rheumatologist. I still haven't made a dermatology appointment, and they might order more tests. My rheum. told me depending on the results, my next office appointment with him would be in 6 months. If the scleroderma test had come back positive, he would have made a phone appointment. He also briefly mentioned lupus and how he didn't want to start treatment for that before they tested for other things. I don't think that's what it is, but at least he seems to be trying to help me. Hopefully, he'll agree to running those other tests.
I've also been getting weird red fluid filled sacs in my mouth. They're not particularly painful, but annoying and a little off-putting. One of the most recent ones showed up right next to where the jaws hinge together in my right cheek. Really far back there. I thought it was a wad of food or something. That's kind of kept me from enjoying food, and deciding to eat less on Wednesday. Most of the time those sacs show up on my lip. The area inside that rubs against my teeth. They end up popping after a while (probably from the rubbing), letting out stuff, and leaving behind craters. I don't think the one near my jaws has popped yet. Although, it does taste weird sometimes.
I apparently am going to be a social media and camera person for the local trans group. I'm going to create Instagram and twitter accounts for the group. They already have 2 facebook groups. 1 public page, and 1 secret group. Those are essentially covered. There are admins and mods there, and quite a few active people. We just don't have any other social media presence. Not everyone uses facebook. We can't even access the old website, for a variety of reasons. One of the facilitators is going to create a group email account, then I'll create the Instragram and twitter accounts with that. Nice I won't have to use my personal email. I'll also ask members of the secret group on fb, once I've created those other accounts, if they have other social media suggestions. I think these are the main 3 that are the most popular, but I'd still want input. I'll create an image for Instagram to share every time we have a meeting coming up, and maybe one for when the facilitators won't be available (that's rare). With twitter, I could just type that out. I'll create images for events and other announcements, too. I can take pics of the group at special events, like Pride or ones that we create, and post them to those accounts. Of course, I'll ask people before I take the pics if they're cool with being in them. That's important. We could have a record of what the group has participated in this way. I'm thinking of also posting things that are trans related, possibly memes and articles, there as well. That way those accounts can still seem active. We only have 2 or 3 meetings a month. It might be nice to see things in between. I love taking pics, and since I'll be taking them, I might not be in a lot of them. I'm happy with that. Oh and I'll mention if people want the location, they'll have to pm those accounts. It's a safety issue if the exact address is listed publicly. We might need to change to a different room anyways, since a class was meeting Wednesday night in our room at that time. We thought it was cleared up already, but they might need to be 'reminded' every quarter. It's at a college currently.
Finished watching Kimetsu no Yaiba. The animation was amazing! Apparently, the next story arc will be a movie. They ended it with them making it on a train for their next mission. Only Zenitsu knew what a train was. It takes place during the Taisho period (1912-1926). Tanjirou grew up in the mountains and Inosuke is used to living in the forests. So, of course they aren't going to know much about it. Inosuke thought it was some sort of demon and tried to attack it as soon as he saw it. It's interesting that they sneak in some of the modernization and cultural shifts that were going on at the time. Hopefully, there will be another actual season after that. There were a lot of twists and turns.
Finished watching the last season of Fairy Tail. It was ok. Somehow the last season didn't seem as great as the previous ones. Fairy Tail's manga started in 2006 and ended in 2017. The anime started in 2009. It's had a lot of breaks between seasons. A lot of people thought the last battle ended too soon and too easily. However, Natsu had the power of all the dragon slayers against that final villain. That was a huge power-up. Some made fun of it because the magic coming off of him at that point was rainbow colored. Saying it was too 'gay' or something. I don't mind the idea of LGBTQ+ community defeating the most powerful villain...I'm surprised they didn't say it looked more like a Power Rangers thing. People also didn't like the idea of friendship giving them boosts. Like friendship is magic. As corny as it sounds, I like that, though. I felt that they considered the guild members as family, not just friends. In fact, the series mentioned that numerous times. That's a stronger type of bond to me. Many fans were pissed off that Natsu and Lucy didn't kiss at the end. I have a feeling Natsu might be aro ace. Lucy obviously isn't. She expected him to kiss her at the end, too. Instead he said that they'll be best friends forever. That was pretty awesome in my view. Many stories that have a boy and girl as protagonists make them end up as a romantic couple. This was a good break from that. They seemed to hint at another season at the end. Even though this was supposed to be it. I don't think I'll watch it if there is.
