Nine Twenty-Two / Comments

Okay well FIRST OF ALL hello there "Love and Longing". Hmnnn... yeahp - I like it! Did you feel like a change after all of this time? Or are you actually even more bored then you let on in your last messege? (Which was A LOT).

I'm quite proud that I've managed to reply to you in a time period that is quicker than a month. Though, then again, I also just posted a poem. But it was long overdue so...

Urgh, don't you just hate that? Usually it doesn't bother me so much but when you really WANT to read - but you just can't bring yourself to do so. That's the worse. Or when you get reader's block!?? Like I thought that I would get so much free time to read an entire truckload of books during my summer break but I've read like ... half a book. That's it. It's depressing. And it's not like I don't have the time or the books or the WANT to read books - I just can't get into it which sucks.

Thanks again for reading my poems. I might go and read some of yours after typing these. See what you've been up to. :)

Oh yeah and speaking of work and school GUESS WHO GOT INTO LAW SCHOOL??? Yeah, fingers crossed that I don't fail completely. It's surprising enough that they let me in in the first place! Oh boy, either way it'll be a nightmare. How long until I'm allowed to retire?

OKAY I'm just going to say now that "Bitter Optimists" is actually the greatest things ever. EVER. Go pat your friend on the back for coming up with it because DUDE THAT JUST KIND OF SOUNDS LIKE A SUMMARY OF MY LIFE AND WHO I AM. Bitter Optimist. That's incredible. Watch out, I might just steal it for something. BITTER OPTIMIST. I love it. You put it into words. Incredible.

It's even better for you because you're the Chaotic Bitter Optimist. That has a nice ring to it. I think I'm being obsessive now. Am I being obsessive? I think I'm being obsessive.

I never really try to well do ANYTHING with my poetry. Usually it'll just be one line and then what follows will just be a result of that. It might rhyme or it might just be bullet points. I find myself pleased with what I write most of the time because to have created something is usually the main thing for me in itself. I don't think anyone (haha except you of course, every now and then) actually reads my stuff besides me so who cares? haha. I'm going to assume that my stuff is reasonably okay since you seem to like it and constantly remind me of that - thanks for that by the way. I guess you of course know how lovely it is to hear positive feedback about one's work!

"Cult of Irrationality" is epic Josh. Keep quiet and suck it up. :P

Oh yeah, we're all basically going to spend the greater part of our lives paying back out student loans - though that's assuming that we actually get a job after spending a fortune on a so-called necessary education! sigh. If not I'll just make a living out of digging ditches. Nothing to worry about.

Josh - talking to you never fails to set me in a better mood which sometimes seems strange as we're not the brightest souls of our generation. I think what makes us FABULOUS (a-hem) is the fact that regardless of being thoroughly depressed ourselves and kind of self-loathing/loathing the world we happen to be brilliant at at least TRYING to be optimistic and have hope for something better.

I nodded so hard at what you said about being lonely. Like I'm in the exact same boat and I'm not making any effort to change anything. I'm constantly surrounded by people but I'm still lonely and the people I'm surrounded by just make me want to seek isolation. Dear lord I have the lowest and I mean LOWEST expectations of my family so that way I don't have to be disappointed. I'm making it sound like my family is TERRIBLE - they're not! I just ... well I just don't click with them...

I figured that I've got the rest of the year to spend with people so I might as well savour this time that I have with myself that is without the immediate stress of assignments and writing essays!

Hahaha go and do something chaotic then. Who knows? It might brighten your mood?

I just went and re-read "Cult of Irrationality" and I have no idea what you're talking about when you call it "weak". I thought that it definitely stood out against some of your other poems and you should really be proud of that one. Though I understand that the artist is the biggest critic of his own art...or something like that. But really - I'm so happy that you're finally getting recognition for your work because you genuinely deserve it.

Yeah, I think I'm spiralling off into panic mode what with 2014 and all of the new starts for this new year. Just now I was applying for a student loan which is a depressing thing in itself when really, all I want to do is NOT be busy doing important things and do absolutely nothing, have no plans, stare off into the distance, write shit poetry, watch the clouds and just be left alone.

Life's tough, right?

