National Peanut Butter Lover's Day!

Mood:

I love peanut butter!This was actually on Saturday, but why not keep celebrating it? Even though I love it, a little can go a long way. I especially like the crunchy kind. Feels more 'real' if I can crunch down on a peanut bit. The smooth stuff, to me, might only be good in baked goods. 

This is my wallpaper for March. As it says, it's Hibird from Hitman Reborn. He's Hibari's bird. Most of the time he's with Hibari, unless told to leave, which isn't often. Thought it was cute, funny, and spring-like. The sakura flowers are kind of funny, since Hibari has an aversion to them. Ever since he first fought Mukuro, he's kind of been afraid of them. Wonder what he'd do if Hibird actually gave those to Hibari...

My Italy calendar features Tuscany this month. We're back up a bit towards the north. There's some info on the region and its history. The main pic's of a church called San Biagio just outside the city of Montepulciano. Looks pretty cool. 

My Jewish calendar features 3 megillot (plural for megillah, lit. 'scroll') or Esther scrolls. The main one has an anonymous maker, made out of parchment and wood, from the Netherlands; 1700-1750. It's rather interesting looking. There are some illustrations where they look like they may be acting out some of the parts in the story. And, there are weird looking animals encircling the text. Another one had an anonymous maker, made out of silver and parchment; 1700-1750. (They don't mention where it was from. Maybe it's from the Netherlands, too?) It looks kind of like a mini fancy Torah. (Not all of them look like that.) The last megillah was also made anonymously, made out of parchment, ivory, and silk; 1800-1850. (The place isn't listed for this one, so maybe it's also from the Netherlands?) It's really tiny looking, has only one 'roller', and has very tiny print. Kind of cool looking ones. And, really old. That makes them even more interesting.

We read the megillah on Purim. It's the story of Esther. We're told to recite it every Purim. Only since it's supposed to be a fun holiday, people act it out, do things when certain names are mentioned, if just read they might do it in a certain accent, etc. It's very interactive. That itself can be a lot of fun. Purim is on the 16th, and Shushan Purim is the next day. In cities that were walled at the time of Joshua, Purim is celebrated the day after. (Some interpret it loosely to mean all walled cities.) Shushan (the city in the story) was a walled city, and according to the megillah, deliverance from the massacre wasn't complete until the next day. People living in Jerusalem celebrate it then. (They're one of the few we know for sure was a walled city back then.) I decided that I might want to go to the 'Anatevka' or Fiddler on the Roof-themed one. It sounds like it'd be fun! They're going to recite it in Russian accents, have a Russian 'peasant' lunch, they've asked people to dress up according to the theme, there's an art show, and more. I'm not sure what I'll wear, though...Today is the first day of the 2nd month of Adar or Adar II. (There are 2 months of Adar during a leap year.) Pesach or Passover is a month after Purim. Crazy that it's coming up so quickly!

The month-long holidays are: National Celery Month, National Noodle Month, National Peanut Month, National Frozen Food Month, Bell Peppers and Broccoli Month, Berries and Cherries Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, National Craft Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you appreciate things you may take for granted, and some are just for fun. Lots of awesome food ones! Cool, I'm Irish-American! Good to connect with people's heritages. Crafts can be fun. I'm not too into them, but once in a while they can be fun to do. 

Couldn't sleep very well last night.So, I got up even earlier than I'd like to. I think I was wide awake at 4:30, and tried to make myself go back to sleep. I couldn't, and just decided to get up. Funny, because I ended up going to bed slightly later than I'd like. But, that was mainly because my grandpa called, and we hadn't talked for a long time. Plus, it was 3 hours later over there, but he decided to call us anyways. So, I would have felt guilty if I hadn't talked to him.

