Hiten

Mood:

From the first live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie. It literally means Flying Heaven, or some translate it as Celestial. It's short for Hiten Mitsurugi-ryuu, or Flying Heaven (or Celestial) Beautiful Sword-Style. This is the sword-style Kenshin uses. It's actually a real style, but few have actually seen it. I think this was also used in the 2nd live-action Rurouni Kenshin movie, too. The whole soundtrack's amazing!I might feature a couple more tracks from it in the future. I think this was also used as the main theme in the first one. It sounds epic, and has interesting parts to it.

I also finished watching Rurouni Kenshin: Kyoto Inferno, which was the 2nd live-action movie. It was pretty good. I thought it would actually have the final fight between Shishio and Kenshin, but it ended much sooner. The last live-action one continues it. So far, the movies seem more intense than the anime. Maybe it's the live-action aspect of it...Hopefully the 3rd and final live-action movie will be just as good.

Finished reading Sanctuary by Faye Kellerman. I think it was a lot better than Day of Atonement. None of that back and forth between the killer's perspective and the detective's perspective. Had a lot more mystery this way. Interesting that Peter and Rina had to eventually investigate both cases in Israel. Normally, they either just stay in LA, where Peter's stationed, or there might be a couple of cases in New York state. First time they've gone outside the states, that I know of. Peter needed her as a translator. He knows very little Hebrew. A lot of the people they met over there knew very little English. When I was there, the people I met knew more than that. (They weren't perfect, but could carry on a conversation.) But, this is set in an earlier time than when I went. Turns out both cases weren't related. Had somewhat of a good ending. 

The next one that I have in the series is Prayers for the Dead. I've only read a few pages so far. It's about the murder of a well-known surgeon. It's the 9th book in the series. I've only read 4 of those, though. I have 4 more after this one, but I'll have to skip over some of the books I don't have again. Currently, there are 23 books to it. The most recent one was put out last year. Not sure if it was the last one. But, that's a lot of them.

Finished watching the Jdrama, Okitegami Kyoko no Biboroku, or The Memorandum of Kyoko Okitegami. I have very mixed feelings about this one.I didn't really like the beginning, then it grew on me, then I liked it, and finally it seemed to have a semi-good ending. I say 'semi-good', because it felt like they were trying hard to make it look like a good and happy ending. It really wasn't. We never knew who Kyoko really is, or even what her real name is. We don't truly know what her last memory is about. (It has her running through a brightly lit tunnel.) We don't know why she has amnesia in the first place. We don't know who wrote the sentence on the ceiling, reminding her that she's Kyoko Okitegami and a detective. I'm still curious as to why she doesn't keep a diary of some sort. She outright refuses to. How did she remember to always write down important things about the day, before she went to sleep, on her body? (Usually on her legs, arms, chest, etc.) Why is her amnesia so specific that she forgets everything the day before as soon as she sleeps? I feel really bad for Yakusuke. He fell for her, but every time she falls asleep, they have to start their relationship over. He even wrote out everything they've experienced together and called it K's Memorandum. She found it in the last episode, and didn't want to go to sleep for fear she'd forget him all over again. She also accidentally got rid of the document. Before she fell asleep after reading it, she kissed Yakusuke, finally. There were many moments where they had come close to kissing. I'm normally not into romance, but it seemed tragic if they hadn't done something like that. 

I've made a dA group called Sweet Endless Terror. (My first one ever on there!) It's based off of the theme behind my 2nd novel. I basically am curious about other artists' nightmares, and the goal of the group is to have them express it in some way. Like writing stories based on them, draw a scene from one, make a comic, etc. They could do it in many mediums. Even made a folder for the 'mature' stuff. The things that might be too disturbing to fit into the regular folders. I thought it was a really interesting idea, and if someone else had come up with it, I might have joined it. I'm mostly getting views so far. I'm the only member. It's still a rather new group. I know some don't have members until after a week or so. I'm thinking of drawing out scenes and symbols from the 12 short stories in that 2nd novel. I'll probably share it with that group. The drawings might bring more exposure to the novel, as well. 

