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. 

Love!

Mood:

By Hebe Tien. Hebe is a Taiwanese singer, actress, and TV program hostess. She's also a member of S.H.E. I already liked a few of S.H.E's songs, but never looked into the members' solo songs before. (Or even that they had them.) Lastfm suggested it, and I curiously checked it out. She has an amazing voice. I'm also rather new to songs that are in Chinese. (Whether from China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong.) They sound very interesting. It's another music avenue to explore, I guess. Anyways, not only does the song sound beautiful, the lyrics are interesting too. Even if they're repeated over and over again, it doesn't get old. It's about how everyone loves everyone else, but why don't people love themselves. The main part is saying, "I love you, you love her, she loves her, she loves him, you love me, I love him, he loves him, he loves her." Kind of an interesting part, too. The video's kind of cool.

It's still pretty cold out. I saw a couple of days ago, that there's a possibility of snow next week. Oh joy.The last couple of days I've been doing my walks a little later than usual. But, I hope to get back to the time I was doing before. I don't feel quite as safe when it's after sunset.Today's been weird mood wise, because for a while I'll feel happy, and then I feel a bit depressed. Not terribly depressed, but somewhat down. I don't really know why. Oh well. 

Started watching Dinner Tuesday. At a famous Italian restaurant, the chef and owner, collapses from a heart attack and slips into a coma. No one knows if he'll ever wake up again. The restaurant starts to go through a rough patch. The sous-chefs and manager (the owner's daughter) try their best to keep the restaurant running, but the amount of customers drops drastically. Saori, the manager, then decides to hire an extraordinary chef Esaki as the restaurant's new head chef. He focuses more on taste then tradition. He visited the restaurant as a customer the day before he started working there. He was very disappointed. It'll be interesting to see what he does to change the restaurant. The drama also gives off a warm atmosphere, which is enjoyable. I haven't totally fallen for this one, but I'll stick around to see what happens.

On Cartoon KAT-TUN yesterday they had a veteran actor. One that's been big in Japan for decades. The members of Kat-tun apparently grew up watching his work. Also had Aly and AJ (I've never heard of them, even though this was several years ago...) from the USA as guests on their 'secret briefcase' segment. They didn't seem very bright, although they did try to joke with the band members. So, I give them that. They gave Kat-tun Hello Kitty themed shirts with Aly and AJ featured in that style. Kat-tun gave them huge exercise balls or 'rodeo' balls. 

In Fairy Tail, Yukino was humiliated and thrown out of Raven Tail for losing a fight once. She was forced to strip off all her clothes in front of everyone, and remove her guild mark with her magic. She ran over to Fairy Tail's inn, and was willing to give up the last 2 keys Lucy needed to complete her set of celestial spirits. Lucy declined. Not knowing what to do or where to go, she broke down just outside of Fairy Tail's inn. Natsu had rushed to her trying to apologize to her, thinking that she was upset because of something he did. He found out what they did to her, and busted into Raven Tail's inn. He was furious and seemed much more powerful than usual. It ended with him challenging their guild master. 

Started reading Tripeace a couple of weeks ago. Nana has experienced extreme amnesia, and has forgotten his real name. After witnessing the unjust deaths of 3 children he met while traveling, he vows to eradicate all wars. In the most current chapter that I read, he stops children who started a 'war' over a cat. He said it was like a test run. That's all I know from what I've been reading. In the description they say he joins a group of activists called Tripeace, whose members stop at nothing to bring peace to the world. They apparently have lots of different weapons. And, they'll use violence in order to achieve peace. That sounds like it'll be interesting. Nana's kind of a funny character, but I like him already. 

At the cafe yesterday, I had a small hot chocolate. The barista who was filling in for the one that's normally there, added a ton of chocolate. More than what I usually get. That was a nice surprise.Practiced my kanji, drew a Tu B'Shvat thing and started drawing the assassin from my story, transposed an Irish tune, read more of The Silmarillion, and started rewriting the letter to my penpal. And the last couple of days, I've managed to play my clarinet some more. 

Youtube:
Another cool Gintama amv:

12 More Days!

Mood:

Yay! 12 more days until my b-day!I don't think I'll ever become one of those people who dreads their birthdays. It's celebrating your life! I think of it as I made it this far, what more great and interesting things await me?I love how it's exactly a week after Halloween. They always feel interconnected to me.

