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:

National Peanut Butter Cookies Day!

Mood:

I love peanut butter!I love almost any type of dish/baked good that has it. So, of course I'd love peanut butter cookies, too. The Aztecs invented peanut butter, but the version that is known today originated in Quebec, Canada in 1884. Oddly, I'm not as fond of whole peanuts.Have to be in the mood for it. Oh, and today is my dad's birthday! Hope she's having a great one!

I decided to go to bed earlier than I have been. Wasn't getting quite enough sleep, even when I slept in a bit. So, I went to bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual. Then, I naturally got up an hour and a half before my alarm went off. Odd, but really nice.Felt like I actually had a morning. Instead of going on autopilot and being in a daze after getting out of bed, or sleeping a good chunk of it away. So, yay! I already feel much better overall with this. 

In Cartoon Kat-tun, half the guys were interviewed by an actress/comedian posing as a journalist for a teen magazine. She loves to mess with people with her questions and skits. She's a great actress and comedian, and I love it when she gets a chance to show off more of her quirky personality. She made them feel a bit uncomfortable, yet curious about the whole thing. She asked them about what they love about themselves, what they love to do, etc. Then, she made them act out skits about how to treat girls. One was they were on a date at a restaurant, and they suddenly noticed that there was bird poop on the girlfriend's shoulder. How would they deal with that? Tell her up front about it in front of everyone in the restaurant? One of them, I think it was Koki, was very sly, and cleaned it off without her noticing. So, she had no clue. Another situation was how to deal with a girl who wants to kiss you, but you're not really interested. She was apparently drunk in this skit. I like Koki's response to this one too. He told her that she needs to take better care of herself, and wouldn't it be better if they kissed when they were sober and more aware of things. The other guys had to do skits about how to deal with annoying high school girls. She posed as an 'entertainment' manager. The whole episode was hilarious! I love when they do skits.

In Earl and Fairy, Edgar essentially tricked Lydia into marrying him. But, he saved her from being trapped in the fairy world forever. She had made a pact with Kelpie, that if he helps her save Edgar from the poison; he can take her to the fairy world. He's been pursuing her for a while. In fact, she tried to use a spell to ward him off. Sure enough, he helped her, and Edgar woke up. She left him, even though she promised she'd stay. Edgar finds out, and tricks the fairies who want him to marry their queen, and agrees. Just to get to their world, and rescue Lydia. Eventually they find each other, and Edgar proposes to her. He tells her that if she fakes saying yes to him, than Kelpie might back off, and they can get back to their world. Also saying that humans don't have to keep promises. Once they get back he says she can't back out of it now. Kind of funny, because she's already fallen for him, but denies it. She thinks he's messing with her every time he says he loves her. He looks hurt every time, too.

In Tripeace, Shiro found out about Nana dressing up as a girl. It was the only way he could advance up the ranks quickly, and she wouldn't kill him. She really looks up to strong women, so she idolized him or 'Nanako'. Now she looks pissed.He also got some of his memory back. He used to be really ruthless, and seemed to be evil. But, there were hints that he was also once a part of Tripeace. He could do powerful attacks with his hands, making them look like 'foxes'. Now, he's remembered how to use that attack, and has used it to save someone. It'd be cool if they reveal more of his past. Still don't know much about it.

Managed to play my clarinet today.Haven't done it in a very long time. Did some Gershwin tunes. Didn't sound too bad. I'll be even better once I play more often. Also, read a bit more of my Kabbalah intro book. About halfway through it, and it's very interesting. Parts of it seem too wordy, but good overall. 

日本語

Finished going over more compounds for the kanji: 重. It generally means: heavy, heap up, -fold, pile up, important. 珍重 or ちんちょう (chinchou): prizing, value highly, esteeming. 慎重 or しんちょう (shinchou): careful, cautious, prudent, discreet, deliberate. 荘重 or そうちょう (souchou): solemn, grave, impressive. 多重 or たじゅう (tajuu): multiple. 三重 or さんじゅう (sanjuu): triple, treble, threefold. 重苦しい or おもくるしい (omokurushii): heavy, gloomy, awkward,  oppressive, laden. 八重咲き or やえざき (yaezaki): double blossom. Also, reviewed some previous kanji and their compounds. Went over translating a bit more of a You Maga article on kids who have allergies, and what parents should do to help them. Read an article in Japanese on Asahi's website. It was in their opinion column about recent political ads. Very interesting. 

