Have now officially begun reading...

for the PNG Erotic Supplement. The list is still quite long and I'm stopping today at 9 November 2005 submissions.

Thought I'd start early since come January I'll be judging the winter poetry contest at Desert Moon Review.

What I did between yesterday and tonight:

• Finished reading the PNG Italian submissions
• Prepared the new PNG Italian issue layout and graphics
• Untangled the large knots that had accumulated in my hair since Christmas eve
• Made myself some horrible-tasting green tea
• Rounded up Marginalia poets for the PNG English Jan-Feb issue

The last one took me all afternoon -- had to read months and months of daily poetry at the House of Thirty.

In short, I am preeningly pleased with myself and begin to think that I *do* deserve to show off my paunch at parties.

Webpage transferred and updated

Yay! Have left the Goobertree site for good and can now be found at:

http://www.leafscape.org/aang

I couldn't access the FTP server anymore and was VERY displeased with the iPowerweb support team who weren't bothering to read my e-mails: they merely scanned for keywords, like "FTP" or "subdomain" and then copied-and-pasted their replies from the help manual when my problem had to do with a login problem -- which, I assumed, was changed while I was away and needed to be reset. DUH!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!!
We ate and drank with gusto near the fireplace (not ours).

House-cleaning has been suspended for the holidays... as well as the daily one-hour treadmill marathon I promised I'd do in order to fit into my slinky New Year's Eve gown -- but, as my tender husband consoled me,

By then, everyone will be too drunk to notice your paunch, honey. HAH!

Update on laziness and acceptances

Have finished revising my AVE poems... finally! That is, until I get more input about what to change, omit, etc. (New Year's resolution #2: join a critique workshop -- seriously).

Received recent acceptances from the following 'zines:

• PomPom (Issue 6)
• PulpBits (2006 Anthology)
• Poetry Ireland Review

Just got the Poetry Ireland e-mail tonight -- such a big surprise! I sent six poems last August and despaired about ever hearing from them. Have been pestering them with subs since... ahem, five years ago. Maybe seven. More or less regularly. So, persistence *does* pay. Especially when accompanied by fake lashes.


Also, the Orbis editor, who's been so nice in her comments, has decided to keep one of the last poems I wrote in November to be "considered for publication" in a future issue... which is good, I think.

Have also received my copies of Rattle #24. Wooohooo! It's such a treat to read.

I think I forgot to mention in my pre-New Year resolutions that I also need to get my Christmas shopping done. Hah! Only 6 more days to go. Should I panic? Naaaaah.... I am, so far, calm and collected (stamplike).

Back from the dead (again)...

and trying not to panic at the load of unreplied e-mails in my Inbox. Haven't yet begun reading for the NG erotic supplement... though the submissions are looking nicely stacked.

Pre-NewYear resolutions:

• Finish the AVE poetry book with Valerie
• Hang my dad's mega-sized paintings in the living room
• Wrap up the January issue of the Italian NG on time (hah!)
• Answer most, if not all, the e-mails in my Inbox
• Update my website publication lists and links
• Will not be lazy... will not, will not!
• Will drink green tea to stay awake
• Will not invite the cleaning lady to come on the preconception that I can clean up after myself, my husband, the singing mini-Christmas tree and our dust spiders.

So there!

IBPC, Arabesque Review, call for subs, etc.

Heh! Thanks to Jude, I got the first whiff about my poem, Doing Time placing 3rd in the October 2005 IBPC. Wooohooo!! Never expected that... after around three years of being nominated more or less regularly I sort of lost hope. Hee.

Three poems, with rather messed up line breaks, are up in the Arabesques Review:

• At random
• The 30th Secret Love Poem
• Crumbled leaves

And it's now official: I am editing the February 2006 Erotic Supplement of Poems Niederngasse. Here's the cheeky call for subs:

Niederngasse turns up the heat this February!

The focus of our supplementary issue is erotic poetry: the sensual, the provocative, the intriguing. There are no limits when it comes to literary forms, sexual positions or gender preferences.

Submit up to 3 poems to: niederngasse@yahoo.co.uk

Deadline: January 15 (with replies on or before January 25).