Speaking of Halloween, yesterday I found my mom's stash of Halloween decorations. So, I put up a poster thing of a black cat coming out of a jack-o-lantern on the front door. Found some webbing that has 4 fake spiders. Put that up around the front windows. There were 2 wooden Halloween-themed figurines, I put on the counter next to the kitchen table. There's also these ghosts that hang on things like bushes, we used to put them out every year. Somewhat for directing the kids to our door. I'm debating whether I'll put those up too. (If we have a wind storm, they're a pain to find. Since they blow away so easily.) There's also some Halloween garland I can put somewhere, if I want. 

Managed to get the fire started in our wood stove yesterday. Couldn't totally do it on Sunday. But, I apparently didn't put enough wood in. So, it died down pretty quickly. Might try to do it again today. I'm not used to how our stove works. Dad gave me a few tips, after I asked her last night. So, we'll see.

My penpal from Japan finally sent a letter to me!(Snail mail.) It had been about a year and a half since she last sent something. I was really on the ball last time, and sent something as soon as I could to her after that. That last letter she sent, she sounded so depressed. Which is understandable, considering she was in the tsunami affected areas. But, not hearing from her for so long, I was a bit worried, and also thought maybe she didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore.She has a number of health conditions. Mental and physical. Anyways, she sounded much better in the letter that came yesterday. Again, still depressed about what happened. (I'd probably be the same.) But, things seem to be looking up for her. Makes me feel a bit more relieved. She said she hopes we can still be friends, even if it took her forever to respond. Of course we can.She's kind of cute that way. She had a sticker pic at the end of the letter of herself. She also asked if we could talk about our fave bands and send each other a ripped CD of some of their songs with each letter we send. That sounds interesting. Not sure if I'll do it, but we'll see. We have a lot to catch up on!

Went to the Hadassah meeting Tuesday night. Only one other person had one of the cookies I brought. I think the others were too scared of it. I guess they don't like trying new things.So sad. The other things seemed a bit plain. Like brownies, shortbread, etc. Don't get me wrong, I like that stuff. But, it gets old. I think for a dessert potluck, you'd want something exciting.

Anyways, the members seemed to really like my hairstyle. (Some haven't seen me for a long time.) One member went over to me, and begged to touch my hair. It feels a bit awkward how people react to it.I love it too, but I don't constantly touch it, and ooh and ahh. 

They were a lot nicer to me this time. Not trying to act like their my mom or anything. I have a parent, thank you very much.Just would like to be treated like another member. (I'm a life member now of the organization as a whole. So, I'm really a member of every Hadassah group/chapter now, for the rest of my life.) 

We talked about more ideas of how to draw people in, and more ideas for fundraising. A lot of people had stopped coming because they hated that every meeting ended with mah jongg (or mahj for short). Plus, our main fundraising event turned into a mahj tournament. They felt that's all that we were about. Frankly, I'm glad we had such a great fundraiser, but I have no interest in mahj. So, it really doesn't feel quite right that our group has focused so much on it.People brought up that maybe we should have that tournament every other year, instead of every year. But, we'd have to come up with something to replace it with the years we don't have the tournament. We also talked about projects that help raise money for certain organizations or causes. Like, breast cancer research, something to do with the Hadassah hospital in Israel, something to do with mental health, stem cell research, etc. That might be a good draw for people. We thought about bringing some things back, like lecturers, a Jewish poetry reading group called Drash to come again, workshops, etc. 

There's also a new movement where the organization is trying to draw in younger women. Specifically women in their 20s and 30s. My age group. They have a subgroup for them, and have a bit of a different focus. I think that's cool. I might want to join something like that. One of the members said there was a 4-day class on how to lead these groups for younger women, and wanted me to join it. I absolutely have no intention of leading them.But, I'd be happy to join one of those groups. (If you have a life membership, you're still considered a member of the younger groups.) 

