I'm spending the weekend at my grandparents' house in scenic Catawba County, NC. I've always liked coming here, traveling to a different part of this state. It's a nice house on a huge lot, way out in the country. Granny and Grandpa are my maternal grandparents, natives of Western North Carolina. Granny is a retired english teacher, who has been on the county schoolboard for at least 12 years, and served 8 years as chairperson. Grandpa used to own a wood-importing business in Hickory called Blackburn International, which was sold to First Wood in 2000. He now makes pottery, continuing his family heritage. I'm using their computer, which has dial-up, as opposed to the high-speed cable back home. It took me about 40 minutes to write this entry, and by the time it finishes publishing, the time stamp will be a few minutes behind.

Today, I went to Concord Mills, a big outlet mall outside of Charlotte. They have a lot of stores there, but what sets that place apart from the others is Jillian's, a huge arcade/restaurant/bar. Like most boys (and maybe some girls) who were born since 1980, I grew up on video/arcade games, and Jillian's more than satisfies my "needs." As far as I know, there are only two in the whole state, and the one that is closer to my home is in Raleigh, but that one is more bar than arcade. No big deal, I'll live.

Anyway, I start my senior year on August 25, but I have my senior photo session this Wednesday.

So, I heard yesterday about how London is getting to be a worse place to live than Iraq. At least in Iraq, you can count on daily bombings, but in London, you can never predict when there will be attacks.

Well, enough about terrorism.

Closer to home, I've discovered a great cafe in Cary, NC called "Coffee & Crepes." It's really good. You can get a crepe with cherry pie filling and ice cream, or a crepe with spinach and ricotta, (my Dad would love that) among several others. They don't have a website, so I can link to a map to where they are:

315 Crossroads Blvd. Cary, NC

Speaking of Internet Maps, I will tell you: Everyone uses Mapquest, but they're not reliable. I use Google, They're more accurate.

Already I await Book 7.

Yesterday, I received Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (a.k.a Book 6) from Amazon.com, and read it in about 4 hours. Yeah, I'm a fast reader, I read Book 5 in 6. Though Book 5 is still my favorite, this one was funny, as well as touching. I'm not going to give the ending away, but I will warn you, It's a shock.

As long as I'm on the subject of Harry Potter, I'll tell you that I am a fan, but not one of those annoying fanatics that are, like, stalking J.K. Rowling, begging her to give away the ending. Give her a break, guys. She's got to write the last book.

Friday the 8th

I have a lot to talk about.

Last night, we went out to Chili's, a southwestern, tex-mex restaurant. When I go there, I get the chicken crispers, which are really good. They have just the right amount of breading, and something between the meat and the breading, that looks like butter, but doesn't taste like it, but it's delicious. The meat is good, too. It comes with fries (also good), Honey mustard dressing, and corn on the cob. Worth every 895+tax pennies.

The fourth seson of my favorite detective show began last night: Monk. In case you're not paying attention, click on the link. Also, in case you didn't see it, but wanted to, I won't tell you how I solved the case, but I'll tell you that I did, and I don't usually.

I also had a weird dream where I was driving, took a wrong turn, and got beat up by a bunch of cheerleaders.

Well, time for breakfast.

It'll be several weeks before my life returns to normal.

OK, so I heard about 5 hours ago about the new 9/11: 7/7. Just like the fall of 2001, this summer is going to be madness. One thing though, who would target the G8 Summit? Doesn't seem like something Al-Qaeda would do, unless they're just trying to get our attention, those evil dirtbags.

On a lighter note, I've discovered a website that lets you virtually see the insides of cars.
Vehix.Com
It also helped me to decide what car I would want, that I'm going to save up for over the next year
I have three choices
Choice 1: VW Beetle GL
Choice 2: Ford Focus ZX3
Choice 3: Scion XA

OK, Bye.