My Cardboard Balcony

There's nothing quite like a birthday week. This one has been no exception. Spending time with my family and girlfriend, getting wonderful gifts, even being able to go to the city with two very good college friends of mine. It has been a fantastic spiel of days and hours since Monday onward. That being said, I'm tired from all the fun and need to sleep. So...not too much introspection on this end. Just a pure reminder of how lucky, grateful, and happy I really am. And I think that's introspection enough. Writer's Quotation of the Night: The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium. - Norbet Platt Have a great night and a great weekend, everyone.

Kites by Belinda Roddie Lilies weaving patterns in solemn night Banquets on the table by candlelight Torches all aglow, lighting up the snow Cerulean hue as we fly our kites His is green as grass and mine is bloody red A Christmas for the sky for a celebration overhead Flurries passing by, whiting up the sky Then a voice calls out and says it’s time for bed We sleep while the clock ticks away precious time The sound like poetry, forcing senseless rhymes Cast away the sheets, color in our cheeks A lovely flame that keeps us in our prime The night goes on in thick, snowy white ‘Til dawn and dew we fly our kites In the bitter cold, the sun a flame of gold Passing through the air like candlelight The work you see here has not been edited nor altered since February 6th, 2007.

"Hey, Samantha?" "Give me a minute, Mom." "Samantha - " "Just a minute!" But she only moved closer to her daughter. Her cellphone dangled limply from her left hand, a foreboding chunk of black impending doom. "It's your brother, Samantha." Samantha didn't look up from her computer. "He's in the hospital."