Tonight I got together with my People to People friends. They consist of five people: Jenny, Jacob, Alex, Nick, and myself. When we went to China in the summer of 2007, we became friends almost immediately and never failed to stick together. It was the first time in a long time that I had gone through a camp or a trip or anything and been able to find to a tight-knit group of friends like that. We were so tight-knit that when we all get together, it's like we never left China.

Tonight's events were pretty simple: Alex hosted for the first time. It was also the first time in a long time that all five of us had gotten together. We talked a lot, got Vietnamese, got Rita's, I played Nick in chess (ending in a draw, we ended up just chasing each other around), and we watched Family Guy. We talked so much that my voice was feeling it by the time we got to dinner! It was wonderful, really, really wonderful.

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I feel almost free from all of this. A few strings tied today still remain, but all feels better, and I know I shouldn't worry.

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I watched a ton of "Jigoku Shoujo" today. There was one about a guy who was trying to be an independent filmmaker, but he wasn't a very good guy so he kept breaking girls' hearts. When they were on a trip, he had a bad park job and scraped a guy's car with his. That apparently incited the guy to contact Jigoku Shoujo. Then later, the bad guy accidentally spilled coffee on the guy. And apparently that was enough for him to pull the string. I was like, "...over a car. Really?" But the hell sequence was undoubtedly one of the most creative ones yet. At the end, when Enma Ai sends him to hell, it's in the style of the old silent movies. It's kind of hard to explain, but I really appreciated it. Still, I was sad it was wasted on such a stupid motive. Usually the motives are all pretty understandable, in some way or another. I think in this season the situations have been a little strange. One episode ended in a boy being wrongfully accused of killing his parents, and another had a brother who was in love with his sister and dressing up as a beautiful women to lure her boyfriends away from her.

What's been great about watching this is that I'm picking up on some of the Japanese. Today, during the killed parents one, I realized that I recognized the word "keisatsukan," which means "police" and a word I actually learned through Rosetta Stone. There are a lot of other words I've picked up over the years of watching anime, and I'm glad I'm finally going to formally learn the language.

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One of my tail lights is out. This would happen right before I leave for college.

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I just checked who got through in America's Got Talent, and am generally happy with everyone, though none of them will win. Particularly Connor Doran, who does the kite flying. Don't get me wrong, I think he has an inspiring story and I'm glad this talent makes him happy, but I doubt it could be an hour-long show in Vegas. If anything, they'd have to add a ton more of kite flyers and make it really spectacular. And I know it's probably very calming to watch and all, and I think he should be allowed to live this dream, but I know it's going to come crashing down for him and that just makes me feel sad.

I still think Fighting Gravity will end up winning. And it's not just because I like them and would buy tickets to their show, but I honestly think that's whom people will vote for.

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Between tonight and tomorrow night, I will be Asian-ed out. Vietnamese, then Japanese, then an omakase at the Vietnamese place again. Bad thing? Probably not.

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EDIT: MY RA IS RIDICULOUSLY PRETTY.

And a math major.