Bored and lonely. YES EXACTLY. I know that when I finally do go and meet people the standard "so how were your holidays?" "what did you do?" questions are going to be milling about and there is honestly nothing noteworthy that I can think of. Not that I've been making an effort. I like doing nothing and I like being on my own but my problem is that whenever I try to do nothing and be on my own I am dragged off with my family to do something suicidal-ly boring. Christmas and New Years was terrific-ish, but that's it. God, I'm just a ball of sunshine today - sorry! This is like us both finding it LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE to write happy poetry all over again.

Oh, life is soooooooo melancholic.

I enjoy talking to you as well and now I think I'll make more of an effort to actually just check in with Mibba every now and then! :P

It's sorted then. You're chaos and I'm order. You make it sound like being the sane one is a terrible thing! Haha, and you sound ecstatic at being the crazy one. Haha, I'd say this is already working out brilliantly! :D

JOSH JOSH JOSH JOSH JOSH. You should make me pay you every time I return to mibba after weeks and apologize for it. It says on my page that it's been a month since I've talked to you but it feels like much longer!

Though first of all LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR FEATURE! I would have chatted to you about it if I had known but obviously I haven't been on Mibba forever, but more IMPORTANTLY - CONGRATULATIONS. I am SOOO proud of you, you definitely deserve it and we've both been saying for so long that they should feature your poetry. AND WHICH POEM DID THE USE? It could literally be any of them since you have so many brilliant ones - they must have had a difficult time choosing!

And well ... ... 2014! haha, I guess perhaps I should wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR ! I hope you've been busy with all sorts of exciting stuff rather than being a boring sod like me.

How HAVE you been, Josh? Honestly.

I never even realised how much I missed our conversations until this very moment, as I'm typing up this message. Huh.

So have YOU been more successful with the job hunt - since I've been completely UNsucessful. I'm not even sure if it's because there aren't many jobs around or if I'm not trying hard enough. But HEY - I'm done and dusted with High School so that's something, right? I'm going to be positively eaten to bits this year in University...but let's not dwell on that.

We're not a sorry pair at all Josh! I have no idea what you were talking about! I love the idea of being chaotic but come to think of it - I don't think I am. I'm not sure if any of my family would describe me as that...by friends though might. :D Haha. Or maybe it's just you. Chaos - I read this thing in this fic once ages ago. So here's the thing: you be the chaos and I'll be your order. I'm the order to your chaos and you're the chaos to my order. See, that way we balance each other out. Maybe. Haha :D ... ... Okay, maybe NOW I'm starting to get that "sorry pair" part you were talking about!

You're welcome Josh! I feature would be great, yeah, but urgh, don't talk to me about interviews. Once I'm done with exams I'm going to have to get a job and so just now I'm sorting out my CV and checking for vacancies. I'm totally hyped to get a job though it'll probably be in customer service or a fast food chain since I have no work experience/qualifications, but I wish I could just skip to the bit when the give me the job instead of going through all of this application purpose. Urgh.

I KNOW the stats paper will be the death of me. It's already looking pretty grim. But thanks for the luck, and for understanding :D

God, we're both a sorry pair.

Had 3 english papers to sit yesterday and now I should be studying for my history paper tomorrow. TOMORROW which happens to be a SATURDAY. If that isn't injustice I don't know what is. There goes my hopes for having a sleep-in. sigh.

urgh calculus how about calcu-no. SOrry, that was terrible. But just all form of maths suck. I have two statistics papers to sit on Wednesday. My hopes aren't very high for anything other then failure.

Sorry - this entire thing is getting far more depressing then I intended. Moving on from the horrendous world of finals - HEY that's great - the interview thing from mibba. And it's about time, don't you think? Your poetry is great and so I really hope they decide to put them up so that others can see them. I hope your proud - even if mibba staff are shitty enough to change their mind. You should definitely be excited/chuffed about it. Well done! :D

THANK YOU so much for the birthday wish. I am, predictably, a month late in replying. URGH. And I have my finals, and I mean THE FINALS, coming up, and so I'm basically dying.

Oh yeah and I LOVED "Somewhat Addictive" - even moreso now that you've told me that it's about water. I fall in love with writing all the time. It doesn't have to be happy, sappy enlightening poetry for me to love. Sometimes I might even fall in love with the more intense ones. Most of my favourites out of my own poetry are the more gruesome ones. "Somewhat Addictive" was just written so well and it flows so well and I just ... liked it.

