mDuo13.com - The Amorphously Collected Thoughts and Works of Rome Reginelli

Today's 3 new kanji all sorta go together:

• 道 - michi, dou - "street" as in 歩道 (sidewalk), 坂道 (hill road), 剣道 (kendo). Or any art ending in -do.
• 駅 - eki - "train station" as in 駅 (train station), 各駅停車 (all-stops train), 駅員 (station worker).
• 店 - mise, ten - "shop" as in 喫茶店 (coffee shop), 店員 (shopworker), 商店街 (shopping mall).

By the way, I'm keeping track of my goals on a dedicated kanji page.

This is just a quick update to say that I haven't forgotten about the fact that I'm studying kanji. I have been slacking a bit (I blame Spiritsnare for that) but I'm going back to looking up, practicing, and blogging about the kanji I'm learning, starting now. To start, 6 kanji I knew but needed to really clarify and define:

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Today I was left to fend for myself for dinner (usually I either eat out with friends, eat at work, or eat my mom's cooking) and had planned on getting a delicious, spicy, and relatively healthy falafel sandwich at the famous Falafel Drive-In, but when I got there around 6:45, I found that on Sundays it closes at 6. That being the case, my Plan B was to visit Safeway (which is directly on the way back from Falafel Drive-In) and pick up something to make. I wandered around the store for a while, eventually deciding to boldly cook without a recipe. I picked some ingredients I liked, popped in the CD Re:MIKUS by livetune ft. Hatsune Miku, and set to work. The result, while not perfect by any means, fit my criteria nicely: spicy, not horribly unhealthy, and tasty.

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Talking with my friend Dakanya for the first time in a while, I heard that he's been studying for the JLPT2 in December, which is a pretty lofty goal. It does, however, make me feel like I should at least be aiming at something. I had planned on taking the JLPT anyway; I just needed to decide on what level. Being as Appu passed JLPT4 last year and I at least feel like I know more Japanese than he does, the JLPT3 should be within my reach. I just have to learn something like 300 kanji...

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So today on my way home from work I stopped at SVGL, where I was planning on meeting Spiritsnare for some DJ Max Technika. As it turns out, he was at dinner so I had the machine to myself. I figured I'd play a game or two and wait for him to come back; Matt's an abnormally fast eater, after all. Well, something like 8 games later, neither he nor anyone else wanting to use the Technika machine was on the premises, and it had gotten quite dark. I was riding home, so I left (and made great time, taking a trip that normally costs me an hour in 45 minutes flat), but not before beating Stop, Blythe, and a few other things. I planned on throwing some money in the Pop'n machine, too, but that didn't happen. As it was, I'm nearly too tired to blog about today's kanji.

• 車 - kuruma, sha - "car" as in 車 (car), 自転車 (bicycle), 救急車 (ambulence).
• 学 - gaku, mana - "science" as in がっこう (school), 科学者 (scientist), 学ぶ (learn), 学生 (student), or just as a suffix meaning the study of (e.g. 文学, literature).
• 教 - kyou, oshi as in 教会 (church), 教える (teach), 仏教 (Buddhism). This one looks kinda hard. I'm gonna have to study it more when I'm more awake.

But as I can barely keep my eyes open as it stands, it's goodnight for now.

It's funny how long simple things take. I had been upset with the way my room was arranged for ages (especially how my computer was in the corner behind the door), but I never really was able to do anything about it. Now, recently, my grandmother died (she went peacefully and in good spirits) and that means that our family's patio is currently overflowing with furniture and things. I happened to come home one day earlier this week and spot a particular round table that had spent many years in my grandparents' living room, which prompted a nostalgic, affectionate feeling. So I decided to take the opportunity and use what furniture I wanted to improve my room.

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