National Blueberry Pie Day!

Mood:

I love blueberries, and putting them in a pie makes the whole thing awesome!(This was actually yesterday, but it can still be celebrated!) For some reason, I used to have a hard time thinking that you could make a pie with blueberries. Like it sounded too indulgent to me, and couldn't possibly be true.More indulgent than cherry pie. It was a similar thing with mince meat pie. I guess it was with things I wouldn't expect in a pie...

I managed to get my 2 2-mile walks a day in for about a week. Towards the last few my shoes and socks essentially died on me.My shoes lost their cushion, the heel part of the soles are making deep holes, they've become very loose, etc. Since I'm still losing quite a bit of weight, my socks that were stretched out to fit for what I was before (some I thought were pretty new, until I go through it in my head and realize they really aren't), have become very baggy and fall off easily. This is a weird combo.So, my socks end up wadding down to the ball of both my feet. This leaves my heel open to the air, since the shoe has become loose. One of those walks was when it was very windy, and I could feel it go straight through to my bare heels.The soles of my feet were a very dark red and looked extremely irritated after those few walks, too. I used some foot calming cream or 'remedy' when that happened. It felt much better after. 

So, while trying to rack my brain about using different shoes, the only options I have are either my winter boots or summer-like shoes. I sometimes get blisters if I walk in my boots for too long, and they hurt after walking for a short time. So, that wouldn't have been a good choice. Most of my 'keds' and varying forms of them looked beaten up, and had some sand in them. (Why sand?) I decided to use my nice and comfy sandals. Or, at least, they usually are. I went for a walk with them to test them out. It felt fine most of the way. About 3/4 of the way, my feet started to really hurt, and in my right leg the lower calf started to hurt too. When I got home, and looked at my feet, they didn't look as irritated. But, there were some red bumps that seemed to be about to turn into full-blown blisters.A couple of them actually ended up on the side of my toes. I used the foot remedy again, they stung a bit, but felt better afterwards. So, the sandals were not good either. 

The pain in my leg amplified the next day, which was Monday. It was like my leg was going to fall off, and someone was stabbing me with a hot poker and moving it around.I noticed last night that there was some bruising around the area. I realized that I probably pulled or strained a muscle. I've had those before, and they're very painful. Most of the time they go away within a few days, though. Usually happens if I push myself too hard with things like walking too much at once. I don't want to 'ease' into it, though.It feels so nice to do the whole thing! The pain has gradually been diminishing by today, but I'm still resting it. 

On top of getting new shoes and socks, I also need to get jeans. The jeans I have currently have holes in the lower part of the butt area. Funny, because nothing rubs in that area.The butt is actually made for someone bigger than me, so it slides down all the time, and I'm constantly pulling it back up. I think that movement has made it get holes over time. That's the only thing I can think of. It's a weird area. I've never filled it out. My butt's kind of like a pancake.I think it was more so after my tailbone injury a while back. I also can't 'high step' or walk the way I used to. Had the injury during marching practice in college, and that was the end of marching for me, considering I couldn't do high steps afterwards. It'll probably never be the same. It's just slightly off, and usually no one notices it.At least I can walk, run, etc. Anyways, the jeans were also made for someone that's slightly more 'curvy'. (Wider hips, more butt, etc.) Not necessarily bigger. Although, now since I've lost weight, it's really for people who are bigger than me. They were poorly made too. It started to fall apart about a week or 2 after I got them. But, there were no holes until pretty recently. Makes it hard to walk with. The holes aren't visible yet, but it still makes me feel self-conscious.The holes are only slightly visible if I pull them up. But, they're saggy and way too baggy if I don't. Not really my kind of 'style'. 

Dad made it back home safely last Thursday. She rested a bit over the weekend. She said she wasn't feeling much pain when she got home, but she's feeling it more now.I hope things get better for her soon. I don't like when anyone's in pain, let alone my parent. She said she feels complete now, which is awesome.

I went back to watching Ranma 1/2. One of the recent episodes I watched seemed to be the closest to a trans theme. (I've heard many trans people like the show for a variety of reasons. I could also see why some wouldn't like it now that I've watched a good chunk of the series...) More so than the rest of the time. Ranma was hit very hard over the head, and confessed that he always felt that he was a girl but was too scared to tell anyone. He said it felt like waking up, when he saw himself in his girl-form after being hit. I suppose normally there is a trans like theme in the way he mostly wants to stay a guy, but keeps changing into a girl. He feels horrible when he's stuck as a girl. (Although, he does seem to be getting used to it.) They attributed the feeling like he was a girl thing this time to him being hit over the head. But, he said things like he's always felt like a girl...It was very interesting, but a bit sad that they played it off so easily. I also think a lot of the family's reactions might be more 'real', but they don't hate him. They're just unsure as to how to go about stuff like that, so they try to make it humorous. 

