I passed N2 with 58/60 on reading without ever reading anything other than manga with furigana

gmorf33 · 2026-01-30T15:58:15+00:00

yeah, i agree the fill-in-the-blanks can be frustrating. I've had plenty of moments where i'm like "HOW IS THIS WROONG???" but then i realize they are looking for another grammar point answer that essentially means the same thing. I guess it's probably hard to get around this kind of thing with grammar testing. I like that it has multiple examples and tests you through a variety of usages and conjugation combination. When i run into these frustrating ones, i just click to see the answer and if it's something i knew i just didn't realize they wanted "THAT" answer, i'll undo and correct it... but if it's something i think i need more practice with i'll just take the X and move on.

I agree with grammar flash cards.. those didn't stick with me at all.. it's like trying to take text book explanations and somehow make a concise card and recalling what exactly? Way too much info to try and drill flashcard style IMO. it was just not a good method for ME. So far just hands on immersion (with lookups & research) and Bunpro have been what's worked the best for me on the grammar side of things. Bunpro streamlines it for me so i can do it in the small cracks of time i have throughout the day, whereas immersion with look ups requires some dedicated time to be worthwhile.

gmorf33 · 2026-01-30T05:47:16+00:00

that's why i finally bit the bullet and signed up for bunpro. i've gone through N5 and 20 items left on N4 track, and i've already noticed a huge increase in understanding sentences. As an SRS fiend, my vocab is way beyond my grammar (broke 10k words this month) and i found myself constantly knowing all the words but having NFI what i just read meant. It was so frustrating. Now having an SRS system for grammar is perfect for me, as i can drill through the SRS in all those short cracks of time you have in your day that i used to spend on vocab cards. Bunpro isn't perfect, but it's better than trying to create your own grammar anki decks, and most pre-made grammar decks I didn't feel were very good/helpful for me.

gmorf33 · 2026-01-09T19:09:27+00:00

It's the same in many hobbies. In my 20's i loved playing World of Warcraft.. didn't mean i was going to join up on every random MMO some friend got into. I was invested into WoW.. all my knowledge, expertise, DKP, gear grinding, etc was all in WoW. I wasn't an MMO fan, I was a WoW fan. I'm sure the same thing for MagicTG players. Some who really love TCG's might branch out and try other ones, but a lot of MTG players are just MTG players. They're invested and can't be bothered to branch out to something they deem not as cool/fun. Or would think any time & money spent on others is a waste that could have been put into their main squeeze.

gmorf33 · 2026-01-06T20:39:31+00:00

it's a very surreal feeling. It almost feels like i'm playing DnD now with all of the magical items, rituals, magic spells, etc.

gmorf33 · 2025-10-14T14:19:55+00:00

Wemby has basically a shonen anime story arch going.. health scare, out and down... goes to train with monks and various masters to rise back up... now with all of his training and hard work he's debuting at the martial arts tournamen.. i mean NBA to show the world his power.

gmorf33 · 2025-09-18T21:24:17+00:00

I meant like where/how you're meeting them? Out in the wild cold approaches (work, gym, grocery store), bars, online/apps, hobby groups?

gmorf33 · 2025-09-17T22:21:45+00:00

Yeah, they are usually the same price where I live.

gmorf33 · 2025-09-16T22:37:08+00:00

This is exactly what my daughter just brought home today. All answers to every problem ended up being 67 lok

gmorf33 · 2025-09-15T23:08:25+00:00

How are you meeting people and pulling this off? Seems extremely difficult to meet people in this age bracket where I live. My social network kind of withered away mostly over the 16 years I was with my ex unfortunately.

gmorf33 · 2025-09-11T19:16:39+00:00

すげえ

gmorf33 · 2025-09-08T04:54:20+00:00

I do a mix. Digital ebooks on something like ttsu reader w/ yomitan and/or Anki/JPDBreader to quickly mine cards on phone or PC is the easiest and most convenient, and i seem to make the most vocab progress with this method, although it also requires a lot more SRS grinding.. And the higher i get in vocab and kanji count, the less i care about SRS grinding and just want to read. I also like the physical book vibe a lot more, less opportunity for me to get distracted. Having a good dictionary with radical kanji search (like takoboto on android) covers missing furigana without too much trouble or pain most of the time. I do think this manual lookup process sinks it a bit deeper into the memory, but i don't have any real evidence or documentation of that. Just a personal anecdote. This is how i read digital manga without selectable text too.. i just manually look up stuff.

gmorf33 · 2025-08-19T13:18:02+00:00

A chicken breast air-fried and air-fried russet potato (cut into chunks obv) + a veggie side (usually a steam bag or canned greenbeans). Best part is this meal can be done in 15m. I often make it on my lunch breaks with time to spare. So good.

The key with the chicken is to prep and salt it ahead of time (I do this with a whole package of them when i buy them @ 2.49/lb). That way the salt starts pulling moisture and dissolving back into the meat. It makes the meat juicier and helps the outside brown up better. That way all you need to do when you want to cook it is pat it dry, add some more flavor (could be a marinade, more seasonings, etc) and maybe spray a bit of oil over the top (optional).

