Mood:
By Blur. It sounds so simple, yet cool. The only lyrics are 'Jets are like comets at sunset' repeated over and over. It also is probably one of the most Gorillaz sounding songs from them. The sax solo is a bit odd. The bass is amazing. Blur formed in London in 1988. This year, they received a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. The main singer, Damon Albarn, along with the artist Jamie Hewlett, created the animated band Gorillaz. From 2005 to 2007 Blur was mostly on hiatus, and that let Albarn focus his attention on Gorillaz. (One of the members left the group from '01-'07.) This album was actually released in 2003. The sessions for it were in Marrakesh, Morocco, and in Devon back in the UK.
I'm feeling pretty crappy. It might be weird to some to read this, but I'm going to put it up anyways.
(It's just what people have to deal with, so I'm not worried too much about sharing it.) My monthly friend is late, and I'm feeling worse as time goes by. If it ends up becoming 2 weeks, I'm going to see someone. I haven't had any weird ones since they gave me an IUD, so this is making me a bit worried.
They always say it could just be stress. (Also, adding more exercise and changing your eating habits can mess it up as well.) But, I don't know. Before the IUD, I went for 8 months straight with no breaks whatsoever. I was becoming very anemic. I don't want it the other way around.
I've been keeping up with my sit-ups. And, went on one of my long walks tonight. Didn't go as far as what I'm planning to do regularly. But, I'll eventually get there. The moon was bright and beautiful. Clouds were multi-layered and swirling around the moon. Really nice to see. Also, trying to keep up with my new way of eating too. It's working so far.
Cartoon KAT-TUN, on Wednesday, was interesting. They featured extra scenes from their Okinawa trip. In a way, I think it made it more interesting that it was windy and raining so much. Would have been nice if it was sunny, but they did things they wouldn't have done otherwise. Funny, when they tried to play golf in the rain. (It was like a monsoon type rain.) Also, the shops they visited were very interesting. I kind of want to visit that area now. Probably was their intention...
I already want to go to at least Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Sapporo, Kobe, and a few others. But, those are the main ones.
Didn't go to the cafe this week, because I had a psychiatrist appointment. She's so sweet. I told her I didn't like the therapist I tried last time. But, that was the last one on staff who was female. I've gone through all the other female ones. (A lot of the ones I liked have retired or transferred.) Didn't have too many good experiences with male therapists, so I want to stick with the female ones.
So, it looks like I'll be trying some in Seattle. Sad that there isn't more mental health people on this side of the water.
But, my psychiatrist said she's available if I do need someone to at least talk to. She wants to make sure I'm doing well on that front too. Not just the meds. She told me that they cut the time for patients to see a psychiatrist down to 15 minutes. Which is crazy! She always allows more time than that. And, this time it was 45 minutes. Almost the amount of time they give for a therapy session.
Finished watching Perfect Blue, last Tuesday. It was very predictable, and dragged at times. It wasn't the best, but wasn't the worst. It still had it's moments that kept me watching. Turned out Perfect Blue is a doping drug, that they experimented with little kids on a baseball team without them knowing, about 10 years ago. It had horrible hazardous affects. And, it was virtually undetectable at the time. Kayoko's father was going to expose the company who made it. He was murdered to cover it up. But, he left behind a sample of the drug, where no one thought to look. In a stuffed bone that they thought originally was a toy for Masa. I knew what was in it as soon as they showed it. Masa wouldn't play with it, because he knew what was in it, too. (He's a retired police dog. He could sniff out the drugs.)
Watched Hana Yori Dango 2, today. It was kind of annoying this time. Doumyoji and Makino were finally together again. He fell, and got amnesia. The only thing he can't remember is Makino. A girl, named Umi, who was at the hospital tried to befriend Makino. Then, once she saw Doumyoji, she kind of pushed her to the side. When Doumyoji told her that he really wants to remember, she told him to forget about it. That if he doesn't remember, it's not important. She really stepped into Makino's shoes when Makino left homemade cookies for Doumyoji and he remembered something. He said that he remembered he was in love with a girl who gave him similar cookies before, but he couldn't see her face in his memories. He said that Umi must be the person he was in love with, and she went along with it. Rui didn't like her from the beginning. I also suspected something fishy when I first saw Umi. The next episode is the finale. Then, there's a special. Hopefully, he remembers soon, because it's getting really tiring. Even Rui looked tired from it. I still think Rui's a better match.