Youtube:

A hilarious Gintama amv:

National Taffy Day!

Mood:

This is actually tomorrow, but I kind of have a hankering for it. Taffy's awesome!But, we don't have any at the moment. There's so many different kinds out there! Root beer, Neapolitan, and caramel apple are just a few of my faves. 

I tired myself out on Monday, with the added fitness stuff. And, didn't feel up to blogging. Tuesday, I slept in a bit later than I wanted to, and eventually it felt like that day was shot.Even though I slept in today, I was able to get quite a bit done. So, yay! Getting back on track. (I will keep those new exercises, but it'll take a while to get used to them.)

Submitted the drawing meme that I was working on. Only have one fave so far, but I'm getting a ton of views. Maybe more than I've had for a drawing that's only been up for barely 2 days.It's at: Character Art Mad Lib- Singles. 

Yesterday, would have been my mom's birthday, if she were here.So, it was a bit of an odd day to start off. Dad came home early, and we went to Poulsbohemian. (A cafe.) I had their black cherry tea. It was pretty good. While I was there, I read more of that book on Kabbalah. The forward in the book was pretty long. I guess he wanted to prepare the readers for it. Once I finally got to the actual 'meat' of it, it was really interesting. It was hard to stop reading it. Somehow the concepts of Kabbalah have always been fascinating to me. They're kind of mind blowing. It's a short book, so it probably won't take me long to read. 

Went to the support group meeting last night. This time the organization had to move temporarily to a church. So, it was the first meeting there. A lot of people were uncomfortable about it. I am a bit too, but I'm also very grateful that they let us use a small space there. There were 3 people besides Dad and I. So, really not a very big group either. It was still a nice meeting. 

Dad and I went to Shari's afterwards. I had my usual strawberry lemonade. Got their strawberry pancakes. It had strawberries, strawberry syrup, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings on top of the pancakes. Really good stuff!Also, had some scrambled eggs, and hash browns. I was going to let myself eat the whole thing (for once), but couldn't. My stomach must be much smaller than it used to be.That might have been the last time that we'll go to that Shari's. They're always super slow. Takes forever just to get our food. Maybe the group will find another hangout after meetings. I think for some it was more 'therapeutic' for them than the meeting. 

Someone from Japan found me on facebook a few days ago. I looked at his friends' list, and I apparently was the only non-Japanese person. He later messaged me in Japanese saying that he happened upon my page by chance. He was just looking around, and came across it. He said that he might not be able to use the English version of facebook, and would it be ok to talk through email. (He loves the Japanese one, and might have a separate account there. Thought it'd be interesting to try the English one.) Soon enough, he was kicked off of the English version, but is still on my friends list. I messaged him back in Japanese through my email. Hopefully, he'll understand it...It'll be good practice for me, if we keep it up. I've corresponded with people in Japanese before, but it didn't last long. They understood me, just didn't have much extra time. A lot of them just wanted to correspond through snail mail. And, that takes forever. Also, thinking of downloading Second Life, and joining some of their learning Japanese groups. That would help a lot too. There's also ally support groups, Jewish groups, etc. Sounds awesome! That's of course if it runs well enough on my computer. We'll see.

日本語

Today's kanji was: 受. When pronounced as じゅ (ju): (Buddhism) vedana (sensation). It's also mainly used in compounds. As う.かる (u.karu): to pass (exams). As う.け (u.ke): (suf) popularity, favor, reception; defense, reputation; agreement. As う.ける (u.keru): to receive, get; to catch (e.g. a ball); to be struck by (wind, waves, sunlight, etc.); to sustain (damage), incur (a loss), suffer (an injury), feel (influence); to undergo (e.g. surgery), take (a test), accept (a challenge); to be given (e.g. life, talent); to follow, succeed, be descended from; to face (south, etc.); to be well-received, become popular, go down well. 受刑 or じゅけい (jukei): punishment. 受験 or じゅけん (juken): taking an exam. 受賞 or じゅしょう (jushou): winning (a prize). 受諾 or じゅだく (judaku): acceptance. 受動 or じゅどう (judou): passive. 受難 or じゅなん (junan): suffering, agony, passion. 

Shavuot

Mood:

Well, I didn't stay up all night studying Torah, but was up for a while.I think I stopped at around 12:30am. Studied some of the Mishnah from a site that has compiled about half of it. Which was very interesting, but made me very sleepy. The Mishnah's a huge body of literature where a group of Rabbis debate/teach oral laws and traditions. It's also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It reflected debates between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE. It also teaches the oral traditions through examples. They go into great detail with things, but that makes it fascinating as well as tiring to read. I love that kind of stuff.There weren't many laws/traditions already in place for women. Almost sounded like they weren't sure what to do with them. It's separated into 6 'orders' or sections. 