My friends and I were having a conversation yesterday and decided that I'm just a masochist. A bit worrying.

Oh Josh, you DO realise that the more you write, the longer my response will be? You're just digging your own grave deeper here.

SEE I KNEW YOU WOULD SAY THIS "it's fine". Yes, hello - just call me psychic. :D Don't worry, I'm sure that out of the two of us it will always be me who is late in replying. In fact, right now I'm supposed to be studying for exams. I have three English papers and two Classics papers to sit tomorrow. Kill me. I've already told you that I tend to procrastinate more when I absolutely can't afford to. If I recall correctly, I actually made my account this time 2, 3 years ago when I was supposed to be studying. Some things never change. But here's to hoping...

Yeah, that actually is so completely illogical. Especially if we think about back in the medieval times when science was actually frowned upon because of all of the things it brought up against religion. Though I suppose that just highlights our past ignorance. But yeah. Art was and still now should be a sign of the elite. The intellectuals and the creative. Art shows creativity and expression and displays what we are as human beings. I know that Stalin was messed up in some ways but he was fairly brilliant in other ways. One of his quotes come to mind: "Writers are engineers of the soul." ... So just maybe think about that the next time you're feeling self conscious?

I adored "Already Old and Alone" and you ARE getting better. I can't pinpoint it - there's just something different about some of your poems. Or maybe it varies according to WHAT you're writing about. I haven't posted it yet but I've got this poem that for once I'm really pleased with - I'm not even beating myself up about it. It's called "Literary Dehydration" at the moment. I say at the moment, because I might change the name. But I actually really like this one and then other times I just give up on poems and write them off as bad jobs. Don't worry too much if you're in a rut. It happens. To me more than anyone. You'll get over it, no matter how long it takes. And it should be the least of your worries now that you're in Uni.

Speaking of which - it's great to hear that your not completely traumatised. And it must be nice to have your parents within driving distance of you. (food and laundry I think the rule is!!)

God, the Mibba Staff Force (should we code name them MSF?) really are out to get you. It's especially surprising because I've never (to my knowledge) had them do anything to my work. Do you have any other friends on here that get the same thing? It's a fairly open website. I don't think they can ban you for what they call mistakes when others might be cyberbullying etc. Haha, breaking all of the rules in one poem would be kick-ass. If it were not for the consequences...Maybe we should write a poem that just complains about the MSF? I dunno. Haha

Urgh you're so lucky you've got your own car. I haven't even got my restricted licence yet so I'm still on my learners which means I can't drive alone. But singing in the car is great. Sometimes if I'm just walking somewhere and there isn't anyone within hearing range of me, I just sing softly to myself. Singing in itself is a great thing. Singing is an Art, so why not. I guess loving and hating your singing is the same thing as loving and hating your writing. There's no way of winning.

I know nothing about soda giving you heart problems. I guess the safest thing to go with is to have everything but in small doses. Never overdo anything and you'll be fine. Most of the time. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DRINK MORE WATER RECENTLY TOO. I KNOW that it's basically the nectar of the Gods and you just have. to. drink. the. stuff. But I know I don't drink enough of it. It's a developing process.

A world ruled by Starbucks and Instagram. Shall we add Miley Cyrus while we're at it? Either way, count me out.

Hmn. It seems that I've rambled even more than usual to make up for my late reply. Happy reading?

Oh no Josh! I could've sworn that I already replied to your message but I just checked and you're right - I haven't - S O R R Y. Knowing you, you'll reply with something along the lines of "no, it's fine" or "I understand, it happens" - but still...you understand my dilemma, right? I hope this isn't coming across as rambly as you're reading it - because it's a bit of a blur for me.

But where were we? Urgh, yeah - close to the only reason I can't stand the Sciene faculty is because they all seem to look down on the Arts as if we're worthless. HMPH! Let's come away from these so -called educated people....and maybe just do what we do best!!!!!! ... sit in a darkened room and write poetry about our misfortunes... haha

Gosh, yeah. I feel like I haven't written anything for AGES - probably because I haven't. I've got this english assessment that I've been procrastinating with so I figured that I'd just submit a couple of poems for that. Not sure if I'll write some new ones or just chuck a basket of old ones at my teacher. Meh. I might just check out your page after I'm done replying. Feels like I haven't looked at any of your work for a while and I'm sure you're still writing beautifully. :) Though you are right about that great feeling you get when you finally write something down after you've had a bit of a dry spell for a while. That's just something else.