I'm thinking of making a short youtube vid promoting my 2nd novel as a preorder. It might be coming a bit close to when the preorder period ends, but there would still be a little time. I might make a longer one for after it's 'live' or released. I might break each title up, and have drawn out symbols for each one. It'd be a little fun part for me. I'll write out specifics in the description part below both the vids, as well. 

I've decided to do mainly online promoting of my 2nd novel until after the preorder period. Then, I'll send out fliers. I'm going to ask to have it in 2 congregations' online newsletters at that time, too. I like one more than the other, but I was apart of that other one for most of my life. There still might be people I knew there and who would be interested. 

The only downside to preorders, it seems, is that 2 of the 3 retailers don't report sales to Smashwords until the novel is released.So, I don't truly know how it's doing right now. About a week ago, I noticed that it made it to the top 50 horror bestsellers on Kobo. It was #30. (#41 on the fantasy/supernatural one.) That's got to account for something.I checked Barnes and Noble a couple of days ago, and it was also around #30 on their horror bestsellers' list. I don't know how many copies it needed to sell in order to be on there...I'm a bit anxious about it.There have only been 5 downloads from Smashwords. I don't think very many people use iBooks. Apple was the only one out of the 3 that reports sales during this time. 

I decided to have my 1st novel, Alliance, be free during this time. After March 4th, it'll be $0.99. I think that's somewhat fair for now. I might increase the price for my 2nd novel in April, if it's doing well enough. (Might make coupons available for the first couple of weeks during that month, too.) It won't be by much, though. 

I still have a lingering cough, but my cold is pretty much gone. Yay!After I told my gastroenterologist that I had been sick, through an email, she seemed concerned. She immediately made a phone appointment for last Monday. She was an hour and a half late to it.I told her I was feeling better. She said she wants me to do a couple more tests. Ones that I really don't want to do. Kind of embarrassing and gross.But, she said they'll help give a better picture of how my IBD is doing. They might be even more helpful than the sed rate, and can give more details. She said if the prednisone didn't work, she wants me to try remicade or humira. They're stronger/heavier meds than what I'm on right now. One is given through an infusion that lasts about 2 hours, and it has to be done at a clinic about every 6 weeks. For the 2nd one, I'd have to give myself shots in the leg a few times a month. I'm a bit terrified of either.But, they might help me get better. I also found out that the appointment I had scheduled for the middle of next month was cancelled. She didn't tell her staff right away that she'll still be on break. So, I have to call again to reschedule. She's very popular, so it might be a while. It'll be the 1st time since the end of July that I'll see her in person. Everything's been through email, the phone, and tests.

World Nutella Day!

Mood:

This holiday was actually last Friday, but why not still celebrate Nutella?I used to be afraid of the stuff. Never knew what to expect with it, until I finally decided to try it. It's definitely a unique, yet addicting taste. Chocolatey and nutty goodness.The holiday started back in 2007 by an American blogger. Nutella is put out by Ferrero, an Italian company. (They're also known for Ferrero Rocher, which has Nutella in it.) Many people either hate it or love it. Nutella was first made in 1964. In some countries it's marketed as 'hazelnut cream'. Under Italian law, it doesn't contain enough chocolate to be labeled 'chocolate cream'. Ferrero comsumes 25% of the world's supply of hazelnuts. That's a lot!Today's also the Lunar (or Chinese) New Year. It's the year of the monkey. 

This is my wallpaper for February. Another Pandora Hearts one. This one kind of goes with my mood lately. Break is on the far left, Sharon is 2nd from the left, Oz is in the middle, Alice is 2nd from the right, and Gil is on the far right. Haven't seen too many group pics with Sharon in it. She's an interesting character. She's usually seen around Break. Sharon used to think of him as a big brother when she was little, but I think towards the end of the manga, it became something a lot deeper. The style in this one seems a bit more 'shojo-ish' than the original. Not really my fave sort of style, but it goes well in this one. Another fun one. The last one looked somewhat depressing...

My beagle calendar features an older beagle this time. They look happy with their tongue out, and sitting in the grass in what looks like a park. Reminds me slightly more of Buster, than the little puppy one did. We didn't have him when he was a puppy, so that might have something to do with it. There's also a little info blurb. The American Kennel Club recognizes 2 varieties of beagle: the 13-inch, and the 15-inch. Depending on their height, beagles weigh 18 to 30 pounds. A dog named Butch from Virginia, held the Guinness World Record for being the oldest beagle at 28 years old, until he passed away in 2003. That's quite an achievement.I think ours was a 13-inch, but weighed around 30 pounds. He was very muscular, and might have been slightly pudgy. Not much, it really was mostly muscle. 