I also read that for a while, women were prohibited from studying the Mishnah. Kind of disturbing.But, many Rabbis went against this, and said it was 'optional' for women. I remember in my private Jewish philosophy class that we studied a bit of the Mishnah. (Took the class when I was 14. So, quite a while ago.) Although, I was the only girl in the class. Made for some amusing times.

I've had a few dairy things too. Some chocolate milk, some milk in my oatmeal, and some creamer in my tea. It's something. I'd love to have something like cheesecake, which is traditionally eaten. But, we don't have any...It's not a must, but any excuse to have dairy stuff is all awesome to me!

On Cartoon Kat-tun, they discussed what you can order through delivery. Their guest this time loves to get stuff through delivery. They wanted to look at things that weren't food related, because that'd be too boring. Plus, most of the things they saw on the list were pretty expensive. So, they 'ordered' a quiz show, and cheerleaders. It was pretty hilarious watching the whole thing unfold. First, the quiz show people showed up. They gave everyone little buzzers and light signals. Brought in their own table, a quiz 'book', etc. It was pretty elaborate. The contestants get to choose what the prize will be, and if they want, a punishment for the loser. They said they can easily do all this in someone's apartment. Koki was losing, and halfway through the cheerleaders came in. They did a hilarious routine to cheer Koki up. He lost the game in the end, so his punishment is to be a part of a 'celebrity delivery' thing. Don't know what he'd do at someone's apartment or home. It was all a much more hilarious episode than the previous ones have been. I think they ordered more things from the 'delivery' services. It's also interesting to see what you can get. Their guest said she sometimes orders a mani-pedi.

Earl and Fairy has been interesting so far. They introduced Brownies and Spunkies. Also, talked about fairy circles. Starting to like this anime a lot. Not sure if I 'love' it yet. But, I like the Scottish folklore stuff. 

In Tripeace, they started the war against Xyece by flying and ramming their hammerhead shaped submarine, that's their headquarters, into Xyece's headquarters. Nana is now in Shiro's group as 2nd in command. Of course, he has to keep the charade of him being a woman up. Otherwise, she'll turn on him. For some reason, she seems to have a soft spot for other strong-looking women. I'm surprised that she still doesn't know that it's him and not 'Nanako'. Belial seems to have gotten himself into a pickle. Hope he can get through it.

Played my clarinet. Did more of my advanced solo pieces. Also, finally switched to a 'new' reed. I haven't switched to another one in a while. I say 'new' because we got this pack of about 10 of them at least 2 years ago. I consider them still good if I haven't used them yet. Sounded much better. My reeds tend to last for a long time. Still sounded like I needed to practice more, but it wasn't bad. 

Decided to drop The Silmarillion. It was getting boring, and it went into WAY too much detail.So, I decided that my next book from my list will be The Essential Kabbalah by Daniel C Matt. I've always thought Kabbalah was interesting. (The real Kabbalah, not the fake commercialized stuff.) It's short, too. Read that it's really a beginner's book. But, that's fine. It'll still be interesting.

日本語

The kanji for today was: 者. Pronounced as もの (mono): (rarely used without a qualifier) person. As しゃ (sha): (suf) someone of that type or nature, someone who does that. 新聞記者 or しんぶんきしゃ (shinbun kisha): newspaper reporter. 人気者 or にんきしゃ (ninkisha): popular person. 愛国者 or あいこくしゃ (aikokusha): patriot. 愛読者 or あいどくしゃ (aidokusha): subscriber, reader, admirer. 悪者 or わるもの (warumono): bad fellow, rascal, scoundrel, ruffian, (the) bad guy(s), villain. 芸者 or げいしゃ: geisha. 配偶者 or はいぐうしゃ (haiguusha): spouse, wife, husband, partner. 被害者 or ひがいしゃ (higaisha): victim, injured party, sufferer. 利用者 or りようしゃ (riyousha): user, end-user, consumer. 担当者 or たんとうしゃ (tantousha): person responsible, person in charge. 忍者 or にんじゃ: ninja. 医者 or いしゃ (isha): doctor, physician. 若者 or わかもの (wakamono): young man, youth, lad.