Mood:
And, tonight's the start of the 7th day. Technically, the holiday will end by sundown on Saturday. Usually when it's this far into it, it's hard to keep up. But, so far I'm not feeling 'deprived' of chametz and kitniyot.
Chametz being anything leavened (that includes eating any of the 5 specific grains, matzo's an exception); and kitinyot is things like corn, soy, beans, certain nuts, rice, even mustard (although that's debated with certain groups...
), etc. Ashkenazi Jews (they originate from Germany and eastern Europe) refrain from eating both. Sephardi Jews (they originate from Spain and the Mediterranean) only refrain from eating chametz. There's been some infighting during the holiday because of this.
Especially in Israel. Some Ashkenazim refuse to go to a Sephardic seder. Simply because they feel it won't be 'kosher' for them, or won't find anything to eat. This can be irritating to Sephardim. I understand both sides, and frankly, I think it'd be cool to go to a Sephardic seder. (I don't think I've ever gone to one...
) I'd probably break the kitinyot thing for it. I think we should all be getting along, anyways. We'll see how I feel after today, though. Maybe the 'longing' for chametz will hit me. Some people can't keep it up the entire time. And, in Israel they do it only for 7 days, while people in the diaspora (anywhere but Israel) do 8 days. Or, at least they try to.
Tuesday night's group was terrible from the very beginning.
Forgive me, I might go into a rant...
Have to get it out into the 'air'. I rarely actually rant, and try to stay pretty positive. Had a great turn out, at least. Dad, since she's still the main facilitator, started the check-ins like usual. I was the next one to check-in. Like usual, everyone said I was a unicorn. Which I've been ok with for a while, and kind of have owned it. (Although, it is getting slightly annoying with every check-in I do.
) They don't usually ask me my preferred pronouns. I think mainly because everyone knows I'm 'cis'. Cis is short for cisgender, and it essentially just means I identify with the gender I was born into. So, I was born female, and identify with being one. People outside the community would label that as 'normal'. But, calling it normal means trans isn't normal. Kind of treats them like they're more lowly. And, what is normal anyways?
So, I totally get the cis part. And, I've always felt that however a person feels they identify is just as 'normal'. They're just being themselves.
Anyways, I said 'female pronouns'. Many trans women feel like they can finally own it. (So, I thought it was ok to say it.) Someone immediately muttered: "Cis people suck", after I said that.
When I wasn't totally positive with what they said, I asked "What?" to clarify. She immediately went into a rant about the gender binary, and didn't repeat what she said. But, I could tell that what I heard was correct. The 'gender binary' is the gender system of just female and male, and nothing in between/outside of that. You can have varying degrees of male and female, but you mostly identify as one or the other. Gender fluid people tend to be out of that binary, and think that system's horrible. I totally get why they're upset with the binary, and that they feel there needs to be a change in order for them to feel accepted and to break out of that mindset. I personally don't like the term 'binary' for it, but there isn't really a better term that we know of. She felt that if you just say female pronouns, you're perpetuating it. Well, sorry, but some of us are in the binary. Whether they're trans or cis. Doesn't make you worse or better than us, it's just a fact. Plus, I'm identifying myself and no one else.
What got to me wasn't necessarily the rant, it was the 'cis people suck' comment, and implying that I'm imposing on other people, or that I'm an idiot...(Not exactly sure what or why they said it, and later found out it was probably just an impulsive thing to say.) It was just plain malicious to say to me. I never think of people like that, especially in such a generalized statement. In my mind, I think of people as people (or better yet, human) and whatever they're going through to be just apart of them. It doesn't define them or their personality. I noticed halfway through my check-in that I had a chocolate stain on my shirt, so I was going to go to the bathroom to clean it after my turn. I didn't expect that comment, and I left to not only take care of that annoying stain, but also to compose myself.
Apparently, they ended up still discussing the pronoun thing when I got back. It got very heated. I was just trying to keep myself from crying until break. I also felt like that I was the only one hurt for a while. I noticed that Dad was getting pretty upset about it, too. (Was even more upset when I told her what was said to me.) One of the members decided to console me during break, and she was a bit upset about it, too. Especially when I told her what was said. That helped me a lot.
