A terribly cliched phrase, but it's true. There has been that kind of weather, last night, and sometime a few weeks earlier. Actually, I was never really afraid of thunder or lightning when I was younger, but this school year, when there was a storm with very loud thunder, I was frightened out of my wits. I don't even know why. It's not like a blackout is really something to be feared. I feel like Haruhi from Ouran High School Host Club. Or Nagi from Nyan Koi.

This morning there wasn't a storm, though it was certainly raining. I was woken up at 5 am, which is really way too early for me, even if I don't sleep well on a daily basis. It is kind of exciting, though, driving along a nearly abandoned highway and seeing the water spurting from the cars. I ought to have taken photos of the street lights or a certain bridge in my town that I am quite fond of. But I guess I was half-asleep and too lazy to bother.

Right now I'm at SFO Airport for the bajillionth time (I never started counting, but it's been many times, that's for sure). We're going to Vancouver first, and then we'll change flights to go to Shanghai. It would've been nice just to stay in Canada. But as my grandparents are aging, it becomes more important to visit them, and unfortunately they aren't going to move close to California. It might be easier if my family, instead, moved somewhere closer to China, like Australia...well, that's still rather far, but it's at least closer than California. And Australia's got some of my dad's friends. So we'd be in good company.

It's been two years since I last went to China, and I wonder how much has changed. I'm still wearing the same jacket and I've brought at least one of the same shirts. I haven't grown taller, either. I think that the things that have changed about me are mostly bad things. When I get angry, I swear in my head a lot more often than I did in middle school, and I find that I say "like" too much when I'm talking. I've seen on Tumblr that people turn into what they said they'd never be, and it's true.

While I still have the opportunity, if anyone is still reading this, allow me to announce my 2nd Tumblr! Yeah, one should be more than enough, but I have now made a division - my original tumblr, Serendipity-solstice, is for photography, quotes, and other such things (though not my own photos, that's still on my DeviantArt). The new one, click here for it, is for artwork, mostly anime-style, and it's named after this blog. Just a little tribute to Blogger for sticking with me all this time. (I mean, it has a lot less errors than Tumblr. I'm thankful for that, at least.)

I have no idea if Tumblr, DeviantArt, or Blogger will work in China, so perhaps this is the last time I write until about New Year's time. So, happy holidays to you all, and may the force be with you.

Labels: change, china, haruhi fujioka, highway, internet, morning, nagi ichinose, nyan koi, ouran high school host club, rain, relatives, same, time, travel, tumblr, weather

There's this song that goes something like "I left my heart in San Francisco" (which I guess I can understand, because I think San Francisco is a nice city, despite apparently having a history of being notorious place). And I thought it was suitable considering what I was thinking about earlier.

The common belief is that being homesick will make a vacation miserable for a person. But I don't think that's necessarily the case. It's true, during the first one or two days of Yosemite, I was trying hard not to burst into desperate sobs, because I was unaccustomed to the rush of Yosemite, the horrible-smelling bathtubs, the thin walls of the tent (meaning that you could hear any loud noise being made elsewhere), and the lack of sympathy from much of the other people (judging from their excited attitudes, since I try to avoid pouring out my heart and soul to people I do not know well).

As is the unusual case here, after a few days, I realized that I would be going home soon, and with this thought in my mind, I acquired a much more positive attitude toward the Yosemite trip. Isn't it funny how wanting to go home can become your motivation? I kind of figured that if I had fun the time would pass faster and I could go home and sleep in my nice old bed and get to take a warm shower (the showers were so cold, it was warmer when you weren't showering than when you were showering...). And in this way I was able to enjoy the trip after all, despite being very paranoid for much of the time. I was very fearful during the hiking when we had to clamber up rocks (how precarious! One false move and you would fall all the way to the valley floor) and also when exploring caves (you could slip and break your bones or bang your head on the ceiling! Or you would at least end up with really dirty pants and gloves). But at the same time feeling the adrenaline rush was a good thing since it made me feel adventurous. For much of my life I had been craving something exciting. This is very contradictory considering that I'm a person that likes normality and regular comforting rhythms in their life.

Just the other night, I closed my eyes. I began to imagine that I was back in Yosemite again. I could imagine the covers on my bed turning into the top of the sleeping bag, and the quiet of the room turning into the annoying dripping and banging of the heater... For some reason this gave me a kind of comfort while also making me feel very nostalgic. I wonder if perhaps the reason why I keep waking up really early, like 7:00 am, when I don't need to get up until 7:45, is that my mind thinks, "Oh no! I am so late for the breakfast at Yosemite!" but that's not the case at all.

My parents said that maybe some other time, like in 2011, we could go to Yosemite again. I'd like to go back to Yosemite, but I feel like if I went back there, I wouldn't want to leave. I'd like my days to pass in a national park, the way some people spend a lot of time in Yellowstone, watching the wolves with their binoculars. I'd like to be somewhere where I can see the stars as clear as day and where the trees make the air delightfully fresh. And as dear as home is to me, that place is not here.

Labels: adrenaline, adventure, breakfast, danger, excitement, homesick, late, memories, morning, national park, nostalgia, shower, sleeping bag, song, sounds, surprise, trip, yellowstone, yosemite

I just love squirrels for some reason. With their petite ears and fluffy tails, they would be one of my favorite animals. Besides dolphins, of course.

This morning I saw the squirrels had returned to my backyard. Both of them were brown. One of them went to my miniature playground and began digging up the tanbark .I don't really care what they do with the tanbark since I really hate tanbark. I remember when I was younger, I fell off the monkey bars at school and hit the tanbark. Ouch. (That's why I've been a-fearful of the monkey bars for a few years.) But apparently the squirrels have nothing to fear since they can turn their paws around backwards to climb trees.