Finished watching Darr Sabko Lagta Hai or Everybody Feels Fear on Netflix. I liked it overall. Some of it was overacted, corny, and low-budget. Some of the stories were based on Hindu mythology, and others on Indian culture in general. That was really interesting. The 'scariness' was more psychological. Each episode ended with an uneasiness and hints the story never actually ended. I thought that was a smart way of doing it. The last story was the goriest and most brutal. I didn't like that one as much as the others.
Started watching the 2nd season of Radiant and Ascendance of a Bookworm. I still find it interesting that Radiant is an adaptation of a French manga. There are hints of French culture, history, and humor in it. Ascendance of a Bookworm is another isekai (different world) anime. This genre seems to just be getting more popular every season. It's about a librarian who absolutely loves books. She died one day, but as she was about to she begged that in her next life she'd be able to read all the books she wanted to. Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode where a man who loves books ends up in a post-apocalyptic world with just books around him, however his glasses break. So, he can't read any of them. She woke up to find that she was reincarnated as a frail little girl. In their world, there are no book stores. Only the very rich can afford books. Each copy is made by hand. Very similar to what it was like before the printing press in our world. Most people in theirs are illiterate. The only thing they can read are numbers for things like prices. She did find one book, but the shopkeeper wouldn't let her touch it. It was too valuable and her reaction was too suspicious. She's decided to write and make her own books instead. Haven't gotten to it, but apparently she has some sort of magical powers in that world. I tried another isekai yesterday, but couldn't stand more than 5 minutes of it.
Started watching The Truth Seekers on Netflix. It's a Singaporean detective drama, mainly in Mandarin (there's a little English and Japanese). It's aka Cold Case Investigators. Bai Qingxiong, a veteran cop, creates a detective agency that specializes in solving cold cases. He was tired of not bringing closure to the families of the victims in such cases. At the moment, they meet at a Japanese restaurant that his wife owns. Looking at the opening, it seems like they might get an actual place for it eventually. Each case might affect them personally. In this first one, one of the detectives, Huang Yuyang, was in a relationship with the main suspect briefly. That main suspect was actually the one that hired them to solve the case. I guessed right on who the real killer was. Yay! It looks like the main suspect from that case (he wasn't the killer) will join them. A couple of the actors look familiar. I haven't watched too many Singaporean dramas, but I looked up one of the actors and he was in Against the Tide. It'd make sense that I'd remember him since he played a main character.
Youtube:
One Piece:
Dr. Stone:
Kimetsu no Yaiba:
This holiday was 
Break's 'chain' is called the Mad Hatter, and he's sometimes referred to as that himself. He certainly fits that character. A cat that was originally Alice's mother's (her name was Lacie) turned into the Cheshire Cat in the Abyss. I'm not so sure about Sharon being the Queen of Hearts in this wallpaper.
Her chain is Equus, which is a horse that can teleport people back to safety. If I'm remembering correctly, there was someone who had a chain called the Queen of Hearts, and they kept muttering things like: "Off with their heads!" They seemed like a side character. Important, but was only mentioned briefly. They were the ones who were decapitating people. They should have picked that character instead...I'm not so sure about Gil being the March Hare, either. His chain is the Raven. Apparently, there was a minor character named The Monstrous Crow in Alice and Wonderland. 
This one barely seems older than a puppy. His whole body is shown in this one. His tail is sticking straight up. The info blurb this time is about 'the Beagle Brigade' that patrol baggage-claim areas at over 20 international airports
It seems my symptoms were (still are) worsening, and with recent events like what happened in Orlando, it all threw me off for a bit. Also, there were some days where it was unusually warm for us, so I turned my computer off during those times. Hopefully, despite what might happen, I'll post more often on here.
