Remembering Haruma Miura

 It's almost time.

Looking back, it's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since Haruma Miura's passing on July 18th, 2020.

Only 3 celebrity suicides have ever affected me in a deeply personal way: Jonathan Brandis, Robin Williams, and Haruma Miura. And Pete Duel too, I suppose, although his death happened long before I was born.

But for Haruma Miura, it still doesn't seem quite real.

He was just barely 30-years-old.

I'm sure Covid must have had something to do with it. It's messed so hugely with everybody. I know what it's like to have someone I personally know (a neighbor) commit suicide during this time. It's surreal and impossible, but also something you wake up to every day realizing that it did actually happen, whether I want to forget it did or not. I'm sure Miura-san's family and friends are still grieving his loss. Just as my neighbor's family will always be grieving his.

So in memory of Haruma Miura, I will be reviewing some of his dramas and movies in the month of July.

He was a lovely personality with a beautiful smile and apparently a deeply hurting heart. He deserves to be remembered.

If you are a fan of Haruma Miura, you can always leave a flower on his Find a Grave. 🌸

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June 2021: Currently Watching in Jdramaland!

I don't usually plan out my drama watching, and it usually shows that I don't. But it's something I've decided to more diligent about planning out, so all 3 of these dramas are ones that were either already on my list or are ones that I have been faithfully watching since May, since not all of them are completely subbed yet. So here we go, get ready for my thoughts on Love Kome no Okite: Kojirase Joshi to Toshishita Danshi, Black Cinderella, and Bokura wa Kiseki de Dekite Iru.

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A Good Night's Sleep and a New Type of Lunch Prep!

Good morning (from me and Yamapi)!

For the first time in months, I didn't take any sleeping aid last night.

While it might not have been the deepest night's sleep, I actually woke up right at the time my alarm went off and I feel fairly rested today, which is a bit surprising. I rarely feel rested so it's just possible that the sleep aid doesn't actually help. It might make me more tired than I would be normally, which is crazy.

You know those plans you have to do something useful but never get around to doing it?

I've been intending to pack my lunches for work for (well) years now. I know that laziness is ingrained in me at this point when it comes to certain things (but not everything, thank goodness). Lunch just happens to be one of those things. It's so much easier to buy it than make it.

On my work breaks and in the evening yesterday, I actually made items for a bento. Everyone probably knows what that means, but just in case, bento essentially means lunchbox in Japanese. Only they do it differently than we do, at least, those who prefer more of a traditional bento to a westernized one.

Homemade sandwiches are one of my least favorite things and I love Japanese food so I figured I would drag out my Effortless Bento cookbook and try my hand at making some dishes. The going through the book happened on Monday and the picking up of the groceries and prepping the meals happened yesterday. I already had the bento boxes from years and years ago. I am thinking about buying some slightly bigger ones, but we'll see.

I'm surprised. It didn't take nearly as long to make the meals as I thought it would since I made 3 protein dishes and a couple of veggie sides. So now we have 6 days' worth of lunches prepped for both me and my sister. It's sort of hilarious since my sister wasn't actually anticipating me making her a bento so that surprised her. We'll see how she likes it! She likes Japanese food too since, as you can imagine, we do eat it several times a month. But we'll see how she likes it for lunch. If she wants to try something else next week, we'll absolutely do that. But I'm pretty happy that she took the bento to work today.

I hope your week is going well! What do you pack for lunch usually?

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Re-reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876) by Mark Twain

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

Golden Press edition

Illustrated by Polly Bolian

I read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for the Classics Club, and you can find my Classics Club list HERE.

I took a week's vacation with my family at the end of May, right before Memorial Day. We headed into the Colorado Rockies for a camping trip and I intentionally brought The Adventures of Tom Sawyer with me. I read it countless times as a child and a teenager, but it had been many, many years since I'd last picked it up. I still have my original copy, very careworn at this point, and published before adding forewords and afterwords penned by the so-and-sos and whos-who of the literary world became the trend.

It seemed just the ideal reading choice for a stream-side campsite surrounded by woods, and it was indeed so.

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Yuki Yamada is outstanding in "Koko wa Ima kara Rinri desu" (2021)

Koko wa Ima kara Rinri desu (From Now On We Begin Ethics)

Country: Japan

Year: 2021

Episodes: 8 episodes, 30 minutes each

Genre: Psychological, School, Drama

Starring: Yuki Yamada, Mizuki Kayashima, Yuto Ikeda

My Rating: ★★★★★

Click to read more of my reviews for Japanese entertainment.

Actor Yuki Yamada snagged my attention as the second male lead in Itazura na Kiss, but I never expected a profound role from him. Certainly nothing life-shattering. 

Color me wrong.

The 2021 Japanese drama series Koko wa Ima kara Rinri desu (or From Now on We Begin Ethics) is an outstanding psychological experiment.

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My Blogging Life

I know that I've been awol these last couple of months.

Most people probably figure out who they are when they're in their teens or early twenties. Not so with me. All of my interests, or a large majority of them, were influenced by others. A couple of those interests are probably genuine, but I don't actually know that for sure anymore. Except for my love of Japan, Stephen King, and psychological dramas. That's all me.

I also know that I got tired. Tired of trying to keep up with the trends, tired of wondering if I should keep my blog to a single topic like the entire world recommends, and tired of wondering what that topic should even be. Books? Classic Hollywood? Japan? England? When I really just want to write about what I want to write about when I want to write it and those posts will range over a variety of topics and themes.

So there will be no common theme for this blog other than its being me. That's what I've settled on. I write to get my thoughts and emotions out, not for any real greater purpose. It's a way of purifying my spirit and giving me an outlet. I'm not an influencer and I have no intention of ever becoming one. If I ever write something profound, it will be almost entirely by accident.

But my readers should know one thing and it's that my love of Japanese culture is here to stay. I won't apologize for it, and I won't stop writing about their entertainment, but I do understand if Japan isn't your thing. Don't feel obligated to reply to those posts. It's fine.

I will write about more than Japan, however, so feel free to interact with me on those posts instead. I'm still participating in The Classics Club so there will be those posts. I don't anticipate many classic Hollywood posts going forward since there are so many dedicated blogs to that topic. Unless I'm ever inspired by an unusual film. And no more actual book review posts unless it's for a topic that I'm strongly attached to, like fantasy books or (like I said) the classics.

There will be more introspective posts going forward. Introspection is something I find helpful so when I ponder something that might potentially be of use to others, then I'll share it. In my opinion faith and introspection go hand in hand and as I continue to learn more about myself and my walk with Jesus, I'm sure some nuggets of thought will present themselves as shareable.

Oh, and my Femnista writing days are over. It was time to move on.

Know that my faith in Jesus is still established and entirely genuine and authentic. He is my Lord and Savior and without Him, I am truly nothing. Lying at the bottom of a cliff and raising up my hands to Him is how I spend a great deal of my life. And the grace of God always lifts me back up. Because being a Christian means falling and relying on His strength to get back up and keep moving forward. The Christian faith is not for strong, self-confident people who never need any help. It is for those who cannot save themselves. That is me.

Enjoy this music from Bob Carlisle, one of my favorite Christian performing artists, and a real testimony to the Christian walk.

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