As further invitation, guest editor, Arlene Ang whispers steamily: "Darlings, make my hands sweat to cuff your works to the PNG bedposts!"

Lynn Levin's lovely review of my book is also up in the current issue of Niederngasse.

Had begun my PD4P round and quickly dropped out: I came, I wrote, I sucked. Pooh. Very distracted -- by niece, by knitting, by grass-cutting and by cleaning the infected ears of my two German Shepherds.

Pre-departure post

Leaving for Manila in less than 19 hours. Been good today: packed my luggage, maintained kitchen cleanliness, pored through the poems in Blueline for inclusion in the Marginalia section of Niederngasse... and yes, finally finished revising my AV&E poems.

List of recent ayes and nays:

• Acceptance notes: The Aurora Review wants three poems and Pemmican has scheduled my poem, Hot tubs for their Spring 2006 issue.

• Rejections received: ForPoetry.com (nicely apologetic), Hanging Loose (form letter) and The North (handwritten note, see below):

Dear Arlene Ang
So sorry to take so long & in the end not to take any poems from your Sept submission. We were tempted by 'The 34th Secret Love Poem' -- which ACUMEN or ORBIS magazines might take?
All good wishes

I know I've said it already, but let me say it again: the Brits send the most heart-warming rejection slips. I hoard these personal notes more than love letters. They also have, more or less, the same handwriting... which makes me feel as if I'm dealing with only one person -- all these years -- secret-admirer-wise. Hee.

• Update on language skills of my 10-month-old niece: Ma, Pa and Eeeeeeeyoooouuuaaaaaah. Very verbal, in fine contrast to all the bouncing puppies I've raised in my life. Teeehee.

Underground Window issue

The November 2005 issue of Underground Window is now online with poetry by Emily Waples, Ann Berkman, Joseph Armstead, Harold Lorin, Bruce Milne, Simon Perchik, Carol Carpenter, Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti, Ana Monnar, Evan Saltmarsh, Jeanpaul Ferro and this frisky old goat. The poems are terrific; it's great just to be part of the gang!


Rejection slip from Red China Magazine last night -- which isn't bad. They replied (within 6 weeks)... which is already something. Yay!

Still mincing my list poems and making some nice pies. Creative part of brain no longer active...

probably the result of sniffing too much degreasers, calcium-deposit sprays, detergents and ethyl alcohol. Went on withdrawal this morning and ended up on my hands and knees to clean the kitchen.

Fellow came to check the boiler afterwards and approved (silently) of our decorous disorder. Heh!

Slashing away

at all my list poems...
rather slow with the job. Brain still not working properly.

Have linked to Shanna Germain who's quite an inspiring writer and poet. I love her introductory page, too -- she just says it ALL!!! I'm stuck in bad muse days. And check the chestnuts in the kitchen a zillion times for new worm excavations. Four came out and plopped at the bottom of *my* salad bowl -- I'm never eating in that again. We've also got a wasp in the terrace... which my don-quixote husband attacked with degreasing liquid. Hee. Then I read about Nicole having a vacuum war with ladybugs. Eeek. Someone tell me this is only an autumnal interlude.

Unlikely 2.0 accepted three poems:

To Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Wrench
A Kind of Tomorrow
Like Electricity

for their January 3rd 2006 issue. As the name suggests, they are crazy about bizarre stuff... like some little birdy's rules poems. **hinthint**

Recent whereabouts (mine):

Took Pietro, my NG co-editor vacationing in Venice this week, to Burano yesterday. Just *adore* that city! He was impressed with it, too.

Staying in because I've got the cleaning lady and my parents-in-law's pooch. I have asked the former to direct her energies (and the degreaser's nozzle) to the kitchen. And so, all my pans (slightly dented) and dinner plates (cold) are on the bed this morning. Is that indicative of sex life in the bedroom while one's spouse is away? Hee. As opposed to my Sims who are having babies with different people in the neighborhood. Virtual people *do* have more fun.

List of recent woes and woohoos:

• Rejections received: Half Drunk Muse (nicely apologetic) and Strange Horizons (form letter).

