National Fried Chicken Day!

Mood:

I love fried chicken! (This was actually a few days ago.) I just try not to have fried things too often. Feels even more special when I allow myself to have it. I like putting a little honey on it. Kind of a Southern thing, I guess. But, makes it awesome!

I'm going to get back into doing my fitness routine. Kind of derailed a bit after that weird week in mid-March with all the medical stuff.Been trying to do it off and on ever since. But, I'm going to give it another go!I lost a lot of weight through my 'routine'. (More than 20 pounds in a few months!) 

I'm also adding 2 more things to it. Doing some jump rope and Pilates. I seem to only be able to do about 5 minutes straight of jump rope.Used to be better at it. Probably will get better with time. Had a hard time with doing the Pilates 'perfectly', but I just need to practice it more. Also, makes me really tired afterwards, but while I'm doing the exercises, I barely notice it. 

Getting back to my 2-mile walks and sit-ups. Decided that I'll do 35 sit-ups twice a day for this week. (So far so good!) Hoping to eventually work my way to more than 65 sit-ups twice a day for a week. That's right about where I stopped before. If I add 5 of them to both times each week like before, it shouldn't take me that long. I followed my way of eating (hate saying 'diet', because you're always on a diet whether good or bad) about the same way I did before March, so not much will change with that. Might be slightly more strict about it. I'm also getting that weird feeling again, occasionally, where I'm sick of eating things. Not a very healthy way of thinking.

Watched the finale to Tokage. Kind of sad that it was the last episode, but it was a good ending. They caught the real 'Spider', and found out who the spy was. Hence, suspicion is off of Tokage for being a spy. The police commissioner was the real spy. He said he was absolutely terrified of Tokage. Thinking someday he'll figure it all out. It'd be cool if there was a second season, but since they figured out who the Spider and spy were, I don't know where they could go from there. 

Also, finished watching the second special of Great Teacher Onizuka 2012. It was a pretty good one. Kind of a more intricate story than usual. I'll watch the 3rd one next time. That one's about the class graduating. 

Played my clarinet on Monday. Haven't done it in a while. Hope to get back to a regular schedule with this as well. Did some more klezmer tunes. Wasn't too bad considering that its been a while. 

Got back into writing the first short story in my nightmare anthology. Close to the end of this one. The others sound like they might be a bit easier to work with. I wanted to do one based on the first recurring nightmare that I can remember. It was twisted, but one of the shortest nightmares I've had. Tough to work a story around it. But, I love challenges when it comes to writing.I also put it into a first person perspective. I wasn't really used to that.

For my first novel, Alliance, I finally sold a book! Yay!It hasn't been out for long, and I didn't advertise it much. I put a link to it in my signature on a forum I had just joined, and someone saw it. They immediately bought and downloaded it. I think they were from the forum I was on before it recently shut down. They had 'migrated' to this new forum as well. I don't recognize the username, but I do recognize the avatar and signature. So cool that they bought it! So happy! I told them that they were the first one to buy it, and they said that they felt honored. Up to 16 downloads. (One of someone buying it, the rest got the free sample.) People are still checking it out, apparently. The view count is still kind of high. Hasn't gone back to zero since I've told people at the reunion about it. So, I know they're looking at it at least.

Went to Red Lobster Monday night. They were having a special for a 4-course meal at a cheap price. I got some iced tea, a small Caesar salad, small cup of chicken tortilla soup, Cajun chicken linguine, brownie a la mode, and of course some cheddar biscuits (kind of like the bread sticks at Olive Garden, they're complimentary). The salad was pretty good and wasn't drenched with dressing. 

The soup was a bit spicier than they told me it would be.I have a weird thing where I can't eat spicy food, because it messes with my gut. Happened after I was hospitalized twice, and they used heavy antibiotics. So, it killed off all the good flora and fauna down there. That usually aids in digestion. It'll never be like it used to be, but it can come close if I'm careful with things. I used to love spicy foods, so it's kind of hard for me.Anyways, it wasn't too bad besides being a bit spicy. It was the only soup from the selection that I thought I could eat, too. I don't eat shellfish or pork products, and all the other soups had those things. Had half of this and the salad, even though they were both small portions. Had half of the biscuits, and put the rest in the bag along with the other stuff.

The Cajun chicken linguine was really good.Usually when things say 'Cajun' in this area, they're so overpowering with the pepper(?) that you can't taste the actual dish. I don't think that's very authentic.Sure, I know it can have a bold flavor, but you should be able to taste what else is there. This one was really nice and smooth tasting. Had a little 'pow', but I could taste the other stuff. Kind of a bit sweet too. The cheese was a nice touch, as well. Probably ate a little less than half of the linguine. I was already getting really full.