URGH - I hate that I took forever to reply - you must have moved into your Uni by now. Now isn't that just terribly exciting? Scary? Sure. But you're going to have a hell of a good time! Let me know how things are, haha.

And the Mibba Staff Force strikes again?!!!! OH NO! What is with these people? I swear they're borderlining oppression right now! IT'S A FREE COUNTRY (well at least America and NZ is) LET US WRITE AS WE WISH! SCREW YOU AND YOUR OBSESSION WITH CAPITALISATION AND ORDER!!....do you think they'll kick me off the site for this? Cause that'd be terribly inconvinient. But seriously. You capitalising an 'a' is not a problem that needed to be fixed. That makes no sense. What on earth, then would they have said about e.e.cummings basically NEVER using capitalisations? Or would they obsess over Emily Dickinson's excessive use - of - dashes - - ? - - ? Haha. We should put the Mibba Staff under the same shack as the Science Faculty. These people need to learn to appreciate ART!

When I was about 8 I was convinced that I could actually get famous and be a big time star through my singing *cough* talent. Yeah...it didn't take long for me to move on from that. I WAS in the school choir for about 5 years in the past and so I couldn't have been all that bad since the auditions for that were horrific. Nowadays it's either shower singing or vaccuum singing or singing while I'm doing the dishes which additionally feature my family telling me to shut up. Let me know when you finally get to be the lead vocalist for your band. You've certainly gotten further then my friends who've been wanting to start a band since...2010, and have been too caught up with coming up with a band name for anything else to happen. Haha, let me know, then, when you're a better singer. Or maybe when the next season of American Idol rolls by I'll see a *checks your DP* shaggy, brown haired 20 year old guy who Simon fallls in lust with. :D

I was a major coffee addict until my mum decided that she'd start monitering my morning beverage diet. I thought there was nothing she could do...until she stopped buying coffee. But tea is great - I can't decide which of the two I favour, but they both have their uniqueness and they both have their own ways of making certain circumstances better. I don't mean that in a weird way....I mean that in a ... waking you up in the morning or warming you when it rains way... Gosh - look at me - this is pathetic. Maybe I should write a poem about coffee and tea. I'll let you know where I get with that one. OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT STARBUCKS IS. One day, I swear the company will take over the world. Starbucks and instagram, probably. Though half the time buyers don't even get the real stuff, it's just ice and chocolate and cream or frappes. Sigh. I only know one person who actually drinks her coffee black. I respect your decision to be a "soda guy". It suits you and it has it's own originality in it....

Yeah, I'm totally talking crap now, in case you hadn't notice. I think I'm deprived of sleep. And I'm also supposed to be studying for my exams - my finals are in two months but I've got practise exams next week. Sigh.

I find that I don’t exactly care so much about gaining recognition for my poetry anymore. I used to agonize over how many people were reading my poems and who would comment on them etc. But now just writing something is satisfying and enough for me. I don’t need anything in return. As the great man Philip Larkin I believe once said, “Poetry is nobody’s business except the poet’s, and everybody else can fuck off.” Makes sense, I suppose. You should definitely submit something that is “not your best” into the Tallenge thing – if not for anything else but a laugh. Ha ha though yes, you make a valid point. Damn right poets should be given cash prizes! I swear it’s all the science students hogging all of the awards!

I don’t know if not writing is beneficial for your so called ‘creative juices’. I always thought that the more you write the better you become…but then again, in terms of poetry I basically only write 1 poem every…2 months or so, and I think I’m doing alright. I don’t even post ALL of my poems on Mibba. Some of them I just keep to myself so- - I’m not too bothered. Poetry just happens. I don’t try to force it. The short and solid poems are the best. I don’t even have a single structure that I can shelve my poetry into. Some of them are about 12 lines long and the others go on for over a page. Whatever. This stuff writes itself. I was about to pull some kind of corny pun/joke about “Worth It” but I’ve managed to restrain myself, don’t worry. I would LOVE to hear more songs on the radio using words like “forlorn” and “eloquent”. It’s definitely preferable to “swaggie” and “yolo” – cringe! How are you doing with the “big leagues” there’s got to be some fun in Uni – don’t tell me it’s all entirely bad. You never know, you might just turn out to be the kind of person who works better in Uni rather than a school environment…

I can’t remember if you have or haven’t told be whether or not you’re a good singer. Though I guess that’s not exactly something you can judge of yourself. Either way, I think that Summer Affair will sound beautiful alongside a melody and if it was sung by you/someone.

