All classes are proceeding smoothly, even if I can't speak up in POL 286: Conflict Resolution as much as I'd like to. That said, I wish I knew what went through our Japanese professor's head when one of the students asked her if she would like to drink some homemade cookies.

Speaking of foreign languages: I received financial aid for the Middlebury Summer Language program! The school raised its tuition rate, and the aid I received covers only about a third of it, so I'm currently looking into the FAFSA loan they offered. When all is said and done, there's a good chance that I'll be going to the Russian school this summer. :`)


I had some bloodwork done on Monday, since I've developed many symptoms of anemia (muscle pains and weakness, insomnia, poor short-term memory, pale skin, etc.) since coming back to school. The health center here contacted me this evening about the results; I have a slight iron deficiency, and am definitely anemic, but my vitamin D deficiency is...notable. More specifically: my calcidiol/vitamin D level is around 9 ng/ml, while it should be at least 32 ng/ml. ﾟAﾟ

Fortunately, the nurse at the health center was able to give me both an over-the-counter iron supplement and a prescription for a heavy vitamin D supplement, so I'm on track of getting my levels back up.¹ I've been dedicating some time to reading for my own enjoyment, and will be attempting to use the school's pool this Sunday to get some physical exercise (beyond walking to classes and up and down three flights of stairs several times each day), as well, so as a whole my health should improve.



THE HANDWRITING MEME
1. Your handle/name/username
2. Left or right handed?
3. Favourite letters to write
4. Least favourite characters to write
5. Write "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
6. Tag 5 people



This is the Super Deluxe version with both English and Cyrillic script, since I thought it would be good practice. I'm wondering if it would have been better for me to write down a Russian pangram rather than translating the English one word-for-word, but it didn't occur to me to look one up at the time. (Съешь ещё этих мягких французских булок, да выпей же чаю?)



It's been a while since I've written anything about fandom or the like. I found Himawari's "appearance" to be anti-climatic in that special Rou way--meaning the climax has been simultaneously reached and delayed until further notice, as was the case with Doumeki's egg and Watanuki's decision to stay in the shop for the rest of his days. Thankfully, Watanuki has improved as a protagonist, even if we're currently seeing only one side of him: he seemed a lot more lifelike and compassionate in this chapter, even if we needed a battered, dirty, and possibly insane young woman to bring out that compassion. ):

That said, am I not the only one who wanted to destroy Larq after seeing it foam at the mouth and roll off the table in the OAD trailer? Because I did. God, I did.

Also--on a related note--I hope JL's theory about what Kobato is turns out to be true. If it doesn't, then I hope Kobato turns out to be a Turian extraterrestrial, since that would complicate CLAMP's neat, compartmentalized worldview.

I've never particularly cared for their "polychotomy" of Heaven/Hell/Spirit World/Human World, and their supernatural beings are often too cute, safe, and understandable. That, coincidentally, is one of the reasons why I enjoyed the earlier chapters of xxxHOLiC, since it veered more often into the unknown, complicated borders between this world and the other. Hopefully, Gate 7 might do the same, albeit in a more surreal (and possibly even more emotional, depending on the dreams Hana travels through) manner.

Finally, does anyone know when the next chapter of Tegami Bachi will be scanned in? I'd imagine that more scanlation groups would be interested in it since the anime aired, but we've had a translation without images for over a month. Well, it'll come when it's ready, right?

¹ I was also able to purchase some apple wheat bread when I picked up my prescription, which is surely a good omen. I though the store only carried it during peak apple season!



That aside, how have you been?