This same member was the person who drove my friend and I to it. She used to be the group's president, while I was the secretary. Lately, she's had major problems with her hearing. A lot of the time she forgets her hearing aids, and therefore seems cranky when she can't hear anyone. Anyways, while we were in her car on the way to my place, she snapped at me big time. She couldn't see my lips, so she couldn't lip read. She essentially didn't hear a word I said, and thought I wasn't answering her. So, I said it louder, then she got even more irate. It was a very weird/emotional situation for me.And, my friend was put off by it too. I'm reluctant to get in her car again. I'm trying to stay away from people who may hurt me emotionally. I don't need that pain. Even if it's unintentional. Feels like I have to protect myself.

Went to the cafe this week. Had some hot chocolate with whipped cream, and a little chocolate syrup drizzled on top. Really good! While I was there I read an article in Japanese from Soy Source about Halloween costume and decoration ideas. Practiced my kanji. Up to about 72 of the 'current' ones that I've gone over. I know a lot more, but these were the ones I didn't go over before, or didn't go over enough of. That's a good number of them. Went over 3 Japanese grammar lessons. And, practiced making several Japanese sentences. Started drawing the clock tower that's at the university from my story. It's becoming pretty ornate looking. Kind of fun. I got sucked into it, while I drew. Might continue it next week. And, eventually post it.

A couple of days ago, I made a thing called Noodles with Tomatoes, Sardines, and Mustard. Another recipe from my new Asian cookbook. Almost all the recipes in the book say which country they got it from, except this one. We're thinking it might be Filipino or Thai. I left that open and asked people on dA, as well. Someone said it looks and sounds like a Thai dish, so I don't know. It was really good. Just needed more 'dressing' (mustard/olive oil/garlic/lemon juice), and a lot less red onion. (WAY too much onion!) I like the flavor red onion gives to a dish, but I don't really like eating them. I think I would have either taken out the red onion entirely, or used half the amount and cooked them to nothing before tossing them in the bowl. But, I wanted to see what the end result of the recipe would be before I tweak it too much. People on dA seem to really like this one. It already has a lot of faves, and a couple of comments. 

Last few days I've also gone over some of the 'new' current kanji, and some compounds. The compounds, for some reason, are really giving me a better understanding of the language. The grammar lessons have helped a lot as well. 

Posted a chapter of Alliance to one of the forums I'm apart of. Apparently, someone already really likes it. I thought no one cared. They liked the post, and commented saying that they really enjoyed that chapter. But, they also said I shouldn't wait so long to post the next one. I ended the one I just posted on a huge cliffhanger. So, it might be a bit cruel of me if I don't post the next chapter within a month or so.

Also, managed to play more of my clarinet this week. Did some Mozart and some tunes from my newest solo book. Hasn't been too bad. The Mozart book is for advanced players, especially the last pieces. (One of them he specifically made for the clarinet, and was one of his last pieces before his death.) So, I messed up a little on those. Oh, and forgot to mention, today's also Pumpkin Day, Pretzel Day, and Mince Meat Pie Day. Sounds like the perfect combo, to me!

Eat a Peach Day!

Mood:


Peaches are tasty!Nice that it has its own day. I could eat peaches every day and not get sick of them.Speaking of which we still have some peach pie. That'll be a nice way to celebrate.


It's been kind of cold today. It reached 80 yesterday. Really nice. Odd to go from that to about 65.Really strange weather. Parents left yesterday for their trip to Victoria, BC. I hope they're having fun. It's been kind of relaxing to have the house to myself. (Plus, the cats, can't forget them.) Rosie's been incredibly needy, but that's to be expected since there aren't 2 more people there to give her attention. Tasha seems to be showing herself more on the banister. Kind of nice to see her. She looked really happy last night. 


Made some pizza for dinner last night. It was good!Had some of the peach pie for dessert. The pizza will make some nice lunches for me. I'll make the fish pieces, mashed potatoes, and some sort of vegetable tonight. Sounds good.


Mom didn't feel well enough to go to services on Saturday. But, I read the portions. I've actually gotten back into that. Yay!The Haftorah was very poetic again. Kind of interesting imagery. I can't believe that we're getting close to Rosh Hashanah (our New Year). It's a little less than a month away!So, we're winding down to the last portions of the Torah for the year. 


Played some of the Sims 2. Got my sim to propose, and later to marry a sim he's been seeing for a while. I was a little bored with him being alone, and he was finally making some money.I think I'm going to make him work on his other points, and then he can switch to a new career. I'm at the highest rank for the sports track. It'll be interesting if he manages to go through all the career options. 


