Ah, chocolate. So delicious. I do like a lot of sweets, but out of the "candy" variety, chocolate is probably my favorite. (I say probably because there may still be more delicious foods out there, just waiting for me to try them.) Milk chocolate in particular. Dark chocolate's a bit too bitter (a lame attempt at wordplay there) and white chocolate's artificial... But milk chocolate is simply splendid. Right after winter vacation, I noticed that my parents had purchased a box of chocolate cookies, and I ate so many of them that I gained several pounds. (I still haven't been able to shed them. In fact, I gained weight again. I wouldn't care so much if it didn't mean that it makes my pants not fit so well.)

Too bad chocolate isn't really the best thing for your health. Recently we had to bring in food that we cooked to French class, as the product of a cooking project. Many of the foods were desserts, and most of those had chocolate in them. What's funny is that the very day that many of us brought in the chocolate foods, the teacher said that she'd just been to the dentist. He had not been happy with her teeth...because, apparently, she'd eaten too much chocolate.

I'm pretty sure my dentist won't be too happy either. He always tells me that I need to floss, and I realize that I really ought to...But I'm not good at it; sometimes it hurts, and it's a hassle besides. I wonder if I have cavities again? I never seem to feel any pain from them, so it always surprises me to find out that I have them when I see the dentist. Maybe it does hurt but the signals for pain haven't been reaching my brain.

I wouldn't be too surprised, because lately, I think I am somewhat of a masochist. Just the other day, in PE, I was playing soccer, and it got kind of wild. I probably could've stopped myself from falling, but instead I let myself fall to the ground. I hit the ground pretty hard, and I was asked the customary "Are you okay?" by several girls. But I actually felt better after getting bashed up, just as I enjoy feeling hungry and even having pulled muscles (if I pulled the muscle from a good run the previous day, that is, and not from being in a weird position).

Ah, but it is getting to be around time for Valentine's Day, and Singing Valentines and rose grams are going up for sale at my school. I wonder if anyone here gives chocolates for Valentine's Day? When I was in elementary school we'd give each other little Scooby Doo/Clifford/Spongebob/etc. valentine cards, with a lollipop or some other candy. But I don't recall ever seeing anyone give just chocolates for Valentine's Day, and certainly not hand-made ones in a heart-shaped container or anything like that. I guess it's either something kind of personal that you wouldn't do within sight of other people, or I've been reading too much manga and keep expecting people to behave like they're in Japan. (No White Day here, after all.)

I was reading one of the two Kaichou wa Maid-sama! side stories that comes after chapter 28, the one about Yukimura and his sister. I thought it was really a lot like a certain episode in Ouran High School Host Club, when Nekozawa isn't the princely big brother that the little sister wants. Well, Maid-sama and Ouran were both in the LaLa magazine, so I guess they would have stylistic similarities. By the way, I'm looking for good manga to read - either really funny or just something that would touch your heart, or both - preferably already finished (but not that old, at least in terms of art style, if you know what I mean). Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Labels: chocolate, cooking, day, dentist, food, gift, health, injury, kaichou wa maid-sama, maid sama, manga, masochist, ouran high school host club, pain, sweets, teeth, valentines, weight

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

On the school announcements on Friday, one of the announcers said that it was To Write Love on Her Arms Day. During that day, you could write the word love on the arms of your friends. I have heard of To Write Love on Her Arms, because I saw it on a banner someone made once, but I had no idea what it really was, I actually thought it was a song... -_-;; It isn't a song at all. In fact, it's an organization. One of my classmates said that the organization was started because there was a girl who was depressed, she probably had wanted to commit suicide or hurt herself, and to help her, people would try to show that she was loved and wanted in the world, and now it's really major.

Unfortunately, someone commented that a lot of people just thought it was fun to write on each others' arms and didn't understand the meaning of this. It's bad to write on people's arms in the first place. I was once told that every time pen ink touches your skin, you lose a very tiny part of your life (not even a full second). That could be an exaggeration, but it's probably still not good to have ink on your skin, it might seep inside you, and some chemicals could make you sick if you had too much ink, or whatever. But the idea of To Write Love on Her Arms is admirable, nevertheless.

