12 springs ago or so I discovered the solution to budgetary problems that the highly respected and presumably intelligent group of 541 up on the Hill can’t seem to arrive at: earn more, spend less. Back in the day the concept of earning was somewhat relative: my earnings came in the form of lunch money. Saving was a little unorthodox as well: ( Read more... )

Some people go to therapy. Some try to drown the voices in their head in drink. Stifle them with the sheets of a woman that smells a lot like that sunset on that summer evening many moons ago. They lull the voices into submission with song and dance. Bribe them with designer labels. A lot like snake charmers, they coax the voices into the ( Read more... )

 Not exactly an optimist, I still hoped that there was some truth to the saying that “when God closes a door he opens a window instead.” Well, when God decided to close this particular door he must have been in one of his Old Testament kind of moods. Or maybe he’s just got a peculiar sense of humor. Or he was particularly bored that afternoon. ( Read more... )

 A finger painted copy
Of a copy of a reproduction
Of an original imitation
In a gilded dignified frame

Reaching from the gutter
Of her own mediocrity
For the stars of a Hollywood
Ending kind of life

She diets on the sly
To fit into the off-the-rack
Costume of the long-suffering
And anguished protagonist

Rolling her eyes dramatically
At the embellishments
That ( Read more... )

 I stand in front of the mirror and stare. I do this often. I scan my face and my body for signs of maturity that is bound to come some day, but somehow with me, unlike all my classmates, it is taking its time. While other girls are filling out their semi sheer blouses with their newly grown breasts, gently placing their prized possessions back ( Read more... )

Sometimes staying strong through all adversity gets old. Being
Superwoman can be so tiring... I want to stop listening to all the
perseverance pep talk and turn in my cape.


( Read more... )

For lovers of fusion art: art nouveau + manga = www.audrey-kawasaki.com

( Read more... )

As my dried cracked lips search for you in the gloomy emptiness of the night, I wonder where you are gone to, lying here, right next to me and miles away.  The sweaty sheets bear witness to everything that could have been but was rudely interrupted by somebody else’s memories gushing into my life.

I, of that time, no longer am.  And yet on ( Read more... )

Me and my reflection in the mirror have been rather good friends since early childhood.  We shared a lot of tears and a lot of laughs.  The girl in the mirror taught me my best angles when taking pictures. She was brutally honest when my butt looked fat in a particular pair pants (sorry friends, sugarcoating is all well and good, but I still don't ( Read more... )