Found some more music yesterday!So, look forward to those! Mostly went through some classical music. I'm starting to get a small taste for it. Used to think I hated it. Even though I loved to play some of the pieces.


Found only 2 online Swiss recipes: apple roesti, and salmon Basel style. Most were either cheese/cream based or muesli. I would have loved the cheese/cream based things if I was by myself or with just mom. Dad hates cheese or creamy things. Muesli is ok, but it's essentially oatmeal based with fruit, nuts, and or yogurt. I can do that normally without the recipes. And I would like more dinner/dessert type things, anyways. I'll try to look for some Austrian recipes online next time. 


Finally started a letter to my penpal in Japan. She just sent me a postcard with almost no writing on it.I got a bit nervous last time I tried to send her a letter. Mainly, because she was in the area hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami. She gave me a really depressing postcard just after it happened. How do you respond to something like that?Well, I'm trying to write back in a positive way. Asking briefly if she's doing ok and has everything calmed down a bit. Then, going into light things like how was the weather this summer, have you ever traveled, thanks for the chopsticks, etc. She probably doesn't want to talk too much about it anymore. I wouldn't.It'd bring up too many sad and disturbing memories. Anyways, I hope she'll like it. 

This is the beginning of my Masada pics. The start of the hike. Looked amazing even from there. Already has a fave on dA! Wahoo!


Watched D no Arashi. Ohno did a report on a deep blue lake in a cave. That was pretty cool. But, I think I would have gotten stuck at some point. There were extremely tight spaces. A few times, they almost lost the cameraman.(That guy was brave!) I think Ohno almost got stuck too. Matsumoto finished up his segment on the prosthetic finger. It really was an emotional moment for everyone when he showed his family. They even added the mole he had in exactly the same spot. Next time, one of them will do a report on someone who had cosmetic surgery on their face. 

Watched the finale of Letter Bee Reverse. Which seems to be the finale of the whole series. I'm going to miss it!It was a good ending, but there's still so many loose ends. Like, will Lag ever meet his mother? Or, will the doctor finally find a solution and be able to restore people's hearts? What is Lag, really? I could go on and on. But, there are no indications that there will be a 3rd season. The first one actually had a trailer for the 2nd one. This one didn't. So, I don't know... I guess I won't spoil the ending by saying too much about the episode.Their world, stories, characters, etc., were all very interesting. And, it really drew you in. Awesome art for the most part, too. 


Played for an hour again. This time played some Irish tunes. The ligature's feeling better and better. I really like it.It smells every so often, but it's been much better than the cheap metal ones. Really high notes are easier to get to. Even though I didn't have that much of a problem. Don't have to blow as hard normally, too. Got about halfway through translating a sentence from the article I'm writing out from You Maga. 

In Crime Edge, a convict that escaped is a sledgehammer author. If an author doesn't have someone to keep them stable or sane, they'll go crazy and lose themselves. An ancestor of Kiri's, Grayland, was a murderer who killed over 200 people. He was considered the greatest serial killer of that time. He used the scissors that Kiri has. It has the power to cut down people as easily as cutting hair. The hammer has the power to turn things brittle. The convict finds Iwai, and Kiri fights him. Kiri easily beats him. But, he let the convict run away. The hammer was left behind. Later, they find out that he hung himself the next day. I like how this is a seinen manga, and it's not really ecchi. But it definitely has the maturity, to be considered seinen (basically for people in their 20's and up). The story's interesting, too. Seems pretty unique. Lots of dark humor, too. The pic's a bit misleading, but funny. 


deviantART faves: (Get ready for a lot!) Sugarless Ice Cream Cone Cakes Sweet Japan Xolga and Mr. Toko 9 Xolga and Mr. Toko song list Dunt wurry... Choco-orange cake slice Osmiorniczka z ryzem (Octopus with Rice) Sea-salt Caramels Lime Coconut Souffle I did not make these! Most of these are just some amazing pics of dishes. Third and fourth ones are from someone I watch on dA. It's a very funny, interesting game. Makes you think. Sad that she ended it with the 9th episode. It was really trippy. Nice that she listed the songs that were used. The fifth one's a cute Lolcat drawing.