Half the time, the person who essentially started all this kept saying she was going through a tough time (I think...) in her life, and that she was sorry about it. That's not really an excuse to say what you did, or to kind of blow up on people.
She later apologized to me, but didn't tell me what for. So, it felt like kind of an automated response.
If that had been said to me before I had started taking my meds several years ago and before therapy, the outcome would not have been pretty.
It's something that might trigger suicidal thoughts in people who have what I have. I'm lucky that I have those great meds and have had therapy, but what if she had said something like that to someone else like me that wasn't as lucky? I was told by several people that she has anger issues, and that they've been getting more and more complaints about her lately. That sounds like a ticking time bomb.
I'm worried about other people too, if she stays like this. She sounds truly toxic right now. Although, most of the time, she seems to be an awesome person. (Which is why I'm also worried about her.
) Maybe if she were able to straighten out a bit, get more help, and come back, she might be more respectful like before.
Later, we went to Shari's. The person who has anger issues was there, too. Only I think she tried to be as nice as possible with me while we were there. I sat on the other side of the booth, though. Since it was still Passover, I got some scrambled eggs with cheese, and a fruit platter. They were really good!
I couldn't tell if the waitress misgendered me or the lady next to me. It was very weird, because everyone who was there was dressed pretty femininely. Or, their hairstyle looked particularly 'fem', too. It just added to the level of weirdness that night.
The discussion about preferred pronouns spilled out onto the fb group page for the last couple of days. When people found out that someone said what they did to me, some of them seemed to immediately change their tone. Dad said she was thinking of not facilitating anymore, that she doesn't feel safe there, and she might not go back. (I'm also feeling a bit like those last 2 parts...
) That changed things a bit and there were, what she called, 'fireworks' after that. It's been interesting watching the dialog go back and forth. I've stayed out of the whole thing. Especially because I didn't feel wanted with that comment. And yet, they said things like pushing allies away isn't cool. That most of their supporters are allies, and they won't stand for that kind of thing. Kind of sounds like that weird thing where people say things like: my best friend is gay, or my best friend is Jewish, or my best friend is black, etc.
The thing that gets me is I was clear across the other side of the room and heard it. People who've commented said they didn't hear it. They aren't saying that it must not have happened, which is good. I haven't seen the girl who that person essentially muttered it to (she turned her head to her), say anything during all this talk on fb. Makes me wonder...
The person who said it commented on the fb group page that she doesn't even remember what she said that night, that she feels she's unhealthy for the group at the moment, and she's thinking of not going until she feels better about things. Ok, I give you that. That's a great start. Just to take a breather...
I 'defriended' her on fb, even though she normally is such a nice person. But, I want as little toxicity in my life as possible. Although, toxicity is never good for people.
I think the only reason I might have heard it was because I recently thoroughly cleaned my ears out. Also, when someone says something right after I say something, I always try to hear them as best I can. Not just to be polite, but to really listen and understand what that person has to say. It might take me a moment to 'absorb' depending on how soon/fast they say it, but it usually gets through. And, when I don't believe it, I either say 'what?', 'huh?', or 'could you say that again?'. I think that 'absorbing' part might actually have to do with my ears, I don't know...
Another problem, that's been kind of a more underlying thing, is someone has also said things like: 'No offence, but I would never hang out with cis-het people.' Het means heterosexual. (I am cis-het, but that's so offhanded.) What about cis-homo? Like, we're all the same? How does that work? Overgeneralizing doesn't help anyone. And saying something so negative about a group of people who are actually there, isn't very cool either.
The 'no offence' thing doesn't give you a free pass. I think some people need to learn more about these things. Otherwise, they're going to lose a lot more allies. They say they're important for support, but if you treat us like that, don't expect us to come back.
A certain amount of this can really get to someone. Obviously, with me included.
On a much happier note, Gintama has started up again!