Wrote a little more of chapter 19 of Alliance, on Tuesday. Hoping to get around to more tonight. I don't know why I've hit somewhat of a wall. I just have to think more about it. Usually my best ideas come when I think lightheartedly about the story. Like what would happen if I do this or that? Ah! I have an idea! And, then I run with it. Sometimes, I can't write fast enough when that happens.
I've been thinking about other stuff lately, so that might be why I'm having a little writer's block.
Got some more info on the New Year's Eve party. Lots of people I'll know, so far. And, sounds like there will be a lot of food. And, with me possibly bringing games, there will be a lot of things to do. Sounds like fun!
Mood:
This was yesterday, but I like it enough to talk about it the next day.
I love it, actually. But, a little goes a long way. Canada's the largest producer of it, and produces over 5 million gallons a year. Vermont is the largest producer in the US, and apparently generates about 5.5% of the global supply. Very interesting. The Native Americans where the first ones to make maple syrup. It was adopted by early European settlers in the late 1600s.
Went to the Hanukkah party at one of the synagogues last Saturday. It was a lot better planned than last year. They actually had the tables and food upstairs, this time. Last time, they had one table upstairs for lighting the menorahs. Then, everyone had to make their way downstairs, and be crowded elbow to elbow when they sat down at the tables. There was barely room for the food, as well. But, this setup was really nice this year. There was space to sit and eat comfortably.
Plus, room at each table for their menorahs. I didn't bring ours this time, because I wanted it to be cleaned up. Couldn't really get it clean enough, even though I got huge chunks of the wax off. Thought it still looked kind of tacky that way.
Luckily, they have several menorahs they can use from their collection that's normally on display. The one we used was meant for huge candles, but all they had were the normal small ones. Dangerous, but I was able to make them stay in.
There were several dreidels, gelt, and M&Ms scattered around each table. Just for if people wanted to play some dreidel. There was also a raffle, which I sadly didn't win anything from.
But, still fun. There were a lot of different latkes, and their new thing this year was trying to get as many different types of toppings as possible. Personally, I like my applesauce just fine, thank you very much.
But, they had different chutneys, a peanut sauce, sour cream, chocolate syrup, etc. (The chocolate syrup one really made me wonder...) There, sadly, wasn't any kosher Chinese food this time. But, there was plenty to eat.
For dessert, someone made a really cool cake. When they made the first cut into it, it exploded outwards on one side. Gelt (chocolate coins) came spewing out from the center. It was a chocolate cake with a little coffee in a chocolate frosting. This guy was awesome!
I don't know how he made it! The gelt wasn't melted either. He wasn't sure if it would actually work. There was also rugelach (a rolled pastry that can have many different fillings), powdered jelly donuts (sufganiyot), and something else I can't remember. (The cake really made an impression. So, hard to remember what else was there.)
Met a couple of their new members. One was very quiet throughout most of the night. But, towards the end, he suddenly joined in and became very talkative. Maybe he was just nervous the whole time.I barely got to see the other new member. She didn't sit next to us, and there was a throng of people around her.
Just before we left, I grabbed a bunch of the gelt. And, we forgot to have the gelt that we bought before the holiday. So, now we have a pretty nice stash of them.It was fun being able to catch up with some of the people we knew too.
On Sunday, I drove a little. Went to Wal-Mart and our local market. Couldn't drive more than that because it was starting to become very hard to see. It was getting dark out, and there was a mix of rain and snow. Made things a bit slick, too. Apparently, we have a possibility for snow today, and Sunday. There was a very light dusting when I looked out the window this morning. They also predict that the rest of the time, it'll be a mix of rain and snow. I don't think they really know what will happen.
Got 3 new lipsticks at the store on Sunday. I'm not used to wearing lipstick, but I want to wear it more often.
Most of my other lipsticks are at least a few years old. They say you shouldn't be using ones that are that old. I want to get more into my makeup. It feels good, boosts my self-esteem a little, and can be fun. I tried the Fuchsia with Blue Pearl color yesterday. It was a very interesting one, and bold. Tried the Pink Ice one today. It's a lot more subdued, but fun still. I like colors that aren't the norm. That might be frosted, metallic, changes colors, 2-toned, etc. I do that a lot with nail polish, so why not with lipstick? Having colors that are just red, for example, are boring.
