tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143154672024-03-23T19:03:10.046+01:00{ event museum }Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.comBlogger210125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-82742696820330366792010-09-03T16:37:00.008+02:002010-09-04T20:01:27.687+02:00Remembering Jayne Pupek (8 March 1962 - 30 August 2010)<div align="justify">This feels like a dastardly time to be dusting this blog space, but as <a href="http://poetryandpoetsinrags.blogspot.com/">someone</a> wisely pointed out, not everyone is on Facebook. Hopefully, this isn't going against <a href="http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com/">Jayne</a>'s wishes. I have a feeling that she didn't want tributes or other stuff that go with, well, being dead. I did get some wine to appease her—ahem—spirit, just in case....<br /><br />I remember the first time I read Jayne's writing at Poetry-W, an internet writing workshop that works through e-mails, and how it made my brain sizzle. I was amazed to learn, using my megawatt nosiness, that she had only started writing poetry. Had the poetry world been a Greek myth, Jayne was Athena who sprang into being—fully formed and fully armed with pen and paper—from the head of Zeus.<br /><br />That was, I think, over six or seven years ago (sorry, I have the memory of a big goldfish and lose count after five years). The important thing is we got out of the -W cave and got into funky online forums—where we ran laps in the 30-poems-for-30-days marathon, together with other masochistic poets (you know who you are, so don't pretend to be innocent!) In the meantime, we discovered that we were both happily mental and shared a healthy—or unhealthy, depending on how you look at it—love for banter, cursing, wine and recently, <a href="http://www.cordite.org.au/content/poetry/zombie-2-0"> zombies</a> and<a href="http://www.blossombones.com/current.html"> Freud</a>. <br /><br />After both appearing, innocently, in the same issue of an online bisexual journal, you'd probably expect "something" to happen. And "something" did. Last May, we rented a room at the Etherpad where we literally had a tapeworm together. The little bugger, nicknamed Cobra, is still making its choppy way through submission school. We had planned to work on more short fiction this summer, but things came up and we had to move our trysts to late autumn. I'm still sad that we would never have other mutant babies to sic to editors, but I'm also grateful for Jayne's gift of laughter and... our Cobra. <br /><br />Yesterday I had fun going through our last bawdy e-mails from June—under the eerie subject header: <em>Good Omens</em>—where we were exchanging double YAYs because she finally found a cover she liked for her poetry collection, <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Livelihood-Crows-Jayne-Pupek/dp/0932412947">The Livelihood of Crows</a></em> and I happened to be a huge fan of <a href="http://dzaet.com/">Pamela Hill</a>'s art. I'm really happy that she got to see the book in its final form. <br /><br />I thought I'd post the old bio on her website, which I managed back in 2007, wherein she talked more about her life and her family. For some strange reason, I held on to it—and am glad that I did. Jayne's wonderful nature and vibrant personality just shines through her words. <br /><br /><blockquote>I was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1962. As the story goes, my mother went into labor during a March blizzard. My father was stationed in North Carolina, where he served as part of the military police. In his absence, my uncle drove my mother to the hospital. They barely made it through the snow drifts, but they did. I'm here, that's proof.<br /><br />My only sibling, a brother, was born two years later. There would be no more children, as this was about the time my parents learned that I had a form of muscular dystrophy, a condition that would show up in any female children they produced. My childhood included a lot of things that weren't fun: wheelchairs, braces, surgeries, casts, sandbags, and so on. But I had a devoted family, books and animals, and didn't seem to need much else. That's still pretty much true.<br /><br />With the exception of the Bible and <em>The Farmer's Almanac</em>, books were not valued much in my childhood home. Bedtime stories weren't part of evening rituals. No one wrote poems or spent time reading novels. If anyone in my family kept a diary, I never knew it. Despite their own lack of interest in books, my parents saw that reading was something I could do and enjoy. They gave me all the books I wanted and allowed me to read anything I chose. One of the advantages of growing up in a family of nonreaders was that no one censored what I read. To this day, my mother undoubtedly thinks Anais Nin's <em>Little Birds</em> is a story about sparrows. I'm not about to tell her differently.<br /><br />While I read and wrote constantly, I didn't consider becoming a writer. In rural communities like the one where I grew up, writers were akin to astronauts, jugglers, and movie stars—sure, they existed, but no one in their right mind talked about becoming one. I went to college at age seventeen and majored in psychology, completing first my BS, and then my MA, both from James Madison University. I used all my electives to take English courses, continued to write, and published my first poem. I was given awards from both the English Department and Psychology Department.<br /><br />During the next years, I worked with several populations, including battered women and the homeless mentally ill, but I found my niche as a therapist working with inmates. I relocated to Central Virginia to work with incarcerated sexual offenders. After several years working with adults, I transferred to a correctional center for juveniles, where I continued to specialize in the treatment of sexual offenders and their families.<br /><br />Soon after leaving the Shenandoah Valley, I met and married my husband, a librarian. He is sane, stable, and a calming influence in my life. As I once heard Joyce Carol Oates say on C-Span, no one tells you that you're going to need somebody like that to write, but you do. If you don't have someone like that, go find them. <br /><br />Ed and I are parents to three amazing children through adoption. Kaity was born in India and came home to us at age five. She was quite the feral child, as she was blind (born without eyes) and autistic; she had never spoken a word and understood no English, nor had she been potty-trained or taught how to use a spoon. Travis was also born in India and came home to us as an infant. He was actually our first child, adopted a year or so before Kaity. And finally, we adopted Ryan, an African American boy born in the United States. He was only five months old when he arrived.<br /><br />When my children were older, I turned more and more attention to writing. I became more focused, and started submitting work to publishers, receiving a number of rejections, but also more acceptances than I expected. My work has appeared in numerous print and online journals and has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. I'm the author of two poetry chapbooks, <em>Primitive</em> (Pudding House Press 2004) and <em>Local Girls </em>(Dead Mule, 2007). My first novel, <em>Tomato Girl</em>, is forthcoming from Algonquin Books in 2008. That same year, <em>Forms of Intercession</em>, my first full length collection of poems, will be published by Mayapple Press. <br /><br />—Jayne Pupek (August 2007)</blockquote></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/v4n1/longday-didiwood.jpg"><img style="float:center; margin:0 0px 0px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 335px;" src="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/v4n1/longday-didiwood.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br>Here's to you Jayne!!</span><br><br />(photo courtesy of Didi Wood—from Jayne's <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/v4n1/pupek.html">doll poems</a> on <span style="font-style:italic;">Press 1</span>)<br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-10362477979526542902009-10-28T23:45:00.005+01:002009-10-29T01:30:38.324+01:00Interview with Liz Gallagher<div align="justify">In the Event Museum, there is no pleasure like wine and no pleasure greater than drinking wine with Liz Gallagher while talking about her first full-length collection of poems, <a href="http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/9781844715671.htm"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Wrong Miracle</span></a> (Salt Publishing, 2009). <br /><br />As part of their contract, poets are given a superhero costume to wear during the interview... just so they understand that we are dead serious. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybejoLZh1cr30haW_dWbe8LGO4pUAp4HEUAET_wBFp5jG1USe33_srgMfTLGLbk3sPZN7ojvJeWLMgzQ8zvgyknor2TG8DsGMiYKvbAjS-ZY3ovhKBdXovsto0BD3-vvPftQi/s1600-h/lizanda.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 274px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybejoLZh1cr30haW_dWbe8LGO4pUAp4HEUAET_wBFp5jG1USe33_srgMfTLGLbk3sPZN7ojvJeWLMgzQ8zvgyknor2TG8DsGMiYKvbAjS-ZY3ovhKBdXovsto0BD3-vvPftQi/s320/lizanda.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397797270548832098" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Arlene Ang:</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> Welcome to the Event Museum, Liz. I hope you're comfy.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Liz Gallagher:</span> Hi Arlene, it is lovely to be here at the Event Museum, thanks for awakening me out of my non-poetry slumbering life and getting me up and about again. I so love the superwoman outfit that you had laid out on the couch for me, as you can see, I have slipped into it and also have delighted in the fact that my legs took on a new spurt of growth while doing so... I am totally comfortable sitting here and yes, if there is a large Martini going, I would be delighted. Hope you join me, and I adore your outfit too, I want your dressmaker's name after the interview. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span> <span style="font-style:italic;">I'm pleased to say that our supporters have provided us with every type of liquor, but no glasses. It's probably a study on human adaptation. Just pick what you want and drink directly from the bottle. It's perfectly okay.<br /><br />Talking of adaptation, I've always been intrigued that you were born in Donegal, Ireland and have been living in Grand Canary Island these past fourteen years. What impact did this have in your writing? Would you have any poems that shout Donegal or Grand Canary to you—they don't necessarily have to be about these places, but more of a feeling, maybe how they remind you of a period or time there?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> I really began writing while living here on Gran Canary Island. We are so fortunate as to live in a very beautiful and protected valley where there are only a few houses nearby so the quiet and relative isolation of the place is ideal for writing.<br /><br />I think the fact that I am an 'outsider' here (even though I speak the language, know lots of people and am quite involved in the community) has also impacted on my writing as I can so easily go into 'objective mode' and sort of remove myself from my roots, so to speak, and thus feel freer to actually write about personal and 'root-like' things! I suppose there is some contradiction there! <br /><br />I never really write while I'm in Ireland, I take notes and jot down expressions and things I hear as the wealth of expressions and sayings that my parents and neighbours use is very inspiring and amusing. One of the things I have found is that the minute I am on the plane out of Ireland, I am there with the food tray down writing away and usually it will be about Ireland, even if indirectly! It will take maybe two months for me to shake off the Irish experience and move on to other themes. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span><span style="font-style:italic;"> I noticed some religious elements in your book,</span> The Wrong Miracle<span style="font-style:italic;">—even the title hints on an "act of God" gone wrong. I remember exchanging notes with you once and talking about our Catholic background. In one of the poems there, "<a href="http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/9781844715671.htm">Sun Over a Tree Line</a>," I'm fascinated by this image: </span> <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"> <blockquote><blockquote> God becomes <br />a ragged fellow who moves <br />from tree to tree in the back of the mind. <br /><br />He pursues the living and the dead stay dead. </blockquote></blockquote><br />Will you tell us more about this poem? It's almost as if God or religion is being relegated to the back of one's mind, to be taken out only on special occasions, like for an illness or a funeral. I'm also struck by the use of the verb, "become"—does this mean that we tend to use religion to suit our needs?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> Oh gosh! Yes, G/god, in lower or capital does make his/her way into my poems a lot. I was never really aware of the pattern until putting the book together and thinking: 'Here, we go again, God/god is everywhere'... I will confess (!) to actually spending quite some time wondering whether to put G/god in lower or capitals in some of the poems in the book after having written them. And yes, Arlene, I was brought up a Catholic and was educated by the nuns and no doubt that has left its mark and it comes out in a sort of half-rebellious way every so often in some poems.<br /><br />This poem was written after the invasion of Iraq. There were protests and general disgust at this whole event happening. It felt like a collapse of civilisation, the fact that something so barbaric could happen in the 21st century and that the world stood by and let it happen. The over-riding feeling was one of chaos as shown by some of the images in the poem ( e.g. Humpty Dumpty, hoof-prints, pedicures for Dictators, door frames collapsing, dead bodies and water-logged blankets..) ..... and at the end I suppose God is being implicated in what is happening, like the lurker behind the tree who comes to pick at the spoils... I've never really analysed this poem before but yes, it is a move away from an all-loving G/god to one who is part and parcel of the chaos and the resulting deaths. <br /><br />And to answer your question about using religion to suit our needs, I think this is possible, even though Catholic religion, as I know it, has always been so 'boxed-up' and 'defined' that I have never felt that I could make it adapt to my needs, that in fact it was a case of adapting to it or nothing, but yes, I know what you mean about all of a sudden finding a purpose for a G/god /religion, especially non-institutionalised religion, in times of grief and sadness. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span> <span style="font-style:italic;">Another favorite poem, "Cosmic Noise" is such a perfect depiction of marriage—not just between two people, but also between two opposing forces.The pullmi-pullyu bickering in the first stages, then the establishment of balance: </span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br /><blockquote><blockquote> I settle <br />to enjoy lunch. You settle to enjoy lunch. <br />Two people, their bearings found, and settling. <br /> </blockquote></blockquote><br />Would you relate this to your writing, too? Can you discuss your own relationship with poetry?