Go drink some properly brewed tea! If you don’t know how (but it’s simple really) get someone else to do it for you! Your Mother or a friend or go to a café and get a plain English tea, no lemon or honey or lattes yet…it’s a progression, see? Tea from a can? Sigh. Oh Josh no, no, no, no no. That’s equivalent to people thinking that Lipton Ice Tea (assuming that you know what that is) is equivalent to the real deal. Sigh. Tea brewing/drinking is a sacred dealing. I’ve never really had any conceptions about Americans and tea. Is that not a thing? Do Americans just stick to their coffee?

Apparently Tallenge offers cash prizes to winners but I didn't really trust the thing. I've only ever entered one poetry competition and it was sponsored by a well known University so it definitely wasn't a scam - but I didn't win. :( Yeah, it'd be great if we could get scholarships and rewards online for our writing - you especially! You've written a lot of fantastic stuff and I feel like that should be recognised. I'm absolutely certain that you can easily reach 500 poems some day (me? not so much - it'd take me forever!!) and then maybe one day I'll be browsing through a book store and go "hmn this poet seems to ring a bell....." Haha. :)

I don't think there's such thing as writing too much. Either go big or go home! Though yeah, I hardly ever write during breaks. I never really sit down with the intent to write poetry. Sometimes I just get ideas or ... I don't know. During class, rather than doodling I might just write a lil' something. Urgh yeah, I'm worried about my time management difficulties and procrastination tendencies in relation to starting University next year. I keep telling myself that I really ought to change my habits and all but.... you know how it is. Good luck for University though, as you're starting before me. Hopefully it isn't too overwhelming.

Don't give up with "Summer Affair"! You'll get there eventually and you can never rush art - haha. Oh yeah I sometimes struggle with titles too. Sometimes it kind of just comes to me, like "Dirty Laundry", but for others nothing really seems to fit. I'm still not completely pleased with "Scrunched-up Paper Policies". I think it's ironic that the title gives connotations of frustration as that's what the poems kind of about. So in saying that, maybe that title DOES fit... who know..

You poems are extremely original - which I think it something that every writer does (or should) strive for. There are some other amateur poets who've stuff I've read on here but not everyone can express themselves as brilliantly. Even when it comes to putting down your emotions on the page, there's always that risk of sounding like a drama queen or coming across as whiny. I guess it being so difficult and at times, yes, frustrating to keep things fresh is what contributes to the feeling of accomplishment and contentment when you really just KNOW that you've written something worthwhile.

Agreed about the politics. Besides, this is a creative writing website. Let's skip all of that dreariness.

YOU'VE NEVER HAD HOT TEA IN YOUR LIFE?! Do you mean to say you've just never had tea or that you've never had it HOT? Tea is one of the staple necessities in life. Tea is ESSENTIAL. (I just realised that my dp is a picture of a cup) ...I guess with New Zealand's British influence some of us have the tea obsession as well.

JOSH! I got a message on Mibba from a woman who searches for people to join this network called Tallenge. She read my poems and encouraged me to join but I wasn't so sure because when I searched it up I found some stuff about it being a scam and getting copyright claims over your work once you join up. Think I might just stick to Mibba! YUP!

Anyway, back to the usual. You're literally the only person I talk to on here any more. My friends who are on here don't really come on any more and I only come on here to either upload a poem or reply to you. :) You seriously have so many poems and you should be proud - especially because from the ones that I've read, they're of pretty high quality. And I'm not just saying this for the sake of it. More than 250 poems is a great achievement. Definitely enough to publish a book!