Tried a new restaurant called Elmer's last night. It replaced a not so great or so-so one (Taprock). And, before that there was another restaurant that everyone seemed to like. (Mitzel's.) And, I have some pretty fond memories of it.(It looked different back then.) There was a huge fire that basically destroyed everything, and after it was remodeled, the so-so restaurant went in. This place was much better. They used the same layout, the seats were the same, and the menu's design looked similar. But, they had some much more exciting sounding stuff. They had German pancakes, omelets, crepes, cinnamon bun French toast, lots of burgers, fish and chips, steaks, etc. I had their ranch house burger. It had a pretty thick patty, cheddar, an onion ring, BBQ sauce, lettuce, their 'special' burger sauce mixed in with the lettuce, and a crispy bun. It was very good.There was a really big pickle and some fries on the side. The fries actually had flavor, and were a decent cut. Very good all around. 

I decided to sign into Plenty of Fish and Jewcier a few days ago. I hadn't been on either for a long time. Its been the longest time since I've signed in to Jewcier. Had to actually reactivate it.I mainly wanted to check out the revamped version of it. Anyways, as soon as I signed into both, I had a ton of guys saying they wanted to meet me or were messaging me. (There's a button on POF that says Meet Me under a person's pic. If someone clicks it, you get an automated message saying someone wants to meet you.) It was weird, because the last time I signed in, I barely had anyone message/want to meet me. I'm not really used to it. I wonder what changed...Although, I kind of understand Jewcier being different since they've changed their system a bit. It still surprised me. Also, there were some decent looking guys who messaged me this time. Most of those messages were through Jewcier, so they're Jewish too. Yay!One said on his profile that he's trying to come up with as many recipes for banana bread as he can, and that maybe someone could taste-test it for him. He'll cook other things for them too. Yay, someone who likes to cook, too! That'd be awesome!But, I might gain weight...Anyways, should be interesting to look into these. 

Did more of that oc writing meme. I feel like I'm really getting into them. Funny that one of the questions was about a zombie apocalypse. There aren't that many zombies in their world, but they exist. And the question was aimed at just a few of the demons. They don't really care. So to them it was kind of a boring question. It's fun for me though to write about these 'situtations'.The dinner party one was interesting, too. I think I'm close to finishing this meme. 

Studied more kanji through JapaneseClass' site. Did pretty well this time. Had some pretty long combos. (The more questions you get correct in a row, the higher the combo.) Made it to the front page. If you gain enough points in one day, you're added to the top ranked scorers for the day. 

On Saturday, I had my own little afternoon Shabbat service. I hadn't done that in a long time. It felt kind of nice.Also, read the portion or parsha. It's the last one for Exodus. 

Later, I also had my own Havdalah service. I haven't done Havdalah at home since Mom did it occasionally. And, that was years ago.It's the concluding service or ceremony for Shabbat. A lot of people just do it at home. It's a little dangerous if you're by yourself, because of how big the candle's flame can get. It's a special braided candle. Usually pretty colorful. I used the one I got from Tzfat or Safed. It was from a candle shop where they actually make some of the stuff in front of their customers. I got a rather large one from them. I also used a spice box Mom made a long time ago. Still smelled awesome! We didn't have regular grape juice, so I used some sparkling grape/raspberry juice. (It's like a fancy French spritzer we got from Costco a while ago.) Havdalah is one of my fave services/ceremonies. It's beautiful, when with others it brings them closer together, and it feels cozy or homey too. It's supposed to be bittersweet, because it's the end of Shabbat, but the beginning of another possibly joy-filled or good week.It's a short ceremony, too. 

