To be fair you look like a doll 
…
Let things simmer this summer… sounds like a plan.
No activity this week but a lot seemed to happen.
level 54 progress is wonky due to buggy website issues. The issues seem to be fixed but page load times are very long.
Duolingo had me doubting my sanity until I looked back at some screenshots. They have been pushing updates without fanfare…probably in response to complaints about the latest big push.
LAST WEEK LEVEL 26-30
THIS WEEK LEVEL 26-30
Particles
Last weekend was the readathon. I took some time out to read some stories from 世界の名作童話三年生. Oddly easier to read than the other book that is labeled 二年生。It helps that I am familiar with these stories compared to the Japanese tales.
Edit: I made a Steam account and downloaded the demo for a game to see if my laptop could handle it. It got really hot so I think the answer is no. 
7-1-26 WK 54 has 20 vocabulary remaining
WK 55 unlocked 2/2 R, 33/35 K, 14/84 V - due to content changes one vocabulary is already Guru
今日はお弁当で. I’ll have a bento today.
Cake is fine. ケーキ で いい です.
Was it at Shinjuku Station? 場所 は 新宿駅 だ ったっけ
Did all the drinks run out? 全部 飲み物 は なくなった んだっけ
I am going to this store to look at stylish clothes. おしゃれ な 服 を 見 に この 店 に 行きます. Another correct solution: この店におしゃれな服を見に行きます。
勤務先 き ん む さ き place of employment
願いの紙 wish paper
Particles
デコトラ
- [n] showily decorated truck (e.g. chrome, air-brushed pictures, colored lights); art truck
WK new content incoming: 16 vocabulary added; 2 vocabulary and one kanji removed
These last levels are getting back to a 12 day pace due to vocabulary back loading.
LEVEL 36-40
新しい仕事で失敗したくないから、うまくいく といいな. Because I don’t want to mess up at my new job, I hope it goes well.
I have never heard a drum. たいこ を きいた こと が ありません.
That is why we are free. だから 自由 な わけ です.
Last week, I looked up 願いの紙 (wish paper) because I did not get the cultural reference. This week, I read a level 0 article about 七夕 の 短冊 Tanabata Wish Strips
Particles
Reading
Free until Jul 14 https://yomuyomu.app/lessons/1001-a-new-name-for-summer-heat?from=latest 酷暑日 こくしょび WK 54 The EN version of “heat wave”?
One sentence ran for four lines and the print is tiny. I’m mad at myself for not recognizing 漫画 まんが manga WK 50. The font is that kind where the left side looks like “scooter” rather than “tsunami”. smh
One story each from the 二年生 and 三年生 collections.
Aside: discovered that even though the fitness center treadmill has a timer, it does not stop the machine. I walked an extra 20 minutes before realizing. 
Sounds like you need to increase the timer by 20 minutes 
.
7-14–26
WK 55 had 12 vocabulary to be done
WK 56 unlocked 0/0 R, 34/35 K, 14/93 V: one vocab already Guru due to content shuffling- it must have moved a long time ago because it’s an old one 自決 WaniKani Content Additions and Movements: Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 - Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
Why is that one Kanji locked? A “new” radical that I skipped: It’s only found in 3 vocab so it can wait. WaniKani Content Additions and Movements: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - Wednesday, April 15, 2026
NOTE: I wound up doing the radical because it was bugging me.
WK 55 had 12 vocabulary to be done
WK 56 unlocked 0/0 R, 34/35 K, 14/93 V: one vocab already Guru due to content shuffling- it must have moved a long time ago because it’s an old one 自決 WaniKani Content Additions and Movements: Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 - Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
Why is that one Kanji locked? A “new” radical that I skipped: It’s only found in 3 vocab so it can wait. WaniKani Content Additions and Movements: Wednesday, March 18, 2026 - Wednesday, April 15, 2026
NOTE: I wound up doing the radical because it was bugging me.
words
ほぼ Almost
しばしば Often
インフレ Inflation
ちなみに By the way
コインランドリー Laundromat 洗濯屋 WK 51
歓迎会 Welcome party
司会者 Host
勤務先 Workplace 職場 WK 23
踏切 Level crossing、Railway crossing
日当たり Sunlight exposure ＊See comment from novel below＊
飲食店 restaurant
一戸建て Detached house
下駄箱 Shoe locker
図書室 Library図書館 WK16
本番 Event
陸上 Track and field
防具 Protective gear
自分だったらどうやって交渉します？ If you were me, how would you negotiate?
On what terms do you plan to negotiate? どんな 条件 で 交渉する つもり な の
LEVEL 41-45
Reading
subtitles on a Japanese Costco cooking vlog that has no voice over. Truly surprised by so much eggs and mayo in each meal… also remembering why I did not have a good dining experience in Japan. That second thought is not related to the first part.
