Oh, it's the little things you miss.

My past few days have consisted of reading, trying to gather up enough enthusiasm to draw or paint, playing tennis with my brothers, listening to music and cleaning.

I have a mountain-high stack of books I wish to read before summer is over. If my calculations are correct, though, I'd have to read at least one a day. [School starts for me on August 10th.] Don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty fast reader, but I'm not sacrificing being able to do other things. The latest book I've read, Three Little Words, is really well-written and inspires me to volunteer my time with social services. It's about a girl who in nine years, goes to fourteen different foster homes after her mom couldn't take care of her, and dad's been out of the picture since the start. At one home, the caregivers were anything but caring. They abused the kids and then made them deny that they were. Eventually, the girl has a better home. I don't want to spoil too much in case you wanted to read it. The author is Ashley Rhodes-Courter.

Yesterday I went outside and despite the blistering heat, took close to a hundred photos. Lately, I have been experimenting with lighting and I've always loved manipulating the angles.