I installed the newest version of Spybot Search & Destroy. Thought I'd see how my system was doing. I had over 48,000 temp files, and over 500 'threats'.Got rid of them, and things are running much smoother. My computer isn't 'thinking' so hard. Also, decided to install the newest version of Panda Cloud. It's a great antivirus thing, where most of it is stored in the cloud. It monitors computers from all over the world at once. When a new virus is found, it updates itself and takes care of it right away. It's pretty awesome. It has things Spybot S&D doesn't have, and vice versa. So, it's good to have both. It's running even smoother now. I checked, and apparently it freed up 3 more gb. Crazy! That's about the same amount I cleared out a few months ago. So, all together I've freed up around 6 gb. That's a lot. 

deviantART fave: Pizza Cake I did not make this! An awesome looking cake made to look like a pizza. The toppings are made out of chocolate, fruit jelly, and icing. It looks amazing. I love those sweets that look like actual dishes. They're cool and very creative, especially when done right. 

7th Day of Sukkot!

Mood:

Wow! It's going by quickly. Tonight's the start of Shemini Atzeret (lit. 8th [day of] Assembly), and is the last day of Sukkot. Simchat Torah starts tomorrow night and ends Friday night. At least I got the chance to go into a sukkah once during the holiday. Not sure if I'll go to the synagogue's Simchat Torah celebration. Have to see how I'm feeling.But, it's usually fun. 

I felt really horrible Tuesday of last week. Thought I was just sick. It was bad enough the next day that I had to cancel my first appointment with a new therapist. I was happy before that I finally was going to get back into it, since its been at least 7 or 8 months since I've seen a therapist. That's too long!Anyways, for being sick last Tuesday, I thought I could self-treat it for a while. It seemed to get slightly better for a while. Then, suddenly that sick and painful feeling came back with a vengeance, worse than before.

Saturday, I finally decided to go to urgent care, not knowing what to do about it. After running some tests, things appeared ok. Then, I had a couple of x-rays done on my abdomen. The results were quite surprising to me. The best description was that I was literally full of crap.My intestines were backlogged with stuff. Totally filled up. I thought about it for a while, and noticed I hadn't really done a number 2 in almost 2 weeks. It was no wonder that I'd be feeling so horrible. I'm not particularly embarrassed by it, just amazed. They prescribed milk of magnesia for me, and said I should probably take a fiber supplement regularly, like Metamucil. 

The milk of magnesia stuff is absolutely horrible!The texture's like a mixture of paper, chalk, and liquid plastic all mixed together. The taste is kind of hard to describe, but really horrid. I was taking the full dose until last night. I'm not sure if I can continue it. It's starting to make me feel more and more nauseous every time I take it. But, I might need it still...I'm feeling much better than I was, but I'm not totally 'cleaned out'. It also puts me to sleep pretty quickly. 

I decided to go to my first 'Singles Night' event on Monday. Even though I was still feeling pretty miserable. I walked to the bus stop just outside our neighborhood. It was kind of like a misty light rain on my way. So, I thought I wouldn't need my hood up and left it down. Of course, as I got to the bus stop, there was a sudden torrential downpour. There isn't a shelter area at this one. I was absolutely soaked by the time the bus came around.

My hair was dripping all over the place (kind of looked like a drowned rat), my jacket and purse were soaked, and my clothes underneath my jacket were as well. Almost all of the contents of my purse were waterlogged. My clothes and jacket became extremely heavy. Kind of hard walking around and taking a ferry. I met up with Dad and went to Arby's for dinner. Then, she drove me to the 'event'.

Not only did I feel not too great in my gut, but I was still soaked to the bone when I got there. Certainly wasn't at my best to meet other singles.The event was called Sushi and Singles in the Sukkah. So, it was with other fellow Jews my age, and we got the chance to make sushi.

I thought we'd be under a huge sukkah, and someone was going to instruct us on how to make sushi. That would have been so much nicer.Instead, we met inside the UW's Hillel building, and there was a tiny sukkah just outside of the building. The doors opened out to it. It was rather small. Could probably fit maybe 15 to 20 people comfortably. About 60 people showed up for this...They had us fill out a card with our contact info, which also had a number. We had to find our 'number' that corresponded with the one on the card, and use it as a name tag. I'm sorry, but I'm not a number, and it was weird...There was a section on the card where you could fill in the 'number' of the person you're interested in contacting. You'd get the info that way. Seemed kind of backhanded. 