Seeing comments about 変な絵 in various posts. I have the book and may start it or wait for a book club???
＊sun exposure --compare to 日当たり
残った陽の当たらないこの六畳間は本部屋という役製で…This remaining six-tatami-mat room, that’s not exposed to sunlight, is designated as the main room…
Yep! I normally walk outside but it is too hot. Each treadmill is different and I have not found the right program to match my routine. At this point, I just stay on until my legs get that familiar “it’s time to go home” feeling.
So, so hot right now. Just going and sitting out back with the dogs if it’s not dark is pretty stifling, and I only do a little bit of walking around trying to get them to chase toys or stop barking it’s just the neighbors’ dog in the neighbors’ yard not an invasion. 
7-20-26
Level 56 has 25 vocabulary and 1 kanji with 3 more vocabulary- I waited too long to decide to do that stray radical
Level 57 unlocked 2/2 R, 32/34 K, 14/96 V
の間 for, during, between
あの hey
ってこと means that
複数 multiple
Positive 前向き
ワンチャン there’s a chance ((slang)
悪いけど I’m sorry, but… (followed by a sentence; casual)
Maybe tomorrow’s important meeting will be online.明日 の 大事 な ミーティング が オンライン に なる かも
– Another correct solution: ワンチャン、明日の大事なミーティングがオンラインになるかも。
I hope my fever goes down by tomorrow’s game. 明日 の 試合 まで に 熱 が 下がる と いい な
I had a fever all week, but I finally got better.今週 は ずっと 熱 が あった けど やっと 治りました
予定表に家族の誕生日も入れておいたよ。I also added the family’s birthdays to the calendar.
Reading
I scanned two pages of 生きてるだけで,愛 , converted to PDF then to text in a different font. The process is about the same labor input as doing lookups by hand.
It is much easier to read now that I can resize the text (instead of using a magnifying glass) and recognize more kanji without lookups.
Fun Fact: the converter I used got tripped up on the same kana that gave me trouble. This is my first prose novel for adults in paper form. Hopefully, they don’t all use this font.
That’s all the reading I have done because The Planet Crafter video game has taken over my free time.
I keep trying to avoid walking at all (although I know that I should)… But at least I made it to the gym and did an easy workout routine…
So my hat is of to you, Tipさん
Also…
Thank you for the word list
I still really enjoy reading through those and “quizzing myself”. If only I then went back in 1 day, 2 days, 4 days, 1 week LoL
I could learn!
That’s my “plan”, but I never go back and look at my notes…
Almost lvl 60 let’s gooooo!!
I’m a bit of a terraforming game nerd am this one was amazing… I hope you have as much fun as I did going through all the stages…
Small advice if your computer is not super beefy do not put all production buildings in the same place…
@hrudey Things are cooling down enough that I have gotten some outdoor walking done. If I had a yard, that’s definitely where I’d be.
@Shannon-8 why walk when you can build a house with your bare hands? That’s got to be more physical than putting one foot in front of the other. Also, glad you like the word lists. They are getting smaller and mostly kana only. Recently, someone started 
ing my old posts. When I re-read them, it’s like I never saw some of those words before so I feel you regarding the “plan”
@firmamentFray shhhh.. trying to keep it low key so as not to jinx anything. The burn reviews are kicking me in the behind lately.
@YandrosTheSane
My laptop got really hot while playing the demo but I rolled the dice on the full game and DLCs being optimized. I don’t have the minimum video RAM so my settings are so low that I keep getting lost… buildings don’t appear until I’m practically on top of them. As soon as I get a jet pack, I will spread out my base more. … having a great time playing… looking forward to the next DLC in September-ish.
Have you played Stranded Alien Dawn? I’ve got my eye on it but will most likely need an desktop PC to run it.
Nope. Looked at the content and not enough terraforming for my tastes… but it seems like a nice colony sim for sure if you enjoy that !
I read this hours after deciding to start walking around the neighborhood a couple of times a week (about a 1.2 mile loop). Fortunately I’ll be out when it’s dark so it’ll only be like 146 degrees or so. 
7-29-26 Level 57 has 10 vocabulary pending plus 2 more locked behind kanji at apprentice for the next two days.