My Jewish calendar features a Torah shield, made by Cornelis Ernst Held, made out of silver, from Amsterdam, Netherlands; 1892. At the very top there's a crown, below that it's the 10 main commandments on tablets in Hebrew (we actually have 613), don't know what it says on the plate below that (I'm not familiar enough with most of those words to know them without the vowels...), below that there are chains that hang down with little ornate flowers and leaves, and there are shofars coming out of the tablets. Kind of a cool one. The 2nd pic's of a havdalah cup, made by P. Zoellner, made out of silver, from Rotterdam, Netherlands. It has an interesting design. The last one's of a collection box, anonymous maker, made out of copper, from Netherlands. (Interesting that they don't have the dates for either of the last 2.) It says N. I. Jongensweeshuis on top, with Amsterdam below that. I looked up 'Jongensweeshuis', and apparently it means: orphanage for boys. So, it must have been from a Jewish one? Not sure what the 'N. I.' stands for. Very interesting. Seems like there might be a lot more to it. Has an interesting cloud or flower (?) design. Not very detailed, so I can't tell what they really are.

The month-long holidays are: Canned Food Month, Celebration of Chocolate Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, Great American Pies Month, Potato Lover's Month, National Cherry Month. Some are for important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. A lot of my favorite foods this month!Potatoes, chocolate, pies, and cherries. 

A lot of things happened since my last post...Hopefully, I can be more on top of it this month.I recently got an email from someone telling me they want to use this blog in a study. They want me to do a survey, and supposedly they'll read/study my upcoming posts if I opt into it. They apparently want to see more on how I feel about things going on in my life. I think they're using other blogs, too. I'm unsure as to if I want to participate.But, it's interesting, if it's real.

Apparently Group Health (I have my health insurance through them), wants me to be in a research study, as well. Yay, for people who want to study me!In the letter, they said it's a study on how genes can affect health or diseases. (That's in their words.) They might pay $50 for it. Apparently, it's open to people 25 and over, and who have completed Group Health's online questionnaire. If I ok it, they'll do a short interview (according to them, it'll be short), take a blood sample, and go through my medical records. They'll also give feedback on my own genetic info. It sounds interesting. They've called me twice before I got the letter. They didn't say specifically why they were calling both times, and didn't leave a phone number to call them back. They just said we'll call you back again sometime soon. Sounds a little suspicious.I like the idea that they'll pay $50 for it. They could probably just get a sample from me during my regular blood tests, and it would be interesting to see the results. But, it still sounds fishy to me. They said I don't have to agree to it, though. Hopefully they'll catch me the next time they call.  

My 2nd novel, Sweet Endless Terror: An Anthology of Nightmares, was approved to be published through Smashwords!It only took 2 and a half days for it to go through both stages. (It was fully approved last Wednesday. That's how soon it's been.) The first one only took a few minutes, and the other one is a manual review. That usually takes about a week. Which is how long my 1st novel, Alliance, took. I've heard that they give a priority for authors who already have a published book through them, but even so, that's crazy fast!I'm still in a bit of shock. It's available for purchase as a preorder now. That only took about a day to go through with Apple, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. B&N took the longest. It'll go 'live' on March 4th. I'll only know how many I've sold through Apple's iBooks until then. The others don't share that info with Smashwords until it goes live. People won't be able to preorder it on Smashwords, but they can download a 20% sample for the time being. Had a hard time deciding between 15% and 30%, based on their suggestions.20% seemed the most reasonable, and it ends up turning into a cliffhanger at the end of that.Stops halfway through one of the stories. As of right now, there have been 4 downloads from there so far. I won't know about how many people download the samples from other sites, either. Except for Apple. After the preorder period, it'll be distributed to most retailers. If I sell $100 worth, it'll go to Amazon, as well. It's $1.99. Depending on how well it does, I might increase the price slightly. (Not by much.) I've set my 1st novel as being free during this time, as well. 