I also went back to watching Ansatsu Kyoushitsu or Assassination Classroom. I was going to take a break from it in order to try out some of the new shows, but a lot of the new ones seemed to be flops to me.This show has gotten much better with every episode. It was starting to lag before I picked it up again, but now we're getting more into the action. I'm liking the characters a lot more, too. Karma is just an awesome character all around. I like the ones that are kickass and twisted. Nagisa's getting more interesting. They also answered what many viewers were wondering. Whether he's a guy or a girl. (Doesn't really matter that much?) Koro-sensei made a pool for the class, and they went swimming. When Nagisa showed up in his swim trunks topless some people were surprised. He does put his hair up in kind of a 'feminine' way, talks softly and calmly, is short, and looks kind of weak. And, apparently to some that equals girl, but nope they were wrong. They started the series off with the premise that he was the main character, too. But, then proceeded to focus on other characters. Kind of interesting. Nagisa also seems to be the most deadliest. You'd think Karma would be, considering how vicious, calculating, manipulative, etc. he can be. But, no one expects Nagisa to do anything. Kind of the nice and friendly quiet type. He's so good at keeping his cool, that his victim won't know what happened until it's too late. While smiling he can calmly walk up to them, then with a quick fluid motion wrap his body around them, then he attacks from behind. Kind of like what a snake might do. Their 'PE teacher' (he's really just there to help hone their assassin skills and train them in order to kill Koro) finds him the scariest and most likely to assassinate someone. Most of the time, Nagisa's constantly scribbling down weaknesses Koro might have. Some laugh at it, but it's come in handy numerous times. 

Kekkai Sensen or Bloodline Battlefront has been awesome!I didn't like the other new shows (that weren't sequels). It's kind of like a hidden gem. The first episode didn't seem all that great, and a lot of the story seemed to be shoved in our faces way too quickly. But, it got much better. It seems like it's a pretty complex anime overall, but I like the ones that make you think, keep you on your toes, etc. Plus, the animation is amazing! I'm still unsure if one of the characters, White, is really a ghost or not. She's probably pretending. Leo has sometimes told her that the nurses at the hospital are looking for her. She usually hangs out at a cemetery near that hospital. People can see her...I don't know. Not sure what's up with her yet. I like that one of the main characters, Zapp, is darker skinned. There aren't too many good characters like that in anime, and especially as a main character. (There are some, just not many.) Most are pretty light skinned. I like to see diversity in them too. There are other side characters who have darker skin tones as well in the show. Zapp is also voiced by the seiyuu or voice actor who voices Hijikata from Gintama. It's interesting to hear that voice come from Zapp, but it definitely fits him. I really like his character, although he seemed a little too abrasive at first. He has several cool abilities (most of which are based on his own blood), is Leo's partner (he acts kind of like a guardian, always watching over him. Although, sometimes he likes to mess with him), a kickass attitude, is very passionate, and more. Vampires were introduced last time. Libra thought for a while that at most there would be 13 in the city. Leo used his eyes and said there were hundreds of them towards the center of town underground. They were able to capture one, but 2 of their agents were severely wounded. They were able to help them because of Leo's eyes. The vampires don't show up on video or pics, and most can't see them when they're face to face. He can see people's auras, and vampires apparently have an intense red one. It'll be interesting to see what happens next with this anime.

Finished watching Ouroboros. It had a really sad and disturbing end.It could have gone so much better. I kind of had a feeling it wouldn't end well from the beginning, but this was just crazy. It was really good until the end, though. Every episode was intense, they threw in some humor, the story had a lot of twists and turns, and more. I really feel like that was the worst way to end it...I won't say much about the ending, because I don't want to spoil it, and it was just too disturbing to go over. 

So, now I'm not watching any Jdramas at the moment...Kind of sad, considering that's how mediocre this drama season is.Not that many great sounding new shows out there. So this season for both new anime and drama is kind of lame. Although for the season as a whole, Gintama came back even better than before. But, that's a continuation of an anime, not a new one...

