Mood: I love pierogi!(Might be my eastern European background coming out...) The plural form is pierogi (although, I really feel tempted to type pierogis), and singular is pierog. They're dumplings that are usually filled with potatoes and onions, or cheese, or ground meat, or fruit. But, there are many more variations. We just got some frozen ones yesterday. I didn't even know about it having its own day the next day. So, I had some. We got the potato and onion ones. Tasted awesome like always! A friend was supposed to drive me to services on Saturday. She told me she had to be there early, to help set up. So, I got up earlier than I would have, and waited for her. She never showed.It's ok. Felt a little disappointed, especially after talking about it for a while the week before. Oh well, maybe something distracted her. Also, was hoping to go, because it was my last chance to eat under the sukkah. Well, here's to doing that next year! Drove for a while yesterday. I think it totaled to around 45 minutes. Not bad. I was nervous, and there was only a couple of mistakes. I think I was too tense, and so it wore me out a bit towards the end. Dad will be at a conference from Wednesday through Saturday. Hope that'll be fun for her. I'll have some fun too! We went to an Albertson's yesterday to restock. I'm so happy they have the big box of Shabbos candles!We ran out of those. (Our local market only carries them in a pack of 2 candles. That's good for only 1 Shabbat. Not good enough!) Also, got a frozen dough challah for Friday. The only thing I need to do for it, is to let it sit out for a long time, and then pop it in the oven for a while. It's already put together, just not cooked. They said it gets twice as big after it cooks. Looks like it might be a big one!Also, got a 2-serving frozen chocolate silk pie for a Shabbat dessert. I can save the other serving for the next night. Might have some orange chicken for that dinner too. Sounds awesome!Got some other awesome frozen dinners for the rest of the week. Plus, some really tasty smoked salmon, and sesame bagels. Great for breakfast! Was going to watch the Ghost Mama finale, but it wasn't up yet. So, I watched the finale of Mirai Nikki. It was a crazy ending! I wasn't sure whether he really woke up from his coma, or he was still stuck in Olympia, or his mind thought he was still there, etc. Felt like Rui might actually be real, too. He appeared in the 'real' world. Almost a Matrix-y feel. Which was the real world, and what was imagined or apart of the program? The system's 'creator' killed herself, but designated Arata as the 'final piece', just before. So, it left a lot of questions. Very interesting series. The beginning was a bit slow, but the rest moved pretty quickly. Yesterday, I watched the finale of Shiritsu Bakaleya Koukou. It was a pretty good show. Not the best though. The guys acted much better than the girls. I know they were supposed to be overly polite and use proper etiquette, but they seemed too stiff. Almost robotic. The guy's stories seemed more in-depth as well. There's going to be a movie to it, out this month in Japan. Supposedly, they'll have even more characters. I'm only semi-interested in seeing it.
Started watching Kamisama Hajimemashita, or Nice to Meet You, G-d. The manga also goes by Kamisama Kiss or G-d Kiss, literally. It's interesting so far. Thought it'd be a little funnier, and not have as many 'sparkly' moments. (It is a shoujo after all.) But, still has potential. What first piqued my interest was that it has the same director as Fruits Basket. Honestly, it does have a similar feel after watching the first episode. I loved Fruits Basket (one of the few shoujo anime that I love), so why not give this a try too? Momozono Nanami's dad disappeared after accumulating a massive amount of debt due to gambling. Then, she was chased out of her house by the debt collectors. She met a man in the park who was being chased by a dog. (Apparently, terrified of them.) She helped him, and he told her that he'd give her his house. She believed him, and when she arrived at his place, it was really a shrine. A man with fox ears suddenly appeared, named Tomoe, while she was standing there confused and attacked her. She finds out that she's been made a land deity by the man at the park. The man, named Mikage, in the park was Tomoe's previous 'master', who left the shrine 20 years ago. Tomoe doesn't accept Nanami as the new land deity, and leaves the shrine. Eventually, Nanami makes a contract with Tomoe, and he's forced to return. The contract is through a kiss. After the contract, he must obey whatever Nanami says. Gintama is back!Can't believe it! It took a 6 month hiatus, but it was an even longer break before that. About a year. I wish they'd stop doing that, and keep that great series going weekly. It's probably hard to make every episode 'epic'. Making you die of laughter one minute, crying the next, amazing action the next minute, etc. They started it this time with Gintoki finding out that most of the world of Gintama has forgotten about him, and the new 'name' of the series changed to Kintama. (Obviously it won't stay that way, just a gag.) But, it went from silver soul to golden soul. So, they tried to make him look like a 'better' more perfect character. But, the awesome thing about Gintoki, is his imperfections/weaknesses can easily become his strength. It's part of the theme of the show, as well. He's not a polished character. The only ones who didn't forget about him were Sadaharu and Tama. An alien dog, and a robot. So, they're sticking up for him. They found out that Kintoki is actually a robot, and that's why he's so perfect. Interesting to see how this plays out. Got some more writing done. It's getting exciting! Started that other writing meme I was thinking about filling out. I was thinking that I might try to do a steampunk outfit for Halloween. But, not sure if I'll really have time. I don't think I have anything 'Victorian' looking to start with. Went over more kanji during the weekend and today. Plus some more compounds. Also, went over some Japanese lessons. It's really sinking in! Translated more of a You Maga article. Read kind of a disturbing article in Japanese on Asahi's website. It was about a murder at a mansion. Someone stabbed a woman in her dining room 10 times in the back. She was only in a night gown, and there was a lot of blood everywhere. I hope they catch whoever did it. That's just evil.
