Dear Gatsby,

Valley of ashes
Formless bodies of
dust
Hollow, empty lives
Devoid of
trust
Reborn from ashes
A pheonix will arise
One which all will
look up to -
This is the Dream
The American Dream
Look up to an
arrogant, self-centered bunch
The do-gooders among them
Are far and few between.

But this is America
You must live the dream
Riches and Opulence
Must be a part of
Who you are
So you can win
the Girl of Gold.

Recreate your virtues
Personality must change
Be willing to sacrifice all that you have -
and ever will.

But beware - you never will fit in
completely
The 'noveau riche' just aren't good enough
for them.
Only they are good enough
for them.

And the men, the men
With their great hulking frames
Will do what it takes
To humor their dames
Unless, of course,
The dames don't please them
In which case the mistress -
She'll be the gem

But try, you may
If it will make you feel better
However, know this -
Many have tried,
Few have succeeded

Don't let this turn you off
It's just a gentle reminder
of what's really out there.
No, nothing's going to happen.
What's the worst thing that could
occur?

Death?

It little profits that an idle mind

Brought to you by...MS Paint! Huzza! Literature exam tomorrow. And I have finished studying!

Nails and Quails

How now, reader?
I DIDN'T FAIL MY ENGLISH EXAM! Huzza!
In other news, I have a Literature exam on Monday. I think I have prepared relatively well, except for the fact the The Great Gatsby is being a git and not being very easy to understand.
I was bored yesterday, so I painted my nails. Mocha brown. And my ring finger is painted bright red with lots and lots of sparkles. I love sparkles.
Quails do not properly feature in this post, however, because I only put them into the title because 'Nails and Quails' has a nice ring to it. But to make up for the trouble of you havibg to read this post, here is a quote...about quails.
“The song-birds leave us at the summer's close, Only the empty nests are left behind, And pipings of the quail among the sheaves.”
--
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I know, I know. It's an end-of-summer quote. But let's use it for the beginning of summer, shall we? Only one more month till school's out!

The fault, my dear, is not in our stars

While my (long) absence was certainly long, it was not uncalled for. There is a little thing in this world called exams that has been bothering me ever since I made the journey into high school.

I have realized, during my numerous sessions of mouth yoga (where you stretch your mouth as wide as you can to see just how much it will open) that I am not really studying all the time, although it definitely feels like I am. Rather, I am thinking  about studying all the time which makes it seem like I really am. Swimming has taken a backseat (huzza!) and sadly, so have other things that are not studying, like going on the occasional walk or baking meringues (which are good, by the way, even if they do smell a bit egg-y).

Et pour aggraver les choses, I am not able to decide whether or not my music choice really is my own, and if this is even good. (I don't even know why I am listening to French music, but it's really addicting). And then there's the whole issue of "I'm looking forward to summer so much that I'm not focusing on school, which should be my priority right now". Exams started today. I had to do my oral French exam and my teacher scolded me for wanting to go to Antarctica (Her: What's your dream destination? Me: I want to go to Antarctica. Her: WHY? THE FOOD'S AWFUL THERE!). She also seems to have this problem with this really good Italian restaurant in my area which everyone loves. Apparently, whenever she asks someone their favorite cuisine, they say 'Italian'.

There's also the slight problem with my constant urge to write songs, and most of them are in French (Is that good?) And involve people falling in love with stars (Well, not exactly). Oh, well. My lactose intolerance is getting a bit annoying because I am now forced to eat my cereal with soymilk and who likes soymilk? Bleck.

Also, I'm discovering more music that I like, which is lovely, and more people that I don't like, which is not lovely. School seems to be trying to ruin my life. I've been getting D's in English and Biology, which is pretty awful and the A's in the other subjects aren't doing anything to cheer me up.

Sometimes I feel awful for feeling awful when I don't get highest in the class. It's a very awful feeling (Never would have guessed, would you?). Alas, I think I have run out of things to write. Whatever you do, don't approach my French teacher with Italian food, especially from the Italian restaurant in my neighborhood.

"If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;
  If not, why then, this parting was well made."
--
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act V Scene I

Poem: Jump

The grass, the air
The smell of his hair
She thought it smelt like shampoo
But then again, you never knew with men.
Did you?

What would he say?
She thought at night and at day
He'd told her not to worry
That it would all work out in the end
Would it?

She could remember
The fire, the ember
But most of all, those two words
That he'd said before the jump
Join me.

Poem: We cry diamonds

We cry diamonds
and pearls
roll down your cheeks
until they hit
the ground
and roll
away.
We cry diamonds
hard as ever
cut your cheeks
as they fall.
We cry diamonds
all the treasures
meant to make
you feel
better but
they don't.
Nothing will make
you feel better
when you are
crying diamonds.