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> I love your interpretation of this poem, Arlene. And yes, I do think that balance is needed to be able to write. I cannot write if I am unhappy or worried. The word 'settling' to me is really important, it's about that 'stretching-out-of-one's-legs' and the 'sigh-of-contentment' feeling that means turmoil is held at bay for a while but like you said the 'pullmi-pullyu' bickering is a sort of foreplay to settling as settling implies having been unsettled beforehand. This is my relationship with poetry, to a certain degree—there are so many preludes/interludes/general-life-happenings that prevent me from writing and when I do actually get down to writing, I always give a sigh of relief. And since I physically write with my back against my study wall (cushion between back and wall though <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" alt="" /> and my legs stretched out before me on the study futon and laptop on lap, then it is the physical act of settling as well as the psychological. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_ink.gif" border="0" alt="" /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA: </span><span style="font-style:italic;">I have to say that after all this time, "<a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=2107&fl=1&title=&author=liz%20gallagher">Episode iii: The Day the Shelling Started</a>" remains in my mind as one of the best poems I've come across. There's this haunting tango between the horrific and banal happiness: <br /></span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><blockquote><blockquote> The doctors said her tumors had shrunk. A wedding <br />took place across the street... <br /><br /> ... An artist in Lebanon ties<br />a microphone to his balcony to record the "Summer Rain"<br /><br />of bombs breaking the sound barrier, he plays the trumpet <br />in the background and sketches drawings in the hushed <br /><br />seconds of a starry night. An ex-hostage dreams of the blood<br />letting being over. He imagines one day sitting under <br /><br />a magnificent oak and letting the beauty of the place soak into him. </blockquote></blockquote><br />I've always wanted to ask you about this poem, what made you write it. Will you tell us more about Zena el-Khalil to whom this piece is dedicated?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> As you know, Arlene, I have taken part in poem-a-day activities with yourself and others in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/">Inside The Writers' Studio</a> 30:30 forum. It was during one of these 30:30's that I wrote this poem (just to explain to other readers, 30:30 means writing a poem-a-day for 30 consecutive days! ) It was in July 2006 and it was during the invasion of Lebanon. I used to read the Guardian online every day to find out what was happening and I remember reading Zena el-Khalil's account of being there during the invasion and it affected me greatly. <br /><br />At one stage for about 10 days during this particular 30:30, I lost my Internet connection but I didn't want to give up the poem-a-day activity (nor to give up reading the Guardian) so I used to go to the nearest village which is 10 minutes away and go into a Cyber Café there to read and write my poems. Because it was duirng the summer holidays, there used to be lots of young teenage guys there playing very loud computer war games and there I was stuck in the middle of them trying to get inspired to write poems—actually, most of the poems that came out of that time evolved around the invasion of Lebanon and war in general. The artist mentioned in the poem is a real person, his name is Mazen Kerbaj. He actually did record from his balcony the 'summer rain' of bombs. He blogs here <a href="http://www.mazenkerblog.blogspot.com/">www.mazenkerblog.blogspot.com</a> and has a 6 min. 31 second recording of the bombing alongside saxophone improvisation. <br /><br />Another weird aspect that added to the 'war' element was that in mid-July the rabbit-hunting season starts here on the island and the ironical thing is that where I live is big-rabbit-hunting ground (it is ironical considering it is actually a protected-valley, but not for rabbits, seemingly!) and every Thursday and Sunday there are loud gun shots which brought the whole horror of killing that little bit nearer. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span> <span style="font-style:italic;">WOW. I never imagined so many outside events influenced this poem. The rabbit-hunting came as a surprise. It does sound harrowing. <br /><br />You're such a gifted photographer, too. Have you ever found yourself using images from your pictures in your poems or vice versa? It would be interesting if you could point out some poems or stanzas in the book and show us what images inspired them.</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbACtu13hQe4AMDkBjov7ZGdcw3V0QV-OjVyvpkFLHKhNEws0md-Evvo8bIdGsm8GfeJXx4QTDgJGrVHsm9gBoItntmlicNLnhNGgKqKO35qR4ORcjmww3WKk0biAG5kGyYEV/s1600-h/liz-handraised.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 316px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjbACtu13hQe4AMDkBjov7ZGdcw3V0QV-OjVyvpkFLHKhNEws0md-Evvo8bIdGsm8GfeJXx4QTDgJGrVHsm9gBoItntmlicNLnhNGgKqKO35qR4ORcjmww3WKk0biAG5kGyYEV/s320/liz-handraised.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397810845380451010" /></a> <span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> Arlene, thanks, that is very kind of you to say so. Funnily enough, I have never used actual images as inspiration for writing. I do have a visual memory though and find that just seeing words or phrases brings up the image for me and I can then go with that image. I very much enjoy taking photographs and find it indirectly helps me get worked up and inspired to write. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span> <span style="font-style:italic;">Okay, here's a fun last question, then we can go fishing: Do you have any bad habits that actually make you a better poet? Any suggestions to aspiring writers?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">LG:</span> Oh, love this question, Arlene! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_ink.gif" border="0" alt="" /> Well, one bad, (well maybe more odd than bad), habit might be that I write in the dark with only the light of the computer screen. I suppose in that sense I am a vampire-writer. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiling.gif" border="0" alt="" /> It is a little ironical too considering the near-constant light and brightness I have here on the island. Not sure why I write in the dark but know for sure I cannot write in the sunshine. I also love writing with my night-wear on... this falls in line with the dark thing, I suppose and the fact that I write at early dawn-ish accompanied by the very welcome first cup of tea. I am also a pre-shower, pre-combing hair writer. Maybe it's the earthiness and primitive back-to-basics feel of it all that gets me going! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_ink.gif" border="0" alt="" /> <br /> <br />I am also quite obsessive, a possibly or possibly-not bad habit. I obsess over whatever poem I happen to be writing but it is never long-lived and usually within a few days I am obsessing about another poem. I still consider myself to be an aspiring writer and the things I do that help me get writing would be things like 'disciplining' (ha!) myself to get involved in daily writing activities with other writers, not taking myself nor the writing too seriously, always being open to different types of writing and wanting to read, read, read as much poetry and other forms of writing as possible. Oh and one last thing, what keeps me wanting to write is the need to recapture that feeling of excitement that comes from seeing a piece of writing take shape... even if after a week or so, on return to that piece of writing, I sometimes begin to wonder what got me so excited about that particular piece in the first place. And so the cycle begins again....! <br /><br />Thanks, so much for having me here, Arlene, I so enjoyed slipping into the Superwoman suit you had ready for me and I know it will be replacing my night-wear to become my writing-attire. The questions you posed were so interesting even if it did take me a few months to settle-down (there is that word 'settle' again!) and answer them. <br /><br />Next week I'll be crossing the Atlantic to land in Texas with Brenda Nixon Cook at her '<a href="http://breathingarts.blogspot.com/">The Art of Breathing</a>' Blog... I'm looking forward to it a lot.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">AA:</span> Thanks so much for dropping by, Liz. I look forward to seeing you at Brenda's place. If we catch enough fish, I think she'll cook it for us. I hear she's a mean cook. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92tuWwXCbb-KgZ5zmZyG6_rYhiFhSRqvBrVNWFcaGJBg3uQoOEu-WCAijsd0I9dpJqQFFvxDhB_nV9O4TJbWstLYm0W6qr4PX5c1FSEB7sV2VYwvsapLLBo32QiBGfZdHLfCo/s1600-h/liz-fishing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92tuWwXCbb-KgZ5zmZyG6_rYhiFhSRqvBrVNWFcaGJBg3uQoOEu-WCAijsd0I9dpJqQFFvxDhB_nV9O4TJbWstLYm0W6qr4PX5c1FSEB7sV2VYwvsapLLBo32QiBGfZdHLfCo/s320/liz-fishing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5397804384757334034" /></a><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-60557504562061638162009-08-08T13:44:00.004+02:002009-08-08T15:36:41.773+02:00Event Museum Rules<div align="justify">There are those who would ask: Why do these museum employees write in the third person? What happened to the first person? Was foul play involved? <br /><br />By contract, the museum staff is required to use the third person at all times as this facilitates the concept of having sheep for brains. As part of the museum's public relations campaign, a short film on personnel recruitment has been made available to the concerned community:</div><br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SF0KaTW3Hg4&hl=it&fs=1&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SF0KaTW3Hg4&hl=it&fs=1&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object></div><br /><br /><div align="justify">As primary job requirement, all employees need to have previously existed as <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/qwhich-monty-p-ddffj/?start=1&target=home">Tim the Enchanter</a> (interested parties may take the FB Test to find out if they are Event Museum material). When it doubt while searching for the washroom, the public is advised to address a museum employee as <span style="font-style:italic;">O Tim</span>. Codeword for the washroom is <span style="font-style:italic;">The Holy Grail</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJBFK_OuZD39kcS1Fj_AhT7Ml6YGtRSq4ngeZMD4rEUjYOGvXJimY4sQTzvBhRTJ9WAKe1Y783vz4kW_udxwvxRGPUkN7O1XRW8N7HmxERox8CFfCcQg2RfQ9qADBgNdZ-sU0/s1600-h/asims3-tim.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 307px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXJBFK_OuZD39kcS1Fj_AhT7Ml6YGtRSq4ngeZMD4rEUjYOGvXJimY4sQTzvBhRTJ9WAKe1Y783vz4kW_udxwvxRGPUkN7O1XRW8N7HmxERox8CFfCcQg2RfQ9qADBgNdZ-sU0/s320/asims3-tim.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367568178615143378" /></a></div><br /><div align="center">Photo of museum guard in summer uniform wearing the customary ram horns and ID. </div><br /><div align="justify"><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent events in the Event Museum</u>:</span><br /><br />• The 2009 Contest Finalists Festival and Treasure Hunt: <a href="http://www.marshhawkpress.org/Contests_and_submissions.htm">Marsh Hawk Press Room</a>, Ground Floor <br /><br />Activities on this modern farm include food, wagon rides, music, reading activities and lots more. Visitors may also be asked to join in finding these secret objects around the museum and capture them with a digital camera: Arlene Ang, Rebecca Aronson, Anne Babson, Douglas Blazek, Jack Coulehan, Kimberly Davis, John Estes, Bernadette Geyer, Jamey Hecht, Carolyn Hembree, Matthew Hittinger, Lesley Jenike, Cory McClellan, Luigi Monteferrante, Carrie Oeding, Deniz Perin, Richard Robbins, Hugo Rodriguez, Sarah Wetzel Fishman, and S. Scott Whitaker. Hints are available at the front desk. <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.contrarymagazine.com/Contrary/Dead.html">Day of the Dead</a>: <a href="http://www.cerisepress.com/">The Contrary Hall</a>, 2nd Floor (Summer 2009)<br /><br />Family-oriented activities. For example, volunteers will be asked to choose someone dead to bring to life in an animated film or to keep in a jar. Best accompanied by white wine or vodka. <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://shitcreek.auszine.com/issue10/">Dead Men Talking</a>: Museum Graveyard, Lot #10 (August 2009)<br /><br />The current rotation includes words by Arlene Ang, David Gwilym Anthony, Greg Billingham, Michael Cantor, Enriqueta Carrington, Antonia Clark, Mary Cresswell, Ann Drysdale, Bill Greenwell, John Milbury-Steen, Timothy Murphy, Frank Osen, Rob Plath, Daniel Sluman, C.P. Stewart, and Peter Wyton; and a selection of art by Patricia Wallace Jones recording <a href="http://shitcreek.auszine.com/">Shit Creek Review</a>'s upstream voyage from silence into vibrant conversations with the dead.<br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://origamicondom.org/Issues.html">Origami Condom</a>: Safety First Gallery, 5th Floor (7 August 2009)<br /><br />A selection of 39 safety procedures required when reading and/or writing poetry—a prison pass, self-extinction, improved room acoustics—from this prominent 14th PDF collection, most never before exhibited outside the North Pole. Some collaborations (with Valerie Fox) are featured due to the complex nature of condoms. <br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-50841712037231089702009-07-27T16:20:00.010+02:002009-07-27T18:58:31.870+02:00Arleneus Angeli Exhibit: Lobby, The Extinction Loft<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxTfjDotiXRwcZM3Nrl55msf337uVSG1uUbObd7tAeROYuF-PULqlQDvTT6Cp15hPTvd1ef1EV-DeSGHjqBeFf7U1oU6IE9kw22OJiOvAiYLDwnFCBd7hv58nVSn86MdFc5XmU/s1600-h/asims3-sleep.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 305px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxTfjDotiXRwcZM3Nrl55msf337uVSG1uUbObd7tAeROYuF-PULqlQDvTT6Cp15hPTvd1ef1EV-DeSGHjqBeFf7U1oU6IE9kw22OJiOvAiYLDwnFCBd7hv58nVSn86MdFc5XmU/s320/asims3-sleep.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363146385399406834" /></a><br /><br /><div align="justify">Many people think that their Arleneus angeli is dead when it is simply molting and dispose of the gastropod while it is still alive. The Arleneus angeli will usually bury itself in the sand or plop on the lawn for days or weeks when it begins to molt. It must leave its shell to molt, and at that time it will not move and may appear to be dead. You can tell very easily whether your gastropod is molting or dead by the pungent smell it emits.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Other events in the Event Museum</u>:</span><br /><br />• Blogging and the Feather Duster: First Floor, The Dead Skin Cells Alcove (27 July - 29 October 2009)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYigJeadpZKGEIuMmCt61sRIwabd8o7vWcct2L0kp0D9orJ-xB8-IScGERDjLxUFGZG-26aa9yXVrVbwVwlPammM802RYUjNEin7VzyV96K9HWeYgnM0kJBqF8dSpwdue6rFP/s1600-h/asims3-frenchmaid.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYigJeadpZKGEIuMmCt61sRIwabd8o7vWcct2L0kp0D9orJ-xB8-IScGERDjLxUFGZG-26aa9yXVrVbwVwlPammM802RYUjNEin7VzyV96K9HWeYgnM0kJBqF8dSpwdue6rFP/s320/asims3-frenchmaid.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363149603033841090" /></a><br /><br />Because the museum will be the first stop (October 29) on <a href="http://agcaint.blogspot.com/2009/07/original-wrong-miracle-cover.html">Liz Gallagher</a>'s virtual book tour, the curator has decided to host a practical blog-cleaning exhibition. The museum guards are so excited about Liz's first full collection, <a href="http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/9781844715671.htm"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Wrong Miracle</span></a> that they have decided not to leave for their summer vacation in order to stand under the sun and badger people with lines from the book, like <span style="font-style:italic;">Your bedroom is roped by genuflecting visitors</span> or <span style="font-style:italic;">I have a hunch and it has nothing to do with the price of eggs</span>. The French maid outfit is courtesy of Sims 3 and the professional playing Sims 3. <br /><br />• I Edit Therefore I Exist: Second Floor, The Mouse Trap Gallery (21 June - 21 August 2009)<br /><br />Issue 52 of <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=4672">The Pedestal Magazine</a> features poetry by JoAnn Balingit, Nicelle Christine Davis, Jude Goodwin, Rich Ives, Jim Redmond, Brandon S. Roy, Amy Small-McKinney, Jari Thymian, Ann Walters, Sarah Wetzel, Gerald Yelle, and Amanda Yskamp. Free psychiatric admission.