There are so many great authors out there.It's cool they have their own day. I guess it also celebrates anyone who wants to become an author. Kind of nice. It's also Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.It's a Mexican holiday. It focuses on family and friends gathering to pray for and remember people who have died. It's a time to celebrate. A very interesting holiday. Apparently, today they honor children and infants, and tomorrow the adults. Here are the month long holidays: Aviation History Month, Epilepsy Awareness Month, Family Stories Month, International Drum (Percussion) Month, Military Family Appreciation Month, National Adoption Month, National Georgia Pecan Month, National Novel Writing Month, National Peanut Butter Lovers Month, National Pet Cancer Awareness Month, National Pomegranate Month, National Roasting Month, Beard Month, and Vegan Month. Crazy!A lot of them this time! All for good causes, fun, things we may take for granted, etc.
This is this month's wallpaper. Although, I'm not sure if I like it enough to keep it up.Might change it tomorrow. It's got China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from Hetalia. Kind of cute. I finished the caption in the North American Post article. It's about these students who performed a Soran Bushi (ソーラン節) on a stage. It's a traditional work song of the Hokkaido herring fishery workers. That in modern times, has a choreographed interpretation that students in school perform. It sounds awesome to me.
Friday night, we went to a new restaurant called Himalayan Chutney. (To celebrate me going to Israel!) They serve both Indian and Nepali food. They're very close to where we live too. (That could be dangerous.) We got their vegetable appetizer plate. It was ok, but not great. I ordered the chicken tikka masala. It's usually my fave in most Indian restaurants. So, I wanted to see what theirs was like. It was phenomenal!So good! The sauce was perfect. They BBQ'd the chicken tandoori style, and it added a smoky flavor. One of the best ones I've had. My parents had more of a traditional Nepali dinner. They had Himalayan momos. They're similar to pot stickers, with a chicken mixture inside. It came with a coconut curry dipping sauce. Looked and sounded good.Would have been a better appetizer for us. Then they had a goat dish. I've only had goat 2 or 3 times. All of those times it was really good.They said it was really well done. People don't eat too much goat here, so the waitress was surprised that they ordered it.
Saturday, was the Shabbat with the same parsha I had for my Bat Mitzvah.So, it was especially interesting to me, to see what the Rabbi was going to say. I still remember studying that portion, and working on the drash.Crazy! Because, it was so long ago. (I was 13.) Well, to me it was. He talked about how we're like resident aliens. We're citizens or neighbors, but we're different than everyone else. An in between sort of people. I agreed with him for a lot of it. Just an odd way to go about it.The portion's called Chayei Sara, or the Life of Sara.I told some people about going to Israel, and they looked happy for me. I think I heard about someone thinking of giving me a gift for going to Israel. Very sweet, but wouldn't Israel be enough of a gift?I mean I'd gladly accept it, it just seems like an odd reason to me.