The 2 books are not related, but this might be a good opportunity for some to read the 1st one. They're both written differently, too. Different style, perspectives, 'mood', etc. (The 2nd one was a bit more experimental this way.) One feels even more personal to me, since it's based on my nightmares. I like the cover art for my 2nd one a lot more, too. They suggest people hire a designer for it, but many people feel they have more control if they do it themselves. I can agree with that. (Plus, it's cheaper...) It's not exactly perfect, but I like the results. The other one, I think, looks a bit too abstract. People might not get it.

Here are 3 direct links to it: Smashwords Kobo Barnes and Noble. For Apple's iBooks, it'd probably just be easier to search by my pen name: R C MacDonald. Hopefully people will enjoy it as much as I have...The excitement after finding out it's at those 3 retailers already, made my stomach hurt the next day. It was worth that pain, though. I'm still excited!I'm slowly starting to promote it. I have a lot of ideas of where to do it (online and offline), and how. Probably good to do a little at a time. I'll do most of the online stuff first. They say getting it published is only part of it. Promoting/marketing is another sizable chunk. After all, if no one sees it, how will they know about it?I'm not going to be obnoxious about it either. I won't promote it more than once or twice in one place in a short amount of time. (I might give updates occasionally. Especially on here.) I probably will have to go through it all again when it gets released, too. And, then more after that, I'm sure. (Especially if there are price changes or revisions.) They also say that if you have more than one book out, the other(s) can help promote the newest one. So, yay! That's a step in the right direction.

I also found out I lost enough weight to go down another pant size!I'm no longer in the women's versions of sizes, either. I've apparently lost my curves through losing so much. This is truly like a new frontier for me.I'll have a lot more choices, too. The jeans I tried on really fit me well, and I couldn't believe it even after looking in the mirror in the dressing room. I could even sit comfortably in them. Tried ones with fake rhinestones on the back pockets, and didn't feel them when I sat down. Interesting. 

I'm 1 size away from what I was through most of high school. I'm smaller than I was, at least with pant size, towards the end of high school. Kind of an interesting concept for me. If I go down 2 more sizes, I'd be what I was in junior high. Craziness!I've gone down close to 5 sizes already. I say close, because when I was at my heaviest, that size actually felt a bit too tight. So, it's verging on 5. It'll be interesting to see how much more I can lose. I certainly don't want to be underweight, but I would like to be right smack dab in the middle of normal for my height. Not more, not less. My IBD is certainly making the weight come off faster than before. But, again, I won't worry about that unless I become underweight. I still don't think I'm getting quite enough nutrients. So, hopefully, I'll get to asking my gastro about seeing a nutritionist when I see her next month. She should have more of an idea of ones that know how to deal with people who have IBD, than my primary might. 

For the past week Google Chrome has kept giving me a notice, saying that they'd stop supporting Windows XP in April. So, I decided to go back to Firefox.It's going to take me a little while to get used to it, but it might even be better for my computer. I haven't used Firefox in years. At least, I could import all my bookmarks, passwords, and such from Chrome. It seems like a much more 'wider' view. I'll have to mess around with it some more in the future. It seems to run pretty smoothly so far. 

Yami no Basosha or Partner in Darkness was really good. The characters seemed 'real' or human. The story had a very creepy ending. Some of it was predictable, but the reasons behind everything wasn't. They made the viewers believe that one of the characters was the little boy from the manga, grown up. But, he wasn't. The one who was seemed more demented than the mangaka, who was the murderer. Ended up being one of the people who helped with the investigation the most. 

Finished Midori no Ou or Verdant Lord. Most of it was good. The ending, not so much.They couldn't end it, because they were forced to drop it. So, the last chapter was speculating how the mangaka, illustrator, and editor wanted it to end. Also, some goofy extras showing what the characters did after the story ended. Kind of like: "This is what so and so is doing now..." The chapter before that seemed really messed up. I can't tell if Shin is really himself after having his brain transplanted into a clone. They blew off his head, and apparently it didn't damage his brain? The plants were close to fully taking over him. (It seemed his brain was just about to be taken over.) So, they had to do something to save him. Seems twisted. But, the world seemed to be saved, with half the plants going into outer space. The other half staying behind, but slowly dying off, while the 'normal' ones came back. So, I guess it had somewhat of a loose ending. Still lots of questions left unanswered.