<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.7beats.com/herenow.html">Here and Now</a>: Third Floor, The Allen Itz Washroom (July 2009)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIHt5dBe9x-vYdyHGSN_D35DlH0WRd6LwO64CcTsDBlcL8-YZbFs19jJsJr55b5EC9pAss4UKq7Yoo_W8ENIEuXECV5GlnBEeHpyzTYNZZ-mcfnDBIxzzmIRp8zAa_vdjTG5x/s1600-h/asims3-postwomanbath.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIHt5dBe9x-vYdyHGSN_D35DlH0WRd6LwO64CcTsDBlcL8-YZbFs19jJsJr55b5EC9pAss4UKq7Yoo_W8ENIEuXECV5GlnBEeHpyzTYNZZ-mcfnDBIxzzmIRp8zAa_vdjTG5x/s320/asims3-postwomanbath.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363160499497261842" /></a><br /><br />Six Sims-illustrated poems explore the continuing impact of a widely distributed game on lobster thermidor recipes around the world. Despite countless exposures of the video game as public drunkenness, the desire to actually live among cow-inspired furniture has retained incredible influence on poets and udder people with extra-long acrylic noses. Today, technology has made the sim-self available to anyone with Internet access, and it continues to be circulated by those who promote rabbit head keychains, experimental drugs, and even cave art.<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.cerisepress.com/01/01/if-i-had-an-eye-patch-id-give-you-my-eye">If I Had An Eye Patch, I'd Give You My Eye</a>: Fourth Floor, <a href="http://www.cerisepress.com/">The Cerise Press Room</a><br /><br />Homo sapiens with eyes have always been considered the most interesting of species ever to land on Earth. Since the climb down trees, they have recorded centuries of self-captivity in all its richness and diversification. This selection by the Cerise Press editors shows every aspect of the performance process from the eye-extraction program to the latest in eye-patch fashion. It also demonstrates a range of techniques, from approximative translations to orphanage development and includes some of the best eye owners in the business such as Patricia Fargnoli, Tess Gallagher, Diane Gilliam, Ray Gonzalez, James Harms, Laura Kasischke, Robert Kelly, Karen An-Hwei Lee, Éireann Lorsung, John Minczeski, Nate Pritts, Natasha Sajé, Susan Thomas, David Welch, and Eleanor Wilner.<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.hollyrosereview.com/juneang.html">Things She Told the Rooster Before It Became Glass</a>: Sixth Floor, <a href="http://www.hollyrosereview.com/juneindex.html">The Holly Rose Ballroom</a> (June 2009)<br /><br />The Passion Collection includes fragments of objects. These are often secretive, demonic and revealing in their own right. On first becoming infected, like for example with swine flu, we often wonder what we are. By examining a detail we can understand more about the whole survival of the self, what completes it, and from which source it sprung. This display showcases passion and examines the art of turning it into blood.<br /><br />• <a href="http://robotmelon.com/issuenine.html">Robot Melon</a>: Ninth Floor, The Mail Conservatory (June-July 2009)<br /><br />This display reveals the never-before-released <a href="http://robotmelon.com/issuenine/aang.html">whereabouts of the postwoman</a> when she stops delivering mail (insert cow). The RM's outstanding collection of psychiatric studies features classics like Heather Momyer's <span style="font-style:italic;">Even Boys Dream Dreams that Bunnies Can Dream</span> and Justin Hyde's <span style="font-style:italic;">lost & hung-over on a pre-dawn gravel road with socks but no shoes</span>.<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-36651395248516693092009-05-24T11:38:00.005+02:002009-05-24T15:26:45.988+02:00The dead has risen...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbG8eXiF02IaR_xMggWa6lUUAq7NloEl92HxmYlREA3LkbaTiLl-TjSJ8EPN61PPagAW_2YrigAUc7m7cs3-sr29RD3WXyHUwNwCakiw1LixAWBkyeOgRJbSoTDvZbb1f6SgR/s1600-h/PA301252a.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 280px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbG8eXiF02IaR_xMggWa6lUUAq7NloEl92HxmYlREA3LkbaTiLl-TjSJ8EPN61PPagAW_2YrigAUc7m7cs3-sr29RD3WXyHUwNwCakiw1LixAWBkyeOgRJbSoTDvZbb1f6SgR/s320/PA301252a.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339327611966903938" /></a><br /><div align="justify">... and it is drinking. It has recently been quoted to say: <span style="font-style:italic;">Just being alive should make you late for everything. In case you've never noticed, the dead are always on time.</span> <br /><br />Time, including the passage of, is all in the mind of strange moving creatures. Hence, since the last blog entry, no time has passed at all and there is no need to feel sheepish and hide under the table. <br /><br />As Nabokov (dead) would put it: <span style="font-style:italic;">I confess I do not believe in time.</span> <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Currently logged in the Event Museum</u>:</span><br /><br />• The May-August 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> is now up with fab poetry and fiction from CL Bledsoe, Ken Cenicola, Holly Day, <a href="http://strangeplaces.livingcode.org/">Daniela Elza</a>, John Grey, Christine Hamm, Kate Irving, Miriam N. Kotzin, Lynn Levin, <a href="http://seanlovelace.com/">Sean Lovelace</a>, Clare L. Martin, <a href="http://live-essays.blogspot.com/">Matthew Salesses</a>, <a href="http://paulsiegell.blogspot.com/">Paul Siegell</a> and <a href="http://sharonfieldnotes.blogspot.com/">Ann Walters</a>. The spectacular artwork is courtesy of <a href="http://aegis-strife.net/">Mario Sánchez Nevado</a>.<br /><br />• Have finally retired the G4 and gotten a 24-inch <a href="http://www.apple.com/imac/">iMac</a>. All I can say is that there's nothing like "the" Mac experience... oftentimes compared to dying and going to heaven. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/B-cloud9.gif" border="0"><br /><br />• It's now official: I have two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Alopecia and the grizzly bear</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">I'm Not Supposed to Wear This Gorilla Costume</span> in <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/store/botw2009.html">Best of the Web 2009</a> (Dzanc Books), slated for publication on July 2009. Fellow contributors include: Waqar Ahmed, Michael Baker, Marcelo Ballve, Marge Barrett, Carmelinda Blagg, Benjamin Buchholz, Blake Butler, Jimmy Chen, Amy L. Clark, Amber Cook, Bill Cook, Michael Czyzniejewski, Darlin’ Neal, Matthew Derby, Ryan Dilbert, Stephen Dixon, Alex Dumont, Claudia Emerson, D.A. Feinfeld, Marcela Fuentes, M. Thomas Gammarino, Cassandra Garbus, Molly Gaudry, Anne Germanacos, Matt Getty, Todd Hasak-Lowy, Karen Heuler, Ash Hibbert, Philip Holden, Roy Kesey, Hari Bhajan Khalsa, Tricia Louvar, Peter Markus, Michael Martone, Heather Killelea McEntarfer, Lindsay Merbaum, Corey Mesler, Laura Mullen, Joseph Olschner, Jeff Parker, Elise Paschen, Elizabeth Penrose, Kate Petersen, Glen Pourciau, <a href="http://samofthetenthousandthings.blogspot.com/">Sam Rasnake</a>, Jonathan Rice, Tom Sheehan, Claudia Smith, Lynn Strongin, Terese Svoboda, Jon Thompson, <a href="http://tommasogervasutti.blogspot.com/">Davide Trame</a>, Donna D. Vitucci, Helen Wickes, Kathrine Leone Wright, and Jordan Zinovich.<br /><br />• Have cloned myself on Facebook — for the gaming purposes — and have begun to exist as my clone 95% of the time. At some point, I removed my clone from my friends list because of her insistent game invites. It's sad, but true: I'm longer FB friends with myself. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/0paperbag3.gif" border="0"><br /><br />Having multiple FB identities is probably the modern way to experience split personalities since only one consciousness (per browser) can be dominant at a time. Hee. It's a rather confusing experience. <br /><br />• Last Friday the potato chips and nuts that my sister mailed me on 11 December 2008 finally arrived. The box had the seal of the Deparment of Health... as if to say this could be swine flu. The customs people even made me sign a month ago that I will be held responsible in case of an epidemic or something. Hee! <br /> <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Acceptances, from most recent to oldies</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.penpushermagazine.co.uk">Pen Pusher Magazine</a> accepted a poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Drive-Thru Hazards</span>.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 9 April 2009<br /> Reply date: 20 May 2009 <br /><br />Incidentally, they have launched a <a href="http://www.penpushermagazine.co.uk/poetry-competition/map/">poetry competition</a> (no fees attached) with the Latitude Festival 2009. First prize includes a chance to read on the New Voices stage in the prestigious poetry tent at Latitude. Goal is to write a poem about where you live. More info at their website. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/goodluck.gif" border="0"><br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://thievesjargon.com/">Thieves Jargon</a> plans to publish the cheeky poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Driving Instructor's First Experience with a Tango Teacher</span> in an upcoming issue. <br /><br /> Submission mailed: 13 April 2009<br /> E-mail reply: 9 May 2009 <br /><br /><br />• Thanks to <a href="http://agcaint.blogspot.com/">Liz</a> for mailing me a gorgeous copy of <a href="http://www.stingingfly.org/">The Stinging Fly</a>, I decided to send them some work myself. They accepted two poems for publication in a future issue: <span style="font-style:italic;">Apple, Pear and the Body Running Through Them</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Suffocation Prelude</span> (sonnet).<br /><br />They're currently closed to submissions now and will be open again from January 1st to March 31st. <br /><br /> Submission mailed: 19 January 2009<br /> E-mail reply: 1 May 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.weavemagazine.net/">Weave Magazine</a> — a literary print publication and organization based out of Pittsburgh — accepted a poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Feeding the Husband</span> for a future issue. Payment is one copy. Very quick response time, too! <br /><br /> Submission sent: 21 April 2009<br /> Reply date: 29 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://thediagram.com/">DIAGRAM</a> accepted a prose poem inspired by the James Castle exhibit in Philly, <span style="font-style:italic;">Unidentified dark object (with shoelace)</span> for an upcoming issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 31 March 2009<br /> Reply date: 29 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.hollyrosereview.com">Holly Rose Review</a> accepted a poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Things She Told the Rooster Before It Became Glass</span> for the Passion issue (#2, June 2009).<br /><br /> Submission sent: 9 April 2009<br /> Reply date: 11 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.poetsandartists.com/">Oranges & Sardines</a> accepted three poems: <span style="font-style:italic;">The Girl in the Bathtub</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Ownership</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Disconnection</span> for an upcoming issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 9 January 2009<br /> Reply date: 12 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://archjournal.wustl.edu/">Arch Literary Journal</a> accepted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">April Morning</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Sunday</span> for their Winter 2010 issue. <br /><br />This is a lovely 'zine with fantastic poetry. And quite new, too. They're currently only their second issue... but it's fast becoming a favorite. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 7 December 2008<br /> Reply date: 17 March 2009<br /><br />• <a href="http://inertiamagazine.com/">Inertia Magazine</a>, a literary journal based in NYC, accepted <span style="font-style:italic;">Roadside Motel</span> for their Issue #7, slated for release in July 2009.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 4 February 2009<br /> Reply date: 9 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.caketrain.org/">Caketrain</a> accepted a longish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Self-Portrait in Green Dress</span> for Issue 07, tentatively slated for publication in late 2009. Yay! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/tort.gif" border="0"><br /><br /> Submission sent: 9 January 2009<br /> Reply date: 8 April 2009 <br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.boxcarpoetry.com/main.html">Boxcar Poetry Review</a> accepted a poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Living Without Water</span> for an upcoming issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 23 November 2008<br /> Reply date: 19 March 2009<br /><br /><br />• Found out last April that my prose poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Family</span> was accepted for a future issue of <a href="http://www.drunkenboat.com/">Drunken Boat</a>. Never thought I'd live to see the day... plus anything with the letters d-r-u-n-k in it makes my cuppa poison. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/woohoo3.gif" border="0"><br /><br />The downside is they can't seem to send me an e-mail. Have changed twice now and they've sent the acceptance e-mail twice, but nothing. They seem to have fairly quick response times... my advice is to just check your submission regularly on their database manager in case this should happen with your e-mail addy, too. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 19 December 2008<br /> Reply date: 27 February 2009 (DB records)<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Publications, from recent to oldish</u>:</span><br /><br />• The Spring 2009 (volume 2 number 3) issue of <a href="http://diodepoetry.com/v2n3/index.html">diode</a> is up with poetry by Adonis (trans. Khaled Mattawa), Neil Aitken, Michelle Bitting, Jason Bredle, Travis Brown, Brooklyn Copeland, Mark Cunningham, Patrick Donnelly, Kate Durbin, Anne Haines, Catherine Jagoe, Karyna McGlynn, Keith Montesano, Miguel Murphy, darlene anita scott, Nate Slawson, Sally Van Doren and a pair of elbows interpretating the <a href="http://diodepoetry.com/v2n3/content/ang_a.html">afterlife</a>.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 26 January 2009<br /> Reply date: 7 March 2009<br /><br /><br />• Have six poems in the Fantasies issue of <a href="http://www.succour.org/products/succour-9-fantasies">Succour</a> — which went out on 11 May 2009. It's one of the print journals I've discovered through Facebook via friends of friends of friends. FB does have its neat uses. Poems list:<br /><br />» The Self in the Mirror is a Test<br />» Please Meet My Nails<br />» I'm Only as Half-Drunk as You Think I Am<br />» twelve: crackle (from approximative translations)<br />» The dog in the rearview mirror<br />» What the postwoman can't fight<br /><br /> Submission sent: 16 February 2009<br /> Reply date: 28 March 2009<br /><br /><br />• The Summer 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.rattle.com/">Rattle</a> is out! People have been writing me to say, but — again — I still haven't gotten my copies. Will keep my fingers crossed that they get here before Christmas. My poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Tonsillitis</span> is in there aching. <br /><br />They've also got a call for subs on <a href="http://www.rattle.com/callsforsubs.htm">Sonnets</a> for the Winter 2009 issue. So get those da-DUM da-DUM nuts cracking. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_ink.gif" border="0"><br /><br /><br />• My first published flash, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Dreaming Lake</span> came out in the March-April 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.oakbendreview.com/fiction1.htm">Oak Ben Review</a>.<br /><br /><br />• <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/category/mutating-the-signature/">qarrsiluni</a> published some poems and fiction that I co-wrote with Valerie:<br /><br />» <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/04/24/jennie/">Jennie, or How Things Go Down in The Yankee Doodle</a> (24 April 2009, fiction)<br />» <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/04/08/visions-of-lamb-cooked-in-slight-brine/">Visions of Lamb Cooked in Slight Brine</a> (8 April 2009, poem)<br />» <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/03/20/donkey-tails/">Little Boys and Snips of Donkey Tails</a> (20 March 2009, fiction)<br />» <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/03/05/we-wrote-a-letter-to-jesus/">We Wrote a Letter to Jesus and He Told Us To Buy a New Car</a> (5 March 2009, poem)<br /><br /><br />• An oldish poem, <a href="http://www.blueprintreview.de/20memento.htm">Memento Mori</a> made it into the 20th issue of <a href="http://www.blueprintreview.de/">Blue Print Review</a>: The Missing (hehe) Part.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 2 April 2009<br /> Reply date: 6 April 2009<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-49567009527407811932009-02-23T10:56:00.003+01:002009-02-23T11:42:40.469+01:00Interview and chapbook giveaway<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-89S7rSuF7GA053FyuAcGvQ_HIbGbq2ZsoIEaquRLWgG3YAMyiEdN7L-q6aiycYTnQ3eW2jzQl2DjZrEBmVncH4WkwM0ibFWdozVKCreqG0eGp443aGDm8-ai2MsR2vMsGeBe/s1600-h/secretlovecover.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 145px; height: 201px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-89S7rSuF7GA053FyuAcGvQ_HIbGbq2ZsoIEaquRLWgG3YAMyiEdN7L-q6aiycYTnQ3eW2jzQl2DjZrEBmVncH4WkwM0ibFWdozVKCreqG0eGp443aGDm8-ai2MsR2vMsGeBe/s320/secretlovecover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305932896648029778" /></a><br /><div align="justify">There's a three-part interview with me up at <a href="http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/search/label/arlene%20ang">Savvy Verse & Wit</a>, plus a review of <span style="font-style:italic;">Secret Love Poems</span> and a chapbook lottery. If you'd like to try your luck at winning a copy of the chapbook, just leave your e-mail address <a href="http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/2009/02/final-part-of-my-interview-with-arlene.html">here</a>. The deadline is 26 February 2009.<br /><br />Thanks so much for this honor, <a href="http://savvyverseandwit.blogspot.com/">Serena</a>!! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_hb.gif" border="0"><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Currently at the Event Museum</u>:</span><br /><br />• Am seriously considering renaming this blog as <span style="font-style:italic;">The Event Museum... where for months only one important event is happening</span> — based on a ticklish collaboem I've been writing with <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a>. <br /><br />• Have been busy redesigning my website. Good grief. I've been rechecking all the links from way back in 1995... and finding so many dead bodies, I mean, dead 'zines. At this rate, I'm going to outlive all my publication credits. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/hung.gif" border="0"><br /><br />• Am scheduled to leave for Manila on Friday... and so have only three days more to get my act together — which includes answering my messages — or will be forced to forever hold my peace. Hee. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• <span style="font-weight:bold;">qarrtsiluni</span> has posted the first collaboem (with Valerie) in their "Mutating the Signature" series, <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2009/02/11/in-retrospect-1984-made-a-fine-sausage/"><span style="font-style:italic;">In retrospect, 1984 made a fine sausage</span></a>. The audio file is between me and <a href="http://www.johnvick.org/">John Vick</a>.<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.manifold.group.shef.ac.uk/issue%202/Arlene%20Ang%202.html">Three poems</a>: <span style="font-style:italic;">Polish Dancer Prelude</span> (sonnet), <span style="font-style:italic;">The Local Physician Returns to the Ski Lodge</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The 38th Secret Love Poem</span> are in Issue 2 of <a href="http://www.manifold.group.shef.ac.uk/index.html">Blackbox Manifold</a> together with the works of Vahni Capildeo, Joshua Clover, Vona Groarke, Alan Halsey, Lisa Jarnot, John Kinsella, Peter Larkin, Matt Merritt, Drew Milne, Geraldine Monk, Paul Muldoon, Vivek Narayanan, Chris Nealon, Francis Raven, Ian Seed, Ben Stainton, Kyle Storm, Matthew Sweeney and Nathan Thompson.<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-78551386874037910522009-02-06T10:15:00.004+01:002009-02-06T13:27:55.290+01:00Double yikes<div align="justify">Let's pretend it's still January... 2008. So this blog entry is almost a year early. Hee.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Special Events in The AA Event Museum</u>:</span>,<br /><br />• The January-April 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/v2n3/index.html">Press 1</a> came out too soon, a case of multiple breech births, with the following bouncing bunnies: Lydia Cortes, Nicole Cartwright Denison, Theresa Edwards, David Erlewine, Rebecca Guyon, Mark Lowe, Lilla Lyon, Sally Molini, Michelle Panik, Meg Pokrass, Ron Price, Don Riggs, Denise Scicluna, and Robert Anthony Watts.<br /><br />• Someone fell off the <a href="http://rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/">30:30</a> wagon three times. She is now on Day 23 (round 15) and should be able to make it with her favorite sandbox playmate, <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> helping her out with the other half of the poems. <br /><br />• Because drinking was making A one heck of a depressed drunk, she decided to stop... or at least drink only on weekends. Plus, the wine store across the street has had a change of owner. There's a woman there now. She has terrible wine — believe me I tried them all. I used to think I can glug down anything... I was mistaken. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/831.gif" border="0"><br /><br />• Have bought a ticket for Manila... and have started having anxiety dreams about the plane taking off without me again. <br /><br />• The laptop caught a virus for the second time in two years and had to be reformatted. The cure seems to agree with Muerte (as re-baptized on 13 January 2009). Since then it's been more quiet, ventilator-wise. No more crazy chopper/hacking cough sounds. Yay!<br /><br />• Chainsaw rant coming down here — <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/chainsaw.gif" border="0"><br /><br />Recently discovered on my own that <a href="http://www.thelondonmagazine.net/">London Magazine</a> didn't include my poem in their Anglo/Indian issue after all. I'm quite pissed about it since they didn't even bother to tell me after all this time when I could've sent it off elsewhere. Oh yes. I remember. On their guidelines page they say they don't send rejections. First they send me the proofs, with a two-day response time or else (they chopped off the first stanza, too without so much as a by-your-leave). I okayed everything next day, then sometime later got invited to the issue launch. A good thing I was in Philly that time... if I had gone all the way to London to read a poem that they chose not to publish, I'd probably have gone after <u>somebody</u> with a knife. <br /><br />I guess I'm just pissed for the most part that that poem, which is about a woman mourning the death of her unborn child, didn't make it right next to that half-page SMB ad: <span style="font-style:italic;">for all your corporate and personal tax advice</span>. Hee. <br /><br />Anyway, I'm blacklisting this magazine. I think they're a bit better via snailmail, for some strange reason. But that was way back in 2007. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent (and not so recent) publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• The Winter 2009 issue of <a href="http://www.blossombones.com/">blossombones</a> is now live — with poetry by Lana Hechtman Ayers, Margaret Bashaar, Elizabeth Bruno, Juliet Cook, Athena Dixon, Jo Hemmant, Amy Hinrichs, Charmi Keranen, Daniela Olszewska, Kristen Orser, Nanette Rayman Rivera, Toni Scales, Erin Elizabeth Smith, Bill Yarrow, Susan Yount, and (ahem).<br /><br />• A new 'zine, <a href="http://fleetingmagazine.com/">Fleeting</a> posted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://fleetingmagazine.com/2009/01/26/confessions-of-a-road-sign-collector/">Confessions of a Road Sign Collector</a></span> and <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://fleetingmagazine.com/2009/01/26/dream-interstate-104/">Dream Interstate 104</a></span> on 26 January 2009. <br /><br />• <a href="http://canopicjar.com/c22/auteurs.html">Canopic Jar #22</a> with poetry by coreyMesler, gabebaBaderoon, isobelDixon, johnMcCullough, kayMckenzieCooke, leeAnnPickrell, leeStern, matthewGillis, michelleMcgrane, myeshaJenkins, patrickSullivan, phillippaYaaDeVilliers, <a href="http://poefrika.blogspot.com">rethabileMasilo</a>, roseDewyKnickers, ruthSabathRosenthal, santiagoDelDardanoTurann, and someKindofStrangeOrgan. They have some fab pRose and aRt sections, too. <br /><br />This is an elegant online journal, quite eclectic tastes. With regards to response times, the editor actually wrote me on 17 December 2008 to ask if the poems were still available. The in-between e-mail exchange kind of made the waiting seem less. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 7 October 2008<br /> Reply date: 9 January 2009<br /><br />Okay. I confess. I knew he was my kind of editor when I read his e-mail signature quote: <br /><br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.</span><br /> —W.C. Fields<br /><br />Just because I no longer drink on weekdays (again), doesn't mean I've stopped thinking of it. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/sabber3.gif" border="0"><br /><br />• Two poems, <a href="http://www.cricketonlinereview.com/vol4no2/ang1.php">Mendel experiments</a> and <a href="http://www.cricketonlinereview.com/vol4no2/ang2.php">We stand the postal clerk</a> are up in the current issue of <a href="http://www.cricketonlinereview.com/vol4no2/index.htm">Cricket Online Review</a> (volume iv, number ii).<br /><br />• Found out just last week that they made me (woohooo!) Featured Poet in <a href="http://www.identitytheory.com/verse/fall2008/ang.php">Identity Theory</a> (Summer/Fall 2008). Thanks for the nod, <a href="http://theworstestworstpoet.blogspot.com/">WP</a>! <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent (and not so recent) acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.cerisepress.com/">Cerise Press</a> accepted four poems (2 spanking new/2 oldish) on 5 February 2009: <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">If I had an eye patch, I'd give you my eye—<br />Orphanage<br />five : leap<br />six : sundown</span><br /><br />for their first issue (Summer 2009). They officially open to unsolicited submission on 1 April 2009 — for the Fall/Winter 2009 issue. Don't forget. It's a neat, sleek 'zine. Response time was one day — really quick, but under normal circumstances they give 2-3 months in the guidelines. <br /><br />• While hopping from one 'zine to another, I discovered <a href="http://robotmelon.com/">Robot Melon</a> and couldn't resist submitting. Who could resist such an order as ticklish as, <span style="font-style:italic;">In the body of the e-mail give us a 2-3 line biography. If you like a certain type of bear, this might be the place to mention it.</span> Neat little bear trap, ain't it? <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/smiley_abuv.gif" border="0"><br /><br />Anyway, I was thrilled that they accepted my prose poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">What Happens to the Postwoman When She Stops Delivering the Mail</span> for Issue Nine. Nothing like some robot lovin' to wake up to in the morning. Hee.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 30 December 2008<br /> Reply date: 18 January 2009<br /><br />• Three collaboems, (1)<span style="font-style:italic;"> Visions of Lamb Cooked in Slight Brine</span>, (2) <span style="font-style:italic;">We Wrote a Letter to Jesus and He Told Us To Buy a New Car</span>, and (3) <span style="font-style:italic;">In retrospect, 1984 made a fine sausage</span> — that Valerie and I wrote last year have been accepted for publication in the Mutating the Signature issue of <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/">qarrtsiluni</a>. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 2 January 2009<br /> Reply date: 15 January 2009<br /><br />• Wooopwooop!! I received my first ever flash fiction acceptance from <a href="http://www.oakbendreview.com/">Oak Bend Review</a>. Very quick response times, too (see below)! My shorty, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Dreaming Lake</span> is slated for their March/April 2009 issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 4 January 2009<br /> Reply date: 8 January 2009<br /><br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-53659114875854328862008-12-24T13:57:00.003+01:002008-12-24T15:12:08.802+01:00Happy Holidays!<div align="justify">Yikes. It's been more than month since my last confession... I mean, blog entry. I AM NOT DEAD. I have been <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebooking</a> where I am the mayor of a small town. Oh yes. I even have an electric sheep. I may also be <a href="http://twitter.com/">Twittered</a> though I haven't exactly understood all the mechanics of making sounds every half-hour.<br /><br />That said, I'm thrilled to announce that the 49th issue of <a href="http://thepedestalmagazine.com/index.php">The Pedestal Magazine</a> is now up! With fantastic poetry by Eduards Aivars, Margaret Bashaar, Lisa Fay Coutley, Katie Fesuk, Brian Foley, S. Jason Fraley, Paul Hostovsky, Shaylah Kloska, Michelle Menting, Natasha Kochicheril Moni, Rick Marlatt, R Jay Slais, Sarah Sorenson, Tammy F. Trendle and Joseph P. Wood. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• The Autumn 2008 issue <a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/Fall08/index2.html">DMQ Review</a> is now up — featuring the poetry of Lana Hechtman Ayers, Robert Lee Brewer, Claudia Burbank, Ellen Elder, Joan Fiset, Paul Fisher, Rebecca Morgan Frank, Virginia Konchan, Robert McDonald, Chad Sweeney, Mary Wang and Fritz Ward with artwork by Chris Roberts-Antieau.<br /><br />It was such a fab surprise when editors announced that they've nominated my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Like Closed Eyes</span> for the Pushcart Prize. It's my 9th ever (yikes) and the 2nd (yay) this year — the first nomination (8th) coming from <a href="http://juked.com/">Juked</a> for <span style="font-style:italic;">Anima Nera</span>, one of the poems that received the 2008 Juked Poetry Prize... a poem written two years ago, incidentally, after a post-Christmas hangover. Hee.<br /><br />• Three poems in <a href="http://www.sevencirclepress.com/arleneang.htm">Seven CirclePress</a>: <span style="font-style:italic;">Ants</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">How Did Her Garden Grow</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Phantom Limb</span>.