Caramel Apple Day!

Mood:

I love caramel apples!I rarely have them, though. Not sure if I had one last year. The only downside to them is how messy they can get. At our local markets they have many different kinds with stuff put on top of the caramel. Sometimes the plain ones are the best. It's also Celebration of the Mind Day. The mind's pretty amazing and fascinating. Interesting that it has a day devoted to it. Plus, it's also Reptile Awareness Day. I think they're greatly misunderstood, so it's good there's a day to educate people about them.Yesterday was Lung Health Day. It's good that there's a day for this as well. Lung health's very important. I've experienced some issues in the past with mine, and it only makes you appreciate them all the more when they're back to being healthy.

It's been abnormally warm for this time of year. I think I remember hearing that it's like 10 degrees warmer than average. I kind of want the cool fall weather I like so much. It's been pouring rain off and on, too. That's probably normal for us during this time of year, though.

On Sunday, we grabbed my contacts that came in at the mall. Apparently both eyes have the same prescription now. It's bizarre.They were really surprised by how much my right eye has changed. At least I don't have to tell the difference between the boxes. Like which one is for my right or left eye. 

After that we went to Fuego. That place is pretty cool and has some hilarious stuff.Always have liked going there. They always have special deals on jewelry. Last time I got some really long gold square ones with a fancy pattern on the inside of each square. (They're almost as long as my hair now. That's saying a lot...) They jingle a lot when I move my head. Haven't worn them that often, but they're fun. This time I wanted something unicorn related. Unicorns have a lot of meaning for me.I used to hate unicorns, but now that there's so much meaning to them for me it's a different story. I found some silver unicorn earrings. The manes are pretty detailed, as well as the musculature. The horns look kind of stubby, but that's ok. They're pretty big too. So, at least they're noticeable. And, with the deal it went from almost $7 to almost $2. Pretty good deal.

After that we went to a local breakfast place for dinner. I got their caramel apple French toast with scrambled eggs and apple chicken sausage. It was like heaven!They had a pumpkin spiced latte as their seasonal drink. I decided to get that too. It was so good!All of that made for an amazing brunch the next day, too. At Safeway they have pumpkin spiced lattes in packets. So, I can make my own. I decided to get some of that too. I'm normally not into coffee type drinks, but this is really good stuff. Plus, I love when pumpkin is added to things in general.

Wrote more of the 11th short story in my nightmare anthology. I now have a clear idea of how I want it to go at least. Almost done with it, if I follow that idea. Then I can start the 12th, and probably last, one. Yay!This current one's pretty gruesome. So that might be why I had somewhat of a hard time. Might be the most gruesome at that.

Played my clarinet. Did a lot of Irish tunes. Only fumbled a few times this time. I've actually been playing more often now, and I can tell I'm improving pretty quickly. It feels good. 

日本語

Studied the kanji: 加. The hiragana 'letter' か (ka) is a descendant of this kanji. Kind of cool. Pronounced as か (ka): addition, increase; (abbr) Canada (long version is: 加奈陀 or かなだ [kanada]). As 加える or くわ.える (kuwa.eru): to add, add up, sum up, append, annex; to increase, gather (e.g. speed), pick up; to include, count in, let join; to inflict (damage), deal, give. As 加わる or くわ.わる (kuwa.waru): to be added to, be appended; to join in (e.g. a group of friends), participate; to increase (e.g. heat), gain in (e.g. influence), grow, gather (speed); to be subject to (e.g. pressure). 加虐 or かぎゃく (kagyaku): causing pain, sadism, sadistic. 加減 or かげん (kagen): addition and subtraction; allowance for; degree, extent, measure; condition, state of health; seasoning, flavor, moderation, adjustment; influence (of the weather); chance. 加護 or かご (kago): divine protection, bless. 加工 or かこう (kakou): manufacturing, processing, treatment. 加算 or かさん (kasan): addition, adding, supplement. 加勢 or かせい (kasei): assistance, backing, reinforcements. 加点 or かてん (katen): addition of points, scoring. 加熱 or かねつ (kanetsu): heating, application of heat. 加筆 or かひつ (kahitsu): correction, improvement, revision. 

Practiced a bit on JapaneseClass' site. Did pretty well. Made it into the top 20 ranking for the day. Apparently I was doing so well that they threw in a lot of new words/kanji/phrases.I only get that when I get most of the 'old' ones right. 

