Eclectic Mix

Original Posting: December 11th, 2008
A few weeks ago, my class & I went to the Japanese restaurant called Sumo.
Most of us got べんとのとんかつ.
Tonkatsu is a running gag with our class. In one of the dialogues from our textbook, they’re ordering food, and the girl asks what tonkatsu is. (It’s basically a think sliced pork chop with a breading much like shake & bake. It’s served with katsu sauce. My description does it no justice.)
とんかつ　おいしい　ですや。

I took this with my cell… so it’s kinda crappy.

I love tonkatsu! I LOVE gyoza. Gyoza are fried pork dumplings, and are sooo good. My favorite Chinese restaurant at home makes them, and so does Ruby Tuesdays, but these are SO GOOD!

せんせい　was explaining all kinds of things to us about eating in japan. Normally, they wouldn’t give you a spoon, so you just sip from the bowl. Also, it’s ok to slurp. When eating soup or noodles, it’s almost expected.

If you go to a restaurant and they give you disposable chopsticks, many people take the wrapper & tie it in a knot to make a chopstick rest to you don’t set them on the table. (I put mine on the bento in the pic so they could bee seen.)

Before you eat (especially in someone’s home to which you are a guest) you say いたでます （itadekimasu- Thank you for this meal.) After the same meal you say ごちそうさま （Gochisoosama- Thank you for this meal.)

When ordering you’d say おべんとのとんかつおねがいします　（Bento no tonkatsu onegaishimasu -　I’d like a tonkatsu bento box please.)

My bf & I have been back to sumo several times since & we’ve tried a few other things. Tempura is good also; it’s a different breading than the tonkatsu, and comes with a different dipping sauce. The breading tastes alot like fried dough, it’s very sweet. I liked it, but it’s too much sweet for a whole meal. Worth a try if a friend orders it & you can snag a bite

So the moral of the story is: IF YOU HAVE A JAPANESE RESTAURANT NEAR YOU GO EAT THERE!

~Arcsis

Quick post, just showing off my cute kitten, Cooper. (Redundant for anyone that follows me on twitter)

This 1st video is of Cooper playing with his sister (who is IN the box)

And this is Cooper, antagonizing the poor bettas, Momoiro & Downey

1. Purple trackball kit for Blackberry Curve
2. Blackberry 8300 Charging Pod
3. Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: A Concordance, Volume II
4. & The piece de la resistance: 
                                               A physical, paperback copy of 1984.
5. (HA! You won’t be taking it from me again!)

In all fairness, I’ve always loved Amazon. I was a little peeved & confused initially, but I think $60 makes up for for the $1.98 I had spent originally. While their actions were hasty, and not well thought out at all, they don’t want to lose their customers. This is a company that really listened to the people they had upset. I’m sure some people will never shop there again out of sheer principle, but  not me. Apparently I’ve been bought out by $60 dollars worth of goodies. And ya know, I’m comfortable with that.

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[Just a side note to prove how much of a huge dork I am, Aerith's theme was playing while I wrote this. I'm a big, sappy nerd & am totally comfortable with that.]

I talked to my Mom yesterday, and she told me that Friday was a sad day. The orange kitten, dubbed “Tiger” died in the afternoon after not eating for the previous day & a half. They tried bottle feeding, but Tiger would barely drink.

When I was there on the 1st day, Tiger was crawling all over, pushing the other kittens out of the way. It didn’t look like s/he was eating as much, but they looked happy & active. I thought for sure Tiger would be the biggest one of the litter, but although s/he started out big, the other kittens are growing quickly, and have matched / surpassed poor Tiger in size. We also had someone looking to adopt Tiger, and will have to break the bad news to her as well.

Rest in Peace little Tiger kitty, know that you were loved, even for your short time with us.

And because I’m a big sap & can’t read it without crying:
Here’s the poem “The Rainbow Bridge” by Paul C. Dahm

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who was left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body begins to quiver. Suddenly, he breaks from the group, flying over the green grass, faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together…

I got a text around 8:20 am on Monday that said: “2 Kittens so far” I called Mom right away to get the full scoop.

Mittens had set up camp under a desk the garage, so that’s where they moved her box to. In the morning Mittens was scratching on the door to come into the main part of the house (she’d been shut in the garage to make sure she didn’t have the kittens on the new couch in the middle of the night.) Rich let her in & she was acting especially friendly. She started scratching at rich’s shoes & climbed onto his lap to bite is nose! Then she ran off in the direction of the garage. Mom & rich followed, morning coffee in hand. She ran & jumped into her nesting box, and gave out a little yelp. The kittens were on the way!