Later, we went shopping. I got a red, sort of a bohemian-styled shirt at the mall. After a while of shopping we were all tired. But, after we ate at Subway, we did more shopping.My parents got me a really nice mp3 player. It's a Sony Walkman with 16 GB, and can also store pics and video. It has the date and time, and you can make playlists. Oh, and it has the built-in speakers, like I wanted. I'm in love with it.They also got me a flash drive. My last one was corrupted. The new one holds up to 4 GB. Twice as much as my last one did. Seems to work fine too. I like the cap. It's built to swivel around. So, it doesn't pop off and get lost somewhere. They were smart.
Yesterday, I helped take down the sukkah. And, later handed out some candy to the kids. There wasn't very many of them this year.Usually, it's like every 5 minutes we hear someone at the door. It was pretty much dead this time. Our neighborhood's popular for trick or treaters, so it was a bit weird.Oh well, more candy for us!I didn't dress up this year, like I usually do. Just wasn't feeling it. I wore my orange pumpkin dangly earrings and black beaded necklace, though.
Started a new manga called Toraneko Folklore. It's very interesting and funny so far. I like characters that have their own quirks, and the main ones do. Touto is the central character, and in middle school he was the tough kid. People either fought, feared or avoided him. He wants his high school life to be different. He made it into a prestigious school. He comes off as having a harsh or angry demeanor most of the time. But, he really isn't. He makes 2 friends his first day. Their also hoping high school will be different. Yuta, was bullied before. He seems to have a happy-go-lucky attitude. Miyakoe, is very shy and had problems talking to people and making friends. She's into the occult. It's funny how Touto is assigning missions to himself in order to 'succeed'. Things like: stay in school from beginning to end; peacefully make friends over lunch; etc. He's fascinated by strange things. Like octopus hotdogs, apples shaped to look like rabbits, and bentos overall.
In Hetalia, they talked a bit about Sealand's history (which isn't much), and its relations with Iceland. Italy captured England by 'accident'. He fell into a kid's pitfall. England starts trying to figure out how to escape. Meanwhile, Romano threatens Italy with a Marmite Punishment, if England falls under another pitfall. England makes it out. Only he sticks out like a sore thumb, Germany finds him, and captures him again. Next, they were trying to figure out a way to wake up England. England starts muttering something about how America wet the bed when he was little; and America smacks him hard before he could say too much.
In Letter Bee, Lag's exhausted. Conner and Zazie suggest he get a check up. If you shoot too many Shindans, it can affect your health. Dr. Thunderland Jr. shows up. He's the head doctor of Bee-Hive and a professor of Biology. They also call him a corpse doctor. He likes to dissect things. Whether they're plants, animals, or humans. He takes Steak and says he's rare, and wants to dissect him. He dissects things, usually, to find the exact cause of diseases. Then, develop new medical techniques and medicines. Niche finds the doctor after breaking through his huge heavy doors. They save Steak. The Shindan showed the doctor's memories. He makes memorials for every human and animal he dissects. And, usually they're dead to begin with. People looked down on him because of his job. He had quarantined the cats Zazie was taking care of. He didn't kill them, but ran some tests, because there was a disease spreading among the strays in his neighborhood. Aria plays her violin for Lag. (In pic.) It's her spirit-restoring shindan. He feels a lot better after. I'm still amazed with the art in this series.
deviantART faves: Cat BeerStupidFox 37Cat Coffeenom nom nomHalloween Cupcakes I did not make these! First and third, more funny cats from that artist who did Cat Chocolate and Cat Bacon. I'm liking this series for some reason. Second, a funny Halloween themed StupidFox strip. Fourth, a pic of strawberries with funny faces and L (from Death Note) next to them. Fifth, really good looking cupcakes. I'm liking that food group I joined.
Youtube: Poor Chiyo. She's giving a present to her crazy teacher for her birthday:
Another cool song from the Yoshida Brothers:
A funny vid of W&Whale's song High School Sensation:
Yay! It's Talk Like a Pirate Day!I should have celebrated it. Although, I probably would have freaked people out.
Today, we put up the sukkah for the next holiday starting on Wednesday night, called Sukkot. Hadassah helped us, and we had a potluck. Sukkot is a harvest holiday, and it's 8 days long. The sukkah is an outdoor structure that we sit and eat in during the holiday. A lot of people actually camp out in theirs. There's an open roof that has rafters on top. Usually, you cover it with tree limbs, vines, boughs, etc. It shouldn't be completely covered, because we're supposed to see at least 3 stars at night.Ours has a wooden frame, with lattice covering 3 walls. The front of the sukkah is open.