Started watching One Piece last week. I was really reluctant to try this one. Mainly because there's so much hype about it, it's a really long series, the art is a bit off-putting at first (xxxHolic's art gives off a similar feel, but turns out to be awesome. It's not the same style, but also takes a while to get used to), and various other things. I can already see some similarities to Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail's art, at least in the manga, is kind of similar too. One Piece's manga is about 2 years older than Naruto's. (That's saying a lot...) Starting in 1997, and is still going. The anime started in 1999 and is still going, too. As of right now, there's 692 episodes, plus several films and specials. So, this is probably the oldest series of the big 5 anime. Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Hitman Reborn, and Fairy Tail. They're long-running series that usually rank at the top on anime rankings. Bleach and Reborn have ended. So, maybe it's just the big 3 instead now. Although, Gintama is rising through the ranks, as well. Maybe that's added to the list now? It's not older than One Piece, though. It's the top best-selling manga in history. It's popular around the world, and has won several awards. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy, whose body gains the properties of rubber after unintentionally eating a Devil Fruit. Also, about his diverse crew of pirates called The Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy explores the ocean in search of the world's ultimate treasure known as 'One Piece' in order to become the next Pirate King. It's ok so far, and better than I expected. I guess I'll have to watch more in order to get more of a feel for it.

Started reading Tegami Bachi or Letter Bee last week. I've watched both seasons of the Tegami Bachi anime, and some of its specials a while ago. I remember reading that the manga was quite different. For one thing, apparently allies were actually villains in the manga. So far, it seems to be going like it did in the anime. Although, I think I read that the manga's and anime's plot diverge from each other early on. The last season of the anime ended in 2011. The manga is still going. It started in 2006. So there's at least a lot more to it than what was in the anime. The chapters seem to be pretty long so far, too. Letter Bees are couriers that deliver important letters and packages (which carry a part of the sender's heart) throughout the land of eternal dusk, Amberground. Gaichuu are giant insects that feed on the hearts or feelings of humans. The story revolves around Lag Seeing, who was born on the Day of Flicker, when the man-made sun went momentarily dark for unknown reasons. It follows his ambition to become a Letter Bee, to find Gauche Suede (he was the Letter Bee that was in charge of 'delivering' him to his aunt. Lag ended up looking up to him) who disappeared, and to find his mother. Letter Bees usually bring Dingos to fight/protect alongside them. They're usually dogs or cats. Niche insisted that she'd be his Dingo, so he agreed to it. Niche is kind of animal-like. Her hair's famously known as the 'Golden Sword', and she can manipulate it like powerful blade-like tentacles, which are also capable of lifting things several times her size. She has bear-like forearms that are usually covered up. She can sniff the air for any signs of danger. She hates wearing pants or even underwear. But, when Lag makes her wear a new pair of his underwear, she ends up never wanting to take them off. Saying she wears them for Lag's sake, and that he's the first male to make her wear pants. They end up looking huge on her, and kind of like baggy shorts, but at least she agreed to wear something to cover herself up. She also has a 'pet' named Steak. He was also from a circus that Niche was about to be forced into participating in. It was full of exotic animals, which later escaped when Niche broke herself free. Steak likes to sit on her head. He's a bit of an odd animal. She also calls him her emergency food supply. The world itself is pretty unique. 

Also, started reading Midori no Ou (lit. Green King) or Verdant Lord. It's interesting so far. It's set in the near future when Mother Nature has decided to fight back against all of human encroachment. Vines and foliage entangle cities around the world, and large wooden creatures called Arethusa rampage through them. The main character is Shin Souma, who came from Japan to New York City to visit his twin brother Ken. Ken is a scientist that was experimenting on little kids. He felt they had a higher understanding or were in-tune with nature, and that somehow they might be able to control what was happening with their findings. He also sent for a 'delivery' by plane of one of those Arethusa creatures in order to observe it. It busted out of the plane, and began wreaking havoc throughout the city, but is able to communicate with the kids. Shin got mixed up in everything when he tried to save the kids. He suffered injuries that were lethal. Ken showed up and injected him with something, and he woke up alone and with not much pain. Apparently he injected him with something that encourages the growth of plants in his body. Half his face looks like the Arethusa's did from before. His arm has changed, too. He ended up saving the kids in the forest that was near the compound, but people chased after him hoping to capture, kill or experiment on him. Ken is just watching everything unfold from a helicopter at the moment. One of the kids saved him, and called the Arethusa that was delivered earlier over. The next thing he knows, he's waking up in a hospital bed with restraints. The doctor that was there said at most he might have a year left to live. The 'plants' have become essentially capillaries throughout his body. There's no way to get rid of them. They're just going to continue to grow, and the doctor doesn't know what will really happen if it does. The doctor seems ok, and he didn't do anything to the kid that saved Shin. 