It was a great start to the 'season'. They started with Gintoki doing a parody of an emotional Japanese politician. (I can't remember what his name was...) But, he got really emotional when he started to apologize for essentially trolling their fanbase. They said the last movie was going to be their last hurrah, and they would never come back again. He kept saying how he was sorry they were back, not that they left for 2 years.
The new 'arc' is about Gintoki breaking the time flow. There was an alien that gave him a special multi-faced clock that told him to protect it. It was their job to protect time, but they crashed their spacecraft and were dying. Gintoki was drunk, didn't care much about it, but took it home. He put it next to his alarm clock. In the morning, when the alarm went off, he broke the multi-faced clock instead of his alarm clock.
Time froze. The only people that could move around like normal were Kagura and Shinpachi. Simply because they were in close proximity to the clock. So, now they're trying to save time, and turn things back to the way it was. Right now, they've figured out that they can manually move the arms of the clock. But, if they move it too far, time passes too quickly. Too little, and nothing happens. I'm liking this arc so far. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going again. It feels so nice just to see the characters again! It's kind of an odd feeling. Like seeing old friends you haven't seen for years.
I finally made 2 of the 4 dinners that were on my Passover list. The first one was a lamb meatball dish with mint, lemon, sugar, pepper, salt, parsley in the meatballs, a ton of garlic, lots of onions, and a few other things. I put it over Passover couscous. It has a similar texture as rice, but rice is kitniyot, so this is a nice alternative. It was a traditional dish from Baghdad. Tonight, I made an orange chicken stir-fry, and put it over some of the leftover couscous. It was really good, but came out in a way I didn't expect.
Could barely taste any orange in it, the taste of honey was nonexistent, there was a ton of onions, and I added real garlic instead of the powdered stuff they wanted me to use. The garlic really came through. Good thing we love garlic.
The onion was good too. I'm cool with the flavor, I just don't like when it's raw or close to it. It's a texture thing. But, the onions in this recipe ended up being very soft, and were close to becoming 'nothing'. It was good that way. I hope to make leek and potato patties tomorrow's dinner, which will be Shabbat dinner. Usually that's a bit more special than the rest of the week's dinners. Hopefully, it's good...
Mood:
We're halfway through Passover now. It feels like it's going quickly so far.The in between days (from the 3rd day to the 6th day) are called Chol Hamoed. Chol Hamoed is lit: 'the day of the week of the holiday'. The first and second nights tend to be a bigger to-do, with having 2 large seders/meals. The 2nd day is the start of the counting of the Omer, which ends on Shavuot. (That's 49 days.) An omer is an old measure of grain. Shavuot marks when we received the Torah.
I think this was the first time that I did most of everything (no one else had to cook/put together anything extra) for our seder. I did the matzo ball soup, charoset, salad, hard-boiled eggs, popovers, etc. Dad got a store-bought roasted chicken for the main entree. That worked out pretty well with everything. She wanted to make a Greek lamb and potato dish from her new Greek cookbook, but didn't have time. Which is all fine and understandable.
The cake turned out interesting. They didn't tell me to grease the pan, and I forgot to do it as a precaution. So, the edges really stuck to it.The middle seems to come out fine. So, I probably should just eat it from the middle out. It's really good.
Kind of has an outer crunchy 'shell', the walnuts turned into little candy pieces (kind of like pralines. There was quite a bit of sugar in the batter), and the middle of it is really soft and a bit crumbly. The middle seems like it'd be close in consistency to fudge. I think I've had this cake in the past.It tastes familiar. It's better than I expected. Apparently, Dad doesn't even want to try it though...Oh well, more for me!Although, it makes a lot, and is pretty heavy. We'll see how much of it I can go through.
The kosher for Passover peppermint patties are good, too. They're like dense and more intense versions of the original kind. The chocolate chip macaroons are pretty tasty, too. Normally we get the almond and/or chocolate kinds. The red velvet one is good. I think that was new last year. The chocolate covered orange peels are good, as well. The packaging is always interesting. The top looks like a blossom, after untwisting it, it turns into a Mogen David or Star of David. The candy is wrapped up in plastic, and that sits in a white lacy fruit holder. (The kind I see holding things like Asian pears. To keep it from bruising.) I don't remember what that's called...The whole package is pretty nifty.