There was another new Japanese commercial compilation vid on youtube. I love looking at those.They're usually biweekly, but sometimes the person who's behind the channel makes a bonus in between one. A vid full of the ones that they feel are the most bizarre and/or cool. This was one of those weeks. They're not subbed, so it gives me a chance to figure it out on my own. I get what they're saying most of the time. The only problem is when they speak super quickly, and sometimes when it's really slow. A lot of them were even more bizarre knowing what they were saying or what they were selling. 

Wrote out more of that section of the You Maga article from last time. A lot of the kanji I knew without having to check them online. It was an interesting feeling. A lot of the ones I didn't know were either ones people learn at a higher grade level than what I'm currently at or weren't used that often. Not bad. The kanji for vomit is interesting and makes sense...I also did some sentence practice. 

Found a lot of interesting possible manga to read. It'll be nice to read some new ones.Finished Anagle Mole recently, so that freed up a spot for another one. Anagle Mole was awesome!Didn't really have an ending. It felt like they ended it with the possibility of a sequel of some sort. At least, what they made you believe until the last chapter wasn't true. (Trying to say it without spoiling too much.) So, that was a good thing. It seemed like a unique and interesting story. It'd be cool if they made it into an anime.I'm thinking of dropping World Embryo. It's gotten kind of tiring. Things have been a bit slow for a while, too. It has a very interesting story too. 

Watched the 2nd Gintama movie called Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien or Gintama (Silver Soul): The Final Chapter- Be Forever Yorozuya (Odd Jobs), Friday night. It was freaking awesome and epic!I definitely would recommend this to almost anyone. (Would not be good for little kids. Probably people in their late teens on would be best...) Even if anime's not your thing, it's worth it. The animation was great! Just like the anime, one minute you're laughing like crazy, and the next you're bawling your eyes out. Great fight scenes, and they managed to pile on the drama as well. I remember reading that this one was a totally original story that wasn't in the manga. All of the voice actors were amazing, too. Just like they were in the show. This was supposed to be Gintama's last hurrah. But, you never know with them, if they're coming back or not. But, it was certainly an amazing way to end it. With the show, it only got better and better with each episode. So, you can almost imagine how great it was after more than 250 episodes. By the way, you don't have to have watched the show in order to understand or get into the movie. But, it might hook you.

Strange Games

Mood:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

日本語

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

National Fettuccine Alfredo Day!

Mood:

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

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

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

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

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

日本語

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

Special Illusion

Mood:

This is one of Fran's character songs from Hitman Reborn. He has an interesting voice. And, like a good majority of the male characters (including the main ones), he's voiced by a woman. She sounds pretty talented. And, somehow I find it cool that there are so many female voice actresses that were apart of it. In the anime itself, there aren't that many female characters. Anyways, Fran is one of my fave characters from the series.He didn't really have much screen time, and I've got a ways until he appears in the manga, but for some reason I really like him. He's Bel's partner in Varia. He replaced Viper or Mammon, and Bel told him he had to wear a frog hat to signify it. He loves to mock/verbally attack other members of Varia in kind of a calm demeanor. He especially likes to provoke Bel. And, Bel is constantly throwing knives at him. He's come up with nicknames for members of Varia. Like Bel's is 'Fallen Prince', 'Old Lightening Pervert' for Levi, and others. He's kind of a prankster, and specializes in illusions. This song fits him so well.

In Tokyo Bandwagon, it turned out that Ao's father has cancer of the voice box or larynx. That's pretty disturbing for most people, let alone a singer. At first, he told the doctor to act like it was just a stomach ulcer when they talked to the family. The doctor told them that he'll stay for a little while at the hospital to get better. That was a lie, and after about a day he checked himself out then went missing for 5 days or so. The doctor had told him that if he gets surgery to get rid of the cancer, he might lose his voice. He has this thing about saying what 'love' really is about all the time. (Says the love part always in English.) He said that dying isn't love, but taking away his ability to sing isn't either. Really sad. He turned the doctor down about the surgery, but from the preview of the next episode, he might go through with it. He did say that the song he sang at the end of the episode might be his last.

I tried to start one of the new anime shows this season. But, sadly none of them looked that great.I had high hopes for Pupa, but it turned out to be really horrible. They had kept postponing it. It was originally supposed to air during the summer of last year or something. Ended up only being 4 minutes. About 2 and half if you cut out the intro and outro.Just a lot of crazy stuff thrown together with seemingly no rhyme or reason. A lot of people commented saying that the manga is far better. So, maybe I'll give that a shot in the future. 