Went over and edited the 5th short story to my nightmare anthology. This is probably one of the most gruesome, and hard to sit through.The weird thing is with the original version of this nightmare, it felt so real. Only 7 more stories left. 

Played my clarinet. Did some jazz and Irish tunes. Messed up a bit at the beginning, but the rest was great. 

日本語

I studied the kanji: 協. It's usually not used by itself. Just in compounds. It's most commonly pronounced as きょう (kyou), but on rare occasions it's かなう (kanau). It means: co-, cooperation. 協会 or きょうかい (kyoukai): association, society, organization. 協議 or きょうぎ (kyougi): conference, consultation, discussion, negotiation. 協賛 or きょうさん (kyousan): support, mutual aid, cooperation, approval, authorization. 協奏曲 or きょうそうきょく (kyousoukyoku): concerto. 協定 or きょうてい (kyoutei): arrangement, pact, agreement. 協力 or きょうりょく (kyouryoku): cooperation, collaberation. 協和 or きょうわ (kyouwa): concord, harmony, concert. Did some of the practice and chapter quizzes on JapaneseClass. Was pretty good. Translated another sentence from that You Maga article. Read a couple of articles in Japanese on the original RocketNews24. There was also a new compilation of Japanese commercials on Youtube. I like that the person behind that account compiles current ones every 2 weeks, and then posts a vid of them. They end up being 7 to 10 minutes long. Most of them are without subtitles, which is great for me. It gives me a chance to see it being used as is, and to use the knowledge I already have. It's a bit more of a challenge with ads, because they tend to talk really fast. Sometimes the text that comes up in certain ads doesn't stay on for very long. Those 7 to 10 minutes can be quite a workout for my brain. Their ads are pretty entertaining, too. Some are really bizarre, but not as many as most people would expect. 

Strange Games

Mood:

This is Fai's theme from Tsubasa Chronicle. (Sometimes written out in English as Fye or Fay. Fye would make more sense for the English. But, Fai is the original romaji.) It's one of my faves from the soundtrack. The music to Tsubasa Chronicle is amazing.A lot of the tracks sound like they're for an epic story, and/or have some Middle Eastern and Indian influence to them. (It is pretty epic. They go off on a journey through many different parallel worlds. Cultures are different, too.) Many people have praised the series for its music. This fits Fai so well. 

Hope people are having a great Valentine's Day. Again, I'm very mixed about it, so I haven't done anything 'special' for it.Might have some Valentine's chocolates and have a nice dinner by myself tomorrow. Not sure if I might get chocolates tonight or tomorrow...That's basically all that I'll be doing for it. Might do my nails, I don't know.

It's also Purim Katan, or Little Purim. A very minor holiday. In leap years, when there are 2 months of Adar, Purim itself is celebrated in the 2nd month of Adar, so it is always one month before Pesach or Passover. The 14th day of the first month of Adar is Purim Katan. There aren't any specific observances for it. However, people are urged to celebrate the holiday, and should not mourn or fast. It's so minor, I don't hear much about it. 

Purim (the regular one) is a much bigger holiday. Purim literally means 'lots'. Haman, the villain behind the story, casts lots to choose the date he'd issue the order to massacre the Jews in the kingdom. It's supposed to be one of the most joyous and fun holidays.We dress up, eat candy, listen to the story (there's something for the audience to do for every name that's mentioned in the story. For instance, they say boo/stomp/use groggers or noisemakers when Haman's mentioned), the adults are told to drink enough so they can't tell the difference between Mordecai (the hero) and Haman (the villain), eat special cookies that are made to look like Haman's ears or hat, and some congregations have carnival-like games to play too. This year one of the congregations is doing an 'Anatevka' themed one. Basically, dress like people from Fiddler on the Roof, or people from similar places. The other congregation's having it after a bat mitzvah at an art museum. They said specifically to dress up as real people. It seems more 'strict' and not as fun. I don't know which one I'd go to, if I were to go...The Anatevka one sounds more interesting. They're even having traditional food from that area, readers will be reading in that accent, and more. I also don't know who I'd dress up as. They said you could just be a peasant or something.