Oh, and for the sushi thing, they left out all the ingredients, utensils, and print outs of instructions strewn across huge long tables. Very oddly organized. Mine came out ok. A little squished, and the ends weren't filled up enough with rice. I put cucumber, red and yellow bell peppers, and some shredded carrot in mine. I think the carrot made it an odd texture, but it was a good combo. 

There were so many people, I had a hard time even hearing what people were saying. There were times where I was actually pushed out of the center of the room by people. Very narrow and tight space for that amount of people. If it was laid out in a bigger room, I think it would have been a lot nicer. They kept telling me that they usually don't have such a large group for these events, and to not let it discourage me from going to another one in the future. Hmmm...I don't know.Not too many guys that really 'clicked' with me. Although, it might have been different if we could actually hear each other. There were a couple of guys who apparently liked me (but I didn't like them too much), and tried to follow me around a lot. I managed to lose them, though. One of the last guys I talked to seemed interesting. Didn't get to really spend enough time with him to see if I liked him enough to put his number down. I heard that a lot of people didn't write anything for that section. Again, because it was hard to hear people. At least I got my chance to be in a sukkah for the year. They didn't have a lulav and/or etrog, so I wasn't able to shake them like we usually do while in one. 

I've been sleeping in a bit for the last couple of days. Mainly, because that laxative puts me to sleep. And, because its helped with me not feeling so sick. I guess one of the best remedies for feeling crummy or sick is to sleep. I might feel well enough to at least do my walks tomorrow. We'll see. But, I have felt a lot better. Hopefully I'll get back into blogging more in the future, as well. (At least, more often than what its been lately...)

Hitman Reborn has been really good. The story is becoming very complex. They were sent back to the past (or what is their present) for a week to undergo the Arcobaleno's 7 trials in order to gain their seals. If they pass all the trials and get the seals, Tsuna can use the Sky Box his future self handed down to him. Then, they can go back to the future and kill Byakuran. So far, they've passed 5 of them. Reborn's trial is next. The trials aren't necessarily about physically fighting them. The first one was combat, another was tolerance, another leadership, another charisma, and another was adaptability. Very interesting. Which makes me wonder what Reborn's trial is going to be like.

日本語

For the last week or so I've been practicing, reading newspaper articles, and testing out my kanji/vocab on the JapaneseClass website. I'm doing pretty well on there. But, I'd mostly like to do that during the weekend. As kind of a review of things, and to keep things 'fresh'. I have learned a lot from that site, though. I can still learn from it, but I learn a lot from my other 'methods' as well. (Still need to check out SecondLife for conversation stuff.) Went back to writing out/studying kanji and their compounds today. I'm still studying the compounds for 真. 真菌 or しんきん (shinkin): fungus, fungi. 真空管 or しんくうかん (shinkuukan): vacuum tube. 真空掃除機 or しんくうそうじき (shinkuusoujiki): vacuum cleaner. 真空帯 or しんくうたい (shinkuutai): air pocket. 写真嫌い or しゃしんぎらい (shashingirai): camera shy. 真後ろ or まうしろ (maushiro): right behind. 真向い or まむかい (mamukai): face to face, straight ahead, just in front of, directly opposite. 真紅 or しんく (shinku): (deep) crimson, scarlet. 

2nd Day of Sukkot!

Mood:

Wow! It's already the 2nd day. We didn't put up a sukkah this year, but the weather has been a bit odd, so not the best time to sit in it anyways. Couldn't attend the synagogue's Sukkot thing Wednesday night. I might be able to go to a singles' sushi night under a sukkah on Monday. So, there's a possibility I'll have at least one opportunity to be inside one. 