I also put a 'lip dew' thing under my lipstick today. It's supposed to keep your lips from getting too dry or something. Essentially, just a lip gloss. Looks even better with it. I think tomorrow I'll try one called Breeze.
Perfect Blue is getting intense. They're finally about to find out what Kayoko's father's last words meant. (His last words were Perfect Blue.) Itoko (Kayoko's sister) was kidnapped by the people behind everything, including killing her father. Her mother and Kayoko came in to rescue her, but fell into a trap where the people that kidnapped Itoko were just lying in wait for them. They plan to kill them all in an explosion, while they're trapped inside a warehouse. Masa tried to save them, but took a bullet to his side (somewhere in between his hips and his belly). He looked like he played dead for a bit, and while they weren't looking he ran off on 3 legs trying to find help. All the while leaving a trail of blood. This dog's tough! Next episode is the finale.
In Hitman Reborn, Tsuna's father visits. Tsuna also learns a bit more about the Vongola's 7 half-rings. I got the hint that his father is a part of the mafia as well. But, Tsuna is clueless about it. Kind of sad. He thinks so lowly of his father, and yet his father just wants to kid with him sometimes, or make him stronger in his own way. The 7 half-rings are being delivered to other members of the 'family'. So far, we know for sure about Gokudera and Yamamoto. Tsuna has one, but it looks slightly different. Still don't know much about the rings, but it's interesting. There's a rebellious group of assassins that were once loyal to the 'family'. Now they're after the rings. And, plan to destroy the Vongola family.
Played my clarinet. Started getting more serious about it on Monday. Going over each piece numerous times until I get it right. Thought I had a CD that went with my Klezmer book, but I can't seem to find it.
So, I'm listening to some recordings from Youtube. Just to see what others do to the base melody. I've noticed, for some songs, they play it faster than what it is on paper. And, for some, slower. I guess it just matters on who's playing it. But, they all have that same base melody. So, it's not just their own thing. I'm already getting a lot better with some of the pieces I've gone over. Although, these are the easiest ones in the book. But, I don't want to be sloppy with them, like I was before. Even if they're semi-easy, you still want it to be clean and played correctly. Eventually, I'll 'embellish' it a bit. But, I need to perfect these pieces a bit more.
Edited a good portion of chapter 19 of Alliance. Reads a lot smoother now. Posted a chapter to the forum that's giving me some interesting feedback. One person commented saying they liked the chapter, but kind of scary to post around now. In the chapter before, there is a shooting. And, oddly about a week or 2 after I posted it, the Sandy Hook shootings happened. So, she felt it was a bit eerie. I kind of agree, but you can't predict things like that. I'm glad that people are liking my story, though.
Posted a pic of our menorah for the 7th night on FB and dA. 4 people faved it, and I gained a new watcher through it. Someone asked me if I spoke Hebrew, and that was her main language. She also wanted to talk a bit about Hanukkah, and how it went. Very nice sounding person. Some people liked it on FB, too.
Went over some kanji and compounds. Rosie, one of our cats, has been 'giving' me a lot of things today. (She's also a bit of a klepto.) Maybe something is bothering her. The last thing she gave me was our really old little pamphlet full of Hanukkah blessings and songs. She started to try and rip it up. Luckily, I grabbed it from her just in time. I think she got it, because I'm sure Mom's scent is still on it. Maybe she's having another mourning wave, like I think we all have been having. They come and go.
Mood:
Yay for pasta! I really love pasta!
This was actually yesterday, but I think it needs to be at least mentioned. It should have more than one day devoted to it, too.Lately, we've been trying different kinds of pasta. It's kind of fun. There's so many different types of pasta out there. According to one site, there's 600 known pasta shapes. That's crazy!
Really not feeling very well today. But, managed to get some things done. Started a new 'private' journal on another site yesterday. I plan to use it as my 'letters' to Mom. I still feel like I want to tell her things, but she's not there to hear them, so why not open a journal just for it?
I know she wouldn't be able to hear me, but at least I'll be thinking of her. They say in Judaism, a person lives on through people's memories/thoughts of them. So, in a way, I'm keeping her alive.