Finished watching the first live action Rurouni Kenshin movie. It was really good. The way Yahiko was depicted still feels weird, but the rest were spot on. They didn't have the 2 little girls in it. I wonder if they will in the other 2. They were somewhat annoying, but also made it a little more lighthearted. They were the older doctor's grandchildren. Kaoru took care of them occasionally. The next one should be interesting, too. It's based off of the Kyoto arc. Which was one of the best, if not the best, arc in the series. It'll be interesting to see how the other characters are portrayed. This one might be a bit more difficult to pull off well.

Kimi wa Dare wo Mamotte Iru (Strings Version)

Mood:

Or: Who Are You Protecting. This is from the first Rurouni Kenshin OST. I featured the original version a while back. So, why not this one? There's also an acoustic version, electric guitar version, and a 'hard' version. The original and the strings versions seem the best to me. This is one of Kenshin's character themes. All of the different versions for this fits him really well. I finished the anime a while back. 

Started watching the 1st live-action movie version of Rurouni Kenshin today. I'm about a quarter of the way through, but it's already much better than I expected.(It's a little over 2 hours long. Didn't really want to sit through the whole thing at once.) It really does translate over to the 'real world' well. The fights have been a bit dramatic, like the anime, but well done. The actors have been spot on so far. The one who plays Kenshin would seem to have the toughest role. Considering he has a split personality. Also read that the actor that plays him did all of his own stunts. He has the vocal quirks down, too. Interesting considering the original voice actress that voiced him made him sound so unique. Not sure if I like the way Yahiko looks, but I've only seen him in one scene so far. Very briefly. They changed the plot a bit, too. But, that kind of thing makes it more interesting. Also, read that the original mangaka (manga creator) loved it. That's a good sign. The music is really good, too. The cinematography is gorgeous at times.There are 2 more live-action movies for it. All of them seem to have good reviews. I might watch them slowly in order. 

I started prednisone last Thursday. I'm having some strange side effects, but nothing really big or life-threatening.Also, those side effects change depending on how long its been since I took the dose. Right away I feel sleepy. Then, a little while later, I feel like something really heavy is weighing down on my shoulders and chest. A little after that, I seem to have a semi-energy boost (not much...), and a warm feeling. Then, I feel antsy and there's a weird pain in my chest. Sometimes I've felt very frustrated at that time. Then, I become relaxed and sleepy. It's a weird whirlwind of side effects. But, I have noticed that my joints seem to be feeling better. I'm not as nauseous, but that might be because of decreasing my azathioprine dose. I've decreased my balsalazide dose as well. Feels nicer just to take 1 dose a day now. 3 huge pills is better than the 6 a day. (Right after my colonoscopy, it was 9 of those huge pills a day...)

So far I've gotten 8 test results back from my blood draw. I don't really know how many there will be, or if these are all I'll get back. My sed rate is better than last time. It's 30 instead of 34. Sed rate shows how much inflammation there is, and can be indicative of remission. 0-22mm/hr is the normal range. My highest was 44 back at the end of June. I was slowly going down into normal range, and then it suddenly increased last time. Not by much, but it was the first time that it started to go back up. I'm glad it's on the decline, again. Really good sign.Hope it continues to go down. Had a test result for tuberculosis for the first time. It came back negative. That's a good thing. I think they have to test for it before you take prednisone. Everything else came back normal. Although, a few of the test results were the highest I've ever had before on, I think, the 'general panel'. They were the highest I've ever had them last time, too. They're just barely still within normal range. I'm a little nervous about that.Especially considering that's not truly my norm for them. (My actual norm, where I hover around usually, might be different than the general population's norm.) I guess we'll just have to keep an eye on those. 

For Shabbat, I did 'unplug', and tried to start and end it on time. It was a really nice relaxing, yet refreshing, experience.I was only a few minutes off with starting it, but it was still before sunset. A lot more 'on time' than I normally would do it. I finished it exactly on time. I got in as much time with my electronics beforehand, and cleaned up as much as I could, too. I don't normally get to cleaning the dining room table beforehand, so that was good. I was a little late with starting, since we were still at the grocery store. I think if the candles are lit within that 18 minute time period, it's pretty much still on time. That's 18 minutes before sunset. I also made sure my computer was off beforehand, my phone was somewhere away from me, put my mp3 player out of sight, etc. That I think helped a lot. It felt like a completely different atmosphere. 