Sukkot's a harvest holiday that lasts for 8 days. Sukkot is the plural form of sukkah or 'booth'. A sukkah is a temporary structure, reminding us of the temporary dwellings our ancestors lived in for 40 years in the desert. We usually at least eat all our meals inside it. People are encouraged to spend as much time as they can in it. Some even sleep in it, kind of like they're camping. I want to try that in the future sometime...The most amount of 'walls' you can have covered is 3 out of the 4. (Can't have it entirely 'walled' off.) We usually have a wooden frame around ours, and cover 3 of the walls with a wooden lattice. Usually, we have a 'roof' made out of some plant materials, like large tree branches with leaves. (One year we had corn stalks on top, as well.) It can't be entirely covered on top, since you have to be able to see the stars. A lot of people decorate it with dried fall vegetables, artwork, fruits, vines, flowers, pine cones, etc. It can be a lot of fun. 

After this holiday, there's another one called Simchat Torah. It marks the conclusion of one and the beginning of another annual cycle of readings from the Torah. (It lit. means "Rejoicing in the Torah".) Another great holiday. There's dancing, singing, candy, schnapps for adults, it's unraveled across the room, etc. 

I felt really horrendous late Tuesday night, while we were at Shari's after the support group meeting.Suddenly, I had massive pain in the upper left part of my back, stomach was kind of fiery, and weird sharp pains on my sides. I tried to act like nothing was going on while I was there. It felt like it was only getting worse by the time we got home, but I really thought I could 'sleep' it off. I felt better once I was in bed. Still felt horrible in the morning, though. 

So, that morning I had to cancel my therapy appointment, and didn't go to a support group I was hoping to go to. (One that really would have been very relevant to my viewpoint. The others help, but there aren't that many allies in those groups.) I slept in for a while. Felt slightly better, but not the best. Now, I'm feeling much better.Still have a slightly weird metallic aftertaste in my mouth, but the 'fire' has died down, and the sharp pains are gone. Head still slightly foggy, but it's better than it was. I don't really know what I had, maybe it was some sort of weird bug.It felt slightly like the flu, at least the head stuff and feeling very nauseous. (Had a huge urge to throw up most of the time, as well.)

One good thing I might go to is that Jewish singles' sushi night on Monday. Sounds very interesting. Get to learn how to make sushi while inside a sukkah, and might get to know some other Jews at least. It'd be really nice if I get together with someone through it, but it'll still be nice if I just end up seeing other Jews my age and make some friends.I should probably go to more of these Jewish singles' nights. I guess I'll check it out first. The online dating thing hasn't really panned out for me...So many weird guys on the free sites. (Plus, not very many of them are Jewish. Not a requirement, but it'd be a huge plus for me. And, makes things easier.) Can't afford the other sites.

Yom Kippur was pretty good. I didn't really like the guest rabbi too much. He seemed very timid, quiet, nervous, etc. It was hard to hear him at times, because of how quiet he was. I understood his viewpoints, but didn't particularly agree with them. Which is fine, but something seemed off. Oh well, it was nice to see someone new at least.

After some debating with myself, I decided to stay for all the day stuff. I only observed the yoga stuff from afar, since not only is it not my thing, I wasn't in the proper clothes for it. I ate my lunch outside at a picnic table in the synagogue's garden, which I didn't realize was there before. I was worried I would bother people, but I didn't. I'm exempt from fasting, because I have meds I absolutely have to take. (And those meds have to be with meals.) They say if someone like me does fast, it's considered a sin. I still feel a bit guilty about it, though. It was beautiful outside. Took a walk down to a plant nursery after lunch, and looked at the interesting plants and garden sculptures they had. I'm surprised there were 2 discussion groups. Usually, it's just one, but we talk about the topic until it's exhausted. This time it was oddly done. The break-the-fast had really weird food. The desserts especially. But, at least there was something. Havdalah was weird, too. The rabbi did a 'silent' one. Part of what I like about havdalah is the singing.Got to chat more with people I don't normally see. That was nice. 

