Well...

... I now have notes on all of the Hiragana symbols, including the contracted ones and the ones with  dashes/circles.  Now, I think I need to make some flash cards and work with those until I can recognize the symbols without cheating.  :-P  (I also need to get to a computer with ruddy sound so that I can be sure I'm saying the syllables right.)

But first... I'm going to have some miso soup and watch Paprika. 

Does anybody on my f-list already know Hiragana?  If so, can they tell me if I got "Gojira" right on the above lolcat..? I was using my notes... (and forgive the messiness; the mouse is for right-handed people, so I'm always a bit clumsy with it in Paint... :-P)