In Atami no Sousakan, the mayor's daughter put herself in danger by investigating the ceramic club. Apparently, it's a teen prostitution ring. The girl's go there to make ceramics, guys come in and watch them at work. Whoever they like the most is called on and taken to a back room with the guy. The woman who runs it knows her, and was very suspicious when she said she just wanted to make some pottery. She hid a camera in a purse, and made a live feed for Hoshizaki. He scolded and thanked (since they have some evidence now) her later about the whole thing. But, before that she was stopped by the yakuza boss her dad works with. They threatened her until she said she really just wants to blackmail him. They wanted in on it. She's really just a girl who wants to be noticed and be taken seriously. So, she does dangerous stuff, can seem very selfish, and kind of bitchy. The only thing they were able to gather from the cassette tape was a strange sound. Hoshizaki thinks data was stored on it somehow. The teacher may be behind the girls' disappearance. She also has been in a relationship with one of the only 2 guys in the class. He was the one that modeled naked for the girls in their sketch class before they disappeared. This is getting more and more interesting.

In Ranma, things were a bit awkward. Ranma kept having nightmares about Kuno. Akane's sister, Nabiki, decided to take pics of Ranma in female form. Then, took some of Akane. Kuno asked to see her, and told her to give a doll to the pig-tailed girl he fell for the other day. (That's what he calls her.) That's when Nabiki told him that she has pics of Ranma. She wouldn't let him have them for free, though. (She loves money, and can become very manipulative in order to get more.) She said he can get them if he buys her food at various restaurants that day, and that each one has a price on top of that. He took her everywhere she wanted to go, and paid for them all. Later, she told him that she had pics of Akane. He paid for them all, as well. It was kind of creepy. Later, Ranma and Nabiki try to explain Ranma's situation to him. He misunderstood, fought Ranma, and Akane joined in after she found out about the pics. It's kind of sad that even after showing him, he still doesn't get it. He thinks Ranma is oppressing her or something.

In World Embryo, they revealed the backstory behind Amane. She had been mentioned throughout the whole thing by Riku, and was very important to him. I'm surprised it took them so long to reveal her story. It was kind of sad and a bit long. But, in a nutshell, she basically was his stepsister who died at a hospital. Her death had something to do with the Kanshu that attacked it. (Riku still doesn't know, at this point, what that something was.) She appeared before him almost as a ghost before she faded away. They never found the body, just a lot of blood with DNA that could be linked to her. Riku had fallen in love with her. Odd, because her sister married his father. So, Amane would be both his stepsister and aunt. She's not related by blood, though. Still a bit creepy. Neene has an uncanny resemblance to her. So, he is especially protective of her. Oh, and Neene had another growth spurt. She's growing super fast. Soon, she'll probably look, act, and think like someone Riku's age. He thinks if he can raise her until she's fully 'matured', Amane might come back through her. It just gets creepier...But, interesting. 

Wrote more of the 6th short story to my nightmare anthology. Played my clarinet. Did some more tunes from my general solo book, Gershwin, Duke Ellington, and some of the general classical solo tunes. Was pretty good this time. I apparently only had one 'new' reed left. Looked at it, and it had a huge crack going down a side. So, I stuck with my old one for now. Hopefully I can get more soon. 

日本語

Studied more compounds for 筆, and the kanji 氷. 筆記 or ひっき (hikki): (taking) notes, copying. 執筆 or しっぴつ (shippitsu): writing (e.g. as a profession). 筆順 or ひつじゅん (hitsujun): stroke order. 氷 pronounced as こおり (koori): ice. Pronounced as ひ (hi): hail. As 氷る or こお.る (koo.ru): to freeze, be frozen over, congeal. It's sometimes pronounced as ひょう (hyou) in compounds. 氷山 or ひょうざん (hyouzan): iceberg. 氷雨 or ひさめ (hisame): hail, ice storm. 氷雪 or ひょうせつ (hyousetsu): ice and snow. 氷海 or ひょうかい (hyoukai): frozen sea, icy waters. 氷点 or ひょうてん (hyouten): freezing point. 

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day!

Mood:

Fettuccine Afredo is one of my favorite dishes!Put some smoked salmon in there and it's even more amazing! I've made it before, but it's been a long time. I think it was back when I had my wisdom teeth taken out. (I couldn't eat too many things, since I had to gum things to death.) The sauce is interestingly made. Apparently, this dish was invented in 1914. A chef named Alfredo di Lelio made it for his wife. She had just given birth to their first son and hadn't regained her appetite. He came up with this dish to entice her into eating again, and it worked. Later, he began serving it at his restaurant in Rome. It's also Ballet Day. I took a year of ballet when I was little. Loved it. Still not sure why I stopped...