I was planning to do 85 sit-ups twice a day this week. When I felt sick, I decided to give it a rest until I felt better. Wouldn't want to make myself actually throw up, or pass out halfway, or do something weird.Wanted some comfort food, so I haven't really been following my way of eating since I got sick either. I figure it's ok for a short period of time. As long as I get back to it as soon as I feel better. Haven't walked much either. I might do one of my walks tonight. We'll see...Have to get back into it. 

Tarzan Program

Mood:

Or, Tai Shan Cheng Shi. By Fahrenheit. One of the few Cpop songs that I like. I'm a bit newer to Cpop (or Chinese pop music). Tend to listen the most to Jpop/Jrock and a bit of Kpop. I think they all have a different overall 'feel' towards their music. I'm interested in all music from around the world. Just have more of an interest at the moment in Asian music. Anyways, Fahrenheit is an extremely popular band throughout Asia. They debuted in 2005 in Taiwan. Each member represents a season or temperature that corresponds to their different personalities. Calvin Chen represents spring, warm; Jiro Wang represents summer, hot; Wu Zun represents autumn, cool; and Aaron Yan represents winter, cold. Each one has a specific temp in Fahrenheit, too. Wu Zun was born and raised in Brunei, is a graduate from a college in Australia, and was introduced to the entertainment industry during a trip to Taiwan. Aaron grew up in New York City, and went back to Taiwan for high school and college. After Calvin graduated high school in Taiwan, he attended a university in Canada. He won a talent show, where the prize was a free ticket to Taiwan and a contract with a music company. Jiro seems to be the only one that's stayed in Taiwan the whole time. It's interesting how these people even met. The song is obviously Tarzan themed, about setting your own rules of the jungle and winning over evil. 

I finally applied to be a barista at Starbucks on Sunday.I'm a little nervous about it. If I get the job, it'll be my first 'real' one. I'll also get health/dental/eye insurance. Things I really need. I love making things for people, and seeing them smile. So, maybe it'll be a great job for me. Also, there's a Starbucks really close to the area I want to move to in Seattle. So, I could just transfer when I move. Heard that they treat their employees or 'partners' really well, too. You get a pound of coffee or tea each week.

I read a bit about their dress code. Have to have either black or brown shoes. I didn't have either, so I went out and found a pretty nice black pair. They almost sound like tap shoes.Makes sense that they wouldn't allow white shoes, considering you'll have to deal with spills and such. Also, got some cloth scrunchies for my hair. I knew I would have to pull it back somehow, considering I don't want strands of my hair in someone's drink...Was thinking about getting bandanas, but thought it would be too much trouble every time. The plastic scrunchies that I have, ruin my hair if I wear them too often. Also, my hair will be ruined again if I put it up into a bun. (Did that a lot for about a year or so.) So, I'm stuck with a pony tail look. The only thing I don't think I'll like is tucking in my shirts. It looks lame that way. But, I'd still do it. The apron looks like it hides it mostly, anyways.

Downloaded Second Life on Saturday. I think I had tried it before, but was frustrated by it. It was a while ago, and for some reason, my computer runs a lot smoother now. They have some learning Japanese, Jewish, LGBTQ allies, etc. clubs. So, thought it would be really great for me that way. So far, I've messed around with my avatar's appearance, and still exploring around the beginner's island area. Decided on the 'Steampunk' look. She looks more like a fancy 'princess' with a small hat on the side.I like Steampunk normally, but it doesn't quite seem like it. I like it though. Flying is easier for moving around with the computer I have. Her dress gets all billowy and cool when she flies. Graceful landings, too. Also, figuring out the free stuff, at the moment. Eventually, I'll search for these groups. Went to a Japanese tea house. No one was there, and it was extremely well made. It really was beautiful and fascinating.Even had a koi pond, with maple and sakura trees around it. You also had the option of sitting the traditional ways. I got lost last time while I was exploring the apartment looking buildings. They looked abandoned. It'll be interesting what comes out of this. Dad used it for a while for her support group. And met some interesting people. Mom would join her occasionally. I think that was why I had looked at it before, as well. 

