Another part of this fresh start idea is to cut back on design content—avatars, banners, photography, all that jazz—and focus more on things that don’t feel like chores for me, like writing articles on my opinions and topics I’m interested in. Those sorts of things actually are enjoyable for me. I love sharing my views with the world, even if the world doesn’t agree. We’ve got to learn to be more open—can all you at least agree with that?

The last two parts to my fresh start are blogging more and finding more affiliates. Right now, most of my affiliates don’t actively comment on my blogs and my website, let alone try and chat or befriend me. I’d love to find more active and friendly people out there with whom I can exchange links and talk with. If you’re interested in being an affiliate, please post in the chatbox way down there!

I think an apology is in order for my lack of content/blogs for Brighter. I’ve just been so…well, busy. As much as it pains me to say this (and for once, I’m not being sarcastic) school is coming faster than a robot-vampire-Nazi-who’s-also-a-zombie (believe me, they exist). I’m usually completely physched by now—I mean, SCHOOL! FRIENDS! TEACHERS WHO READ AND APPRECIATE MY WRITING! FUN! But this time around, I’m actually having fun hanging with my cousins and homies and writing nonsense and drama and cuss-outs and bloody battle scenes.
Forget the latter.

My point? I, for one, am not looking forward to waking up at 6:30 AM.
My other point? Being preoccupied is my excuse for not blogging.

Gosh. I need to take a course on staying on topic.

Sheesh—it’s been forever since I’ve blogged. Missed me? (Don’t answer that. ;D)
Well, Fire Island was wonderful—the beach was gorgeous, a bit choppy, but turquoise and wavy and wonderful—even better since it was a two-minute walk from our beach house. ;) We rented bikes and used them to get around the island; I ate this amazing Lobster Ravioli dish at this little Italian restaurant there called Michaels, which I completely recommend. I got a surprisingly large amount of reading done, and I’ve found a couple new pieces of clothing I want need , most of which include a pleather jacket, a few V-neck graphic tees, boots (I just snagged a pair yesterday!!), and new Converse! Even more surprising? My mom said “yes” to all that! *UBER HAPPY FACE*

I’m also very excited, mostly because I had an idea for a story which I think would sell much better than the one I just finished and is a ton more close to my heart. It’s a part-memoir, part-fictional story, featuring a girl named Masi (pronounced “may-s-ie”). Get it? It’s like “Sam” reversed, with an “i” at the end. Clever, huh?

Yeah. Not so much. ;)

A couple more things I’ll put in list form:
- Fire Island needs a program that helps injured animals on the island. Really, really bad.
- One of my best friend’s birthday is on Tuesday, and I can’t wait! I’ll be sleeping over her house and everything, and I’m going to bring my fashion magazines, which is extra funny since she hates all that stuff! Ha ha, birthday torture. Mwahahahaha.
- Want to laugh your @$$ off? Go to YouTube and search “Web Site Story” by Collegehumor. ‘Tis a very funny parody of West Side Story that you’ll definitely laugh at if you’re computer-savvy.
- My grandma pwns.
- My orthodontist sucks.
- Apple pie with vanilla ice cream? Hell to the yeah!

Sami out, with two questions for you…
1. Ever seen a play? A musical?
2. Favorite color?

I went a bit crazy with the add-stuff-to-the-website spree: I’ve added six avatars, two of them animated, two color palettes, three stock link backs, and a ton of stock photos. I plan to add at least two articles or book reviews tomorrow, and possibly a few uncoded layout bases. (Or coded…which would be better/more useful to you guys?)

The catch: on Saturday, I’m leaving for a week-long vacation on Fire Island, an isolated little island off the Long Island Sound that, chances are, has very little accessible internet connection. :/ To make up for it, I’ve spent a lot of today working on the content mentioned above and plan to add more tomorrow.

Hope you guys enjoy the new stuff! I’m excited as heck for my vacation—in case you didn’t already no, Fire Island has no cars on the island (with the exception of fire trucks and police cars) so it seems like a foreign country. You have to bike or walk everywhere; there’s one general store on the entire island and a few gift shops and great restaurants. Did I mention how beautiful the beach is?

*uber-sigh* It’ll be amazing.

1. I went to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, US.
   Okay, this one was just plain fun; my family—that being the four of us, my mom, dad, sister, and I—and three other families of four stayed at this small hotel just outside Hershey. And, let me tell you, it’s loads of fun going with friends—my sister gets annoying after a while, and with Alex, Sean, and the rest of their cousins to hang with, ‘bored’ was a word from a foreign language. We did tons of cool things at the Park—I went on three rollercoasters, a few waterslides, and visisted CHOCOLATE WORLD! W00t for Hershey’s Milk Chocolate! ‘Twas a fun time, even though we were only there for a day and a half.

2. I hung out with my homie at a beach in Farfield, CT, US.
   It’s an amazing thing, hanging with Natalya—she and I have the most amazing conversations at the weirdest time. We discuss hardcore subjects we’re both interested in—Atheism, religion, politics, gay right—and not-so-hardcore topics that are just fun to talk about—her writing, my writing, music, computers, how we love tortilla chips and salsa, music, more music…yeah. She’s pretty freaking amazing. <3

3. I finished my book. Sort of.
   Yeah. I finally—after an entire day of my cousin begging and being pissed at me—handed her my sort-of-finished manuscript to read. And, to my shock, she loved it! Talk about a confidence booster! I only have to make a few minor changes, and it’ll be good to go.

4. I became dictator, achieved rule of the entire universe, and eliminated all people that stood in my way.
   ^^ Yeah…no. ;)

Here’s to a first post for Brighter! Like the new layout? (Yes, I have OLD—Obsessive Layout Disorder. I enjoy changing, switching, and tweeking layouts, which is probably a sign that I should make some premades soon…)