3rd of Adar

Yesterday, I enrolled all 4 of my books on Smashwords into their Read an Ebook Week site-wide promo. First time entering them into something like that. It goes from March 1st until the 7th. They encourage enrolling beforehand, so those books get a chance to be featured in a promo email to Smashwords customers, which goes out a few days before. A little more exposure that way. I decided to have them all at 50% off. You can choose 25% off, 50% off, 75% off, or free. I think 50% is plenty. That makes 3 of the books $2, and one of them $2.50. Pretty cheap. They have interesting banners and such that people can download to help promote it on other sites. I may add one on here. I don't know. There seems to be more benefits to this one than many of their regular promo 'tools', so it's good to have the opportunity. I think they have something like 3 or 4 site-wide promos a year. Not much. 

The cookbook's Select term on Amazon ended yesterday. I plan to submit it to Smashwords on the 1st. It probably won't be apart of RAEW, but that's ok. I think I'll also have a delay in publishing for this one, and add the option of preordering it up until it's officially published on there. I think it's good to do it this way for each one. People get a taste for it beforehand. Should be interesting to see how this one goes, considering it's quite a bit different than my other books.  

I watched some of the recent Democratic Debate, and have an issue with how a couple of questions were directed at Bernie Sanders. I'm not really voting for him this time, but that's a different topic. He was asked about his Judaism, which I guess is fine in itself. I do feel a little uneasy about people questioning how Jewish he is lately... However, the very next question after that was on how he feels about Israel. This is antisemitic. It brings up the 'dual loyalty' trope. Do not bring up someone's Judaism, and then immediately ask about their opinion on Israel. Sure, I get they were trying to see what his policy on Israel will be, but that was not the way to do it. What about asking other candidates about it, too? 

Jewish opinions, as a whole, on Israel are extremely diverse and...complicated. (Even without bringing up the conflict there.) For one, many Israelis don't view Diaspora Jews (those that don't live in Israel) in a good light. Some try very hard to convince us to make aliyah (basically immigration to Israel). Sometimes taking advantage of things like growing antisemitism in Europe and America. Another point, they think even worse of Reform or Progressive (what that branch is called in Europe) Jews, even within their own country. Many also feel the 'ideal' Jew is of European descent. Jews come from all over the world. They particularly have a hard time with Ethiopian Jews. That is getting better lately, but it's still an issue. Many Jews also take issue with the government, even within the country. It's problematic to say the least. However, there are a lot of good people living there, too. 

I'd personally like more focus on Diaspora Jewry than Israel. (Particularly on American Jews, since that's even more relevant to me.) It's not my country. I'm an American Jew. Proud to be American, like many other American Jews. I'm embarrassed, ashamed, and appalled by the current administration, but that's different. 

I did not feel like I 'came home', like so many say, when I visited Israel. Granted I had an awful time getting there, but it never truly felt like home to me. I did make some good facebook friends from that trip, and I certainly don't regret going. There were some good times. It was an amazing opportunity. Especially to see it for myself. Separate fact from fiction in some ways, too. It was nice that most things were kosher, and I didn't have to worry about it as much as back home. It was also cool to see so many shuls (aka synagogues) next to each other. 

We took Tasha to her checkup on Tuesday. She seemed pretty healthy for her age. That being around 15 or 16. Her teeth had a little tartar, and she had a mild case of gingivitis. They said the dental treats are helping with the gingivitis and overall dental health, but only a dentist can get rid of the tartar. They suggested she be seen by a dentist. That seemed like it'll be too expensive. Apparently, her heart murmur's a little worse. It's always been a slightly there thing. They suggested she see a cardiologist, and have imaging done to check out her heart. Again, pretty pricey. She lost a lot of weight for a cat her size. Went from 10 pounds to 8 pounds. Turkish Vans are normally on the heavy side. She seems to be a pound under the low end for normal range. She got her annual shots, blood tests, and a urinalysis. 

The vet clinic called my parent yesterday. Tasha has hyperthyroidism or an overactive thyroid. It makes sense with the weight loss, shedding more than normal, tremors (thought this was either from being cold, or fear of Rosie), excessive drinking, etc. She might not even have the arthritis, but muscle weakness/wasting from it. That would also make it difficult to jump up on things. Their heart can be affected, too. There is a med she can take, surgery, or radioactive iodine therapy. As well as a special low iodine cat food. So, it is treatable, at least. The med and food might not be too bad financially, either. I want to hug her more often now. She probably was trying to tell us that something was up for a while. Hope she feels better in the future. 

