Silly stuff

1) Last night I stayed up to see the total lunar eclipse. I've never seen one before, so I was excited! In Florida, it started at 1:30. I went outside every 15 minutes or so and witnessed as the moon grew smaller and smaller until around 3:00, when you could no longer see it except for this reddish glow. ^_^ That's when I finally went to bed.

It wasn't terribly exciting (especially when comparing it to Twilight's Eclipse. =P). You have to be quite a patient person to appreciate it. Luckily, I am one such a person. It was beautiful. ^_^ Did you know that according to Wikipedia, this was the first total lunar eclipse to coincide with a solstice since 1638?

Haha, you know what that makes me? Staying up until all hours of the night like a vampire, meanwhile having a Toastmasters meeting to go to the next day, just so I can watch the moon shrink? You know what I am?

A luna-tic. lol.

2) Between watching the eclipse, I had tons of fun reading the novel Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. This book is freaking awesome!!! The world in this story is amazing, and soooo futuristic! The characters are endlessly fascinating. The premise? In the future, kids who are deemed the best of the best are taken from their families at 6 years old and sent to this Battle School in outer space, where they train to become soldiers so they can fight in the war against the alien Buggers.

I haven't finished reading it. I'm only halfway through. But already I can tell that this is one of the best books I've read in this whole year, if not in my entire life! ^_^

3) Before all the lunatic stuff and the reading late at night, my family had some really fun house-guests over! My dad's Aunt Lilian and Uncle Jack, their daughter (his cousin) April, and our second cousin Elizabeth, who is only 9 years older than my sister and me. She was awesome to talk to! I learned all about this sport/ discipline I'd never heard about before, that Elizabeth actually practices, called "capoeira". Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance.

I would really like to learn to do this stuff! Of course, the masters make it look very intimidating. O,o But still, wouldn't you simply love to be able to do this?
4) A few days ago, we got another awesome album from Amazon (nice alliteration, no?) in the mail: Michael Jackson's Michael! This is full of songs by MJ that no one has ever heard before, because he hadn't released them yet.

Every song was just classic Michael Jackson! They simply oozed his style. I loved each and every one. ^_^ I've been listening to the first song on the album, "Hold my Hand," almost non-stop... It is my all-time favorite MJ song ever now. ("Hollywood Tonight", song #2 on Michael, is also way awesome! It has that irresistible beat he's known for that you can't help but dance to!)

5) Today is very special to me. 2 years ago, I decided to email a certain fellow blogger for help, and he was kind enough to write me back immediately. We were complete and total strangers, with incredibly different backgrounds, but we had a very surprising amount of things in common with each other, and even in that very first communication I could tell that our friendship was clinched. ^_^

We have learned so much, just by being friends with each other. We've shared writing tips, inside jokes, recommended reads, laughter, songs, memories, deep discussions, secrets, letters, tears, phone conversations... and now we're even sharing writing a story together! He was the first friend I ever made on the internet, and he still remains one of the coolest and most incredible people I have had the pleasure of meeting online. (No offense to all you other awesome friends out there reading this. =P)

Jacoby Nielsen, you are a wonderful, unique and talented individual. I am grateful every day for having known a person like you, for having you in my life. Our friendship has been full of magic and sunshine, and has stood the test of time. I am sure that it will last many years to come. Someday (very soon, I hope!) we will meet each other in person, and when we do, it will be amazing.

Thanks for being my friend, Jacoby. This is for you.

*takes a deep breath*

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

That was my annual shout-out to you. ^___^

I also wrote a poem for you. Here it is. Hope you like it.

(btw, look forward to a big surprise on Christmas. ^_~)