The brownie was really good.Really hot and soft. Kind of the consistency of what the cake part of a lava cake is like. The ice cream was good too. The brownie was rather small, so I allowed myself to eat all of it. 

Ended up taking a bunch of this stuff home. Made 2 more meals for me. Probably could have made 3 more meals instead, but I had the last bit for a brunch. Thought I could eat the rest of it, if it represented essentially 2 meals anyways. Good stuff. So, I stuck pretty closely to my way of eating. Didn't feel deprived at all. In fact, I felt a lot more comfortable and good.And, it's always a nice feeling that you can have the same awesome stuff the next day or a couple of days more.

Went to Starbucks yesterday. Got an iced chai, and a blueberry scone. Both were really good. Ate half the scone, and saved the rest for later. While there, I finished reading The Essential Kabbalah by Daniel Matt. It was pretty good and fascinating.Didn't really expect to finish it while I was there. The next book will be on American-Jewish folklore. Jewish folklore's usually an interesting topic. Hopefully, it'll be a good one. 

Got another follower on PatientsLikeMe. I'm amazed by this site.The only downside is that they don't have everything that I've used (treatments and such)/gone through/etc. But, they said they're constantly updating. They do have a lot of stuff though. So far I've only remembered 11 of my 'conditions'. But, there are more. I seem to remember them when I get off the site, though. I didn't think I had that many.And, in that case, I doubt someone would have exactly the same conditions. Although, people have come close.

Youtube:
2 vids featuring 2 parts of a hilarious and awesome scene from Gintama. Gintoki's voice actor or seiyuu's amazing! One of the best:

Stand Up!

Mood:

By Lead. This was Hitman Reborn's 6th ending theme song. I really love this one.The harmonizing is awesome, and even the rapping part is cool. Has a fun jazzy feel. Looked through some other Lead songs, but it doesn't seem like this is their normal 'style'. So, it's interesting that this is so different. Lead debuted in 2002. The music video with the band is kind of weird with all the corn, but it somehow grew on me too.I like the ending sequence to Hitman Reborn more, but it's not the long version. The band looks like they're having fun, though.

I didn't feel very well last Friday. (Or most of last weekend.) So, I didn't go to the mini-reunion event at a local bar and grill. Sounds like it would have been fun. Although, for some reason, I feel like I made a fool of myself at the mini-event before that. Maybe that was just because I was so nervous.Probably a lot of other people were too. 

The next one is Friday night. But, I won't be going to that one. There are 2 other events happening at the same time. One of them seems more personal to my family, so chances are I'll go to that. That would be the Trans Pride march. I'm an ally, and my dad's trans. Plus, I've gotten to know a lot of other trans people. There are other fun things after the march related to it. The other event would be Pride Shabbat. That can be fun, but we don't really know anyone that's going. So, the reunion mini-event would be least important to me.

At some point, either Wednesday or Thursday, I might get to see one of my cousins, too. I've never met her before, but should be fun meeting another family member.

The next day is the reunion's main event. So, I'll definitely be there!It's for a good chunk of the day, which is nice because we'll get a chance to catch up a bit with people. Apparently, dinner's going to be a buffet. They told us to pick what we wanted, so I thought it would be like they serve you or something.I picked the salmon dinner with mashed potatoes. Another thing is that they said they won't be able to make the mashed potatoes, and now it's just going to be roasted potatoes.I think the food part could have been better planned, but they're doing what they can. A classmate's going to be playing a large portion of the music. So, that should be interesting. There's going to be a slideshow, open mic, dancing, and more. They'll be selling memory books too. With answers to the questionnaire people filled out online. They're going to be checking everyone at the front door, so nobody needs an actual ticket. Should be a very interesting experience. I'll be with people I was more comfortable with in high school. So, I might be a little less nervous.They're up to 130 people so far. Seems like a lot, but we had a large class of 500. At least some are coming. The next day is a potluck at a local park for lunch. I might go to it. Still semi-undecided about that.Not sure what I'll bring. 

Then, not too long after, a couple I've known for a while (who are also our neighbors) are finally getting married. They were essentially waiting until they legally could in this state. I'm so happy for them!About a month after that, another couple we've known for a while (I'm not as familiar with them) are getting married. For similar reasons. So, yay! Happy times for people!

In Tokage, they found out that Terashima is really the spy who's working for the Spider. But, even he doesn't know who the Spider's real identity is. This is getting intense, but interesting. 

