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·It's so damn cold, the worse for this 中途半端 locale where it never snows but it's freezing inside. I made a lentil soup roughly combining a recipe of my mother's and one from trobadora; very tasty, with added cumin seed and chili powder, and less liquid than called for because I like my lentils mess-of-pottagey rather than soupy. In fact, I basically reengineered ersatz dal curry; I'm gonna make it again with that in mind, sautéing the cumin seed properly first and adding some extra spice.
·Chinese, much as usual; making good progress working through the Guardian script on account of it's an excellent method of procrastination. Latest study problem: I know 成语 like 中途半端 ("neither t'one nor t'other," roughly) above exist in Chinese, on account of they exist in Japanese, but to know the Chinese pronunciation I have to know what the characters are. And I never do! I can SAY them in Japanese, and READ them no problem, but I can't bring them to mind independently. (I got as far as 中途半 and had to look up the last one, "what the hell is pa, it's not this, it's not that...oh, duan, aagh.")
·I'm irritated, as always, by the profusion of Christmas themes in shopping arcades, at school assemblies, and so on and so forth. Different from the Western assumption that everyone is BASICALLY Christian, here there's a) a lack of awareness that Christmas stuff actually has a religious meaning, and b) even when aware of that fact, a lack of awareness that syncretism with Christianity isn't always okay.* In general I enjoy Japan's casual, almost areligious syncretist habits, but not this one.
*I am not especially pro-Christianity but I know/know of a number of people, including some DW friends, whose practice of Christianity I respect the hell out of, er, as it were. So you know, not all Christians.
·In music terms, listening to Eliane Elias' piano work a lot--very good Brazilian jazz--except the tune of hers I like best is buried on a CD made from a tape of my father's and I have no idea what it's called. Also practicing the bassoon daily--fingering is much easier, except for the middle G, but reeds are a problem. Still, I like it, it feels right.
·Yuletide fic posted; it needs a final editing pass but it should mostly stand up as is. Still writing other bits of things for treats etc., we'll see which end up taking form, or rather filling in the form I can see.
·Photos: Autumn into winter: Japanese lanterns (photo by Y), maple, kumquats, gingkos, ivy, camellias, coffeepots, a cat framed by a kimono (no, the context didn't make any more sense in person).
Be safe and well.
·Chinese, much as usual; making good progress working through the Guardian script on account of it's an excellent method of procrastination. Latest study problem: I know 成语 like 中途半端 ("neither t'one nor t'other," roughly) above exist in Chinese, on account of they exist in Japanese, but to know the Chinese pronunciation I have to know what the characters are. And I never do! I can SAY them in Japanese, and READ them no problem, but I can't bring them to mind independently. (I got as far as 中途半 and had to look up the last one, "what the hell is pa, it's not this, it's not that...oh, duan, aagh.")
·I'm irritated, as always, by the profusion of Christmas themes in shopping arcades, at school assemblies, and so on and so forth. Different from the Western assumption that everyone is BASICALLY Christian, here there's a) a lack of awareness that Christmas stuff actually has a religious meaning, and b) even when aware of that fact, a lack of awareness that syncretism with Christianity isn't always okay.* In general I enjoy Japan's casual, almost areligious syncretist habits, but not this one.
*I am not especially pro-Christianity but I know/know of a number of people, including some DW friends, whose practice of Christianity I respect the hell out of, er, as it were. So you know, not all Christians.
·In music terms, listening to Eliane Elias' piano work a lot--very good Brazilian jazz--except the tune of hers I like best is buried on a CD made from a tape of my father's and I have no idea what it's called. Also practicing the bassoon daily--fingering is much easier, except for the middle G, but reeds are a problem. Still, I like it, it feels right.
·Yuletide fic posted; it needs a final editing pass but it should mostly stand up as is. Still writing other bits of things for treats etc., we'll see which end up taking form, or rather filling in the form I can see.
·Photos: Autumn into winter: Japanese lanterns (photo by Y), maple, kumquats, gingkos, ivy, camellias, coffeepots, a cat framed by a kimono (no, the context didn't make any more sense in person).
Be safe and well.
