Well, I've finally got all my tests made and prepared and approved... been running ragged the last few days. Finally. Saturday. I've downloaded a bunch of Dungeons and Dragons cartoons and Space Ghost episodes especially for this occasion, and I plan to spend most of the day eating pankakes and watching cartoons and reading a... yeah I just might as well admit it, I've come this far... a Harry Potter book. Actually, I've been reading it already this morning. Thre's no greater pleasure, I think, than waking up when you want to and grabbing a book by your bedside. Yes, even if the book is the one I'm reading now. It's not like you haven't read them too.

Anyway, tough week for a number of reasons, but with a few highlights at school. Yesterday, some students discovered me with my Japanese books. Soon I was flocked with kids trying to teach me the language and pawing through what was to them my very amusing books. We all picked people from the illustrations that looked like various teachers.

Earlier that day I completed my first kanji in calligraphy class. After weeks of struggle I made the character for "honesty" (I chose it myself). I would like to thank the many trees whose death made it possiple. I felt so elated after finishing it. I mean I knew right away that was the one. Oddly, I kinda knew before I started writing it. I'd been doing this character for a couple of hours already... over and over. It sucks when you're two strokes in and you know it's gonna be crap. Over and over. Crap. Over and over. Finally I did an okay one, and I thought "this next one will be it", so I got a good piece of paper and I just stared at it until I could see the whole kanji there just as I had written it before. And then miraculously it materialized. I could feel it as I was doing it that it would be good. "oop, the hard part. Up, that's it. Let the brush rest for a minute. Down, rest and over. Almost home!" I felt like I was crossing the finish line.

Don't get me wrong, compared to the works of the 16 year olds in my class, mine is still crap, but at least it's correct!