I've been trying to take it easier on myself this week, because of the nasty migraine and headaches I had last week. Didn't really have headaches this week. Maybe a slight one after drinking something too cold today, but really didn't have them the rest of the time. Yay! Hopefully, I can get back to other things next week. I don't want to trigger another migraine or awful headaches, so I'll still try to take it slow. Trying to go to bed earlier and spend a little less time looking at screens, and that might have helped. I might not play PS4 games for a while. Just to protect myself for now. New games can have unknown effects, many games are dark in color, and it's also somewhat dark in that room. So, ends up being weird lighting. I do want to get back to it at some point. Might want to try Red Dead Redemption 2. I do have 2 games I can play on my PC for now. 

The Raising Fighting Spirit

From the Naruto soundtrack. Awesome background music for fight scenes and when a character is beating the odds. :P Finally felt up to getting back into my routine! Wahoo! Started writing chapter 8, and I might call it Alone or Threatened, I'm still not sure.

They introduced Chiri who's, I would describe as, OCD. They call her methodical and uptight. Things have to be done properly and perfectly everytime. Even her hair is perfectly split down the middle. Almost everything irritates her, the leaning tower of Piza, shows that don't start on the dot of every hour, etc. There's even the cake scene, which I posted a video earlier of it from the anime. She tries to cut each piece of cake perfectly, but people keep showing up. So, eventually she can't stand it, and just puts it in the blender and gives it to everybody as a drink. O.O

Next, was about Maria. Who's an illegal alien. (Don't exactly know from where.) She bought some random guy's name and enrolled with it. Everyone feels like they have to protect her, and they give her a bunch of gifts. She thinks everyone in Japan is nice. ^_^

The last one was Nami, who's considered the 'normal' girl. Although, I don't think she's very normal, especially later on in the story. She doesn't really have a label. Sensei tells her it's good that he has one student who appears to be normal. He says all of the other 32 students are in despair or are helpless. They're such likable characters, though.

日本語

I went through the す or su and the beginning of し or shi sections. 水泳 or suiei- swimming. 水道 or suidou- water works or water supply. 随分 or zuibun- very or extremely. 数学 or suugaku- mathematics. スーツケース or suutsukeesu- suitcase. 少ない or sukunai- very few or scarce. 凄い or sugoi- fantastic, terrible, dreadful, amazing, great, cool, wonderful, or terrific. すっかり or sukkari- all or completely. ずっと or zutto- throughout, always, all the way, much better, or by far. ステレオ or sutereo- stereo. 砂 or suna- sand. (Always thought this one sounded cool.) 素晴らしい or subarashii- wonderful, splendid, or magnificent. 滑る or suberu- to slip or slide. 隅 or sumi- corner or nook. 済む or sumu- to end or finish. 掏り or suri- pickpocket. すると suruto- and, or then. 字 or ji- character (like kanji), handwriting, or penmanship. 試合 or shiai- game. 仕方 or shikata- method, way, means, or resource. 叱る or shikaru- to scold.

Hey! That's a first! Reading it and watching it in one day! XD First part was about people's inner switches and what happens when you flip them. (By saying something or through your actions.) Was pretty funny. :P Next, was when forced to decide between 2 options people usually go for a random 3rd. For instance, when you're trying to decide between 2 action flicks, but in the end you choose a romance one. Also, he says the world has become way too overprotective and is way too cautious. (I agree with him in most of these. :D) Next, was a bit about TPO or Time (and?)Place Occasion(s). Basically is it really worth following all the manners each occasion calls for? Next was a bit on reasons to celebrate. Started with saying what do people in Japan, who don't live next to the sea do to celebrate 'The Day of the Sea'. Then, like everything on the show goes, they expanded a bit to general celebrations. Like, what's the proper way of celebrating things?

I played Jinx Episode 3: Escape from Area 52. I like the series so far, but this one I wasn't able to solve on my own. Maybe I'll try it again sometime. It's a fun story. This time Jinx (who is in a ghost costume because he was swept into another dimension on Halloween night.), the professor, and the E.L.F. are caught and thought to be aliens. I got to the part where everyone was freed from their cells and E.L.F went hiding in one of the vents. I'm at a loss of what to do next.

I started drawing Sahara, from Alliance. I think I have her anatomy down more than her brother. I might try to have her hands on her hips. With her leaning a bit on one leg. Hopefully, it'll work out. Wish me luck! :P Oh, and those descriptions of the characters will be up soon! I promise! :D One more thing, I created a LJ account just to have another place for my art and/or recipes and my experiments in the kitchen. After I do the next post, I'll be sure to give you guys the link to it soon.

Youtube:

One of my faves! His art is amazing! The story is a bit sad, but the concept is amazing:

Cats and Baby squirrels? XD