In Kaichou wa Maid sama, they held their athletics tournament. Almost every anime seems to have at least one episode devoted to this kind of thing. Kind of like the obligatory summer episodes too. Anyways, Misaki tried to participate in as many events as she could. It was boys against the girls. She nearly collapsed from winning so many events. The last event was a cosplay one. Usually it's so the people who aren't very athletic have a chance at winning something. You have to run over to some bags full of costumes, grab one, get dressed in a tent with no light inside, then run back in costume to the finish line. Supposedly, this way you can't see what you get until you're already in costume. She helped one of the boys in the end for that event. He was being laughed at, because he was stuck with a maid costume and kept tripping over it. And, he's a serious cosplayer. She stuck up for him, saying what's so wrong about being serious about it? She purposely disqualified herself by using a bunch of miscellaneous costumes she found lying around, and ripped them up to get a certain look. Usui helped with it all. I'm starting to really like this show! 

In Mix Vegetable, Hayato introduced Hanayu to his father. Apparently, he was the sushi chef that made the tamagoyaki that made her want to become a sushi chef when she was little. She tried to get that same taste, but nothing worked until he made some again for her. His dad offered her an apprenticeship at his sushi shop. She told him that she wouldn't agree to it until she finally told her parents that she wanted to be a sushi chef, instead of becoming a patissiere and taking over their family's shop. The chapter ended with her saying she needed to say something to her father. Hopefully, she'll finally say it.

Played my clarinet. Did some klezmer tunes. Sounded pretty good this time. Wrote more of the first short story to my nightmare anthology. For some reason, I think this will be the hardest one to put into a story-form. But, I'm giving it a shot!

日本語

Did 2 kanji for today. 商 and 章. When the first one, 商, is pronounced as しょう (shou): (suf) (math) quotient; dealing, dealer, store. As あきな.う (akina.u): to trade in (commercial goods), deal in, sell. The second one, 章, is just pronounced as しょう (shou). It means: chapter, badge, composition, design, poem, section, medal. This one only had one compound listed. (Well, common one.) 文章 or ぶんしょう (bunshou): sentence, article, composition; (writing) style. Translated more of a You Maga article. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's site about how they're celebrating Mt Fuji becoming a World Heritage Site with chocolates and souffles. The chocolates are milk chocolate at the 'base' and white chocolate is used on top to look like the snow on top. They look interesting. The souffle looks huge. And, it seems like there are many different flavors. All kind of shaped like the mountain, too. 

National Apple Pie Day!

Mood:

I love apple pie. Again, one of my faves!Also, happy belated Mother's Day! It feels especially weird to me now, but hope others had a wonderful one.Somehow, Mother's Day seems like it was harder to go through than the anniversary of my mother's death. Maybe it brings it closer to home? I don't know. Well, if you have a mom or if you're one, hope you and/or your family did something special for it.

Yesterday, I watched part of the first Great Teacher Onizuka specials. It's 2 hours long, I didn't want to sit through the entire thing.Also this way, I can 'savor' the last bits of the series over a longer period of time. It's good so far. 

Tsubasa Chronicle is getting interesting. This time they did more of a background on Kurogane. (The one that seems to be some sort of ninja or warrior.) Also, expanded on the fact that they'll bump into people they knew in their dimension, but they won't know them and they'll be in different situations. Like the king in Syaoran's dimension is a chef and owns a restaurant in the current dimension they're in. Plus, the high priest is his sous chef. It looks like the girl that sent Kurogane away from his dimension, is an ordinary schoolgirl in the current one.

Started up my 'fitness' plan again.I'm deciding to stick more closely to it. This week I'm doing 35 sit-ups twice a day. Being a lot more strict with the way I eat too. Might have gone a bit overboard last night with something.(Not having enough of it to be considered a dinner.) But, I'll try to do things within reason. I'm thinking I'll try to do my walks a little while after having dinner. Might be easier that way. Also, might add riding my bike and/or some Pilates after lunch to my routine. It might get me even more in shape, and feeling better.The only problem with that is the seat seems to be a bit too high on my bike. It's on the lowest 'peg'. Maybe I'm not used to it yet, or something. We'll see. I might do some of the simple Pilates I saw being demonstrated on Cartoon Kat-tun. 