Mittens did very well, she made very little sound but looked uncomfortable. The only time Mom or rich felt the need to step in was once all the kittens were out, Mittens was focused on cleaning up the 1st 2. Mom had a warm damp cloth to clean off the faces of the others, just to make sure they could breathe.

By the time I got there that afternoon, all the kittens were clean, & the bedding had been changed. There are 5 kittens total: A pure black one, a white one with black patches (Looks like a cow!), an orange tiger stripe, a dark colored tortoiseshell/calico, and a traditional calico that looks just like mittens (That one is mine, I called dibs!) They’re already calling my calico tama. Teehee!

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I told you all about Mittens in my last post, & I’ve come to the conclusion that I really really want one of her Kittens. At first it was a fleeting thought, (OMIGOD! How cool would it be to have a cat that’s not all grumpy & bitchy!) But now, I’m really starting to consider it. I already have an established cat system here, I’d just need to integrate some kitten chow into the mix, and get my dad to sign on. (I’m hoping to get my own place soon, so that’s a bargaining chip.)

I’ve been thinking & thinking of a cool name for my future, almost-sure-to-be new kitty. I wanted to give her a cool foreign name, probably Japanese since that is my favorite language I’ve studied so far.  Then it hit me- Mitten is calico, her kittens will probably be calico ( I hope I hope!) Then I can name mine たま! (Pronounced Tama for those that can’t read / see the hiragana.)

While Tama means “Ball,” she’d be named after the stationmaster kitty who helped the Kishigawa Line from falling into bankruptcy. (See my full story here.)

I’m looking for other names in case the calico type falls through.
I like こねこ koneko – kitten or literally “that cat”, or something cutsey from an anime. (I need to get back into watching more anime, ごめんなさい ^_^;)

If anyone actually reads this, give me some ideas!

<3

~Arcsis

…or just Mittens for short.

My stepdad works weekends at the local dump for a little bit of extra spending money. Last week, the other guys told him someone must have dropped off a cat, as a sad looking calico had been wandering around for a few days. While the other guys merely noticed her existence, Rich got down on the floor and called her over. The poor thing, literally starving, & starved for attention was purring happily as she jumped into his lap, & soaked up all the pets & love she was getting. Her face was covered with scratches, and there were ticks biting her in the back of the neck. Although she was a stray, her belly was bulging- there must be kittens on the way! That night, he brought her home to feed her & look for a good home for her.  Both Mom & Rich agreed that they didn’t want a cat, but neither of them could let her starve to death.  They checked with the local SPCA, who told them to take her back to the dump, as they could not take her. (When I heard this I was furious- I always had lots of respect for this shelter, but to even suggest that she be left alone at the dump made my stomach turn. But this is a rant for another day.)

A few days later, they found a local cat/llama lady to watch her & the kittens until they could be given a new home. This lady already had various animals along with other cats & dogs, so another wouldn’t be too much more to take on for the time being. They dropped off dump cat (a nickname of love, let me assure you,)  and headed for home. As they were pulling away, they looked at the llamas, alpacas, & once more at the double wide trailer. Even from the road, Mom & Rich could see stacks of plastic cat carriers filling the back window of the building.

The next day, they both agreed that they were heartbroken leaving poor dump kitty at the llama lady’s house. Mom called her & asked if they could come get DK back. Llama lady had no problem with this & off they went to rescue the cat. In the 24 hours or so that she had been there, DK reeked of animal urine and required a bath. She also had fresh scratches on her nose. After a relatively smooth bath, it was agreed upon that dump kitty needed a name.

At first, they wanted to name her Patches, for obvious reasons. Mom shot that down. (My own cat is named Patches, I’m guessing she didn’t want that confusion.) Rich wanted to name her scratches, because she has a strange urge to scratch on peoples shoes. (Beware wearers of flip-flops!) So that left their last name choice. Even though her legs are all totally white, she was named Mittens after the cat from Bolt. (which I haven’t seen yet, but from what I’ve been told, it’s quite fitting.)

We don’t know how far along she is, but we’re guessing 3 weeks or so.  I’m so excited for kittens!

~Arcsis

Today I suddenly had an urge to bust out my old keyboard (piano type, not computer type, heh)

I them hit Youtube for tutorials. I can read music, but my bass clef is rusty, & chords scare me. After attempting a few different songs, I can across a guide for a cute song called “New Soul” by Yael Naïm. (Most people know this song from the Macbook Air commercials.

crazyasianpiano does a bunch of great songs, including Viva la Vida, Love Song & Supermassive Black Hole
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCTgZ0k-NA4&hl=en&fs=1]

My only problem was, I couldn’t visualize it, so I made a chart & figured I should share it

It’s really not a bad song to play, the rhythm is a little hard to grasp if you don’t know the song, but not terrible.