Everything went well that night for our seder. Although, Rosie (one of our cats) came close to eating my gefilte fish and hard-boiled eggs.
The next day, I got a haircut. It was the first time in a couple of years. Just wanted a trim, and to make the length even throughout. Apparently, this wasn't the same person I had last time. I thought it would be. I think I liked this one more. The products she used for my hair felt good for about a day. Then, it felt weird. She used a lot of different things, I only use 2 products for my hair. I think it felt 'caked' on the next day.
She also did what she called tight 'bundles' of curls, that I was supposed to be able to 'unravel' once my hair dried with running my fingers through it. Half of it did, and half of it didn't. The ones that didn't, looked kind of like dreadlocks...I don't think that's good for my type of hair or really my 'style'. Once she was done trimming it, I also felt lighter and 'airier'. That part itself felt, and still feels, good. Overall, it felt nice to get it done.
It still looks decent with the products I normally use. I'm also not catching on as many things as I normally do.
She gave me a few more tips, as well. Not sure if I'll follow all of them, but they're good to know. I've been washing it more than I probably should, so I'll try to wash it only every 3 days like she said. Usually by the second day it's all poofy and frizzy, though.So, we'll see how this'll work out. It might not. I'll just go back to how I was doing it before, if it doesn't. She said to help with the poofing up and a bit of the frizz, I could do simple big braids before going to bed and sleep with it like that. In the morning I could undo them, and supposedly it'd keep my 'style' more and cut down on frizz. I've never braided my hair. The way she suggested seemed simple. Not sure if I'll go that route, though.
About 3 hours later, we went to our friends' seder. (My hair was still wet when we got there.) I didn't expect that there'd be so many people. They didn't tell us how many people would be there, so I made just one extra batch of popovers for it. There's 15 popovers to every batch. Ended up being 16 people there. They all wanted some. I think the 2 kids who were identical twins shared one. But, everyone wanted more than just one. Hey, it's not my fault the hosts didn't tell me about the number of people going!
The salad went by quickly, too. Since, again, we didn't prepare for that many people.
There were 3 people we hadn't seen in years. One was my sex ed teacher in junior high. She seems to forget how old I am, because she said she probably retired before I hit junior high...
(She retired in 2001. I probably had her in '98 or '99.) But, she did that with someone else who was there, too. She also remembered me as a little kid, and we've certainly seen each other since. I think the last time was like 9 or 10 years ago. So, maybe her memory's getting a bit foggy. Kind of sad. Naturally, it's been a while since I've seen her husband, who is usually with her at these things. He's pretty nice too. A bit shaky, but still has his wit.
The other person I hadn't seen in a very long time, was someone that I went to Sunday school with. Although, she's 5 years older than me, I saw her briefly when I started until a couple of years into it. We know her parents pretty well, too. They were there, like most years, for Passover. But, I don't think I've seen their daughter for about 12 years. I know it's been longer than the last time I saw the person who was my sex ed teacher. She used to be very moody, and I thought for a while that she didn't like me. She'd be nice one minute and really mean the next. She was quite different this time, and she seemed enthusiastic to talk to me, and ended up talking to her for a while. (I think she wanted an even longer time to talk...) It was nice.
With another person that was there, I remember going to his Bar Mitzvah and he tried to help as much as he could with Hadassah meetings. Especially when it was held at his parents' place. Hadassah is a Jewish women's organization, but men can help out. They can even become 'associate' members. (I'm a lifetime full member of it. Membership was given to me as a present.
) Anyways, he's a very nice guy, and his parents are nice too. He's apparently getting close to graduating high school now. He seems to be aging quickly...Talked with him quite a bit, too. He kind of body slammed me as a hug for when he was about to leave.It hurt. (Maybe he was nervous?)