Currently I am reading the book Little Men by Louse May Allcott. I remember having written a post about Little Women in the past. It was a lot of fun writing the blog post in a more fancy way of speaking. I wonder if I should attempt that again sometime, maybe with a different style of writing. (I won't write in caps lock or in different colors, or with chatspeak, or with overuse of punctuation, because that kind of thing just blinds people)

My mom and I are still struggling to make a decision about whether to have braces still. Well, we're probably going to be going to the orthodontist I visited for a consultation (the one who isn't my usual dentist - my usual dentist, however, is also trained in orthodontics) because there were folks who recommended him, except for my mom's friend, who said, "Oh, THAT old man?" when my mom mentioned his name (interesting reaction, is it not?). The main decision now is whether I should get these things called "expanders". The orthodontist suggested that I should have them in order to apparently make me look better, and also because he plans to have my teeth moved so that they will be leaning outward a bit - it might help the gaps in my teeth disappear, or give me an overbite, which apparently is considered good-looking. I like my teeth just the way they are, though. I feel like I won't be myself anymore if I have braces and expanders and change the shape of my jaws. I've never been particularly religious but I do think it was karma and things like that which caused us to have the kind of brains and personalities and bodies that we have, and you shouldn't mess with the larger powers at work! D:

Just the other day, I finally got Ouran High School Host Club Volume 13 from the library. I hadn't read the manga for a while because it takes time for the English translations to come to the USA, and even more time for the library to buy them. It's really annoying, as I don't like to read manga on the computer. You have to click to flip the page and plus you don't get to read the author's comments and stuff (sometimes manga-kas write something, like some personal info or questions from readers, on the side of the page or on the bottom of the page) since it's still in Japanese, the people who translate manga for online readers don't always translate the author's comments...

I'm mentioning this because I noticed something. It said near the back of the manga, where there's a drawing by the author and some notes thanking people who helped or family and things like that, it said it was signed September 2008. Do you see that?! The English version didn't come out for sale until November 2009! It took more than a year! Us folks in North America are getting everything late. ;_;

Labels: author's comments, expanders, ink, late, little men, love, orthodontist, ouran high school host club, skin, song, to write love on her arms, writing style

I don't drink coffee, so I'm not talking about coffee beans. But this reminds me of something from Ouran High School Host Club. The people who go to Ouran Academy are all wealthy, privileged people. Haruhi Fujioka, being a "commoner" and a scholarship student, was to work for the host club to pay back a debt, so she bought instant coffee. The Ouran students had never tried it and said, "Oh my! So it is true that commoners are so busy they can't grind their own beans!" I doubt that everyone is necessarily that busy. Sure, overall most people do have a lot of things on their schedules but if my dad has time to watch movies in the evening then he certainly has time to grind coffee beans. (No offense to my father. But he knows that I think he doesn't do much at work. XD)

Before I start rambling too much all over again, I might as well clarify what I'm talking about. During this summer it was kind of a daze for me, since I was sleeping better and had a lot of free time, so on and so forth. But now I've gone back to school and I have to adjust back to the tediousness of the regular year. And eventually, when I'm working, unless I'm a teacher, I will probably have to get used to it almost forever. It's a rather melancholy thought so I will try not to dwell on it. Already we have homework again, however, and sooner or later I will have to come back "down to Earth".

Today, in fact, was the first day of the 2009 - 2010 school year for me. The first class was history, with, ironically, a teacher called Mr. Brown. This is weird seeing as I have had both Kampps, Browns, and Blairs. (The Kampps are married, the Browns are just...unrelated, and the Blairs are brothers.) It seems like if there's 2+ teachers with the same last name I end up being one of their students.