• Acceptance received: ANON. Yay! I had labelled this as a lost-cause submission, but sent some work for purely masochistic reasons. It's a very classy print magazine with a rather long waiting period (3 months and up). Payment is one copy -- this isn't indicated on the website.

• Publication received: Shearsman. Very elegant and glossy!

• Announcement received: I'm a finalist (out of nearly 150 nominated) in The 2005 Robert Graves Award!! Yay!

Feeling cheeky pink today...

after a good night's rest on my new goosedown pillow -- which emits a nice fowl odor... which, in turn, probably induced my dream about Tutankhamen's cat (black and modestly loquacious).

Perigee 10th issue released... and woohoooo!

The new issue of Perigee is now available online. The poetry section, in particular, includes works by William L Alton, Beau Boudreaux, Dion Farquhar, Maria Halovanic, Paul Hostovsky, Andrew Kortz, Josef Lesser, Amy Letter, Mike Marks, Ben Mason, Christopher Middleman, Charles Rafferty, Aline Soules, Len Sousa, Lucas Stangl, Kyle David Torke, Stephen S Whitaker and yours truly.

Have been terribly baaaaaad about my writing and other social activities.

Catching up a bit with correspondences today. Still having a hard time getting out of this autumnal slump... my old muse, I presume since she never showed up, was nabbed by a myopic dog-catcher some time last week. I'm still waiting for a replacement. Hopefully, someone younger... more businesslike, less prone to obsessive-compulsive behavior, preferably with no sense of the meaning of household dirt.

Anyway, wooooohooooo!!! Received an acceptance note from Lorraine and James, a very classy, California-based print magazine! Talking of short-sightedness, they have accepted a recent poem, On Waking up to Ashbery Without My Reading Glasses. It was such a surprise -- Lorraine and James is, so far, the most high-paying market I've managed to get into (i.e. higher than The Pedestal). Never imagined for a moment... and the editor replied in 1 day. I'm soooo thrilled about it!

Let's hope this prods me out of my hibernation. Sigh.

Don't you just love the sound...

of your vacuum in the morning -- especially when you're not the one holding it?!! *She* has arrived and I've been moved again in the room (together with the flatware rack, wine bottles and yesterday's trash).

Woke up at 7.45 to put the house in order... or as my husband, ever observant and kind, snickered lovingly: You and your moveable litter! On his way out, I gushed adoringly: Honey, don't forget to take your relatives [the garbage] with you. I should consider my prospects as a baglady. Pooh.


Will try to write something today... or begin revising the A,V & E poems. Sighsighsigh!!! Still terribly distracted by dirt and feeling rather antsy. Managed to put way two paperbags of herbal medicines yesterday, but still have two boxes left hanging around. What to do, what to do.

I'm rather tempted to guzzle everything so as to have a reason for throwing them away. Have been reading Hercule Poirot again -- who calms me down with his wonderful discourses about order and method. Hah!

A note from Diagram today that, more or less, says:

Off the wagon again and aching

Have left the p-a-d again to pursue... more household chores. Since the cleaning lady's arrival I have more cleaning duties than in the past. There is simply no justice in life.


Was supposed to search for the vacuum in our "closet of abandoned things" today and also make an inventory of more than 100 bottles of herbal medicine, but had another tough case of migraine. Boohoo! Couldn't even smell food without retching.

Clean Sheets poems

An erotica magazine, Clean Sheets published my three poems today:

In the Lion Tamer's Trailer
Tonguing the Flute
Confessions of a Shoe Stalker

Cleaning lady came over at 8.30 this morning. She's locked me in the room with four boxes of herbal medicine, my dad's still bubble-wrapped paintings and some dusty paper bags... with the hint that *she* doesn't want to see any of these in the living room when she comes back next week. What's worse, she made me pay her afterwards. Help! I've been ambushed by Hitler's reincarnation!!! Someone offer me political asylum quick!

Teeheee... just kidding. She's a very nice, orderly person of the Mum-type.

Discovered that House is on tv tonight. Yay! Was rather aggrieved when they showed some boring soccer match in its place last week. I like Dr. House. He reminds me of my husband on his good days. I also like Adrian Monk. He reminds me of myself when I try to act sane and orderly.