I also tried Hoozuki no Reitetsu. It seemed very bland. It's supposed be a dark comedy series. The premise seemed interesting. Hoozuki is the aide to the great king of Hell, King Enma. He resolves various problems that come up in Hell. (And, there are many different divisions of Hell, so he's usually very busy.) He tends to be calm and very sadistic. When he has time, he has several hobbies, and loves to visit zoos and such. He loves animals. He raises goldfish flowers. And, since it's Hell, you can count on it being at least a little trippy. I got all the references and jokes, but they fell kind of flat. It's kind of like a very watered down version of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, which I absolutely loved. That kind of dark comedy is great. But, water it down too much and it has no substance.I also tried Witch Craft Works, but I only lasted about 5 minutes into it. One of the main characters' breasts seem to grow every time it panned over to her. It seemed very cliche too. So, since I didn't find any new ones for this season, I might start watching Ranma 1/2 next week. 

In World Embryo, Riku had to duel Rena, his new partner. He didn't know anything about being a Jinki user and she easily beat him. But, at least he found out how to use it. Riku is unique in that the kanshu took over most of his being, and yet he still has his ego intact. So, in a way he can become stronger than her. So, now she's training him. Should be interesting to see how it turns out. 

Wrote some more of the 5th short story of my nightmare anthology. It's getting creepier and creepier.Should be interesting how this one ends up. It's definitely 'different'. 

Played my clarinet. Did more of my advanced classical music solo book, and some jazz tunes. Sounded pretty good this time. Drew the entire 'sad' section of the meme for Junko. It was odd to see her exaggerated sad expressions, since it's so not her. But, eventually she does have to be sad. She did have a tragic, weird, and mysterious past. 

日本語

Studied more of the kanji: 発. If pronounced as はつ (hatsu): (n, suf) departure, departing (from...), departing (at time...); sending, sent (by...), sent (at...); (ctr) (also ばつ [batsu]) counter for gunshots, bursts of gas, etc.; counter for bullets, bombs, etc.; counter for blows (punches). As 発く or あば.く (aba.ku): reveal, expose, uncover. As 発つ or た.つ (ta.tsu): to depart (on a plane, train, etc.). Occasionally, it may be pronounced as ほつ (hotsu) in compounds. 発案 or はつあん (hatsuan): idea, suggestion, initiative. 発意 or はつい (hatsui): idea, suggestion, plan. 発育 or はついく (hatsuiku): (physical) growth, development. 発煙 or はつえん (hatsuen): emitting smoke, fuming.

Hai wa Hai ni

Mood:

Or: Ashes to Ashes. Some people have been writing out the romaji as Hai ha Hai ni. The 'ha' is pronounced 'wa', since it's used as a particle. But, I've read that some people are confused about the title. In the original video, they give the title out in romaji, too. So, they should just use that...(I think the confusion might be that the title's written in katakana the rest of the time, instead of hiragana or the kanji. It's just not used as often. Normally it's for foreign words/companies/etc. But, can be used to emphasize other words.) Anyways, this is sung by the Kaito vocaloid. I love his songs (he's one of my favorite vocaloids), but people tend to make his songs comical. Which is fine, but it's good to hear the serious/cool ones too. He has a nice vocal range. This one is kind of sad, yet sounds amazing. 

In Tokyo Bandwagon, Ao and Suzumi got married. It was kind of overshadowed by a reporter getting a 'scoop' on Ao's birth mother. Apparently, she's a famous actress, and wanted him to have a better life. So, she allowed his father to raise him. He's a rock star, and she also felt she couldn't be associated with him in public. Kind of sad. His father would send pics of Ao to his mother once a year. They were usually pics of him celebrating his birthday with the rest of the family. Anyways, this reporter repeatedly threatened them about going public with the whole thing. Ao never was actually told who his birth mother was by the family before. But, the reporter mentioned it to him, and he retaliated by punching him. Eventually, they managed to get the reporter to stop and not to publish his big scoop. Instead he was reassigned to work for the rock music section of the company. (It was bought out by a friend of the family, so he could pull the strings in the background. Basically cornering the reporter, and showing him how powerful he really is.) The rock music section was Ao's father's suggestion, since the reporter used to write articles pertaining to that music scene. The wedding itself went off without a hitch. His mother managed to watch it, and was even in the family wedding photo. She had told them that part of the wedding ceremony would be a good setting for a scene from her movie, and that when she thanked them, they encouraged her to be in the photo. It was kind of a touching episode. She never came out and told him who she really was. The episode ended with Ao's father coughing up blood, and collapsing. I hope he isn't dying or anything like that. They had finally resolved their differences. 