Also, we usually decorate with a harvest theme. We have pine cones, plastic fruits, and whatever else people bring. This time someone brought huge bags full of fresh lavender. I'm not very fond of it, but I guess it's ok.Those were in bunches and hung along the walls. We don't have quite enough stuff on the roof, so we'll ask someone for more, later.
Everything at the potluck was really good!There was a fake chicken parmesan, olive tapenade, tomato/olive oil topping, French bread, watermelon, pumpkin pie, and something else. No one had RSVP'd before the 'event', so we didn't know if anyone would show up.It was about 5 people, plus the 3 of us. Not bad. It turned out to be kind of fun. Except, for when I hit my thumb with a hammer. Sounds so cliche!Oh, and someone getting hit in the face with one of the rafters. That was a bit disturbing.But, she was fine. We put a table and some chairs out there already. So, it just needs boughs for the roof, the electric lantern, and maybe the lulav/etrog.
Yom Kippur services were great for the most part. Had a lot of people show up for the night one. Which made the room really warm.Our cantor that night sounded awesome!The songs for it have got to be one of the most complex musically. Also, the guest musicians were amazing! This Yom Kippur, was even more 'special' because it fell on Shabbat. It felt weird after services, to not have challah.
The day services kind of felt long at first. About mid-day it was moving pretty quickly. Mom had the last aliyah. Which is kind of normal for her. But, the Rabbi made a surprise speech about her when hers was done.It was nice, flowery, and sweet. It was really cool! And she deserved the recognition.Just before breaking the fast, we did Havdalah. It's to celebrate the end of Shabbat. A very beautiful and quick service.
Of course, as soon as we were done with that, people ran to the food.There was a lot of good food.Mom brought her vegetarian pasta dish. Its got pasta, pasta sauce, garbanzo beans, carrots, and snap peas. Plus, parmesan on the side so you can put on as much as you like or have it plain. Really good! There was also homemade gnocchi. A person I met during Rosh Hashanah, who's close to my age, made it. It was amazing!Also, someone made bread from scratch that had some garlic bits in it. Awesome!
(Might be my eastern European background coming out...) The plural form is pierogi (although, I really feel tempted to type pierogis), and singular is pierog. They're dumplings that are usually filled with potatoes and onions, or cheese, or ground meat, or fruit. But, there are many more variations. We just got some frozen ones yesterday. I didn't even know about it having its own day the next day. So, I had some. We got the potato and onion ones. Tasted awesome like always!
It's ok. Felt a little disappointed, especially after talking about it for a while the week before. Oh well, maybe something distracted her. Also, was hoping to go, because it was my last chance to eat under the sukkah. Well, here's to doing that next year!
We ran out of those. (Our local market only carries them in a pack of 2 candles. That's good for only 1 Shabbat. Not good enough!
) Also, got a frozen dough challah for Friday. The only thing I need to do for it, is to let it sit out for a long time, and then pop it in the oven for a while. It's already put together, just not cooked. They said it gets twice as big after it cooks. Looks like it might be a big one!
Also, got a 2-serving frozen chocolate silk pie for a Shabbat dessert. I can save the other serving for the next night. Might have some orange chicken for that dinner too. Sounds awesome!
Got some other awesome frozen dinners for the rest of the week. Plus, some really tasty smoked salmon, and sesame bagels. Great for breakfast! 
Can't believe it! It took a 6 month hiatus, but it was an even longer break before that. About a year. I wish they'd stop doing that, and keep that great series going weekly. It's probably hard to make every episode 'epic'. Making you die of laughter one minute, crying the next, amazing action the next minute, etc. They started it this time with Gintoki finding out that most of the world of Gintama has forgotten about him, and the new 'name' of the series changed to Kintama. (Obviously it won't stay that way, just a gag.) But, it went from silver soul to golden soul. So, they tried to make him look like a 'better' more perfect character. But, the awesome thing about Gintoki, is his imperfections/weaknesses can easily become his strength. It's part of the theme of the show, as well. He's not a polished character. The only ones who didn't forget about him were Sadaharu and Tama. An alien dog, and a robot. So, they're sticking up for him. They found out that Kintoki is actually a robot, and that's why he's so perfect. Interesting to see how this plays out.