I thought I would get bored without electronics during that time. So, I looked online to get some ideas for what to do beforehand. There were a few that got me a little more inspired about it. I already had some ideas, but it was good to see what others might do. I wrote a lot of ideas down, but interestingly I didn't get to everything. I, of course, wanted to do my own Friday night service, Saturday morning service, afternoon service, and a Havdalah service. I thought that would still leave quite a bit of time left. Put together, Shabbat is about 25 hours long. Friday night to Saturday night. I went over the Torah portion and Haftarah portion, like I wanted to, as well. Looked through my mom's Tehillim (Psalms) book. (Or, was my mom's. It's mine now, but I'm just getting used to that idea still.) It had the psalms categorized in the table of contents, and each weekday/Shabbat had a certain chunk of them designated for it. The categories were things like: for when you or someone you know are sick, weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, death, success, gratitude, etc. They also had prayers before and after you read them. It was very interesting.

I also read a lot of the book, Day of Atonement by Faye Kellerman. I was close to halfway through it before reading it on Shabbat. I finished it just a little after. Didn't know I'd get to reading so much of it.It was good, but at times, really graphic. There were no pics, but she writes so well, you can easily imagine those scenes. When I stopped reading it to go to bed Friday night, I had stopped at one of the most gruesome murder scenes. It kind of seeped into my dreams. Yay!This one had a bittersweet ending. They found the kidnapped kid, but the stuff that the killer made him do, made him go crazy. Or more like, made him feel like he didn't deserve to live. Didn't deserve to be loved by his family. So, he was alive, but he seemed an empty shell of who he used to be. He ended up caring more about his family, though. And, Peter Decker was welcomed into his biological family. He was struggling with it ever since it dawned on him that he finally met his biological mother. He didn't want anyone but her and Rina to know. His biological mom told his step siblings anyways. And, there was a touching scene at the airport just before Rina, him, and the kids were going to leave. All 5 of those new 'siblings' hugged him, sang, danced, cried, and called him brother. He wasn't expecting it, smiled, and started to get teary eyed. When he was a teenager, he always wanted to know about his biological family, and signed up for a national directory that had a list of adopted people that wanted to find their biological families. No one contacted him, so he grew bitter about it. Thinking they wouldn't be his real family anyways. The mom said that she didn't contact him, because she felt ashamed for what she was forced to do. But, she wanted to have some sort of relationship with him now. He felt sorry for her, but refused it up until close to the end. They're an orthodox Jewish family, too. So, quite different than the Baptist one he was raised in. All the books in the series have Jewish themes, which makes it really interesting. It's not a 'religious' series, but there's the cultural, customs, and traditional aspects that are thrown in. I guess the series is really a detective/mystery series with a Jewish twist. 

Anyways, the next book I have of the series is called Sanctuary. It looks thicker than the one I just read. I'm missing 2 books in the series that were in between Day of Atonement, and Sanctuary. That's ok. It'll probably still be easy to dive into again. Also didn't have one book that was in between Sacred and Profane, and Day of Atonement. They apparently had the wedding in that one. But, at least in Day of Atonement they recapped that a bit. So, the next one's going to be about a rich orthodox Jewish family, and the father dealt in the jewelry business. One day, they all disappeared. Should be interesting. 