<br /><br />• Two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Inheritance</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">I met my mother and called her Night</span> (with audio) in the inaugural issue of <a href="http://www.hollyrosereview.com/deccontents.html">Holly Rose Review</a> — an online poetry & tattoo literary journal — which also features the poetry of Danny Bellinger, Debbi Brody, Lane Falcon, Beatrix Gates, Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Donnelle McGee, Karen Neuberg, Rhonda Palmer, Simon Petkovich, Mani Rao, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Maria Williams-Russell, Jane Wohl and Cyril Wong.<br /><br />• Am tickled that the Pirates issue of <a href="http://pbq.drexel.edu/issue78/">Painted Bride Quarterly</a> is now online — just in time for the holidays. I have poem here with private parts in 100% gang green. Arrrrrrr!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptance</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.blossombones.com/">blossombones</a> accepted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">So What If It's a Red Dress</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Celebrating the Therapist</span> for their Winter 2009 issue.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 15 October 2008<br /> Reply date: 12 December 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Balls! Balls! Balls!</u> —</span><br /><br />Are you done shopping? Have you finished wrapping all the gifts you've bought? Have you taken a shower? Is it the fog or are the windows just dirty? Are you sure you have clean clothes to wear for the party? Is that the smell of Santa's beard burning in the open fire? Why are all these liquor bottles empty?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AL8U9KoukKs-45agvsL5v5yu0Hx1nAp8th7rx3crcxmP9WIIi4QSaCAvjD-QGnlWhHWOcGtszuGT3J-K55JoWfCTO-lwipE6PFRvXdZoNIDciWUTXjQ9iGAxNofVLGoWhoeP/s1600-h/200411161542250.treedance.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7AL8U9KoukKs-45agvsL5v5yu0Hx1nAp8th7rx3crcxmP9WIIi4QSaCAvjD-QGnlWhHWOcGtszuGT3J-K55JoWfCTO-lwipE6PFRvXdZoNIDciWUTXjQ9iGAxNofVLGoWhoeP/s320/200411161542250.treedance.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283354367956279890" /></a><br /><br />Have a merry dance through the ballsy holidays everyone!<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-49678327681988340112008-11-17T17:40:00.007+01:002008-11-18T00:49:04.577+01:00Officially in working condition<div align="justify">Or almost. Got back from LA last Friday night and have slowly gone through my stack of TPM subs. Yep, I'm the editor on duty again for the December 2008 issue of <a href="http://thepedestalmagazine.com/">The Pedestal Magazine</a>. On that note, I should like — hinthint — to receive more nonlinear, surreal, experimental poetry. You have until December 14 to send those puppies my way. I will know who hasn't been submitting. You will not receive a note from Santa. You have been warned. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_old.gif" border=0><br /><br />Also, I've finally gotten myself into <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/">Goodreads</a>. If anyone wants to link up, just hoot. I am, at the moment, friendless... but already armed with Freud. Hehe.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>The Philly readings</u>:</span><br /><br />They actually went better than I feared. For one, we had fantastic supporters in the audience. For another, I had a fab time meeting so many poets/writers for the first time — people I've known over the internet casually for years and never dreamed I would one day see in the flesh. Plus, <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> and I even managed to sell copies of <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span>! <br /><br />The university readings were a bit harder because of the Q&A afterwards. Because of some pointed questions from the students, I realized that our <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> book is full of criminal intentions — from crank callers to stalkers, from pirates to extortionists... and no one has bothered to notify the cops. Someone asked Valerie if she had a rough childhood, and I almost heard a sigh of disappointment when she said no. I was asked if I had personal dealings with stalkers or being in prison... whereupon I admitted openly that I just like stalkers and prisons — which ended the discussion right there and then. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/curlers.gif" border=0><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTizUm2Fspar6ouPxTZQhMUepimjhp3rON_E7yx9r65L6mR37AygwRMNg8Ztng_UKj0N00GFCc5CCy9QzQAnNX4O1B13khv8ADE4W-Z-XXhvpZ37d_Si8-NuWJfAbM-lJVCkWd/s1600-h/v&a-disque109tb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTizUm2Fspar6ouPxTZQhMUepimjhp3rON_E7yx9r65L6mR37AygwRMNg8Ztng_UKj0N00GFCc5CCy9QzQAnNX4O1B13khv8ADE4W-Z-XXhvpZ37d_Si8-NuWJfAbM-lJVCkWd/s320/v&a-disque109tb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269672486740409074" /></a><br /><br />Here we are, thanks to <a href="http://johnvick.wordpress.com/">John V</a> who came to Philly all the way from Minneapolis just to be with us. He took pictures (and video) of our last reading at Disque 109 in Drexel University. We had some mints, but no liquor. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Other Philly things</u>:</span><br /><br />On top of everything, I also had a great time in Philly because, apart from going museum-hopping with John V, I also found a playmate in Valerie's M. Isn't she adorable? She has great fondness for (1) Egyptian culture, (2) A's lingerie, (3) eyeballs on a toothbrush, and (4) butlers. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border=0><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQz9PZCov75YhWQ0tTOfRDiFNOFrylmxTgCOpWMwmfQWMK91lK0i0INUIIU0hZK21I5dO-Fc0NeiAOMRBjruqkR7BxvQhjc679Ivua6ZqhbCmQZor1uuA1V6XjQs8IIWaTu_Bh/s1600-h/PA261211tb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQz9PZCov75YhWQ0tTOfRDiFNOFrylmxTgCOpWMwmfQWMK91lK0i0INUIIU0hZK21I5dO-Fc0NeiAOMRBjruqkR7BxvQhjc679Ivua6ZqhbCmQZor1uuA1V6XjQs8IIWaTu_Bh/s320/PA261211tb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269680764505027938" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>San Francisco in brief, snappy sentences</u>:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbFIJCaz3mv_jpEfQpZyGLTC6jFFyYAq6lnsmcbNB1TLmXuU58lzWTyGg17D3GsCG1o0GY6duA-0K-Tbgo-l15gsjLiOZ3DBCyFBFAri2YbJneCIXsT12GAXTjp5V6qcWl-mZ/s1600-h/PB051339tb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtbFIJCaz3mv_jpEfQpZyGLTC6jFFyYAq6lnsmcbNB1TLmXuU58lzWTyGg17D3GsCG1o0GY6duA-0K-Tbgo-l15gsjLiOZ3DBCyFBFAri2YbJneCIXsT12GAXTjp5V6qcWl-mZ/s320/PB051339tb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269704708615668418" /></a><br /><br />Had clam chowder. Drank wine. Went to the Museum of Modern Art and Chinatown. Had six kinds of oysters. Drank wine. Fell in love with the Pier 39 seals. Had crab and lobster. Drank wine. Walked six blocks uphill to Lombard Street. Did some heavy breathing. Listened to my heart attack. Drank wine. Had cioppino. Had hangover. Spent the day in the California Academy of Sciences. Drank water. Had dinner with <a href="http://www.megpokrass.com/">Meg Pokrass</a>. Went to Sonoma Valley. Drank a lot of wine. Had little to eat. Watched the sister snore in the car on the way back. Had water. Devoured a burger (medium-rare).<br /><br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Halloween in LA</u>:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY2lbl-eMA6VW1Qs8AyDSl7rE9Z9ikcG3B7vBgo_sGt6F7dTL1MS6veU6yPktzgT7KvCrNblFvq96sHWBg_Ug6PNDRD_JHvm5wBh6tq-N8YPlayBKOx7xtFW3XB9iUyWsVdd4/s1600-h/ghost.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY2lbl-eMA6VW1Qs8AyDSl7rE9Z9ikcG3B7vBgo_sGt6F7dTL1MS6veU6yPktzgT7KvCrNblFvq96sHWBg_Ug6PNDRD_JHvm5wBh6tq-N8YPlayBKOx7xtFW3XB9iUyWsVdd4/s320/ghost.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269711071755053570" /></a><br /><br />This is me. Really. I was one bad-ass ghost. I stood creepily behind the screen door and waited for the children. At some point, I had to remove the head covering because they were avoiding the house and my sister needed to get rid of the candies. The brave ones who approached me ran for their lives as soon as I handed over the sugar. Bwwwuaaaahaaaahaaaaaahaaaa! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/mwahaha.gif" border=0><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent interview on <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span></u>:</span><br /><br />Valerie and I were interviewed by Robert Watts about our <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> book in <a href="http://drexel.edu/academics/coas/ask/featured-interviews/2008-10-18_valerie-fox-interview_watts.asp">ASK</a> (The Journal of the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University).<br /><br />If anyone's interested in a copy, it's already available at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bundles-Letters-Including-V-Epsilon/dp/0979757312/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226957014&sr=1-5">Amazon.com</a> (just click and the link should take you directly there).<br /><br />We are also offering discounted author copies, dedication included, for $12 — postage and handling (hehe) included in the price. Feel free to drop me or <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> a line. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• When <a href="http://www.thelondonmagazine.net">The London Magazine</a> wrote me, they mentioned strongly considering my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Agasthya-Tirtha Lake, Badami</span> for their Anglo/Indian issue. On Halloween, they invited me to their November 14th issue launch... so, I take it that I did make it into their pages... right next to an SMB ad: <span style="font-style:italic;">for all your corporate and personal tax advice. </span> Tickles! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/lol1.gif" border=0><br /><br />This is one fancy print journal, too. And they're accepting e-mail submissions now. The only drawback is that they reply only to authors whose work they're accepting. It's worth a try though — I don't think they keep backlogs, and it's probably safe to assume that once their next issue is out (depending on which issue deadline you met) that your work hasn't been accepted. I used to send by post and this is my first encounter with them via e-mail. You do get a receipt when you send them work via e-mail — a day or two later. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 25 August 2008<br /> Reply date: 14 October 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.manifold.group.shef.ac.uk/index.html">Blackbox Manifold</a> accepted three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Polish Dancer Prelude</span> (one of the serial Chopin sonnets), <span style="font-style:italic;">The Local Physician Returns to the Ski Lodge</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The 38th Secret Love Poem</span> for their January 2009 issue.<br /><br />BBM describes itself as <span style="font-style:italic;">an online forum with a slant towards innovative poetry that has prose, narrative, or sequences in its sights.</span> That said, they seem to have very eclectic tastes — from experimental to narrative free verse to formal poetry. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 18 August 2008<br /> Reply date: 15 October 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.mergepoetry.com/">Merge</a> accepted three poems: <span style="font-style:italic;">Apple</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">At the Checkout</span>, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Leak</span> for their Fall/Winter 08/09 issue. <br /><br />This is a gorgeous print and online journal — held up by deliciously eloquent poetry. You just know you wanna mate... I mean, MERGE with it. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 18 July 2008<br /> Reply date: 16 November 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• Issue 8.5 of <a href="http://thediagram.com/8_5/index.html">Diagram</a> is now up, which includes my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Shipwreck</span>. Everyone's probably tired of hearing me say that this is one of my favorite 'zines, the better half of my brain, my pet x-ray of lung, my undying love for all things dead. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/dreamyeyesf.gif" border=0><br /><br />• The 7th issue of <a href="http://www.parametermagazine.org">Parameter Magazine</a> is also out. It is a UK-based print journal — with the contents, fiction, poetry and reviews saddle-stapled individually. <a href="http://www.parametermagazine.org/poetry_7.htm">A driving student conceptualizing rain</a> as well as reasons for not writing poetry may be chanced upon at their website. <br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-50807263246307983242008-10-14T14:08:00.002+02:002008-10-14T14:13:50.284+02:00Philly schedule and general pre-departure update<div align="justify">Had the funniest dream this morning. Full of poets. Actually, it freaked out. Or more precisely, <a href="http://www.breathingarts.blogspot.com/">Brenda Nixon Cook</a> freaked me out... but that came later. <br /><br />We were in a place that looked like somewhere in the Amazon Rainforest. It was a poetry reading. <a href="http://www.unco.edu/colopoets/poets/tipton_james/">James Tipton</a> had the floor — his poem was describing how he drove home to his farm one day and found the land, crops and all, traveling in the opposite direction. He suddenly realized that this was happening right then. To save his farm, he had us — Brenda, Ellaraine Lockie, <a href="http://cechaffin.blogspot.com/">CE Chaffin</a> and me — removing the overgrown fronds around us. Being nervous about insects, I just held the garbage bag for everyone to put their "weeds" in. I freaked out initially when I saw a finger-long white slug on a leaf. I stopped holding the bag. Ellaraine and Brenda chided me for being afraid of such <span style="font-style:italic;">darlings</span> (!) and started going through the trash. Suddenly, Brenda picked up two orange slugs and placed them on her chest. She was Barbie-doll naked. She wanted me to pat the giant slugs. They were cute, I admit — being carbon copies of those Lotsa Legs stuffed toys. Same creepily smiling faces, too. Then they started spitting slime, like llamas, like baseball players. Ewwww! I think they had to spit, otherwise, they would drown in they own saliva. Double ewwww. Brenda kept insisting they were adorable. She was inching towards me. I woke up squeaking like a trapped mouse. Squeak! <br /><br />Talk about bizarre dreams! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/LolLolLolLol.gif" border=0><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>A's schedule in Philadelphia</u>:</span><br /><br />• October 17, Friday afternoon: Talk with Miriam Kotzin's Readings in Poetry Class, Drexel University<br /><br />• October 19, Sunday, 1300hrs: Reading with Leonard Gontarek at <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/LeonardGontarek/readings.html">Robin's Bookstore</a><br /><br />• October 21, Tuesday, 1900hrs: Reading with Valerie Fox at <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/LeonardGontarek/readings.html">Green Line Cafe</a><br /><br />• October 22, Wednesday, 1700hrs: Reading and Q&A with Valerie Fox at Kutztown University, DeFrancesco Building, Room 100<br /><br />• October 23, Thursday, 1400hrs: Reading and Q&A at Drexel University, Disque 109<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent interview/publication</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://noojournal.com/">NOO Journal</a> is conducting a NOÖ Loves Everyone project. They are in the process of interviewing all their past contributors in an orderly manner, A-Z. I was tagged <a href="http://noojournal.blogspot.com/2008/10/no-loves-everyone-2-arlene-ang.html">second</a>. <br /><br />• A wicked <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/2008/10/13/pigeons-in-venice/">poem</a>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Reasons for the Mass Destruction of Pigeons in Venice</span> is up in the "Journaling the Apocalypse" issue of <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/category/journaling-the-apocalypse/">qarrtsiluni</a> (October-November 2008). People with hearing aids will be able to detect the audio file as some kind of alien communication, not dangerous. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 22 September 2008<br /> Reply date: 30 September 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="https://www.writer.org/index.asp">Poet Lore</a> accepted a poem fresh out of 30:30 called <span style="font-style:italic;">Pictures</span> for their Spring/Summer 2009 issue.<br /><br /> Submission mailed: 14 August 2008<br /> E-mail reply: 25 September 2008<br /><br />This is one my favorite print journals. I continue to submit because Ms. Scrooge here has a vested interest in getting the one-year subscription that comes with the acceptance. <br /><br />• <a href="http://theshop-poetry-magazine.ie/">THE SHOp</a> accepted a poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">First Day Back</span> — the first poem I wrote in 30:30 after a two-month hiatus.<br /><br /> Submission mailed: 14 August 2008<br /> E-mail reply: 1 October 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.octopusbeakinc.com/">Octopus Beak Inc</a> accepted three poems: <span style="font-style:italic;">Marcia's Best Friend</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">On Sitting in the Dark with the Wipers On</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Eve is the New Gorilla Suit</span> for their end-of-the-year Cool Season Edition.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 30 September 2008<br /> Reply date: 9 October 2008<br /><br />• And pfew! After relentless submissions to the <a href="http://rattle.com/">Rattle</a> editor, I've finally made it (again)! My poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Tonsillitis</span> has been scheduled to appear in their Summer 2009 issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 27 June 2008<br /> Reply date: 11 October 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.cricketonlinereview.com/">Cricket Online Review</a>, after a nice series of rejections, has accepted two poems: <span style="font-style:italic;">We stand the postal clerk</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Mendel experiments</span> for their next issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 28 June 2008<br /> Reply date: 13 October 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Saving the best for last</u>—</span><br /><br />This little carrot just received word that she won the <a href="http://juked.com/">2008 Juked Poetry Prize</a>! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/carrot.gif" border=0><br /><br />Her Royal <a href="http://juked.com/">Juked</a>ness will receive a check for US$500 and inclusion of her poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Anima Nera</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Like Blue Light Inside the Man with a Missing Arm</span> in the print issue #6. She may or may not be brought before the guillotine. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/curtsey.gif" border=0> <br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-12843799267822730842008-09-21T14:08:00.004+02:002008-09-21T20:55:33.271+02:00Zombie haiku<div align="justify"><a href="http://shyfag.blogspot.com/">John V</a> tagged me ages ago to reveal six unspectacular things about myself. <br /><br />1. I still sleep with a night light on. When the husband is away, I sleep with ALL the lights on.<br />2. I can't tread water. In two years of obligatory swimming class, I managed to learn the forward crawl, the backstroke, the breaststroke and the dolphin kick... but not how to stop myself from drowning. <br />3. I like to read literary fiction in the —erm— toilet.<br />4. I'm a <a href="http://wordspy.com/">Word Spy</a> aficionado.<br />5. I have eaten rabbit and asked for a second serving.<br />6. From our island-hopping tour yesterday, I realize I prefer visiting ex-mental institutes, ex-leper colonies, etc to nature walks and mushroom-picking.<br /><br />Terms & conditions!<br />1. link the person who tagged you: <a href="http://shyfag.blogspot.com/">John V</a><br />2. mention the rules on your blog: (these are them)<br />3. list 6 unspectacular things about you: (see above)<br />4. tag 6 other bloggers by linking them: <a href="http://poemsandnovels.blogspot.com/">Maggie E</a>, <a href="http://redrafting.blogspot.com/">Nathan M</a>, <a href="http://valerieloveland.blogspot.com/">Valerie L</a>, <a href="http://revolutionarysweetheart.blogspot.com/">Sara</a>, <a href="http://cechaffin.blogspot.com/">CE C</a> and <a href="http://cherylchambers.blogspot.com/">Cheryl C</a>.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>More good news than bad</u> —</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/images/bundles.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer;" src="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/images/bundles.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a> • The <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> book is finally ready for order at <a href="http://www.texturepress.org/">Texture Press</a>. Yay! I still haven't seen the physical copy, but <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> says it's looking good. We were worried they wouldn't managed to center the spine text, but they did. <br /><br />• One of my serial sonnets, <span style="font-style:italic;">Raindrop Prelude</span> received Honorable Mention in the <a href="http://biscuitpublishing.com/comp/2008winners.htm">2008 Biscuit International Poetry Prize</a>. The prize money was £25 (+£5 for the exchange), but I opted for 4 poetry books from their catalog... the publisher mentioned he threw in an extra book by Maureen Almond and their audio CD of short stories. Any more thrilled than this and I'd be drunk and laughing off a building.<br /><br />I was excited to see that Annie Bien, a <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> person herself, won the 3rd Prize. Woooohooo! Go send her flowers and hugs! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/0flowers.gif" border=0 alt=""><br /><br />• Received three acceptance e-mails within a 24-hour period... which nicely balances my standing record of three rejections within a 24-hour period.<br /><br />• Ever since I stopped drinking alcohol during the week, I haven't been able to drink much over the weekend. After the second half-glass of wine, I get warning bells that chime: <span style="font-style:italic;">Vomit Season! Vomit Season!</span> in my mind. OH NO. This is SO wrong. As in, I have a day-trip to Napa Valley in November to think of for crying out loud. <br /><br />• The season here has gone from summer to winter in one snap of the fingers. As an excuse to warm myself, I've purchased a nice bottle of Marzemino. Yuk yuk yuk! <br /><br />• Started yoga class again this week (my 4th year at it). Tuesday and Thursday. I woke up Friday morning thinking I was paralyzed. Apparently, there are muscles around the ribs that could create pain. And our yoga instructors actually told us, "Because you're all rusty, let's start off nice and easy."<br /><br />• Because we're leaving on November 2 for San Francisco, my sister called to say that she won't be hosting a Halloween party this year (sigh). However, she said that I can wear her genie costume and give candies to the children (oooooh). She also has a nun's habit, but that might be too scary for everyone. Hee.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• My poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Holding a bucket in one hand</span> is up in <a href="http://juked.com/">juked</a> (09.04.08).<br /><br />• Two ticklish poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Genesis</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">About Your Bucket</span> may be found in the September issue of <a href="http://www.defenestrationmag.net/">Defenestration</a> — a neat 'zine to read when you're drunk or want to be but can't go to the supermarket because your camouflage outfit is still in the washer. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 11 July 2008<br /> Reply date: 11 September 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://pastsimple.org/">past simple</a> has my three prose poems, with one title longer than the other, in their 5th issue. Audio recording included. Just discovered this neat 'zine with a bent for the experimental, the surreal, the plain-jane weird while hopping from one link to another. Went through the fab archives and just craved for more. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 11 August 2008<br /> Reply date: 12 September 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://rumble.sy2.com/">Rumble</a> is primarily a micro-fiction magazine, but they do publish poetry! Which is why <span style="font-style:italic;">The Body At Rest</span> can be found in their September 2008 issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 13 August 2008<br /> Reply date: 12 September 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.otherpoetry.com/">Other Poetry</a> accepted my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Photography Student Interrupts a Mosquito</span> for an upcoming issue.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 26 April 2008<br /> Reply date: 1 September 2008<br /><br />They have a 3-4 months response time — they usually send a note within this time bracket to say whether or not any of your poems made it to the final round. Then a 2-4 weeks wait before they write back with good or bad news. It's a gorgeous print magazine — and a paying market to boot. <br /><br />• <a href="http://www.opiummagazine.com/">Opium Magazine</a> accepted a dictionary-type prose poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">pacifier</span> (from <span style="font-style:italic;">Laslow’s Guide to Counteracting Bad Luck</span>) for a future post. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 2 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 7 September 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Oh dear, is this me they're talking about</u>?</span><br /><br /><table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor="#EEEEEE" align=center><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><strong>You Are Arson</strong><br /></font></td></tr><br /><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatfelonyareyouquiz/crime-2.png" height="100" width="100"></center><br /><font color="#000000"><br />No doubt about it, you have a serious destructive streak. You can't help it!<br />Sometimes you just get so frustrated with the world, and you have to let your aggression out.<br /><br />You have a notoriously bad temper. You are obsessed with getting your revenge.<br />You are obviously a pyromaniac, whether you realize it or not. It feels great to watch something burn.</font></td></tr></table><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatfelonyareyouquiz/">Tell me, what Felony are you?</a></div><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-57878962244791083332008-09-01T13:15:00.002+02:002008-09-01T14:27:34.787+02:00Issue 5 of Press 1 now online<div align="justify">It's barbecue time! The 5th issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> is now officially live. <a href="http://www.millan.net" title="Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/grillsmile1.gif" border=0 alt="Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net"></a><br /><br />We celebrate the end of summer and the arrival of winter with the visual artistry of <a href="http://elyphas.deviantart.com/gallery/">Héctor Pineda García</a>; poetry by Jillian Bledsoe, Allan Peterson, Karin Randolph, <a href="http://paulsiegell.blogspot.com/">Paul Siegell</a>, Rina Terry, David Michael Wolach, and Changming Yuan; fiction by John Bruce, <a href="http://beingandwriting.blogspot.com/">Kate Evans</a>, and <a href="http://www.nathanleslie.com/">Nathan Leslie</a>; plus an exclusive interview with <a href="http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com/">Jayne Pupek</a>. <br /><br />Incidentally, this seems to be a Jayne Pupek day since Kate's review of her book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1565124723/ref=s9sims_c1_14_img1-rfc_g1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=122G54YYSNNQ5AKB9G3N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=320448601&pf_rd_i=507846"><span style="font-style:italic;">Tomato Girl</span></a> (Algonquin Books, 2008) is also just up in <a href="http://quarterlyconversation.com/tomato-girl-by-jayne-pupek-review">Quarterly Conversation</a>. <br /><br />Jayne was lovely enough to send me a copy of <span style="font-style:italic;">Tomato Girl</span> and I've gone bonkers over it ever since. <a href="http://www.millan.net" title="Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/loveshower.gif" border=0 alt="Free Smiley Courtesy of www.millan.net"></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Stuff of which A's days are made of</u> —</span><br /><br />• Finished my 13th round in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> without a hitch. Impressive. <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> and I are doing collaboems for the first time and it's certainly more fun than writing alone. <br /><br />• Have found a new love: writing fiction. This is really strange for me since I used to hate it... but now I wake up every morning thinking: "Now what would I have Mr Tickler or some other nut do today?" <br /><br />• For some strange reason, I've stopped drinking alcohol during weekdays. It may or may not be because the husband has recently taken to cooking calf's liver for dinner. Hee. I've been waiting expectantly for my hands to shake, like in my poems, but so far have been disappointed. <br /><br />• Migraine. Cured, in part, by vanilla ice cream. <br /><br />• Obsession about calling ahead for a baked potato at <a href="http://www.yellowbot.com/ponder-steakhouse-ponder-tx-1.html">Ponder Steakhouse</a> in Ponder, Texas. Valerie's fault for mentioning it twice — once in a poem, and then in an old story we did together. I just connected the two dots and haven't been the same since. I still find it hard to believe that such a place really exists!<br /><br />• Watching past seasons of <a href="http://www.tv.com/stargate-atlantis/show/11415/summary.html?q=stargate%20atlantis&tag=search_results;title;1">Stargate Atlantis</a> and <a href="http://www.tv.com/spooks/show/10812/summary.html?q=spooks&tag=search_results;title;1">Spooks</a>. Am particularly tickled that MI5 (Spooks) uses the same Mac as I do. Makes me feel all 007 while I submit my poems and prepare the pages of Press 1. <br /><br />• What else? I'm trying to enjoy the last 7 days of being a 33-year-old. Afterwards, I think I get to be prime roadkill material. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptance</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.identitytheory.com/">Identity Theory</a> accepted five poems, (1) <span style="font-style:italic;">Bodie Ghost Town</span>, (2) <span style="font-style:italic;">Something like a husband's death</span>, (3) <span style="font-style:italic;">Close Your Eyes</span>, (4) <span style="font-style:italic;">Goldfish</span>, and (5) <span style="font-style:italic;">Extinction</span> for their next issue.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 2 July 2008<br /> Reply date: 28 August 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>A's writing motto, or Please flush Robert Rehder from my head</u>:</span><br /><blockquote>I am Rumpelstiltskin<br />And this is my stamp collection.</blockquote><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-44563352404930514392008-08-23T11:48:00.004+02:002008-08-23T14:08:07.478+02:00Oh my ears and whiskers...