The weather was crazy today!Very windy. Our power was out for about an hour. Just before that I heard about 4 loud booms, and the lights were flickering. Shook the whole house, and gave Rosie a good scare.It might have been the transformers. A fire truck came by, and just parked itself at the stop sign just across from our house. Saw one of the guys from it come back from a house a little ways from us. He looked really serious. Hope things are ok.It was also really chilly at times, then really warm. There were sudden heavy downpours too. Kind of a little more 'exciting' than I was expecting or wanted. 

Tokage was interesting. So far, the last 2 episodes have been about women being the culprits. Both were obsessed with another woman to some degree. That was a bit creepy. This one seemed a bit more 'complicated', and not as intense though. I usually like shows that make you think, but it felt like there were too many 'loose ends' of the story. I don't know, it was weird. Maybe the next episode will have a better story behind it. I like that Tokage is taking care of his late partner's kid. He doesn't seem like the type that would get along with kids, and yet he seems to change his personality whenever he's around him. 

In Kaichou wa Maid-sama, Misa started to have an entourage of 5 classmates who were brothers (they looked identical...) who really look up to her, and wanted to learn stuff from her. They followed her everywhere at school. They insisted on going to see where she works. Eventually, Usui told them that Misa is his personal bodyguard after school. Apparently they believed it and backed off of her about it. Usui told her that he loved her, and kissed her. Kind of already knew that would happen, but she was shocked by it. I'm not sure if she really believed it though. He tends to tease her a lot. 

In Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge, they introduced Emily who's a Tailor-Made. They can't control their murderous impulses that are brought forth by the Killing Goods. Unlike, the Authors. She's a skilled assassin, even though she seems to be a little kid. Her wish for after killing the 'Hair Queen', is to resurrect her father. Which she seemed to hint that he was Iwai's father, too. She has the ability to use more than one Killing Good. Kiri went up against her and lost, almost losing his life. She used Opener of Bloody Dissection. It has the power to 'prevent wound recovery'. So, she not only severely wounded him, but she also made it so he couldn't recover. He seems to be bleeding profusely now. That's vicious. Knowing that he's one of the main characters, he probably won't die, but that sounds pretty serious. The story just keeps getting better and better.

Instead of going over some more kanji and compounds, I practiced writing out the kanji I've recently gone over. Plus, some verb forms. I think I need more practice on writing out verb forms for the kanji that I'm on. That way, I can get a better 'handle' on it. Plus, seeing it actually being used helps, too. I know the verb forms, I think I just need to see them applied to more verbs. Mainly did this because the power was out, though. But, it was useful. 

Sorry, Sorry

Mood:

By Super Junior. I think, one of their most catchy songs. It's fun, and has a nice beat. Kind of sounds classy to me, too. They're singing about how they're sorry for falling crazily in love. A funny thing to be sorry about. Super Junior is a South Korean band.

It's been really nice and warm the last couple of days. Today's been the warmest, getting up to 86 degrees. Interesting to go from the high 60s a few days ago, to low to mid 80s. After today, I think I saw that it'll be in the mid 70s. Perfect weather.Feels like summer is coming early.

Watched the Great Teacher Onizuka 2012 finale on Sunday. It was awesome!A little sad/scary at times, but very well acted and it had a good ending. Next Sunday, I'll start watching the special. Wonder what that one's about. 

In the finale, Onizuka found out that he had a brain aneurysm, and if left untreated, he might not live long. He was told to, for the time being, take it easy. It could rupture at any time. He tried to be especially careful, but ended up getting hit in the head multiple times. For one of those times, a heavy banner fell on him. He then was hit a number of times while trying to protect his students from Sho's 'friends'. Sho was one of the new headmaster's sons. He thought his mother's word was absolute, and anyone who disobeyed, needed to be 'eliminated'. His mother had taken over the school in order to restructure it, and have more students become successful and get into prestigious universities. She monitored the students with security cameras, both her sons watching other students and reporting back, had like an army of hall monitors, etc. The better the behavior a student had, the higher their grade. She gave them laptops to keep track of what will boost their grades. With teachers, she gave them those same laptops with a different point system. The more points you get, the higher the salary. She was scary for everyone. She said she'd fire any teacher who opposed her. And, with any student that did so, they'd be expelled. In the end, Onizuka taught her a lesson. Sho's friends triggered his aneurysm, and he spat up blood, then collapsed. He slipped into a coma after the hospital performed emergency surgery. But, miraculously, he woke up and immediately knew something was still going on at the school. He walked out of the hospital, and drove his motorcycle into the headmaster's window. Catching and throwing a grenade outside in the process. The grenade was from Sho who was threatening his mother and the principal that he'd blow up the school. Of course, after Onizuka saved everyone, his friends dragged him back to the hospital. I loved this series. Was reluctant at first to watch it.