His mom suggested that I try a local congregation, that we used to be members of, again. Telling me its changed a lot since they got a new rabbi. I'm still iffy about that. They're growing quickly, as well. About the same amount of families as when I was in elementary school. It was close to half that for a while. She said he does more of a conservative service. I'm looking into modern orthodoxy, and conservative is closer to it than reform is. They're also doing more Friday nights, along with every Saturday morning. I really want a congregation that does every Friday night, and all of Saturday. That's including the morning, afternoon, and Havdalah services for Saturday. I really want to know what it's like to go to all of them regularly...But, no congregation on this side of the water does that. The other local congregation does like 1 or 2 Saturday morning services, and occasionally a Friday one. They meet less often. She said she'd drive me to see how much the congregation has changed, if I wanted to. I feel more of a connection with the one that meets less often, though...So weird.
Another older couple came with their identical twin granddaughters. The kids were cute, and were well behaved.
We're pretty close to their grandparents, too. They also felt odd about the congregation we used to be members of, and have become members of the other one.
And, then there was just Dad and I, plus the hosts. We've known the hosts for a very long time. They invite us to their place for one of the seders every year, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve, and I think occasionally Hanukkah. It's nice to celebrate the holidays with people who have basically turned into family over the years.
(Especially when we live so far from other family members.) I think the first time we went to their place to celebrate a holiday might have been when I was about 6 or 7. So, we've known them for quite a while.
Sunday night, Dad got to make her lamb and potato thing. We had a salad with it. It was really good.I normally have to be in the mood for lamb, or it's too fatty, or something. This wasn't very fatty, and the seasonings on it were good. Potatoes were good, too.
I'll also make a lamb dish soon. Probably on Wednesday. It's Nanaeya, which is lamb meatballs with a sweet and sour mint sauce dish. I'm thinking of having it over kosher for Passover plain couscous. To be in a similar 'theme'. It sounds good, too. I'm also hoping to make a spinach and feta matzo pie, potato and leek patties, and an orange chicken stir-fry for more dinners or lunches. (I'll probably make one of them as a lunch.) They sound so good.
I've gotten back into my sit-ups. I'm doing 15 twice a day. I thought instead of adding 5 sit-ups twice a day each week, I'd up it that much every month. It'll be a more gradual increase. Probably healthier that way. It feels like it's working again. The highest amount I ever did was around 100 twice a day. That's probably not the best thing to do. It might have bulked me up a bit with that many. Maybe I should set a limit to how many I can do in one round, and then maybe start from the beginning again?
Trying to get back to walking again, too. Getting better about it every day. Sometimes I only get to one of the two 2-mile walks. That's ok, because at least I got to one.I did one for today, and hopefully after my afternoon snack, I can go for another. It feels so good afterwards. It's like my natural gym. Especially with the sit-ups added to the mix.
Also, trying to keep close to how I want to eat. A range of 1200-1600 calories a day, split into 5 meals. It's helped me a lot. And, not just in losing weight. Although, it's been a major factor. (From my heaviest weight, I've lost over 100 pounds.) I still get to eat what I want, just in smaller amounts. And, I can always have some of those leftovers a little later with the next meal. It's given me a view of how big things really are, to listen to my body a bit more, and to tell myself that it's ok to not eat it all in one sitting. With ice cream and such, where things won't keep well, I have to tell myself that it's ok not to finish it. I shouldn't force myself to finish it just because it won't keep. That's silly, and doesn't help me in the long run.It's harder to keep when I've felt sick, though. (I was sick during most of February.) But, I apparently have been eating this way long enough that I can't physically eat nearly as much as I used to. I try to be a bit more lax during a holiday like Passover, too. Especially the first 2 nights. A lot of the food is filling, but I'll be hungry again like an hour later. It goes quickly through my system.
The new spring anime season has started.
I tried to watch Vampire Holmes. It sounded like it'd be really good. The animation was horrible, there wasn't really a plot, and the first episode only lasted 2 minutes. Not even the norm of 5 minutes for most shows that have short episodes. It was like someone tried to troll us. I tried Kekkai Sensen or Bloodline Battlefront. I thought it had a pretty good first episode. Reminds me a bit of Hamatora, Gintama (with the idea of living with aliens), and Men in Black all rolled into one. Seems 'unique' in some ways, too. After watching the 2nd episode, I might say more about it. It has a lot of promise, but I'm still a bit cautious about it.