I hope you find a melody that fits for "Summer Affair". It's brilliant as a stand alone poem so anything else you do to it to make it into a song can only get better. Gosh - I'm so jealous that you know how to play the guitar. Even if it's only a little. Even if only a few cords. The fact that you have a guitar and can always just sit down and strum a little something. When I was younger I REALLY wanted to learn the violin. I just loved the mechanics of it and the unique tune sound that violins make. I don't know why I never fulfilled that. Even now, the violin in bits of music that I listen to always jump out to me first. I don't think I could possibly fit the time in to be taught now. Maybe I could just find a guy who knows how to play, haha. Oh, that's cheesy. I wonder if I could write a terrible love poem about that. :D

Yeah, same here. Even after I've posted stuff on Mibba, there are always some poems that I still have a fiddle around with. Oh, and thanks for your comment on my new poem! Admittedly, I agonized over the title for ever. "Scrunched-up Paper Politics" .... HMN

Sad to hear you missed out on the Shakespeare Festival this year. There's always next year though! Shakespeare, I think, really excelled in brilliantly articulating what few people of his time could. I totally get what you're saying about the credit thing though. I know that one of his last plays The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare took the structure of his story line from a play written by another playwright who he didn't see eye to eye with. Also take Romeo and Juliet, for example. The tragic story of two-star crossed lovers is incredibly old - without a doubt several years before Shakespeare's time - but he wrote it as a unique play. Poetic. Probably hell-of-a-lot more meaningful then previously told. Yeah, though I'm totally a sucker for a good conspiracy theory as well!

Urgh, let's not even talk about politics. It's entirely tiring. That's where my poem "Dirty Laundry" actually came from though. Felt useless with all of the injustice happening around the world and not being able to do anything about it. 'Unfortunate' is putting it lightly. Every government system is flawed. There is corruption everywhere and so many contradictions. We see it on the news and read it in the papers but other than angry blogging and yelling at the telly, most of us hardly contribute to the betterment of it. I wish I could drop everything and go out and protest, write letters, petitions and sometimes you just sit there and think "well why the hell not?" Especially in places like New Zealand and America where we have freedom of speech..... I don't even know where I'm going with this. We also shouldn't brush aside the good aspects either though. There ARE some good. Awareness, I guess is something we need to work on. ...

I've burnt my tongue on too hot tea. :/

Yeah maybe the Mibba staff really are bullying you! SEND A FORMAL COMPLAINT maybe. I honestly haven't really had such problems, but still, you've been on here longer than me and you post stuff WAY more often than I do. Do you know anyone else on Mibba that is having similar problems?

I hope "Summer Affair" turns out good. Great! You're trying new things, HAPPIER things - though either way, I like the sound of it. Sounds like a good idea and I'm happy to hear that you think that it's going in the right direction. I sometimes get frustrated when I have a good idea in my head but find it hard to get it just right on paper. Admittedly, my latest poem, again, isn't the most bright thing. I'm always a bit reluctant to post things immediately after I've "finished" writing it because I'm unsure about whether or not it's actually finished. I might just read over it again and then post it after I've replied to you. Why do you think the Mibba staff will hate you poem??!!! Haha, I thought we already talked about this! I can't imagine that they have the time to read all of or poems - though - - maybe this is about that theory we had ages ago...something about a member of Mibba staff picking on you because of their stalkerish obsession/crush on you! Haha! :)

Yeah! I've seen the Kenneth Branagh version once - about three years ago. I really need to watch it again, I remember it being good, but I can hardly remember it. Awesome! - that Shakespeare festival thing sounds cool. I wish we had something like that here. I sometimes do see advertisements for little artsy things around the city, but they're usually quite low key.

Damn... that's chilling: "Would you rather there be peace without expression, or what we have with the ability to still express ourselves?" - Makes you think about what really is the nature of absolute truth. Is there anything we can take comfort in? I've never really thought about that before, though, you'd think that the later would be preferable. It's difficult to decide, really, with all the crap that we've got in the world today. My friends and I were discussing a few weeks ago the plus-side of Communism in that matter. You'd just need a good leader - which, of course, happens to be the hard part of it all.

Hmn and the funny thing is that it didn't take me forever to write Dirty Laundry like it usually does take me for other poems. I wrote it in the time it took to drive home. Haha :)

Urgh. What is with Mibba staff? Especially with changing the titles of your poems and all! It's like they're picking on you and I know that I honestly would get proper annoyed if they did that to my poems! Especially since it's such a minor thing. I mean I don't think the title of anything effects anything in ANY way what so ever unless it is offensive or anything like that. Which yours are not. Yes! You rebel then Josh! Don't bend to their wills like they want you to! You don't have to change (your titles) !!!! haha Ain't no body got time for that.