Started watching Tsubasa Chronicle a week ago. It's done by the same group who did xxxHolic, called CLAMP. In fact, their 'worlds' converge occasionally. I know the last episode of xxxHolic was like a joint one with Tsubasa Chronicle. I was curious about it at the time, but forgot soon after. I was looking for an 'old' anime, and thought I'd give it a try. It's pretty good so far, and makes you think. Much more 'artsy' than xxxHolic was, in my opinion. Although, xxxHolic was artsy at times. 

During an excavation at the mysterious ruins in Clow Country, Syaoran discovers his childhood friend, Princess Sakura, appear on the site with wings that disperse into many little feathers. As the feathers disappear to different dimensions, so does Sakura's memory. Syaoran attempts to save Sakura and restore her memory, by traveling to another world to find a solution. While there he meets Yuko from xxxHolic (and the rest of the characters from her shop). She tells him that he must give up her previous memories of him, as payment for helping him. Once he agrees, she tells him that he'll have to travel through different dimensions to collect Sakura's feathers. Helping out with the quest is Kurogane, an exiled ninja from Japan Country, who wishes to return to his world. Fay, who desires to jump between each world never to return to his own. (They haven't said what 'world' he comes from.) And Mokona, who helps them travel between worlds. So, his companions are all from different worlds. Makes it interesting.

This weekend I went to Red Lobster to celebrate my book being published. I always feel weird about going there, because I don't eat shellfish.But, they have an amazing variety of things besides that. I got the maple-cherry glazed grilled chicken, wild rice pilaf, and some really good mashed potatoes. It was all perfect!Had a mocktail with it. It was a non-alcoholic version of their Berry and Mango Daiquiri. Really tasty stuff! For dessert, I had their chocolate chip lava cookie. It was so good!Was a nice celebration! 

Also, since yesterday was so hot, we went to Dairy Queen. They didn't understand that I wanted a simple sundae.Mind you it was in a chocolate dipped waffle cone 'bowl', but they had that suggestion on the menu. The only thing that ended up kind of odd, once they realized it was on the menu, was they used that weird hardening chocolate stuff used for the waffle cone. Instead of regular hot fudge syrup on the ice cream part. Made it harder to eat. But, was still good.

Tokage and Kaichou wa Maid-sama were both pretty good today. Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (manga version) actually had an update today!This time it was about Iwai going out shopping by herself, and Kiri just so happened to be in the same area doing errands. Iwai found out that her hair hadn't grown the night before, and told Kiri she didn't need her usual daily haircut. Which was kind of surprising, since it grows profusely every night at midnight. Anyways, she bumped into an author. This time the author was a little kid, and Iwai thought she was lost and needed to find her father. So, she went searching with her, and all the while feeding her, giving makeovers, and trying things on. The girl had enough, and told Iwai she was a professional assassin. Kiri saved Iwai just in time. Luckily, he heard her scream, and knew who it was. Next time, he'll battle her. She apparently has some special gloves and knives, that may have been used for dissecting people before. Knowing from the last chapter, Iwai and Kiri are now together as a couple. They're cute together. 

日本語

Today, I went over more compounds for 実. 現実性 or げんじつせい (genjitsusei): realistic, practical, feasible. 真実性 or しんじつせい (shinjitsusei): fidelity, truth, authenticity, credibility. 実生活 or じっせいかつ (jisseikatsu): real life, everyday life. 実地試験 or じっちしけん (jicchishiken): practical test. 写実的 or しゃじつてき (shajitsuteki): realistic, graphic, true to life. 超現実的 or ちょうげんじつてき (chougenjitsuteki): surrealistic, surreal. 非現実的 or ひげんじつてき (higenjitsuteki): unrealistic. 果実店 or かじつてん (kajitsuten): fruit store. 確実度 or かくじつど (kakujitsudo): certainty. 実働 or じつどう (jitsudou): actual work. 実入り or 実入 or みいり (miiri): crop, harvest, ripeness; income, profits. 果実 or かじつ (kajitsu): fruit, nut, berry. 口実 or こうじつ (koujitsu): excuse, pretext. 

Almost done with editing my drawings for the meme. Read an online article in Japanese from Asahi. It was about a new 'River Jazz Boat' tour in Osaka. It goes from mid-May to the end of the month. It's to promote the history of jazz in Osaka. People can bring their own instruments, and jam with the pros. Meanwhile, they get to take in the great views from the boat looking around Osaka. It sounds like a lot of fun.