Overall I think the teachers this year are okay. The impression I got from them...
History - Kind of intimidating, but he is funny. I'm still wary, though, because he said he likes to yell.
Science - I don't mean this to be rude or anything, but she certainly looks old. I wonder if she's about retiring age yet. I know Mr. Brown (last year, not this year) said that the 8th grade teachers are...well...they've got a lot of years under their belts. (Not that they necessarily wear belts.)
Language Arts - She seems pretty cool. I noticed that she is a big fan of the Chargers football team. This reminded me of Mrs. Jackson in the way that Mrs. Jackson is a big fan of the Red Socks baseball team. (She even has a sign that says Red Sox Fan Parking Only on her wall) Anyhow, I have noticed my LA teacher is the most lax when it comes to late work because she accepts it two out of three trimesters whereas the others won't even take it unless there are "unusual and extreme circumstances" (in the words of the science teacher who once had a student with leukemia).
Geometry - I like him even if I did think his voice was just a touch odd at first. He has some sense of humor which is a relief. I heard two of his kids go to my school. Oh yeah, and for some reason the Geometry class is nearly full this year. I wonder why?
PE - This is Mr. Blair. I had him for a trimester last year so I kind of know him already. He always reminds me of Luigi from the Mario video games for some reason. My PE period is 6th period. Strangely, I had 6th period PE for the first trimester all three years of middle school.
French - I can't pronounce her name at all but I'm going to work on it. Though I pale at the thought of learning hundreds, maybe thousands, of French words, I suppose I signed up for it, so I have to deal with it. What was funny was that she bought an hourglass from the Galeries Lafayette in Paris, France, but then it turned out to be "made in China". I bet nowadays almost everything is.

Labels: beans, boredom, busy, coffee, coincidence, daily, everyday, first day, future, grind, high school, impression, instant coffee, luigi, made in china, ouran high school host club, summer, teacher

...For my poor Christmas tree, which perished on Thursday, July 2, 2009. The tree had probably already been dead a long time ago, since it isn't one of those "live Christmas trees" (you know, a small one in a pot which you have to take care of during the year and hopefully it'll grow big enough to be ready for Christmas next time since it's too small to really hang decorations on) but I still feel like it was a funeral. Even though I didn't look at the tree much besides when I'm practicing piano and my eyes are wandering, it still became something familiar in my house. Now that it is gone, there is a lame, regular plant in its place.

The reason why my father dragged the tree outside, rid it of its branches and leaves, and cut it to pieces to put in the Yard Waste bin, was apparently because it was a fire hazard. The tree has been there ever since Christmas, more than half a year ago. It is now very dry and so my parents worried that if we leave the home it could catch on fire and burn the house down. (Our insurance doesn't cover the whole house's cost, so it wouldn't be worth it) And yet even though I never gave the tree a name it was in a strange way dear to me.

I have turned to a bundle of yarn for consolation. Yes, yarn. After reading a book I developed a minor interest in sewing and figured someday I might try it. Maybe in the summer, seeing as there isn't much for me to do during this hot, boring season. I have purchased a bundle of light blue yarn. (We have some other yarn at home but I think all we have is some pink yarn) It is quite soft and I am almost reluctant to use it, but then, it would be nice to learn how to sew. My mom knows how, or at least so she says.

Other things I did today were visit the San Jose library, and also buy a bike at Target. We normally go to the library on Saturday, but seeing as tomorrow is the 4th of July, the library will be closed. As for going to Target, I already have a bicycle, but since I have taken my mom's one, we had to get another one. I used to have a smaller bicycle but I find that the one I usually use now is easier (at first it was hard to use because I was too short but now it's about right). Luckily we have a coupon and besides it's on sale this week. My mom wanted the purple color but they were sold out already (apparently it's a new color and very popular) so we had to get a pink bicycle instead. My mom thought it would be okay to use a male bike but I figured it would be a little weird. Have you noticed the difference between male and female bikes? (Besides how they usually have different colors. Take a look at two bikes or find pictures and you'll see what I mean. That bar thing that runs from under your handlebars to under your bike seat has a different shape.)

Recently I have taken a renewed interest in Ouran High School Host Club. Apparently it has come on DVD to North America and so my mom was lucky enough to find Part 1 in the library (part 1 contains episodes 1-13) so I've been watching it while I exercise, read books, or just when I'm bored. I've been wondering if I should just try harder to find a good Ouran theme for my blog, and then always have Ouran icons. It would be pretty cool and once I did find a nice Ouran theme. The only problem is, with that layout, you can't see the name of the blog title. It's really a shame.

Labels: anime, bike, blog, christmas, danger, death, fire, holidays, independence day, july 3, layout, library, ouran high school host club, sewing, tree, yarn

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