I'm trying to imagine what she'd say to what I tell her, as well. It's not hard to do. I'm using Penzu for it. It's a totally private blogging site. No one can read it, or find your posts. Unless, you send an email of it to someone. So, it feels like I can speak my mind about it that way. You can have the option of having another blog that's entirely private on Blogger, but I didn't like seeing that blog above my normal one. (It'd be nice to have a 'hide' option for it...) Something about being reminded every time I post to this one, felt weird. So, this way, only when I feel like it, I can just go to that other site.
Didn't go to my dad's support group on Tuesday. Traffic was making her run late, and she needed to get there directly in order to make it on time. It's ok, and totally understandable. I'll just see if I can go to the next one.
She didn't eat after her group's meeting, so we went out together to find a sit-down restaurant. Went to Red Robin. It was one of the few places still open. (We got there at around 10pm.) She got a burger, and I had a Mountain High Mudd Pie. I had a very small dinner just before, and didn't eat much during the day. So, I thought I could handle a dessert like that. It was ginormous!
Couldn't eat it all. Was really good, though. It had a huge thing of chocolate ice cream (like the consistency of a fudgesicle), whipped cream on top of that, a chocolate cookie layer with caramel and fudge syrup mixed in just below the chocolate ice cream, below that was a thick layer of oreo ice cream, below that another chocolate cookie layer, and with chocolate cookie crust on the outside. There was caramel and fudge syrup drizzled all around the 'base' of it. It was cut in a way to look like a pie slice. It did look a bit like a mountain, too. Really over the top.Ended up staying up really late because of it. (The sugar/size of it pretty much kept me up.) But, it was worth it.
Since I went to bed so late, I got up late the next day. Made me feel a bit off. So, I didn't feel up to going to the cafe this time. Kind of felt like I needed to be by myself for a little while, anyways. Well, hopefully next week I'll feel like going.
Finished editing, and posted chapter 18 of Alliance to dA. Kind of a fun, yet disturbing chapter to write. It's a lot more violent than I expected. Doesn't go into too many details, so it's not 'graphic'. But, I put it in such a way, people could imagine what wasn't written. More psychological that way, I guess. I'm usually into details, but thought it'd be interesting to keep it that way. Also, gives more info on their world. I figured that I have about 2 more chapters left of this first novel of the series. I still think I'll end it on a huge cliffhanger. I try to have almost every chapter end on one, so why not have the biggest one as the ending? Make the reader crave more, until the next one is put out.
I'm getting back into cooking. Yay! It feels so good to get back into it. Made some orange cranberry muffins on Sunday. They came out awesome! Nice and fluffy. Made chicken chow mein for Monday's dinner. The recipe was from my new Asian cookbook. It came out really tasty!
Could have used a little more 'sauce', though. The sesame oil was an interesting touch to the chicken. Could have used more sugar snap peas, too. Had a ton of bean sprouts. I like bean sprouts, but I was surprised by the amount. Yesterday, we just had leftovers. I'm thinking we might tonight again. Still have an Italian soup Dad made to finish off. I have the materials for 3 more dishes that I want to make, though. I could do those next week.
Been practicing and going over more kanji, compounds, and lessons. Played my clarinet yesterday. Did some klezmer. I was having so much fun with it, I wasn't watching the time. Went a little longer than I had planned, but it's nice that I was so into it.
Only have about 3 weeks left until my birthday! That's insane!
Started watching the Jdrama, Perfect Blue. I don't think this has anything to do with the anime movie of the same title. I haven't watched it, but it seems to have a totally different plot from what I've read. Very interesting characters. Each one seems to have some sort of quirk. Even the dog occasionally narrates. Hasumi Kayoko, is a rookie investigator at the all-female Hasumi Detective Agency. She has a keen sense of observation, strong sense of justice, and keeps a level-head. She detests lies and secrets. Her father worked at the city news desk of a newspaper, and committed suicide 7 years ago. Her mother, Kyoko, the agency's director, has been secretly investigating whether it was suicide or not. Eventually, after this first episode, Kayoko starts to investigate the truth as well. Her father's last words were Perfect Blue, and they have no idea what that means. Their dog is an award-winning retired police dog.