<div align="justify"><span style="font-style:italic;">... how late it's getting!</span> as the Rabbit would say. <br /><br />A is officially not on vacation or sic (sic) leave. She's been in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> — which is a kind of Wonderland where the words, DRINK ME lead to a lot of rabbit holes. Like pretending to be in India without rabbits. Like playing (with Valerie) at being an imaginary reviewer of an imaginary children's book called <span style="font-style:italic;">Bunny Steals a Pirate Ship</span>. Like using rabbit's foot keychains to bring luck into several kitschy poems. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u><span style="font-style:italic;">So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake</span></u> —</span><br /><br />• The <a href="http://www.countrypressinc.com/">Mad Hatter</a> has disappeared with our <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> ms and hasn't been heard of since. Good grief.<br /><br />• On the other hand, <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> has amazingly completed the schedule of our <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> readings. Our appearances in Drexel University and Kutztown University have been solidified on paper. I've got a reading scheduled on October 19 with Leonard Gontarek at Robin's Bookstore and on October 21 with Valerie at Green Line Cafe, both in Philly. Will post our full schedule here before I leave in case anyone would like to come. <br /><br />• The September 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> has been prepared well ahead of time.<br /><br />• At some point, my <a href="http://www.standmagazine.org">Stand</a> <span style="font-style:italic;">187</span> contract was signed and mailed back to the sender. <br /><br />• Advanced birthday gifts were exchanged between the husband and myself: a fancy iPod for him; a cheap mouse, a 300GB hard drive and a laptop cooler for me and my long-suffering laptop, my so-called better half. <br /><br />• My copy of <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/bow.html">Best of the Web 2008</a> finally arrived!! It's gorgeous — with really great writing from people whose works I admire: Benjamin Buchholz, Jared Carter, <a href="http://valerieloveland.blogspot.com/">Valerie Loveland</a>, Christopher Rizzo, etc. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover the writing of Carmen Gimenez Smith through her poem, <a href="http://diodepoetry.com/v1n1/content/smith_cg.html">So You Know Who We Are</a> or rather the exciting dandruff in this poem — I've never seen such a sordid detail used so eloquently. Wooohoooooo! <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• Two poems, <a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/171001.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Alopecia and the grizzly bear</span></a> and <a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/171002.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">mortality: a study</span></a> are up in Issue 17 (Summer 2008) of <a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/1content.html">Arsenic Lobster</a>. I'm particularly pleased by the amount and variety of animals in this issue — chickens, a star-nosed mole and potato eyes (which, after reading Joshua Diamond's poem, might as well be an animal).<br /><br />• Discovered that my poem, <a href="http://pebblelakereview.com/poetry/WindowScreen.htm">Window Screen</a> (plus mp3 recording) has been up for, quite possibly, ages in the Spring 2008 issue <a href="http://pebblelakereview.com/contents.htm">Pebble Lake Review</a>. <br /><br />• Have <a href="http://caffeinedestiny.com/poetry/FALL2008/ang.html">two poems</a>, <span style="font-style:italic;">flashlight solo</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Model Particular</span> in the Fall 2008 issue of <a href="http://caffeinedestiny.com/">Caffeine Destiny</a>. Am really thrilled to be part of this terrific 'zine — one of my favorites — because I never thought I'd get into this issue. Fairy tale story below.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Is destiny or just Caffeine Destiny</u>?</span><br /><br />Once upon an August day, the editor of <a href="http://www.caffeinedestiny.com">Caffeine Destiny</a> wrote asking if she had recently accepted anything from Little Red Writing A because she had A's name on file for the Fall 2008 issue. A, being a meticulous kind of girl, checked her records and replied that what she had on file was a rejection, but was incidentally preparing another batch to send (she didn't know the 'zine was already closed to submissions until January 2009 — still giving herself a whack with the blunt edge of the axe for not rechecking the submissions page at the time). Instead of chocolates for her good record-keeping skills, the editor agreed to give A a chance to send over the batch before the month was out. The rest is happily ever after. With the peace broken intermittently by...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>The funniest laugh ever</u>:</span><br /><br />While raiding <a href="http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/">Radiohead</a> songs on YouTube, I stumbled upon this weirdness. I used to think my siblings had the funniest laugh, but this one just beats my family members to pulp. I'm so tickled pink.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kfd6LgcuCsc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Kfd6LgcuCsc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-60472457766059638152008-07-31T22:26:00.003+02:002008-12-11T07:35:49.556+01:00Back from vegetable land<div align="justify">With much thanks to the wake-up calls of <a href="http://agcaint.blogspot.com/">Liz</a> who said that <a href="http://thesims2.ea.com/">Sim</a>ming season is over and <a href="http://samofthetenthousandthings.blogspot.com/">Sam</a> who left this meme —<br /><br /><u><span style="font-weight:bold;">As an adult, the following selections have influenced or impacted me the most</u> —</span><br /><br />Book: <br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead</span> by Tom Stoppard <br /><br />(It's actually a play, but I've never seen it. Peeked into the movie version, but I've always preferred how it's set up in my mind.)<br /> <br /><br />Film / network series: <br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">The Pianist</span> (2002), Roman Polanski, Dir.<br /><br /><br />Music / spoken word recording: <br /> <span style="font-style:italic;">In Ogni Senso</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Tutte Storie</span> by Eros Ramazzotti<br /><br />(Heck, without this fella's lyrics, I've have never learnt Italian.)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>The downdate on A</u>:</span><br /><br />• We're finally seeing the light on the <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> mss!! Because the <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/">CafePress</a> product wasn't very satisfactory, we've decided to find another printer. All I need now is to —erm— center the same image on the book cover. Equilibrium has never been my forte.<br /><br />• Talking of equilibrium, I've spent this month on a trial go at attending yoga class twice a week. I seem to be able to handle the pain and have decided to continue in September when the school re-opens. I still fall asleep (and dream weird things) every 5 breaths during the meditation... but not even Buddha grew his paunch in three years.<br /><br />• Don't think I mentioned having already gotten my e-tickets for Philly and LA this October/November. I've actually got some readings scheduled with <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> and <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/LeonardGontarek/index.html">Leonard</a>. Yikes! The sister and I will probably head for San Francisco for a few days, too — it's the reason I'm forcing myself to play <a href="http://www.spintop-games.com/puzzle_game_download/big_city_adventure.html">Big City Adventure</a> and take note of places that seem interesting to visit.<br /><br />• I'm tickled pink by <a href="http://www.tv.com/the-middleman/show/75211/summary.html?q=middleman&tag=search_results;title;1">The Middleman</a>.<br /><br />• I thought today was August 1. The back-to-30:30 day. I woke up early (1100 hrs). I wrote a god-awful poem and since then have breathed in fear of tomorrow.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzrLVK6_y5lJxanican6KrW2KHwwjUSlg2uGhOlVRGKGEv-9zZ9BQMlney9YZf1UicB0jWW_etsr19QWLA8fR9w6QBLRoE4DyB9tWrNdPvTa2UiIxxdSSG5Vn3wseNf-Yn716/s1600-h/bestoftheweb.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAzrLVK6_y5lJxanican6KrW2KHwwjUSlg2uGhOlVRGKGEv-9zZ9BQMlney9YZf1UicB0jWW_etsr19QWLA8fR9w6QBLRoE4DyB9tWrNdPvTa2UiIxxdSSG5Vn3wseNf-Yn716/s320/bestoftheweb.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229299013016562370" /></a><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.dzancbooks.org/bow.html">The Best of the Web 2008</a> anthology is out! <a href="http://valerieloveland.blogspot.com/">Valerie Loveland</a> mentioned she's got work in it, too — yay! Can't wait to get my copy. I'm still in the dark. They were supposed to use my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Possessions</span>... but according to this <a href="http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/books/37811/best-of-the-web-2008">Time Out Chicago</a> review, they opted for <span style="font-style:italic;">Ceremonial Spoon</span> instead. <br /><br />• My poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Addiction</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers</span>, plus Valerie's <span style="font-style:italic;">Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book</span> are up in the avant-garde first issue of <a href="http://issuu.com/cellasro/docs/issue01?mode=embed&documentId=080701031554-f64d59c8cdb5473c9c51ae134e418682&pageNumber=5&layout=white">CEllA's Round Trip</a>.<br /><br />• Am back in my gorilla suit in <a href="http://juked.com/2008/07/gorillacostume.asp">Juked</a>.<br /><br />They're a bit sluggish with replies, but if you query (as I did) you get a reply soonish! <br /><br /> Submission sent: 9 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 6 July 2008<br /><br />• Received my copy of <a href="http://www.theshop-poetry-magazine.ie/">THE SHOp</a> — it's gorgeous!! And the €20 inserted between the pages allowed me to feed the husband a balanced diet of meat and veggie for a total of three days. <br /><br />A quick look at their website indicates that they're currently looking for more poems on "war, terrorism, torture, child abuse slavery, denial of women's rights, political corruption." They accept submissions only via postal mail, but they do reply via e-mail. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Other acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://arseniclobster.magere.com/">Arsenic Lobster</a> accepted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Alopecia and the grizzly bear</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">mortality: a study</span> for their August 2008 issue. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 16 April 2008<br /> Reply date: 10 July 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://wheelhousemagazine.com/home.html">Wheelhouse Magazine</a> accepted three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Rearview</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Gorilla Suit Admires Itself in the Mirror</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Poetry Reading at Y's Penthouse</span> for their 6th issue. <br /><br /> Submission posted: 10 March 2008<br /> Reply received: 17 July 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/">DMQ Review</a> accepted an oldish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Like closed eyes</span> for their Autumn 2008 issue. <br /><br /> Submission posted: 27 June 2008<br /> Reply received: 28 July 2008<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-56914356167315298172008-06-25T15:08:00.002+02:002008-06-25T17:45:02.630+02:00Gone Simming<div align="justify">It's summer, and A deserves a vacation from her —erm— vacation. <br /><br />These past weeks she's managed to come up with something like 2,000+ fantasy/sci-fi names and surnames for her future <a href="http://thesims2.ea.com/">Sims</a>. Right now she's still in the process of rebuilding their wardrobe and coiffures. At the rate she's going, as the husband observed, by the time she starts the actual playing, <a href="http://thesims3.ea.com/home.php?languageCode=1">Sims 3</a> will already be out.<br /><br />Work-wise, <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> and I have received our sample copy of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> manuscript. We're really happy about it... just needs a few more tweaks here and there. I don't know what it is about margins and page alignments that regresses me to <a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatfreudianstageareyouinquiz/results/?result=Anal">the anal stage</a> — but that's where I am, together with my (future) Sims and their tacky high heels. <br /><br />Anyway, just rushing through this blog with the usual updates, for my records. I also have a real-life 2008 agenda where I note these things down, but it always disappears the moment I need it — the problem with physical things — not to mention that between April and June, the lines and dates disappeared and left me to fend for myself. Boo. I made a mess trying to date the pages since I couldn't even see which month I was in. It was a really cheap agenda. Hee. <br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />WARNING: Long list ahead. Please don't urinate in the kiddie pool.<br /><br />• An oldish poem, <a href="http://www.cahootsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=279"><span style="font-style:italic;">After the Affair</span></a> is up in the Herstory Issue of <a href="http://www.cahootsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=406&Itemid=5">Cahoots Magazine</a> (Spring 2008).<br /><br />• My copy of <a href="http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1748/chiron1.htm">Chiron Review</a> #83, Summer 2008 arrived yesterday. Have three poems in this issue, <span style="font-style:italic;">Driving Home</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Snow Globe</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Sunday Morning Mass</span>.<br /><br />• Three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">The 37th Secret Love Poem</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Relic</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">This dirty napkin</span> are up in the Summer 2008 issue of <a href="http://dirtynapkin.com/issue.php?issue=013&page=01">Dirty Napkin</a>. I was so thrilled to read the exciting poems of fellow bloggers, <a href="http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com/">Jayne</a> and <a href="http://nanetteraymanrivera.blogspot.com/">Nanette</a> in this issue, too. <br />If you subscribe, you'll be able to hear us say Ni. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/niknightsmiles.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />• <a href="http://adroitlyplacedword.org/Fox_200806.html">Valerie</a> and <a href="http://adroitlyplacedword.org/Ang200806.html">I</a> have a set of poems (plus recordings) from the <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> manuscript up at John Vick's <a href="http://adroitlyplacedword.org/Home.html">Adroitly Placed Word</a>. Valerie did some stunning, surreal vocal effects in her readings... while I just tried to cheat my way with cheeky background effects. We're both proud <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/">Audacity</a> users. <br /><br />• <span style="font-style:italic;">Another RC Flyer Off Course</span> is up in <a href="http://www.thievesjargon.com/workview.php?work=1159">Thieves Jargon</a> — on its trail, Mark Baumer and I had an ultra-weird conversation at <a href="http://everydayyeah.com/content/brief-conversation-arlene-ang">Everyday Yeah</a>. I've been cleaning the house ever since after this and getting dirtier by the day.