"Emotions are what make us human." Ah - touché. Well spoken Josh. Though I think that a lot more people, we're probably included in this equation, are starting to recognise this. I remember in primary and intermediate the entire 'cool' image of not caring and just not talking was around, but now we really are starting to talk more. Talking to each other, talking about our problems, others problems, things that need to be solved. That's exactly what we're doing and what needs to be done; problem-solving. Hopefully we won't ever see that terrible possibility of a future where we are all mindless drones. Zombies. ... that "hive mindset" you described sounds terrifying. Wow. I can't bare to think about it. Humans were meant to be creative. We need art in our lives. Whether you make art or enjoy art. Hell, it doesn't all have to be music and poetry, film, and books, because honestly, that's hardly going to happen. As long as you can just look outside your window and maybe sigh at the sunshine - I don't know. You can find art in the plate of food in front of you or the numbers on your screen, if that's what you're into. But I refuse to believe that we'll all just going to ...

stop.

Unfortunately, yeah you're right. The internet is spectacular but it really does desensitize us. There are so many things that don't even come close to moving me at all any more and even as I scroll through pages or click on things, I still do have that one thought that: hmn that's weird. that's not right. I should be surprised/scared/shocked. Why aren't I reacting?

...

Well, maybe we should both resolve to write happier poems in the future? Yet in saying that...well, you're the person doing the writing and at the end of the day you're writing for yourself and for no one else. You can write whatever the fuck you want!

Yeah - - I think the thing about Hamlet is that when he dies he has reached the moment of insight. He's undergone this massive test of his endurance and he then dies as a man elevating himself from earth because he reaches his goal and that point of understanding in the end. Death might have been a blessing for Hamlet in his situation...peace at last! "I sleep perchance to dream" - is one of my all time favourite quotes. I've read the play but I haven't seen a full film or production of it before - segments and all but not full...I should get on with it! Especially theatre - I love it. It's an entirely different experience all together!

Dirty Laundry - -

I'm not one to pat myself on the back but for this one I'll just say: "Well done me!"

I'm a bit annoyed because usually I get an email when you comment on my page but I didn't know that you had replied to me. I only found out when I logged in to check something else! I always enjoy getting your messages and so it sucks that I'm reading it later than I would have. Oh well! No use in moaning about it!

I love how we both had to come out a state that it's okay to be mushy and sentimental. Gosh! This robot and unemotional state that we all have these days. Why the fuck should it matter? Let's all just join hands and cry together, I say! I'll bet that if we all just had a heart to heart with one another every now and then, we would have a lot less conflicts. Maybe. In a perfect world, I suppose...

Oh I like that! "We met because of one common idea: we both like to write." Yeah, I totally agree. And the internet really is a great thing. Only a few years back and we wouldn't have even been able to do this. Forget replying regularly, it would take forever if we were writing letters to each other. We would have never met without the internet! When I think about it, a lot of the things that make me happy come from the internet. I know that's a bit sad and completely materialistic sometimes, but it's true.

The bit you were talking about, writing a poem for the girl who died in a school shooting, really is linked to how we always write sad poetry. I haven't posted the poem that I wrote about the earthquake on here (I'm not really sure why not, I thought about putting it up once but decided not to) but yeah, it's always the tragedy that we write about. The little sad things in our sad little lives or the gruesome, horrific things that you hear about on the breaking news always make the best things to write about. Just today we were discussing Shakespeare's King Lear and someone asked why it had to be so sad. I guess the question is why not? I swear that all my favourite books are the ones that are sad. All of my best poems are the ones that are sad. We're always too caught up in the fun to note things down when we're happy and I can never be poetic about the joys of life. I'm probably just being cynical or a dreary teenager, but there you go.

Oh Josh, you little darling, you. I knew that it would be dangerous being friends with a guy who writes poetry. :) You said the most sweetest things at the end of your last comment! Giving me something to be inspired by? Well than Josh, I think it's quite easy for me to say that YOU inspire me. Both of us, I'll say it now, we'll leave out mark on the world. We're brilliant and, putting the stressful parts of the future aside, I can't wait to see how we grow up and what we become. Gosh, look at me - getting all sentimental. Urgh, well I'm a girl. I'm sure there's some kind of universal law that entitles all girls to be mushy every now and then or something.

