...I wonder if all this "high school" stuff will end. I dunno...too much unnecessary bulk that comes with being a teenager. Sheesh...I hope college is better, but meanwhile, senior year goes on.

It's only the second day, too, and there's already stuff that bothers me.

Eh...that's life, I guess. I just wish I weren't so tired for some unknown reason. ...Isn't 5 hours of sleep enough? Pshaw, I'd like to think that but sleep is such a waste of time!

(Imported from MySpace)

It's hard to explain this morning. I was really tired from reading Empire Falls all day, but David just called me and told me that there was going to be a lunar eclipse later that morning. Since I wasn't planning on sleeping much anyway, I made a mental note (from David) that it started around 2 A.M. and witnessed it for myself.

In case you didn't notice...the moon was extra bright last night. At around 2, the upper left of the moon began to be covered up, eventually creating this orange glow around 3. By 5:34 A.M., the moon back to normal as the last portion of the eclipse slipped off the lower left of the moon.

During this time...it was unbelievable. Okay, so it was dark in my backyard and it was semi-cold. But you know what? I didn't care! The sky was magnificent, dotted with a huge amount of stars. The moon was weird, but it was beautiful in its own eerie way. David had told me to call him around 2:30...but the guy never picked up despite my 8 attempts to contact and wake him up.

I called several people, and surprisingly, Alex was still awake XD I stopped when I called Lenora and she was asleep. I felt bad, but I really didn't want her to miss an opportunity like this :3 Apparently, she already knew about it. So did Arik, but he didn't pick up his cell (because he was apparently watching it already). I even went on AIM to check who was on only to find David unresponsive and Owen Wang already looking at it XD

Okay, so the moon looked different between 2-5. What's so special about it? Well...during this time, I talked to Alex on the phone about a variety of things, one of them being our observations about the moon, the stars, the galaxy and God. Strangely enough, we got philosophical here as I stated (upon Alex's mentioning of black holes) that I sometimes think God purposely challenges our faith so that when we struggle through it and believe in Him, our faith only becomes stronger. Alex agreed with my statement, but that doesn't make it true. It does make you wonder, though :/

Even so, looking at all those beautiful stars made me feel really at peace. I was just laying on my back on the moist grass, phone in my right hand and just taking in the scene. It's truly amazing how beautiful such things can be, even if I had to admit to Alex that we, compared to everything else in the galaxy, was even smaller than dust (in which he corrected me by saying "atom").

I saw my first shooting star. I just briefly laid down on the grass and was in the middle of a sentence when I saw something directly above the sky whiz by really suddenly and disappear in the blink of an eye. I saw the head of it and the streaming white tail that followed before it just vanished instantly. It was really, really, awesome. Like the bloody, orange look of the lunar eclipse, there was something movie-like about this shooting star that I saw. I had told Alex to be quiet as I made a wish (to which the jerk muttered his own on the phone---even though he didn't see it XD) and hoped to see more, but unfortunately...that was the only one I saw :/

What was my wish? I wished that David would love me XD Haha...I'm just kidding! Actually, it was a really, really vague wish for my future. Alex guessed it, so maybe you can :)

Yeah...the experience I had was fun. I took over 70 pictures and I do plan to upload some on Facebook...eventually. I kept making stupid similes regarding the moon, like, "It's like the color of burnt cheesecake!" or "It's peeling away...like a banana!" I know...Alex thought I was acting weird too :3

You know what the sad thing is, though? The pictures...I realized they'd look like regular moon pictures, with the exception of the orange ones XD Only difference otherwise is that these "different moon phases" were all taken on one night/morning...which is definitely not typical.

Yup...stayed up until 5:34 A.M., then met up with Alex for a morning run from 6 to 7. Dude, I got slow...but it's okay :3 After that...well...I went home, read Empire Falls, fell asleep and woke up with my book literally plopped over my head (pshaw, I thought that only happened on T.V.!) and the hand that was holding EF apparently had been pressing against my right eye for the past hour that I dosed off. It just got better now. My vision in that eye is no longer blurry :)

*sigh* Yeah...I'm gonna miss this summer. It was nice. Brand new experiences. I actually stayed in touch with friends throughout the summer, which is sort of a first. I actually hung out with friends and spent a lot of time with them. My faith as a Christian has only grown stronger. I'm not a total, depressed girl like I was junior year. Yup...this summer just brought out the best in me :) I love it, and I'll miss it.

David...that guy. And Arik. Funny how I feel an instant connection with these two guys, when I never quite talked to them enough during junior year. David's been like a brother to me, and Arik's been that big bro/mom type of character (hence me and David have the nickname of "Mom" for him---since he always watches out for us, including on the Mexico trip). Yeah...it's funny how this one day as the three of us, kinda all feeling down, were just sitting around Arik's living room when Arik's mom noticed, "Hey, you guys are S.A.D. Your initials make up 'sad.'" I know...ingenious, ain't it? :)

Additionally, this summer allowed me to know some other people a bit better too. Some of my bro's friends, the Chias (Irene, Samuel, Clara, Mercy and their parents), Morey (Arik's little bro), Kevin Wang, Holly, Thomas...Alex, I only built from our already-growing friendship. I got to know Grace from church a lot better. She's weird, yes, but...it's hard to not like her because she's sweet and funny. You gotta love the weirdness. Then there's the other people at my church, where, (for some) thanks to Mexico trip and cell, I've gotten to know a bit more about. Recently, I even started talking to an old acquaintance (whom I haven't seen for years since Chinese school 4th-5th grade) at church, despite having attended it since February. Let's just say my bro wasn't exactly nice to this guy back then, so I was glad that he was able to forgive and forget the past---just the nice guy I remembered him to be. My pastors, Baldwin and Wilson (who FINALLY remembered my name thanks to Mexico! :D) I've also gotten to know a bit better. It feels good when people know you by name and you know them by name :)

I think I'll be finished for all my stuff by 6 P.M. tonight. I'm supposed to go hang with Lenora, Julian Su and Anthony Kirklin---to watch Rush Hour 3 (a second time for me, but doesn't matter). Yup, for my last day of summer! Yeah...those guys :) They were my junior-year-hanging-out pals and pretty much (next to the middle school days of the "Fab Four") the first people I hung out with outside of school during high school. Lame as that sounds, it's true :) If I recall, we even made a pact to hit Vegas together when we're 21 XD Haha...I dunno about that!

Anywhoo...this summer was great and it was all thanks to you guys. You have my deepest gratitude, and I shall see you all in the school year :) Senior year---booyah! :D *sigh* Time passes so fast---so let's keep up with it! ;) Thank you sooo much, guys :)

10:13 A.M. - 10:58 A.M.