Anyhow, the other squirrel was in one of my trees. It was a very tall tree (we bought it and planted it when we moved into our house. It is so much bigger now) and it has not only leaves, but also things sort of like cherries. (except I think they were probably nuts.) This squirrel was standing up on his hind legs and furiously scrabbling away at the branches above him, which shook the tree a little. He apparently got what he wanted, since he starting quickly nibbling on something. But then he resumed his insane "harvesting". I wish I had a videotape of the crazy things that go on in my yard, but I don't.

Anyhow, I feel very tired this morning. I woke up early, then fell asleep again, then woke up at around 8:45. Bleeeeh.

Labels: animals, backyard, morning, squirrels

It being the morning right now, I thought I'd address y'all in Japanese. I'm kind of tired because I woke up at 8 am. -_-;; I've adjusted to Daylight Savings, but I'm still used to waking up around this time for school, so now I kind of have a dilemma.
I finished a book, Penny From Heaven, by Jennifer L. Holm. (Turns out the author also co-wrote the Babymouse comics. o_O) There's a black-and-white picture of her on the back cover-flap, as well as a description. It says that she lives in Maryland, "with her husband, their son, and a rather large cat". Wish I had a cat (but not necessarily a "rather large" one).
Since I've been bored lately, I decided I was going to make a new banner for Nutrinopets. Once it's finished, I'll be sure to edit this post so all can see it. Or, I'll just upload it to Photobucket. Either way.
The persimmon trees in my backyard look like they're dying. (Yeah, I know, it's almost winter. By the way, persimmons are fruits, which are orange. They look sort of like tomatoes, but they grow on the trees) The squirrels and birds love them. Every year, around Halloween, they'll come and eat them up, and leave a BIG MESS on the ground for us to clean up. Looks like they don't have any table manners.

Labels: books, graphics, morning, outside

I woke up earlier than I meant to today. I wanted to sleep in to at least 9 am, but it didn't work, I just woke up before 8 am, as usual. So now I have the usual headache resulting from insomnia. It's probably a good thing that I skipped out on the school dance yesterday...The loud music at nighttime probably would've given me an even worse headache than usual. XD

We're going to go to the library. I'm glad because my hold requests are ready, at least, most of them are. I can't believe how fast they've been coming. It's really nice, anyhow. Good service = happy folks.

I ate a small slice of cheesecake for breakfast. It is super unhealthy since it is Triple Chocolate flavor, but it was so yummy! Must have some more soon. It'll expire if I don't eat it anyhow. Looks like I've got a whole bunch of slices to myself. :D

Labels: books, cheesecake, headache, morning

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I woke up too early, an hour earlier than I needed to, so I was pretty grumpy in the morning, but I cheered up after a while. Classes weren't that interesting but they passed by quickly, and I didn't get much homework - just math! - so I'm pleased. And I passed my push-up test in PE. Not only that, but today is my dad's birthday! He's so old now, and it shows. ...Nah, I'm just kidding. It's my mom who needs the help. *shifty eyes*

Anyhow, basically, this afternoon I read books, finished my math homework, watched some anime, washed my hair. And right now I'm just chilling out on the computer. I'm as content as a dog having its ears scratched, so to speak. I just hope tomorrow will be nice, too.

Labels: anime, birthday, morning, school

I finished running the mile in the morning. I got my best mile time ever. Must've been the fresh morning air- does the body good. I don't know if I got full credit, though. Once it was time for PE, my PE teacher informed me I had forgotten to check in before I left. So now I don't know if she gave me the credit or not. I mean, I ran the whole mile, and she saw me show up, but still, sometimes teachers will take off points for things like this.

I had to stop halfway through writing this because my mom wanted me to eat dinner, but when I told her I would hurry and write this, she just got mad. XD My mom and I don't really get along most of the time. It's not like we're mortal enemies, though. We simply don't agree on many matters. My dad is more submissive and only argues because it's fun.

Wednesdays are nice days. One of my favorites because that means that more than half the school week is over.

Labels: air, conflict, dinner, family, fresh, mile, morning, running, wednesday

During the nighttime sometimes my nose seems runny, or it is hard to breathe, or I get dehydrated. I guess I could have caught a cold from one of my classmates, or my mother. I am not sure.

Anyhow, this evening, I went to swim class. And at the end of the class, I was getting ready to leave when this alarm went off, and one of the people who works there told us to exit the building...I started to panic, wondering if maybe there was a fire, or someone might have thrown up/gone to the bathroom in the pool again. I really hope not. It did not seem like anything was wrong, so maybe it was a false alarm.

I am really hoping I do not wake up too early tomorrow, because that means I do not have to attend the make-up running a mile in the morning, but then I would have a 0 for the day. So either way, I LOSE. XD

Labels: alarm, breathe, emergency, lose lose situation, mile, morning, running, sick, swim

I was feeling fine in the morning, but during the second class of the day, I started to run into trouble. I had this strange pounding headache in the left side of my head. It was extremely painful and I found it hard to concentrate on my homework or focus my eyes. I thought it would get better, but it only got worse during the day. I couldn't take it anymore and when 4th Period was over, I asked my friend to walk with me to the nurse's office. I called my mom and then I tried to sleep on one of the weird beds they have in there. After a long time my mom finally came and I got taken home, so I took some medicine and a nap.

Anyhow, now I'm really nervous because I don't have the homework from my language arts class, and I missed a quiz in PE class. My PE teacher threatened to make us come before Zero Period in the morning and run a mile if we missed class. I really hope she isn't serious, and I hope she'll believe me if I say I'm sick...

Labels: dizzy, headache, homework, missing, morning, nurse, office, sick

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