I decided to drop Toradora. The only characters I liked were the 2 main ones. They seemed to have been growing closer to each other, but both of them are in denial of it. Kind of painful to watch. Especially when their crushes don't like them romantically. It just doesn't seem to be progressing much. It's cute at times, but just 'eh' most of the time. Sad, since so many people seem to gush over this series. I can't seem to really get into it.

World Embryo has been very interesting so far. Much better than I expected. Plus, I thought it was going to be short, but apparently it's not. Funny how the author refers to the first 2 volumes of the manga as a 'prologue'. There was a ton of stuff in that prologue. We still don't know who or what Neene is. (The little girl in the pic.) She's growing up much faster than a human would. She also 'hatched' from an egg Riku found. The egg was surrounded by Kanshu, so she has something to do with them. Kanshu are humans who get infected by some sort of virus that's transmitted through cell signals. (Or, if you're bitten/attacked by one.) It turns them into weird grotesque 'monsters', and they go off on a killing spree. People who knew them before start to forget about them. The Kanshu themselves have forgotten who they were. Riku was forced to kill his childhood friend, Youhei. Before a person gets totally taken over, they have the option of becoming a Jinki user. Jinki users get weird little metal balls implanted into their hands. This prevents the infection from spreading further, and they can use it to awaken what Kanshu they have and turn it into a weapon. They fight the Kanshu that way. But, if the 'ball' is taken from them, they must be exterminated. They'll revert to becoming a full Kanshu otherwise. Riku has joined the Jinki users organization, and his partner is now Rena. Rena was Youhei's partner. There are Jinki hunters, as well. The main one so far is Takao. He's trying to locate the source of the infection. He's a ruthless mass murderer, and kills anyone who gets in his way. He tried to take Neene and Riku, saying that their power will aid in his search for it, and to defeat it. They managed to get away though. It'll be interesting to see what happens next. 

Finished writing the fourth short story to my nightmare anthology. I think I like this even more than my other ones. It's a little bit longer, though. Fun to write. Should be interesting to see how the next one turns out.

Played my clarinet. Did some more klezmer tunes, and some 'advanced' Mozart pieces. Sounded pretty good this time, too. 

National Taco Day!

Mood:

I love tacos!There are so many different types, and they can be customized as well. I tend to like the soft tacos more than the hard ones. Bean and cheese ones are one of my fave fillings. Put a little a salsa in there and it's awesome!It's also World Animal Day. Animals should definitely be celebrated! The holiday started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists. Animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned in locations all over the globe. 

Got up a little later than I expected to. This week I was hoping to get up a bit earlier than usual, to get more things done. Managed to do that for at least a couple of the days. The rest of the time, I ended up staying up later than usual the night before. There was one day where I woke up 'naturally' at 5:40am, and I had stayed up until about 12:30am the night before. So, my sleeping pattern has been really wacky anyways this week.Hopefully next week will be different. 

Doubles has been interesting so far. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I'm liking it a lot now. Every character has some sort of personality quirk. Very interesting story behind each case. 

In Uchouten Kazoku, the family's (the Shimogamo) being rounded up, and the eldest son (Yaichiro) might be used for the Friday Fellows' annual hot pot. The people behind it this time are another tanuki family called the Ebisugawa. The head of that family, Soun, is brother to the late Soichiro Shimogamo. Turned out he had turned his own brother over to the Friday Fellows all those years ago. The youngest son, Yashiro Shimogamo, is stuck in a warehouse. And, they supposedly caught their mother. The second oldest son can't undo his transformation into a frog, and is stuck in a well. (His guilt for not being able to save his father, pushed him to it.) Now, Yasaburo Shimogamo (the 3rd son) is the only one they haven't caught, but is surrounded by the other family. I think he's going to break down and fight them, and that he'll be more powerful than he let's on. Maybe the one that should be 'chosen' for the hot pot is Soun. This is all because of an election to appoint the head of the tanuki society. Soichiro won last time, and I think his brother couldn't stand it. Now, one of Soichiro's sons is also planning to become the head, and he can't stand that either. This is kind of sad, but interesting. 

I'm not exactly sure where World Embryo is headed, but its been a pretty good manga so far. For my kanji today, I practiced a bit on the JapaneseClass site. Then, went over my 'weak' kanji and vocab. The ones that I need to work a little bit more on. Which wasn't very many.

Oh, and a little while ago, I got a new candle. I haven't been as into them as I used to be, but decided to give it a go again.This time I got one called Toasted Marshmallows. It smells heavenly! I love it.Still smells awesome even when it's not lit. Last night, we went to JJ's. I hadn't been there in a long time. Got my fave, smoked salmon linguine. Better than I remember it tasting. But, there seemed to be less salmon, as well.