Started watching Atami no Sousakan or Atami Investigators last week. It's pretty good so far. I don't think it's as funny as Interviewer was at times, but still hilarious. (Plus, I just started this show, so that might change.) It's weird to see Joe Odagiri with slicked back hair. He was the lead in Jikou Keisatsu, too. In that one his hair is curly and rather full. The director/writer seems to really like this actor, since he's in so many of his works. I like him too. (Apparently, he studied acting in both the US and Japan.) There are lots of other actors that were in all 3 (that includes this one) of the shows I've seen so far from this director/writer. They're really good, too. 3 years ago, in South Atami, 4 female high school students were heading to an entrance ceremony by a school bus. When the bus driver spots an old man collapsed on the side of the road, he abruptly stops the bus, telling the students to stay inside, to see if he's ok. While he's with the old man, the bus suddenly starts to go down a slope, even though he enabled the emergency brakes. He chases after it, but it disappears into the woods. As soon as the incident's reported to the police station, Osamu Shizu goes to the scene of the accident. When he arrives he finds the bus driver running around in the woods without his clothes on. 3 days later, late at night, one of the victims, Mai Shinonome, is found unconscious at a bus stop. The other 3 girls are no where to be found. She finally wakes up 3 years later in the hospital. National investigators Kenzo Hoshizaki and Sae Kitajima are sent out to South Atami to interview her and uncover the truth. They found the bus in the last episode. It had apparently been submerged in the harbor. They said that there was evidence that it was lowered in by cables. The only things they found inside were a giant fish that's nicknamed 'Human Puller', and a cassette tape. There are only 2 male students at the school, so they're easily pushed around by the girls. 

Ranma was interesting. Kuno, who has been trying to win over Akane by challenging her, met Ranma's female 'half', as they say. He instantly fell in love with her, because of how strong she was. After defeating him easily, he sent her a letter basically challenging her again. She goes to the spot he told her to go to, and instead of fighting her, throws a bouquet of roses at her. Ranma's really not sure what to do with this situation. Seems kind of funny and weird at the same time. Kuno doesn't know yet about Ranma's 'predicament'. Although, I'm surprised he hasn't realized. 

In World Embryo, Riku essentially saved most of his fellow classmates by telling them that there was a fire and to evacuate. He finally got over his difficulty with killing the Kanshu, and attacked a couple of them ruthlessly. He found Neene. She was safe with another classmate of his. They still haven't explained much about her. (She's in the pic holding Riku's hand.) She's developing abnormally fast, and she hatched from an egg. She can talk a bit already. The Kanshu seem to be interested in her. I don't know why they aren't trying to figure it out themselves. Maybe they will eventually. Anyways, they thought they killed all the Kanshu in the area, and that they'd be deterred by the fire. But, 6 more are heading straight for the school. It's getting more interesting. 

Wrote more of the 6th story to my nightmare anthology. Played my clarinet. Did a bunch more Irish tunes, and one klezmer one. Sounded pretty good this time. Drew more of the exaggerated expressions meme. Did the 'angry' section. Next, is the tired one. It's funny to see Junko really angry...

日本語

Today's kanji were: 皮 and 悲. When 皮 is pronounced as かわ (kawa): skin, pelt, hide, fur; rind, peel, husk, bark; shell, sheath, wrapping. Sometimes in compounds it might be pronounced as ひ (hi). 皮膚 or ひふ (hifu): skin. 皮膚科医 or ひふかい (hifukai): dermatologist. When 悲 is pronounced as 悲しい or かな.しい (kana.shii): sad, sorrowful. As 悲しむ or かな.しむ (kana.shimu): to be sad, mourn for, regret. As ひ (hi): (Buddhism) Karuna (compassion). 悲劇 or ひげき (higeki): tragedy, disaster. 悲鳴 or ひめい (himei): shriek, scream, screech. 

National Chocolate Cake Day!

Mood:

I love chocolate with pretty much anything!There's such a variety of chocolate cakes out there. Makes it interesting that they made it vague like that. Probably my all-time fave cake in general would be Black Forest. I love it so much!Had it a few times as a birthday cake. What's better than putting one of my fave fruits, cherries, together with whipped cream, and chocolate? It's like the perfect dessert to me. 