Also, took a nice walk. I'm going to try to get at least one in during each Shabbat. That also means I won't be bringing my mp3 player on those walks. I went with Dad this time, which was nice. If I take one by myself, then it still might be nice. I could focus more on the sounds around me, go slower (or at least a nice leisurely pace), go further if I wanted to (could do this part while walking with someone, too), several short ones, and more. After the main part of our walk, we went to see how much of the greenbelt was demolished behind us. They're apparently building a 2-way street back there. There will also be sidewalks and bike lanes, supposedly. It was a pretty thick greenbelt behind us, and stretched quite a ways on either side of the backyard. Now there's a huge hole halfway through where the trees once were. Like it suddenly just opened up. I don't know if they're actually going as far as the part of the greenbelt that's right behind the house. The farm and farmer's fence (I think) are still up. But, the house to the left of us, already has quite a bit of the greenbelt stripped away on their side. I've never seen it this way. There are huge piles of tree debris, too. They might be waiting for drier weather in order to set them on fire. That might not be good for the atmosphere, and might get into people's homes. Doesn't sound healthy.I also don't like the idea that the animals we normally might see, might have been driven out of their homes.There was a large multi-generational family of raccoons living back in that area. Occasionally, they'd come through with their babies. Now, it's less likely we'll see them. I don't know if the coyotes (or wolves?) are leaving now, too. Although, they always sound so far away. It's just sad to see. 

I decided to eat in the dining room during Shabbat, too. I normally eat on the couch in the family room in front of the TV. Seems too tempting when you want to 'unplug' to sit over there to eat.Also, Shabbat is supposed to be 'separate' or different. I also had tea with almost every meal. Used the kettle on the stove, rather than the microwave. The microwave is another electronic...So, I didn't use it. Almost everything I had during the day was either cold or room temperature. Except for the tea, and a few chicken sausage links for breakfast I cooked in a frying pan on the stove. It was actually nice. 

I also thought it'd be a good time to play games. Like card or board games. I decided to play some rounds of solitaire. Won 2 out of about 5 rounds...It used to be one of my fave games. Next time, I might ask if Dad wants to play a board game with me, and/or I can play some trivia games. When I do have my 'electronics', I feel I don't have time for those. But, I could go back to them, if I keep this up.

I think it was my 2nd or 3rd Havdalah done by myself. When Mom was around, we still didn't do it that often. Havdalah is the service/ritual that ends Shabbat. It's very short, but nice. I used the special Havdalah candle I got from Tzfat or Safed. This type of candle is braided, and has many wicks. Mine's a rainbow of colors. The shop where I got it at was really cool. They had huge sculptures made entirely of wax on display behind glass, they handmade the candles in front of the customers, had many different types, and more. It'd be cool to go back there someday. Mom made a 'spice box' herself out of a glass jar that's filled with all sorts of spices, and a metal lid with holes in it on top. Kind of like a short parmesan/red pepper shaker you might find at a pizza place, only with a variety of spices inside. On top of the lid, she added a piece of plastic wrap to go over the holes, and a big rubber band to keep it down. To keep it sealed up until the next time we use it, too. She also painted designs on it. It's really cool. Feels even more special this way, too.I used grape juice instead of wine. I can't drink alcohol, and they say grape juice is just as good for it. (Just has to be 'fruit of the vine'. Doesn't mean it has to be fermented.) It's kind of hard to have only one person doing it all.The candle's held the entire time (occasionally raised up a bit), there's the custom of putting your other hand up to the candle to see the reflection on your fingernails (you don't have to, though), there's the blessings to follow along in the book, there's a part where you drink the 'wine' (so you have to hold the candle, drink, and say the blessing...), and then there's the spices you're supposed to smell (while, again, still holding the candle). But, I was able to do it! Yay!I just forgot the beginning melodies for the first blessing.At least, I managed to say that one. 

I really do think I'll continue doing this for Shabbat. It felt really good. For some reason, even just the feeling of not looking at something electronic felt comforting or relaxing. Felt more focused, too. My eyes didn't feel as strained or tired by the end of the day. The only thing I did use that was really electronic was the stove's clock. I didn't use the timer part or anything, but I needed it to see what time it was...I don't have a working analog watch anymore. But, I know some people say if something was turned on before Shabbat and you don't mess with it, it's ok. So, I'm going with that. I didn't touch it during that time. I still think that's being 'unplugged', too. I think it might be healthy anyways to have a day set aside to be unplugged. Felt like I actually observed Shabbat. Definitely felt more of a connection with it. Similar to a connection or feeling that I haven't felt in a long time. Hard to describe. So, there was obviously a spiritual part of it, as well. 

Rosie kept following me around. I think she realized I wasn't doing my 'normal' stuff, and wondered what was going on. Wherever I went, she ended up guarding me really closely. I think she liked what I was doing, but again, seemed confused by it.