Also, tried Heroic Legend of Arslan. The manga's supposed to be wildly popular, and it's done by the same person who created Fullmetal Alchemist. I think FA ended quite a while ago. I've watched the first anime series and the movie that corresponded with it, a very long time ago. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood was the 2nd series based on the manga, told the story differently, and followed closer to the manga. I didn't want to rehash the whole thing, and didn't watch that one. The 1st series was really good. It was 51 episodes, though. So, just based on the way characters were and story development, maybe this new series will be just as good. It's a totally different story. The animation is amazing. Some of it feels 'real', but in a beautiful way. The main character's interesting. I like it so far, and after the 2nd episode I'll say more about this one, too.
Gintama's (or lit. 'Silver Soul') coming back tomorrow!
It's got to be one of my all time, if not number one, fave anime. It took a 2-year hiatus. They made it seem like they were never coming back, though. They've pulled that before, and after trolling fans so often, it's hard to believe that they'd end it like that. It's such an awesome show! The humor is great, has awesome fight scenes, can make you cry at the drop of a hat, the stories may seem ordinary (and sometimes childish) at first but end up being much more than they appear, the main plot is great, the characters are amazing (each one is unique and full of personality), music is usually great, and so much more. It's a very well done series. Even the seiyuu or voice actors are really amazing, and are known for their performances in the series. Every episode is better than the last. The first episode of the series was kind of mediocre and threw me off a bit. A couple of episodes in, and you can see the awesomeness shining through, though. The 1st 'season' is 201 episodes, and the 2nd one is 64 episodes. (I hope this 3rd one will be longer than 64 episodes...The story could probably go on forever.
) There have been 2 feature-length movies, and both were great. They could stand on their own, even if you've never watched the show before. There was a 2-year hiatus between the 1st 'season' and 2nd as well. The manga's still ongoing, and started in 2003. (Thought the anime stuck pretty close to it, so I stopped reading it early on.) The 1st anime 'season' started in 2006. I'm so excited for this one! I don't know much about Etotama and Kyoukai no Rinne, but I'm thinking of trying those out, too.
I'm almost done with the 1st season of Kuroko no Basket. I think the 3rd season is happening currently, but of course I'll start the 2nd season before watching the 3rd. I might not start watching the 2nd season for a little while, though. It's a good show, but there are some good looking new shows, and I kind of feel like going back to some of the stuff I put on hold beforehand.
Kamisama Hajimemashita's 2nd season was really good. I think better than it's first season. I just don't like this dancing around their feelings thing. Nanami has confessed to Tomoe a couple of times already. Tomoe only confessed to her when she was half-asleep and when they were stuck in the memories of her childhood. He's jealous of other guys who fall for her and are forward with their feelings towards her. Half upset with himself because he doesn't have the guts to tell her when she's awake. I don't like when a show tiptoes around it for so long. But, she may have remembered what he said while they were trapped in her childhood afterwards during the last couple of minutes of the finale. So, maybe if they came back for another season, it'll be better that way. The new characters for this season were interesting.
Fairy Tail is finally getting back to the main plot. There were a lot of side stories for a while. The animation, colors, clothing, overall mood, etc. seems to have changed, too. I like their new clothes, except for Lucy's extremely short shorts...This arc is apparently going to be about a village that's been frozen over. Everyone's alive, but encased in the ice. They worshiped an eternal flame, but even that was frozen solid. One of the infamous wizard saints specifically wants Gray and Natsu on this job. But, many of the other members accompanied them. (The usually ones. Lucy, Erza, Happy, Carla, and Wendy.) Gray uses ice magic, and Natsu uses fire. They don't get along too well, but they might be able to find out why (and save) the city was frozen over with their abilities. It seems like a lot was given away with the opening theme sequence. But, I don't know much about it at the moment.
Finished the writing part of the 12th short story to my nightmare anthology.