Started writing the 'forward' part of my next novel.This time it's going to be an anthology of short stories based on my recurring nightmares. Since I can remember, almost every night I have had some sort of nightmare. Some really 'light' kind of stuff. And some that are truly terrifying.Those ones are usually gruesome and psychologically scary at the same time. I remember telling a friend about one of them, and I barely got through half of it before she told me she couldn't stand to hear more of it. It was just too scary. She also believed I was possessed because of them. I don't know about that...I've also told a few other friends that were really into the horror genre, and they freaked out. Wouldn't let me finish telling them. So, I'm not sure how it'll do after I publish it. If people will say it's too scary or what not. Who knows maybe some people will like that kind of thing. Maybe this is why I have so many nightmares. It's that I need to put out anthologies based on them.

Also, started to look more seriously at the online dating stuff again. Actually initiated a message to a guy!Usually, they message me first. I doubt he'll respond...We'll see. Should be another exciting thing to my life.

I used to be really into a site in college called Asian Food Grocer, or AFG. And, I still get their emails about their deals and new products. Decided to look at them again. They've gotten a butt load more things than when I was in college. And, they're still relatively cheap. They've added pet fashion, more kitchenware, cookbooks, stationary, etc. As well as a ton of new food products. Really turned into an interesting place. The more I looked at, the more I realize I like their 'style/design' for things. I don't really know why, but a lot of it feels like my kind of thing. (Even if it's 'Asian' themed, it still grabs me more than a lot of other similar places.) So, when I eventually have my own place, I'll probably have quite a bit of stuff from them. Amazon is cool too, but somehow doesn't feel like it goes to this extent with some of the stuff I'm interested in. They have stuff from Japan, China, Thailand, India, Germany, Jamaica, and the US (mostly from Hawaii). I'm not really sure why they would have German and Jamaican stuff. (They seem to not know either.) Cool, though. They also have some interesting recipes. 

日本語

The 2 kanji for today were: 習 and 集. With the first one, it's usually pronounced as しゅう (shuu) in compounds. As なら.い (nara.i): as is habit, the way life normally is. As なら.う (nara.u): to take lessons in, be taught, learn, study, get training in. There was only one compound listed for this one. 練習 or れんしゅう (renshuu): practice. If the second kanji, 集, is pronounced as しゅう (shuu): collection, compilation. As あつ.まる (atsu.maru): to gather, collect assemble. As あつ.める (atsu.meru): to collect, assemble, gather. As つど.う (tsudo.u): to meet, assemble, congregate. It has quite a lot of compounds listed. In fact, next time I'll cover more of them. 雲集 or うんしゅう (unshuu): swarm, throng. 会集 or かいしゅう (kaishuu): audience, assembly, meeting. 歌集 or かしゅう (kashuu): anthology, book of poetry, songbook. 群集 or ぐんしゅう (gunshuu): crowd, community. 集荷 or しゅうか (shuuka): collection of cargo. Also, started a blog that'll just be in Japanese. Kind of to help me practice. It was another idea from someone who's also studying on their own. Very interesting to change the language of the blog itself to Japanese. So, everything on the page is in it. Except for my profile info. Looks kind of out of place with the Japanese around it.Should be fun to do!

Next week I'll be up to the last episode of Dinner. It's been good so far, and there has been some interesting mishaps. It was very well acted. Even the music made me feel like eating Italian food. Hitman Reborn was about a recent manga chapter I've read. Interesting to see how they tweaked it a bit for the anime audience. They did a lot more stuff. One of the few things I've noticed that progressed differently than the manga. I love that kind of stuff. A different way of telling the same story, is always interesting to me. I'm still on the Deliora Arc of the manga version of Fairy Tail. Seems to be going slower than the anime.