Guten abend! I'm bth glad and upset that tomorrow is Friday. I'm glad because it's Friday, so that means: weekend! I'm upset about it not being Friday TODAY. My mum wakes me up in the morning because I have a LOT of trouble getting myself up. She's at UVA with my dad visiting my sister. They're going to see a U2 concert.

So anyways, I've been enjoying school for the most part, but I'm not enjoying art as much as I thought I would be... We're really just doing still life, which I despise. I want to do portraits! Or sculpture! Still life? NOOO. And my world history 2 teacher's a... real winner. He's really vague about what he wants for vocab and stuff, and I can't stand the way he keeps mispronouncing names of Renaissance artists and other historical figures. The only thing I've liked about that class is the assignment we've been given for homework this weekend, which is to draw a perspective picture (because we're studying Renaissance art right now and perspective is a technique picked up in the Renaissance).

I've recently taken up an interest (or rather, RE-taken up interest) in German culture and language. I want to take it next year, but I want to go straight to German 2, because I already have an idea of the basics, plus I've got the entire year to brush up on them. Have any of you guys (by which I mean anyone who happens to be reading this) heard of Die Ärzte? They're a German punk/rock band I really enjoy.

In other really cool news, I've found on facebook a British friend of mine from second grade! And she remembered me! And she would have searched for me on facebook had I not found her first! We've been exchanging emails and it's been a lot of fun catching up with her. I haven't seen her since the third grade. You know something I found out that has been added to my list of Why I Would Rather Live in England? She's my age (fifteen, for those who don't know), and this is her last official year of school. After this (she's in 11th grade, because in the UK, while American kids go to Kindergarten, English kids go to first grade), she can go to this thing called sixth form or straight to university. Ah! I love my school, but MAN do I want to go to college already. And I'm only in my sophmore year... *sob*

Okay! That's about all I have for now, and actually I should start getting ready for bed. Gute nacht!

Well, I got a decent sleep last night and woke up on time (thanks, mum!), had a good breakfast, and made the bus.

Some changes have been made at my school from last year (which is unsurprising), so things were rather... confusing. I think I mentioned in my previous blog entry that I got chemistry and geometry instead of physics and algebra 1, and frankly, I liked those classes so much I decided not to bring it up.

My chemistry teacher is awesome. He loves British comedy, comic books, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which, technichally, would go under British comedy, but whatever). So, this should be a pretty good year.

While I was in Hawai'i, I briefly visited an island called Lana'i (don't go there--it's barren. Like, it might as well be Nevada) where I took some pictures of petroglyphs. I tried to email them to my World History teacher from last year (who is awesome as well, and is my case manager again this year), but it FAILED. I showed them to her with my camera, and I'm going to try emailing them again so she and her partner teacher can use them for their class.

My creative writing teacher was very happy to see me again. I gave her two stories I'd written over the summer to read earlier in the day (since my English classroom is right across from hers). During the creative writing 2 class, she read a paragraph from one of my stories to the class as an example.

Well, that's all I've got to write today. See you!

Hey! School starts next week, after Labor Day... I feel so unprepared

I'll be a Sophmore, with my electives being Creative Writing 2 and Art 1. Plausible! Although I think there's been a mixup in my math/science. Since last year I took Algebra 1, Part 1 (albeit for maybe just the last quarter), I should be taking physics and Algebra 1. But I've been placed in Geometry and Chemistry. Maybe it's because I took Algebra 1 for most of the year? I don't know. But geometry sounds like more fun than freakin' algebra. As for my science class, I could go either way with chemistry or physics.

I've been writing/drawing/eating salami a lot lately. And spending lots and lots of time on the computer, doing virtually nothing except surfing. And I cannot seem to just sit myself down and read a book anymore. Ugh. I need help.

Ooh! But on August 26th, I got to meet one of my online friends! It was the most awesome ten minutes (I think) of my life!

Yeah. So, howzabout a summer recap?

June: Finished school just before summer actually started, went to Annie's birthday party and had a blast with the guys (Keenan, Michael, and TJ, none of which I have seen since), and shot a video that became one of the highlights of the party. Spent a lot of time on the computer, staying up REALLY late, going to sleep at like five of six in the morning, and then sleeping in until at least two in the afternoon.

July: Did basically the same thing as in June, then went to Hawai'i (O'ahu, Maui, and Hawai'i, specifically) for three weeks on July 11. O'ahu was very stressful for me, and I was very anxious for much of the time because my sister wanted to do everything all at once, while I wanted to relax. Did a Shark Encounter, in which we got in a boat, rode out, got in a cage and got to "swim" with Galapagos sharks, as well as learn a bunch of cool stuff about sharks, and feel quite seasick (without actually GETTING seasick, which my dad did). For my fifteenth birthday, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center and did a Luau. Maui was better, I was much (MUCH) more relaxed. And I liked the lock system our hotel/condo thing had. If I wanted to leave, all I had to do was memorize a code. I didn't have to wait for my slow moving parents to open the door (I'm bad with keys). On the Big Island, I can't quite say the same--I actually broke one of the keys! I did, however, get to see Volcano National Park, go stargazing on Mauna Kea (I saw the little dipper and the milky way with a 40% moon! It was freezing at the top, though), and some other stuff I can't remember. We left August 3rd.

August: It was nice to get home after Hawai'i, although about a week after I got home, I went on my annual trip to Rhode Island, which was very nice. My dad and sister didn't go (because she had to go back to college while we were there), and I can honestly say that made the trip easier on me. Newport was fun; got some old records at the antiques store... and the beach on Friday had the best waves, although there was way too much seaweed. For a while I've been wanting to make a dollhouse, just because, and since my Uncle John is a good carpenter (I guess that's what I would call him, I dunno), he agreed to build me one, which will be ready next year. Since Rhode Island, I've been staying up really late again, though not nearly as late as I did in June. I've been feeling really creative since RI, don't know why, though. I wrote a lot there, as well as some drawing, but mostly writing.

I feel, kind of, proud of myself. I've actually been able to commit to writing. Finishing things is really difficult for me! It's an achievement just that I've written this stuff without quitting somewhere in the middle. I just hope I can commit to getting a normal (and BETTER) sleep pattern so I don't spend the entire school year asleep like I did as a freshman! I like high school. It's been the best school I've ever attended, and I don't want to waste it asleep.