), of the symptoms I mentioned in the email were: being fatigued almost all the time, frequent waves of nausea, joint pain (particularly in my right knee), strong abdominal pain (stronger at times than what I've been 'used to'), lightheaded, ears are ringing a lot more often (I think that's usually like an internal alarm for me that something's not right when it happens), heavy and acidic stomach pain (I didn't have that much stomach pain when I was diagnosed, the pain was mostly in my lower abdomen), a lot of pain just before eating and just after, and more gurgly than usual. Recently, about 3 days ago, I've had stabbing pains on the middle right side of my abdomen that radiates across my back and towards my spine. Also, some weird chest pain that just started about 2 days ago.
I do remember that when I was taking 3 a day, it caused some nasty side effects. I'm wondering if maybe my body doesn't like to be on it for too long. It takes a while for the azathioprine to build up in your system and to actual start to kick in. Maybe I need to switch to another med. But, that might mean trying a biologic like humira or remicade. Pretty much the heavier meds are the only ones I know about that are left.
The lab tech 'prepared' the samples for me. (Many of them prefer people do it with a kit at home, but you supposedly can do it there, too.) Hopefully, they can do that this time. It's still gross. But, if it gives a better view of what's happening, I'll try. 
I've read that some of my symptoms correspond a bit to what people might experience if their small intestines are affected. So, that should be interesting. I know my gastro can't exactly pinpoint which IBD I have (either Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis), but what if I have both? This might be why she can't be entirely certain. I've read that some people do have both, although it's more rare. 
Haven't actually had Tang in a very long time, but this stuff smells and tastes like it. Which is like 1000x better than the other stuff I was trying. It actually tastes good.
Hopefully, it won't be addicting. The only downside to it, that I noticed, is you have to have a lot of water with it. You have to drink it fast, too. 
There were several months where I basically tried to ignore it, but the symptoms were more difficult to deal with because of this. I'm trying to be better about it.
The lipstick was called Fuchsia with Blue Pearl. It's kind of got a metallic sheen to it. Seems to glow in dim light. Apparently, people loved that color on facebook. It's one of my favorites, but it feels like it might not go with too many things. I was wearing a light blue sweater. 
The nail polish I used is called Scarlett O'Hara. A really nice bold sparkly red. One of my newer ones. I normally like stand out sort of colors. So, if I do red, it has to be bold and different. I have some metallic blue ones, metallic purple, light creamy blue (they call it blueberry), frosty colors, orange,
It still tastes unique. I thought I'd hate it or there wouldn't be much to it before I tried it. It's also National Orange Juice Day. I can't seem to drink it by itself. Has a similar affect on me as when I try to have milk by itself. My throat closes up, I get ph
I don't think the restrictions during the holiday agree with my digestive system. Or, the way I end up eating during it. I might have to switch to the Sephardic way next time. This was my first Passover after my diagnosis/symptoms of IBD. So, I guess it was somewhat of a trial run. I might read more about what other Jews with this eat during it next year. It's supposedly more common with Ashkenazic Jews, so there should be some material on it.
So, it was kind of nice going out and eating some comfort food. I kind of had my own little chametz festival, too. Feels good to eat 'normal' food again.
It was good, except it had a slight burn after each bite. I got it without the jalapenos, and they told me that was the only thing that might have made it spicy. So, I don't know why it had that effect. Ever since the last time I was hospitalized, I haven't digested spicy food well. They warned me about it, too. They said that after being given so many things to get better, it 
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It shrunk a bit, but it's still a little too long. I'm really happy about getting them, them fitting well, and the idea that I really did lose that much.
Also, 
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I'm happy things are better with the results, though.
Although, some can be large. I've made some beef, lamb, chicken, and (I think) turkey ones before. The lamb meatballs were interesting. I think it was a Greek recipe. There was mint and cinnamon mixed in them. The chicken ones were for a Japanese corn soup recipe. Meatballs can be good in spaghetti, which is how I usually have them, or in a sandwich. Some are just great by themselves with their own sauce.
I
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