Finished watching Tokyo Bandwagon. It was a really good series. Overall, it had a very positive feel/message. I wish it had continued though...They kind of rushed things in the last 10 minutes. Ganato, Ao's father, decided to try and live longer. Don't know if he started treatment or not, but he left for a while again. (Beforehand, he had agreed to getting treatment when Ao tried to convince him. There were many people that tried to convince him, and he may have just caved with Ao.) Ao and Suzumi had a baby. It went from her finding out (about a couple of months of being pregnant already), to having the baby be a few months old in a really short amount of time. Ao's brother Kon and his wife Ami also had a baby at the same time. So, it was a 'double pregnancy'. They looked really miserable in the snippets they showed of them being pregnant. Ao and Kon kept thinking something was wrong with them every few minutes. They found the book that Ao's grandmother was desperately searching for. She was searching for it even while she was dying. It was very important to the family. It was her father's diary. Apparently it had been stolen. Aiko, Ao's sister, went on an exhibition with her paintings in London. Mudoch suggested it, and Fujishima tagged along. Murdoch had wanted to go alone with her. They are still fighting over her. But, they're civil about it. She didn't know they felt that way until the last couple of episodes. I think she felt as a single mother, no one would want to be with her. (She might have actually said that during the first couple of episodes.) So, things ended up really nice for everyone.

I also finished Kasuka na Kanojo or She's Faint. I liked it a lot. Not one of my absolute faves, but it was good. The ending was kind of mixed for me. They made this huge deal about Akane leaving and going to heaven. Then during the last few minutes she said she was too distracted by life/earthly things, she couldn't leave. She first went to a castle, and realized she hadn't seen as much as she wanted to of the world. Good to have her back, but not so great having us go through all that while thinking she's leaving. Kamiyama had actually died for a brief amount of time. While he was a ghost he appeared in his apartment with Akane. Since he was a ghost as well, he was able to touch her and interact with her more. He had previously confessed that he loved her. He said he wanted to stay a ghost so he could be with her. She wanted him to live a good long and happy life. After some talking to, he came back to life. He managed to change the way students and teachers look at each other at his school. When he started, there was a great deal of distrust on both sides. In fact, he had felt that if he didn't help solve a student's personal life/crisis or care about their well being, he could avoid conflict with them and just teach. It came off as cold. He cared about one student during his second year of teaching, tried to help her but made things worse, and she attempted to commit suicide. He didn't want to feel that pain again. But, ever since he met Akane, all that changed. He thought more about his actions when he wanted to help a student. He basically grew along with his students. 

Dad and I met with a Modern Orthodox Jewish family. The only experience I had with Orthodox Jews was with my aunt's family. They're (at least she is, might be slightly more lax now) Ultra-Orthodox. It's like super super strict. About as strict as you can get. Modern is apparently quite different. They don't try to monitor what you say, even to their children. They're more open to things, and really not as extreme. It was very interesting to me. I almost feel like I 'connect' with it. At least, from what I've read and how they interacted. There's apparently a new term floating around online called Reformadox. It sounds very similar to this. I feel like I need a stronger connection of some sort to my Judaism, but not sure if I'd go Orthodox. I like being Reform, since you can decide how strict you want to be about things. A lot of people say you can pick and choose. The weird thing is it doesn't sound like many want to 'observe' as much or know as much as I do. So, I don't know. I'm betwixt in between right now, I guess.

Anyways, we chatted, enjoyed a really nice Shabbat lunch, went for a walk around their neighborhood (met some of their neighbors, they were very nice), went to a lecture on gematria (a Jewish system that assigns numbers to the Hebrew alphabet. The numbers in a word or phrase add up to a certain number that may hold some symbolism or show a connection to other words or phrases. I read that the word chai (life), its 2 letters added together is 18. So, some people feel that 18 is a lucky number because of that. Others can be about the number of days in the year in a word. It's fascinating stuff. Not sure if I believe much of the superstitious side. 13 by the way, is also a lucky number for us.) and how some words in English seem to have connections to Hebrew ones, did Havdallah (ending mini-service for Shabbat) at their place, and left pretty late. Didn't know we'd be there for so long.Their kids were pretty rambunctious, but nice. They had 3. Earlier they had a friend join them for lunch, so that was nice for them, too. 

We also had a chance to peek into 2 Orthodox synagogues. (I think it was my first time in one.) They were basically across the street from each other. One was an Ashkenazic one. Ashkenazic Jews come from German and eastern European ancestry. (I'm an Ashkenazic Jew.) The other was Sephardic. Sephardic Jews come from Spanish/Mediterranean ancestry. (Some are from northern Africa, and a lot of South American Jews identify as Sephardic.) Despite Sephardic Jews covering a larger area, the Ashkenazic Jews outnumber them in population. There are also several other cultural divisions between Jews, but these are the main ones. The Ashkenazic Jews came up with Yiddish (a mixture of German and Hebrew), and the Sephardic ones came up with Ladino (a mixture of Spanish and Hebrew). They all have different dietary laws when it comes to holidays like Passover. They also have different customs/traditions. Even when speaking Hebrew, they have slight differences. Like a 't' sound becomes an 's' sound, or vice a versa. It's all very interesting. Anyways, it was interesting to see that they were divided that way. The family we were with for the day likes to go to both. Both of the synagogues are huge! 