Level 58 has 0/0 R, 33/33 K, 19/82 V unlocked with one: 東方 burned on April 20, 2025
Words
しょうが ginger
おたま ladle
アルミホイル aluminum foil
ひとつまみ pinch
サクサク crisp (saku saku)
みじん切り (み じ ん ぎ り) mince
Reading
Japanese signs in everyday fonts. https://www.youtube.com/@nihongosigns
Particles
Novel 生きてるだけで,愛 This novel delivers another previously unknown to me aspect of Japanese culture–
Protagonist’s POV: 鬱 is too jarring of a word now-a-days; people have replaced it with a cute and fuzzy term: メンへル
From Wikipedia re: メンへル
Menhera (Japanese: メンヘラ) is a Japanese slang term used to describe a person, typically a woman, with a mental health disorder. The term may refer to fictional characters who exhibit traits of mental illness or to participants in mental health-inspired fashion subculture. (Is this really a "thing? OMG?)
Etymology
Menhera translates to mental healther. The term mentaru herusu, meaning mental health, was abbreviated by discussion board members to menheru, and users became known as menhera.
History
The term menhera began to spread in the early 2000s.. Later in the decade, the term grew more closely associated with women, especially those who demonstrated traits of borderline personality disorder.
Menhera was further popularized by Ezaki Bisko (male), who in 2013 created a Menhera-chan character which typified the subculture and the yami-kawaii (creepy cute) fashion aesthetic.
Characteristics
In a scholarly review of the menhera trope in fiction, researchers Yukari Seko and Minako Kikuchi distinguish between three subtypes of menhera woman: the sad girl, who experiences acute loneliness and alienation, the mad woman, who may exhibit unhealthy obsessive behavior towards their love interest, and the cutie, who embodies the fashion subculture associated with menhera. The authors noted that all forms of menhera may engage in some degree of self injury.
In fashion
Menhera communities are associated with the yami-kawaii (sick-cute) fashion subculture, a variation of the kawaii aesthetic characterized by medical motifs such as pills, syringes, and bandages (and razor blades based on my journey down this rabbit hole).
new additions incoming this month; 9 vocabulary; two are in my most recent levels; the rest are lower
Some time ago, I mentioned that my reading was hampered by not recognizing proper names when they don’t have as suffix (-kun, -san etc). Well, WK said “ビールを持っててくれ、これを見ててくれ。” These last levels have a ridiculous amount of kanji that only have vocabulary attached to names. I mean… 菅 Sedge (nanori reading even).
8-6-26
WK 59 unlocked 1/1 R, 33/334 K, 12/80 vocabulary 煮込みます (に こ む to simmer, to stew)
WK 49 煮る To Boil Something
浮き沈み (うきしずみ) ups and downs; bobbing up and down; rising and falling; ebbing and flowing
WK 55 起伏 (きふく) Undulation
Context Sentence
- 生理前はどうしても感情の起伏が激しくなってしまう. Before my period I always get violent emotional ups and downs.
Not a lot of Japanes-ing going on this week.
- Filled a black trash bag with shredded paper from my garage.
- Spent time out by the pool to appease the kidney stone gods while doing sashiko.
- Went out before dawn for outdoor walking.. so much more enjoyable than the treadmill even in the darkness.
- Discovered my passport does not have enough time left for international travel this year… will get hair done before new photo and try online renewal.
- Considered a day trip to Morikami Gardens for Obon vs. Space Center (my Disney) or someplace I have not been before such as ??? (suggestions welcome)
- Got a new email address.
- Took part of Bunpro’s N5 mock exam… got bored and stopped.
- Severely lacking in the salad department while trying to avoid explosive diarrhea. Gained 4 pounds but this could be due to the extra protein I have been eating.
Whoa!! You are BLASTING through these WK levels!! 
お疲れさまでした
then…
Hopefully less of that sort of blasting!
With that observation out of the way, the actual response(s)
I’ve started that this week (thankfully Liam’s bus comes at like 6:15 so I can get out for a walk and home before the sun comes up) and I concur. Especially comparing that to how it feels outside when I let the dogs out around noon while I make my lunch (and let them back in before I’m done because they don’t like the heat either).
I did that recently too (though only because I wanted a youtube account that was all in Japanese so created a quick gmail). If you want to count that as zero emails unread I won’t argue but if there’s still unread emails in the other account and you’re keeping it that might not count. Fortunately, you’re the scorekeeper so your call.
Don’t really have any good suggestions on travel locations for day trips, though the Space Center is good (though I haven’t been in decades unfortunately). Actually I just thought of one, Blowing Rock preserve in Hobe Sound - we stopped by there on the way back from West Palm last month and it seemed pretty cool but it was hot and so we didn’t stay long (it was a spur of the moment thing since my wife used to go there as a kid and it’s changed a lot).
Tip, I don’t know if anyone ever brought up you quoting Drake in another post. Something like, I’m here for a good time not a long time.
edit: messed up the line oops haha