Well hey - I replied well and truly before the two week mark! We're all busy with day to day life and the fact that you, a person who went from knowing absolutely nothing about me to someone who I've exchanged so many messages with, someone from the other side of the world, someone completely different but at the same time a bit like me, actually spent how ever much or little time for that - it's great. Besides I don't mind if our messages are infrequent. ... You know how you see your friends everyday and so it doesn't bother you so much. This way, it's something to look forward to and I don't know, something more special.

Yeah I get what you meant. Sometimes you also might have the inspiration, we'll always have the ability to write no matter what, but there's a barrier between that and actually finding the time and will power to sit down and create something. You'll always have the inspiration Josh. What you actually write about, your style, your muse - it'll definitely all change, but you'll always be a writer.

I like Mibba too. It's just a place to put things - like you said, have things a bit more organised. I'm not too overly fussed with the functions of the website - I don't care too much about the technicalities of it, though I wouldn't get the same satisfaction from writing if I didn't have people reading and commenting my work. What you said about influencing other people through writing - yeah. I remember clear as day, that I have a poem up here and someone commented saying that the felt as though they had read their diary. Putting into words, pen to paper, finger to key, what people think and feel into something poetic. It's all a pretty big deal. The ability to make a connection - yeah. Incredible - just call it that. Why should we belittle it?!

The school related poetry that I told you was a one-off. I just wasn't getting anywhere with this book review we were supposed to be writing and so I chose the other option. Oh my poems for school hardly had a moral or anything in it. One of the two was kind of linked to the tragedies of these earthquakes that we had in one of our major cities during that year, though. Forcing inspiration never works out and don't think anyone should ever do that in the first place.

Oh, it saddens me so to think about that depressing thought of simply just not having the time to do things like poetry or just talk to you. I know you understand and the sentiment is the same over here. We don't even have to worry about stuff like that. If either of us do stop replying then well, the blame is on the times. Don't call me mushy when I say that I won't forget you. Haha, I promise I won't tell my kids about you, if that's something you'd be worried about! Damn, I sound like a captain bidding farewell to my comrades on a sinking ship. The next time you write back (see notice I didn't write "if you write back") make sure that you're extra cheery so as to outweigh all of the gloom in my message and your last message. :) A year and a half, we've been talking? Can you believe that? I didn't think it had been so long. Haha, yeah you were one of the first people to welcome me to Mibba. So in a way I guess it's thanks to you or else we would have never met each other!

Haha omg Josh it really sounded like you had something going there with that story! You should definitely expand on it! It could turn out great! Obsessive, murderous, psycho Mibba staff. Yep, I like it. Though, just tell me now - who out of the two of us were you planning on killing off in the end? And you're going to have to make it original - nothing involving boring poisonousness darts or any chainsaws ... maybe I'm worrying about this far too much...
I know that I hardly come on Mibba very often to begin with (sorry for the 2 week late reply btw) but I hope that I don't abandon Mibba completely. And if I do, hopefully I'll continue writing at least. I can't imagine you completely giving up on writing and if you did then chances are that you would have changed into a different person. Though even if you did stop writing I can totally imagine you just always bringing in rhyme and words into your everyday life. You'll always have that.

Hmph but let's stop talking about NOT writing especially when we are writing at the moment. And isn't there something like 'the things you do in your youth/teens will stay with you forever' - ?

Just this week a bunch of my friends read my poetry - but unintentionally. It was stuff I had written last year for this english assessment and it got put into an exemplar booklet to help students learn from. I don't know, but the book was just being passed around and so of course they came across my stuff and read it. They said they liked it and praised me etc. whatever but even then I felt... I don't know, kind of wary, self conscience of myself. I totally get what you mean. The "meh" response seems so horrible and, like you said, awkward. In terms of my poetry, because so few people have seen it, I haven't gotten to much criticism. But then there's the difference between criticism and tips for improvement. I always appreciate that kind of thing. And getting praised, even just a little, about your writing is always just so great. Writing is meant to be read and when you can see the evidence of enjoyment from the reader, well there's nothing that beats that, is there?