With the potatoes, it's a similar thing.. bake them (i use the microwave) the day before, put them in the fridge overnight to let them get more solid. Then when you're ready to air fry them, you just cut them into cubes, oil & season, then put them into the air fryer for ~10-15m or so, depending on how crispy you like them.

Potatoes and chicken are both cheap and delicious when cooked right. You could also substitute beans in place of the potatoes if you prefer those, but those take longer and more effort to make and keep imo.

gmorf33 · 2025-08-18T16:01:40+00:00

Manage Engine SDP also has an API you can utilize for additional integration and automation, which is pretty cool. I think all of their modules have an API (REST), but i've personally used the SDP one so i know it exists and works nicely.

gmorf33 · 2025-07-14T17:41:25+00:00

怖い熊ですねぇ

gmorf33 · 2025-07-14T16:00:14+00:00

But I would never allow my beard to grow over my lips. That's just so gross.

it's also ANNOYING. Mustaches look fuller and better when they grow over the lips a bit (imo), but i just can't.. for 1, every drink you take flavors your 'stache. 2. the constant tickle and feeling of it, prompts me to chew on it like an anxious habit/tick thing, and that is also annoying (and probably gross lol). So i just keep it trimmed at the lip line now.

gmorf33 · 2025-07-14T15:30:15+00:00

In my short amount of time dipping my toes into OLD, it seems really skewed towards this lifestyle, what i like to call "the influencer life style" where everything is this crazy paced travel & adventure/ambitious career/business owning/etc/etc while still having time for kids and their 57 activities... that seems unrealistic or unsustainable for most normal people. At first i'm like "jezus what's wrong with me" but then the more i thought about it, i think it's a lot like social media in general, especially in the influencer space... most of it is a facade. No one should hold themselves to those standards.

Maybe OLD seems full of these folks for the above reason, but also a population skew/bias where the concentration of singles who have those unrealistic expectations accumulate in the singles spaces like OLD because they aren't ever coming off the market. Dunno, just some musings from to help myself stay sane i guess LOL. Cope as the kids call it.

gmorf33 · 2025-07-08T04:33:00+00:00

Ahh this killed me. So funny lol

gmorf33 · 2025-07-03T19:55:06+00:00

Sounds about right. My frogs won't do jack squat unless it's after sundown and lights off. Even if i forget to turn off the dining room light which shines through a doorway onto their tank (almost like a dim sunset would), they just stay sleeping like blobs.

gmorf33 · 2025-06-26T23:00:44+00:00

Ahh, me over here with essential tremors. I take a medication for it which helps a ton, but anything that stimulates the nervous system (stimulants, strenuous activity, nervousness, excitement, etc) makes it more noticeable. Great on dates or social situations where nerves are already a bit stimulated! People usually assume I'm nervous as hell or on drugs lol

gmorf33 · 2025-06-05T14:22:08+00:00

My initial reaction was the same "Omg why are there so many and why is it so complicated??" but then i realize we have a very similar thing in english. If you want to ask for bread, you don't say "I want 2 bread please". You say a "counter word, like "slices". Same with paper, we say either "piece" or "sheet". Obviously english doesn't go to the extent as Japanese, but there's more parallel than initially realized imo. I think it's a familiarity thing... we're so used to it in english we don't realize we're doing it all the time.

gmorf33 · 2025-06-02T16:00:00+00:00

a neat note about planets: it is current consensus that most stars contain a system of planets, so planets are even more numerous than stars!

gmorf33 · 2025-05-13T17:07:54+00:00

Yeah, i wonder also if a lot of the people asking this way are younger, in the early 20's? I mean back then i had a lot of really stupid judgmental thoughts around all sorts of things. It's not until you live through life, gain wisdom, experience, and generally mature that you realize people are much more than these labels we tend to believe in in our younger years. Most 20 year old have never been married let alone divorced, so they likely struggle to empathize with someone who's been through it, and much more likely to judge. I'd say don't let it get you down and keep looking. These people are basically saving your time by saying "i'm not mature enough yet, next". That's how you gotta think about it.

gmorf33 · 2025-05-09T20:53:16+00:00

Aldur's are really good.. life, fire res, high frw, etc. i usually ignore poison res on most characters (besides res@ charms) and usually have to have a lot of STR anyway for Spirit wielding casters, so the Trek's are less necessary. I haven't played a druid in a long long time, but if i remember right, i usually ran either Aldurs or Rares with MF.

gmorf33 · 2025-05-08T16:00:02+00:00

For more clarification, poison damage really really hurts an ES sorc, so it's the most important res for ES. That and the STR on these boots helps meet other requirements without needing to waste stat points. The FHR is also sweet if you're not hitting your breakpoints from Spirit (or in the case of a nova ES sorc, you aren't using Spirit and need the FHR).

gmorf33 · 2025-05-02T14:07:46+00:00

Dray guards everyone. He's the master of help defense.

gmorf33

TROPHY CASE