O well. Back to the sandbox sonnets. Stayed up until 2 to get the first one done. Where I come up with these masochistic ideas I do not know.

Two poems in Eclectica

Have two poems in the October - November 2005 issue of Eclectica:

From the percolator (read)
On the Prospect of a New Lover (read)

Cleaning lady inspected the house, approved of the now respectable disorder and agreed to come regularly. Yay!

With this I officially end my house-cleaning strike and embark on a new life as a happily unemployed woman with irrationally bookish tendencies.

"Strange Days with Alzheimer's" in Lily

The October Issue of Lily is now up -- with poems by John Amen (with an interview, yay! I'm a fan), Uma Asopa, Adam Parez, Peter Schwartz, Tony Zurlo and yours truly.

Dusted more books, cleaned -- untidily -- the kitchen and bathroom sink today.

A good thing came of it though: I rediscovered my copy of "The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate" (no kidding) by Eugene Ehrlich. Bwaaaahaaahaaaah!!

I'm going to have some masochistic fun with word poems.

Yay! My Sims Nightlife has arrived!

I am happy as a clam again. My Sims 2 expansion pack arrived this morning. Am also enjoying my copy of Anne Carson's The Beauty of the Husband. The first poem is entitled very artistically:

I. I dedicate this book to John Keats (is it you who told me Keats was a doctor?) on grounds that a dedication has to be flawed if a book is to remain free and for his general surrender to beauty.

Hah! And it just gets better and better.

Have gone back to the poem-a-day challenge at Inside the Writer's Studio... but haven't yet got the energy to creep back to Blueline.

Dusting all my books now... and getting dustier by the minute. I refuse to take a shower afterwards on the grounds that I'll never get any cleaner now, conscience-wise.

Cleaning up the clutter... boohoo!

Yes, after almost two years, I've decided to put away the foldable dining table... and remove all the odds and ends piled on top of it. Maybe two hours for two years of building up the clutter is a bargain, but my headache says another thing.

Will have to restart writing tomorrow. I've got all sorts of list poem ideas coming up to me in dreams. Sometimes I chuckle. Sometimes I scratch behind my ear. Truth is I keep repeating certain jokes to myself and hence feel unappreciated for my finer qualities (indivisible by two).

So much for the Sims. I am sad. My Nightlife expansion pack hasn't arrived yet. And I've been forced to put together the new issue of Niederngasse Italian (with translations of Valerie Fox's and Jayne Pupek's poetry. Life can be so depressing when you feel like it... especially after seeing three more tiles crumble down in the bathroom.

Wheeeee!!!

I have fallen off the poem-a-day wagon and am, literally, luvin' it!!

Taking some time out to revise my collaborative poems with Valerie for Bundles of Letters, Including A, V and Epsilon. One of which is scheduled to appear in the fall issue of Mindfire.

Looking at houses for my Sims today.... As my loving husband observed tactlessly: I spend more time downloading objects and clothes for my Sims than actually playing it.

Bad muse days

Pooh. I've never been so constipated with my writing as I am right now.
I keep thinking of my Sims and renovating their houses -- especially since I just bought the new expansion pack from Amazon! Heh. As self-punishment, I will not visit the EA Games site today. (pause) Maybe just a peek. Hee.

A strange and surreal thing happened yesterday afternoon: my Turkish penpal since college dropped by my place. We hadn't written each other for years, but she remembered my address. She's just married a German guy and is living there now. What a small world! We had coffee together and had a nice talk. Wow. And all that time, I thought it was a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses ringing the doorbell and almost didn't answer.

Received an acceptance note from Oysters and Chocolate which publishes erotic poetry and pays $10. Yay!

We've got our anniversary tomorrow.
Maybe I'll go out, for a change... along the lines of --

Q: But what do you give a guy who's got everything?
A: Uh, penicillin?

Listening to Tori Amos...

this morning because a Viennese birdy sent me some great CD mixes for my birthday. Thank you, Michi!!! **flyingkiss**

Have become an active ingredient in Shampoo 25: clean hair / good poetry. As the editor, Del Ray Cross writes: Rinse. Repeat. Repeat again! Scrub-it-cuz-you-lub-it. The contributor notes are a riot to read, too!