And, technically the last writing part of the whole thing. This story was a bit difficult to finish. But, good that it's over with. Now I have to do another once over for all the stories, edit, add chapter/story titles, reformat so everything is together in one document and in the format Smashwords wants it in, and send it to Smashwords. I think the hardest part is over with now. I brought this anthology up at the seder with some people. Apparently it was very interesting to people. Most thought it was a good idea. I ended up talking a lot about nightmares in general with someone at the very end. He seemed excited to talk about it. I didn't think it'd be that interesting to others. I thought it was interesting for me to go over some of the original nightmares, thinking about how marvelous our brains can be for making this stuff up. It kind of gave me more insight into them, and makes me feel even better about myself.
I haven't really been terrified by my recurring (or new for that matter) nightmares in a very long time, and I mostly find them entertaining now. That might sound weird, but when you've had them most of your life, eventually you do get used to them. The first story is based on my earliest recurring nightmare which started when I was 2. So, you can see how far back I've been having these. Each story is one based on the original nightmare. Some nightmares are short, and some incredibly long. So, I've had to come up with something around it to elongate it or shorten it.
The last story isn't actually based on a nightmare, but on a problem I occasionally get with my ears. One time it sounded like a ghostly choir in my ears, and that's the one it's based on. Most of the time I have fluid that moves occasionally through my ears that I can hear and feel. It doesn't usually sound that way. I've always had a problem with wax buildup in my ears, and too much loose fluid. I have other issues with my Eustachian tubes, too. Like, certain changes in pressure can make me feel sick.It might be really slight, and not many people will even feel it, but I most definitely can. In the past, every time I went to the doctor, the nurse had to clean my ears out. Now I have a little home kit I can use. I think a nurse told me a while back that it was a good idea, but I should do it at least once a month, if not more. I have a hard time remembering when I did it last...But, it feels amazing afterwards. Everything's so clear sounding, too. That wax kind of protects it, so in a way every time I clear it, it's better than it would have been. I'm one of the few people that doctors tell to use a Q-tip in their ears, too. Probably because of all that wax. Anyways, what I heard that one time, is kind of like a real nightmare. Even though it didn't really do anything, it was scary at the time. I think it actually lasted a week. That's rare, too.
I studied a bit on JapaneseClass' site. I actually did pretty well with the practice, going over my oblivion lists, and weak kanji. Some new stuff was thrown in, too. I rarely ever glance at the 'social feed' they have on the front page, but decided to look through it. Someone said 'Happy Easter!'. Which is great. But, the visible comment under it wasn't so great.
They were trying to figure out a better way of saying Easter in Japanese. Someone from Italy suggested 'Pesach' (even typed it out in Hebrew), and equated them to mean the same. Like I've mentioned before, Pesach is Passover. Passover is very different from Easter, and they're from 2 different religions. I know they have what they call the Paschal Lamb, but that's a thing, not a name of a holiday to them. So, this is equally bizarre to me.
They also said 'Jew' and 'Hebrew' were the same in Italian. They shouldn't be. One's a people, the other's a language. I looked it up just now, and they are slightly different. So, the person who responded to me was wrong...The other person said that they say Passover to mean Easter with their friends, and they don't have a problem with it. Yeah, and they're not Jewish...So, just because someone (who's ignorant) says it's ok, it's ok? What kind of logic is that?
I tried to educate them. I love to educate people, but some are incredibly ignorant and hard to deal with. I tried to be as calm as I could be with it, too. Both didn't respond to my last post, and I hope that means they understand a little bit more about it and why it was a bit unsettling to me. I know some people call Easter, in kind of a joking way, as Zombie Jesus Day. But, that actually makes sense, and I'm not sure exactly what that'd really be in Japanese. (Maybe: ゾンビイエスの日 or Zonbi Iesu no Hi?) I should have suggested it, but I think they would have thought I was being disrespectful.
Tonight's group, and I have an idea of what I could do if we go to Shari's after. I can get their fruit platter, and scrambled eggs with cheese. I can't have ketchup or BBQ sauce (they both usually have corn and/or soy derivatives) on the eggs, but salt should be good enough. That way I can enjoy my time there, too. Although, it'll be slightly tempting to see what everyone else gets.
I'll have something similar if we go somewhere else.
