"always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else" ~ judy garland

"to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting" ~ e.e. cummings, 1955

"all my life i had been looking for something, and everywhere i turned someone tried to tell me what it was. i accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. i was naïve. i was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which i, and only i, could answer. it took me a long time and much painful boomerang ing of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that i am nobody but myself. ~ ralph ellison - battle royal

this is MY manifesto.

my name is phoebe and this is my manifesto.
i swear to be myself. i will not be led by social conventions. i will make my own way through the world. i will live on my own terms without conforming to society's expectations of who they think i should be. i will be the visible minority. by being myself i will help to save the world. i swear to always look, listen, learn, think, ask, act and speak for myself.

~ beige - cecil castellucci (adapted)

"a woman is always a mystery: one must not be fooled by her face and her hearts inspiration" ~ edmondo de amicis

c r a z y b e a u t i f u l l i f e

i'm in love, alright,
with my crazy, beautiful life,
with the parties, the disasters,
with my friends all pretty and plastered.

every night we're down to go out
waking up on a different couch
'til the next night on the next flight
yeah, i guess we're doing alright.

oh, oh, oh,
we're falling in love,
oh, oh, oh,
'til the sun's coming up,
oh, oh, oh,
just living the life,
oh, oh, oh.

every single night we fight,
to get a little high on life,
to get a little something right,
something real, at least we try.

time after time,
try dodging all the douche-bag guys,
try trading all the wasted times,
for something real in this crazy life.

i just hope some people see,
there's nothing that I'm trying to be,
let me just stop all the shit talk,
i know I'm the new bitch on the block.

i've been through my sketchy phases,
been broke, been a shitty waitress,
but I'm not now, guess it worked out,
got here by running my mouth.

oh, oh, oh,
we're falling in love,
oh, oh, oh,
'til the sun's coming up,
oh, oh, oh,
just living the life,
oh, oh, oh.

every single night we fight,
to get a little high on life,
to get a little something right,
something real, at least we try.

time after time,
try dodging all the douche-bag guys,
try trading all the wasted times,
for something real in this crazy life.

every single night we...

every single night we fight,
to get a little high on life,
to get a little something right,
something real, at least we try.

time after time,
try dodging all the douche-bag guys,
try trading all the wasted times,
for something real in this crazy life.

oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh
oh, oh, oh.

~ crazy beautiful life - ke$ha

"i talk of dream, which are the children of an idle brain, begot of nothing but vain fantasy" ~ romeo and juliet - william shakespeare (1,4,103)