In Jikou Keisatsu it was about an identical twin being murdered. The twins were adopted together, and acted in a drama once they were old enough. Eventually, they found out they had 3 other identical sisters. So, they were actually quintuplets. One of the original 2 had wanted to have the others live with them. The other one didn't agree to it, and blew the money that they were saving up for them on gambling. The one that wanted to live with all of them killed the other as soon as she found out. She used her sisters to her advantage by acting like she had many alibis. The police were too confused with the case. They even questioned if the one that was killed was actually dead, since the body disappeared. The surviving main sister got into acting in horror movies/shows, even though she was terrified of stuff like that. Directors hired her for these roles since they figured she was 'cursed' because of her sister. The other sisters would have fun acting like their deceased sister's ghost and posing for photos and such. They loved to make people guess who was who. The weird thing is only one of them wears glasses, so that one's easier to guess, unless she takes them off...It was funny, but probably not as funny as last week's.

In Log Horizon, they're still strategizing about what to do with the goblin king and its minions wreaking havoc. The princess of the People of the Land got enough nerve to step in and give her piece. It was the most useful. The reps for the adventurers and the People of the Land's lords were at odds with each other. It's interesting that an NPC/the princess has stepped in and actually wants to personally persuade adventurers to volunteer to join an army to fight the enemy. The preview shows her going to Akihabara, one of the main adventurer towns. It's the town Shiroe revitalized after the 'Apocalypse'. She seemed very surprised by it all.

Started watching Ranma 1/2 on Friday. I remember hearing about it for a very long time, but I never actually watched it before. I had seen amv's (anime music videos) of it, but that was it. It's created by the same person who did Inuyasha. I used to be really into watching that show, then it got very old. Ranma is drawn in a similar way. Or, I should say Inuyasha is, because this is older. I think in most of the creator's works the characters all have similar designs. She's one of the most successful female mangakas. Popular not only in Japan, but worldwide. All of her works have been translated in many languages. Ranma's manga started in 1987 and ended in 1996. The anime started in 1989, but after 18 episodes, they canceled it due to low ratings. One month later, the series was relaunched and went until 1992. The relaunch ended up being 143 more episodes. It's a monster of a series.There's also a few movies to the series. One of them was a 2011 live-action one. That would be interesting. I'll just see how this one goes. Ranma and his father Genma are martial artists who traveled to the 'cursed training ground' of Jusenkyo in China. While there, despite the warning of a Chinese guard, they fall into the cursed springs. Genma falls into one that a panda had drowned in. Ranma fell into one where a Chinese girl drowned. So, every time Ranma is doused in cold water, he turns into a girl. Every time Genma is doused in cold water, he turns into a panda. If Ranma's in contact with hot water he changes back to being a guy, and Genma turns back to being human. Genma engages Ranma to Tendo Akane. She says she absolutely hates boys. Ranma wants to find a way to undo his curse. 

Wrote more of the 5th short story for my nightmare anthology. I might be done with this one. I have to edit it again and fix one thing that I know of. So, other than the editing, I'm done with this one. Next, is the 6th! Yay!

Played my clarinet. Did a lot of Irish tunes. Sounded better than last time. 

日本語

Studied more compounds for 発. 発展 or はってん (hatten): development, growth, advancement, unfurling; expansion, extension, enlargement. 発熱 or はつねつ (hatsunetsu): generation of heat, (attack of) fever. 発破 or はっぱ (happa): explosive blast (in construction, mining, etc.), blasting. 発表 or はっぴょう (happyou): announcement, publication. 発憤 or はっぷん (happun): inspired, stimulated, roused. 発明 or はつめい (hatsumei): invention. 発令 or はつれい (hatsurei): official announcement, proclamation. 発露 or はつろ (hatsuro): appearance, expression, manifestation. 発作 or ほっさ (hossa): (med) fit, spasm, attack, seizure. Translated more of a You Maga article. Next time, I'll put the paragraph all together, and make it so it makes sense in English. Read a few articles in Japanese on Asahi's site.