Received two acceptances (Astropoetica & Perigee) and two rejections (Typo & Valparaiso Poetry Review) between yesterday and this morning. 50/50 chances are a milestone. Yay!

No one seems to have appreciated the fine qualities of my Frog Prince that I am rather forced to turn to Grüner Drache (whatever that means) who has very nice ears and a great skin tone... maybe marry him off to Elindria who has a passable appearance.

Waking up unbelievably early...

on a Sunday because I need to do my p-a-d. It's a miracle!! Yay!

Went to bed late too. Around 3 a.m. because I wanted to graduate my five Sims from college. They've got the most hilarious courses, like Cognitive Dissonance: Recognizing How Broken Your Brain Is for Psychology majors, Life Drawing: An Excuse to See Naked People for Art majors, The History of Ancient Drama: When Every Play Ended with Death for Drama majors, etc.

Have been asked by the Blueline admin, HA to blog around in his board. After two head shakes, I finally agreed. Now people are wondering what I'm doing there. Like with my writing, I honestly have no idea.

All I want to do is watch someone's Queen Merp

kiss this Simmish Frog Prince

babysit their green babies and get it over with (whatever *it* is). Sigh.

Two poems in 2River View

The fall issue of 2River View is up with new poems (and mp3 recordings of them) by Lightsey Darst, Matthew Flaming, Richard Freed, Laura McCullough, Lauren Mitchell, Ed Shannon, Henry Stanton, Kirk VanDyke, Lisa Zaran... and, ahem, yours truly. It's a terrific journal and I'm preening compulsively as a result. Hate my voice though. But I added Pie Jesu as background music for The 49th Day -- which I thought was a nice touch (and hopefully distracted from my yukky voice).

Calming down...

and have gone to writing a poem a day. I was literally going crazy from wracking my poor (and scanty) gray cells for poetry. As Dirty Harry said: A good man must know his limitations.

So there, I've admitted it. Heh. Have also decided I need more time for myself (and my Sims). I mean, isn't this outfit lovely -- more so since it's free?

Having a terrible time...

going through the two poem-a-day challenges in this round. Have dropped down to one on some days.

Can't concentrate enough. I write two lines, wander off, eat some chocolates, go back and write another line, wander off, sleep then go back to write another line. And in the meantime it's already way past midnight and I haven't done the things I should have done during the day. It's driving me crazy!! I'm out of sorts and nervy as a result.

I miss my Sims... especially since the NightLife expansion pack is about to be released. Boohoooooo!!!
Haven't played any computer game in two weeks. Almost.
Withdrawal symptoms?

Stuff about the Versifier, TMP Irregular, etc.

Discovered a new poetry board The Versifier some days ago. They've got neat challenges to jump in plus some cash prizes for members with more than 50 posts.

Two poems at Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry #39 (very quick response time, around 2-3 days) :

Penning My Daughter's School Essay
Like a wilted leaf

Particularly pleased by an acceptance note from Bonfire -- who are taking seven of my poems for a future issue. Yay! It's a cool print magazine. Response times to date: 1-2 months (they asked to see more work).

Received a photocopied rejection slip from Hanging Loose. They're pretty fast with replies, around one month. And it's a neat print journal.

Oh, and woke up at noon today.

First issue of Tilt and birthday stuff

Rachel's new 'zine, Tilt is up!! With poems from John Sweet, Jayne Pupek, Lisa Prince, John Vick, Jude Goodwin and yours truly.

Spent a total of $80 in gift cheques at Amazon and B&N. Discovered only yesterday that my mom is *still* in the US. Hah! Sent the books to her address, together with my gift for her coming birthday: 2 Gallon Caramel Popcorn with Premium Mixed Nuts Tin. Teehee. Now there's absolutely no way she and my brother will fight for the last kernels.

One week into the two-poem-a-day challenges; three more to go through. And the Italian NG issue needs to be done, plus Chuck's website.

Bottom line on birthdays (mine): the cake in the fridge, half-eaten.