<br /><br />• Have an oldish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Squeeze</span> and a spankin' new one, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Kind of Pompeii</span> in <a href="http://prickofthespindle.com/pages/vol.2.2/poetry.htm">Prick of the Spindle</a> (Vol 2.2).<br /><br />They were really quick here — i.e. time between acceptance and publication. Or maybe I'm just sluggish. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 25 May 2008<br /> Reply date: 19 June 2008<br /><br />• <span style="font-style:italic;">Banned for Life</span>, the first poem I did in my 12th round at 30:30 made it in the — guess what — "Banned for Life" issue of <a href="http://sixbrickspress.com/issue_11/page00.html">Six Little Things</a>. <br /><br />Was so thrilled to see <a href="http://sixbrickspress.com/issue_11/page02.html">Annie Bien</a>'s poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Harmonious Society</span> — which I remember from one of her 30:30 rounds — in this issue, too. Yay!<br /><br />Okay, so I'm really sluggish. Here's the response time of this ultra-cool 'zine. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 16 May 2008<br /> Reply date: 4 June 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Other acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://pebblelakereview.com/">Pebble Lake Review</a> accepted my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Window Screen</span> for their Spring 2008 issue. <br /><br />They now request an audio recording of published pieces. Yikes. It's kind of becoming a norm with online 'zines. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 13 February 2008<br /> Reply date: 8 June 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.ambitmagazine.co.uk/">Ambit</a> accepted a sestina, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Magnificent Shrimp World of Fergus</span> — and made me one happy fish. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/toolminis/happyfish.gif" border=0></a> <br /><br />Like with <a href="http://www.people.vcu.edu/~dlatane/stand-maga/">Stand</a>, their response time is pythonic. Hee. But the editors did apologize, saying that my submission got lost before it was found. So, this is probably just in this case.<br /><br /> Submission posted: 6 July 2007<br /> Reply received: 18 June 2008<br /><br />• <span style="font-style:italic;">Beneath the Weave</span>, a Medea-based poem, was accepted for inclusion in <span style="font-style:italic;">In the Telling</span> anthology (Cinnamon Press). <br /> <br /> Submission sent: 13 February 2008<br /> Reply date: 23 June 2008<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Persistent summer ditty in A's head</u>:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Oh yeah, life goes on, <br />long after the thrill of living is gone.</span><br /><br /> — John Cougar Mellencamp<br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-45575944191107983052008-05-25T22:42:00.005+02:002008-05-26T14:39:07.597+02:0015 days of hell<div align="justify">Not to mention crap. Have dragged my sorry ass back to <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/">30:30</a>. It's one of those rounds where every poem is a just placeholder since three-fourths of my brain is either raiding the <a href="http://www.playfirst.com/">playfirst</a> site (again) or youtubing senselessly. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/B-Flush.gif" border=0><br /><br />Have been very good today though: (a) went through the <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> subs and sent my "votes" to the PA gang, (b) after more than a month, remembered to call my sister, (c) submitted some poems around, and (d) hey, am actually blogging now. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/amazed.gif" border=0><br /><br />The <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> manuscript is still undergoing corrections and edits. The compound nouns are driving Valerie and me rather crazy. It's a learning experience though. Like <span style="font-style:italic;">coalmine</span> (not <span style="font-style:italic;">coal mine</span>) and <span style="font-style:italic;">bunk bed</span> (not <span style="font-style:italic;">bunkbed</span>). <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/8eusa_doh.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>First ever interview (in English)</u>:</span><br /><br />Susan Smith Nash's interview with A is up at <a href="http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-arlene-ang-new-series.html">E-learning Queen</a>. Yikes. Only goes to show that in this world, not only vampires get interviewed. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/sneakingsmiley.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent print publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• Received my copy of <a href="http://www.poetrymagazines.org.uk/magazine/index.asp?id=52">Orbis</a> #143 — which includes two sonnenizios, <span style="font-style:italic;">Airborne</span> (on a line from Ros Barber) and <span style="font-style:italic;">Breakage</span> (on a line from Jean Cassou). <br /><br />This issue also has poetry by familiar names such as Neil Campbell, Alison Chisholm, Sarah Law, David Lawrence and <a href="http://toddswift.blogspot.com/">Todd Swift</a> — along with book and magazine reviews.<br /><br />• My copy of <a href="http://seampoetry.co.uk/">Seam</a> #28 also arrived. Have two poems also in this issue, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Plagiarist</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Outdoors</span>. <br /><br />It is 73 pages, flat-spined, with a two-color card cover. Was really excited to read the poems of fellow bloggers, <a href="http://www.mimesispoetry.com/jamesmidgley/">James Midgley</a> and <a href="http://robmack.blogspot.com/">Rob Mackenzie</a>. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/drink_2.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.cellasroundtrip.com/">CEllA's Round Trip</a>, a spankin' new 'zine accepted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Addiction</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers</span> for their first issue (Spring 2008).<br /><br />Much thanks go to Sean Lovelace (author of the ultimate drinking poem, <a href="http://thediagram.com/6_6/lovelace.html">So, This Is Drink</a>) for introducing me to this terrific-looking journal. On a hunch, I also sent Valerie's stuff to the editor and was doubly thrilled when they also accepted her <span style="font-style:italic;">Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book</span>, one of my favorites in the Bundles manuscript. So excited about this! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_ura1.gif" border=0><br /><br />OH. YES. Now I remember. The lovely editor called me Angela twice in her acceptance letter. Later, she admitted she didn't know what made her type that when she actually knew my name was Arlene. ***Twilight Zone theme song playing in the background here*** <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_shifty.gif" border=0> <br /><br /> Submission sent: 30 April 2008<br /> Reply date: 12 May 2008<br /><br />• After years of trying, was overjoyed to receive my second acceptance note from <a href="http://thediagram.com/">DIAGRAM</a>. Wheeeeee! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/groupwave.gif" border=0> <br /><br />They accepted my longish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Shipwreck</span> — the one based on this dream I had about entering a submarine and looking at all the dead people. It was eerie, to say the least. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_tit.gif" border=0><br /><br /> Submission sent: 12 April 2008<br /> Reply date: 14 May 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://thievesjargon.com/">Thieves Jargon</a>, another cool 'zine, accepted an oldish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Another RC Flyer Off Course</span> for a future issue. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/w00t.gif" border=0><br /> <br /> Submission sent: 5 May 2008<br /> Reply date: 25 May 2008<br /><br />[oops, editing to add this bit 26.05.08]<br /><br />• <a href="http://dirtynapkin.com/">Dirty Napkin</a> sent me a third acceptance e-mail for my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Relic</span>. On receiving their first two e-mails and seeing that they've removed my submission from their database, I thought this went into the rejection box — but it seems that they reply to each work individually. It might be a good idea to keep that in mind when submitting to them. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/U_IDEA~1.GIF" border=0><br /><br />They made me do a recording for this, too. They gave me a third excuse for drinking myself hoarse in front of the microphone. To give more depth to my reading, I wore a party hat. In private. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/drunksmilef.gif" border=0></a><br /> <br /> Submission sent: 14 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 16 May 2008<br /><br />[Existential question for the day: If you're not drunk, what's going to happen to you?]<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>A's Official 30:30 Song</u>:</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zkHM8xG6i8o&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zkHM8xG6i8o&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />Was going through an REM phase when I came across this video at YouTube. Tickled me silly. That furry yellow monster at the back is a creepy incarnation of my brain — which goes (same intonation, same whine percentage), <span style="font-style:italic;">I AM SO SAD!</span> as soon as it sees me settle down to write my daily poem. Come to think of it, these monsters look every bit like my little gray cells... at Carnival time. They make the same happy/sobbing noises in Dolby Surround in my head. <br /><br />Hope this video brings a smile to someone's day. <span style="font-style:italic;">C'mon, monsters! You don't have to cry, we can be happy! YEAH!</span> Teehee. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/fiesta.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-20090790530182346712008-05-08T10:40:00.003+02:002008-05-08T12:23:24.304+02:00New issues of The Pedestal Magazine and Press 1<div align="justify">Am clapping-my-hands-happy to announce that the 21 April 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/">The Pedestal Magazine</a> is finally up. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/icon_clap.gif" border=0><br /><br />It's quite late, I know — we've had to struggle to get it out because the site was hacked, declared DOA, resurrected... and on the third day, as in Jesus H. Kerist, was dead again. Am relieved to say that the current reincarnation of TPM is looking as blue-violet as ever and not the least bit zombified. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/whew.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />The new issue features fabulous work by Elizabeth Bruno, Anne Agnes Colwell, Michelle Kyoko Crowson, William Doreski, Stewart Florsheim, Matthew Gavin Frank, James Grabill, Sarah Law, James Midgley, Tayve Neese, Gailmarie Pahmeier, David A. Pitcher, Frances Ruiz, Hannah Silva, and Joshua Michael Stewart. <br /><br />Secondly, the May 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> is also up — featuring the fantastic photography of Metin Demiralay, with exciting poetry by L. Ward Abel, CL Bledsoe, Barry Denny, John Grey, Sarah Kolbasowski, David Mills, Susan Smith Nash, Maurice Oliver, Tom Savage, Melissa Shook, and Davide Trame. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/HAa135.gif" border=0><br /><br />With my mental grasp of arithmetic, I think that after putting together two issues I'm supposed to celebrate with two bottles of wine and drink both simultaneously from my pint-size beer glass until it (the glass) appears to double before my eyes. Hee. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/drink.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• A poem, <a href="http://www.convergence-journal.com/winter08/poetry09.php"><span style="font-style:italic;">Laguna Palace, Mestre</span></a> is up in the Winter 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.convergence-journal.com/winter08/index_winter08.html">Convergence</a>. Was thrilled to see that <a href="http://tommasogervasutti.blogspot.com/">Davide</a> has a got a poem in this issue, too. Yay! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_yaya.gif" border=0><br /><br />• Another poem, <a href="http://34thparallel.net/issue03pages/03issue06.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Time with Frieda</span></a> is up in the 3rd issue of <a href="http://34thparallel.net/issue03pages/03issue01.html">34th Parallel</a>, plus two photos of (ewwww!) <a href="http://34thparallel.net/issue03pages/03issue03.html">A</a> (though am rather fond of this one, photography-wise). <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/curtsey.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptance</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.iodinepoetryjournal.com/">Iodine Poetry Journal</a>, an NC-based print journal, accepted my (hehe) lascivious Petrarchan sonnet, <span style="font-style:italic;">Artichoke</span> for their Fall/Winter 2008/2009 issue. All this iodine reminds me of that time my sis passed out in the bathroom and woke up with an apple-sized bruise (sans skin) on her knee — a sure warning against over-imbibing... but after two bottles — of wine, of iodine — who's keeping tabs? <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/jm.g.free.fr.gif" border=0><br /><br />Anyway, overseas writers may send submissions via e-mail — which is always a treat. They have really good response times, too. Very nice professional manners. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 18 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 30 April 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Talking of Petrarchan sonnets</u> —</span><br /><br />This little bunny lasted five days in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/">30:30</a> while attempting to write 24 Petrarchan sonnets based on Chopin's <span style="font-style:italic;">Preludes</span>. After the 5th sonnet, the whole idea began to reek of serial murder... and I just had to re-install <a href="http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/home.htm">Civ 4</a> in my laptop so that I could go on a killing rampage. Ooooh, bliss. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/dreamyeyesf.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-35889629377388721562008-04-18T13:06:00.004+02:002008-12-11T07:35:49.725+01:00Swatting at swarms of bees<div align="justify">Just when I thought this month would be spent in leisure, things change. For one, have finally decided to concretize my October visit to the US — will spend some time with the sister in CA (drinking in Napa Valley at the topmost of our to-do list) and some time with Valerie in PA to promote our book (she mentioned bar readings being more fun since we could drink). There's some kind of single-mindedness about this trip, but I can't put my finger on it while holding an empty glass.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>The bees that A has been killing lately</u> —</span> <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_bee.gif" border=0><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JleMZ5qRybVeoGROPOA5__8zeYj_YvOoWABJYIGhcFOg6l7q130xHsY3VC9BCQGCqKpPZb-Ud3_AbVfKgYjZqXZ6NzCTyAxJqW-u3jAbBCdDxnZW3SIV1afM083RsPlDD9V-/s1600-h/coverwithfrida.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7JleMZ5qRybVeoGROPOA5__8zeYj_YvOoWABJYIGhcFOg6l7q130xHsY3VC9BCQGCqKpPZb-Ud3_AbVfKgYjZqXZ6NzCTyAxJqW-u3jAbBCdDxnZW3SIV1afM083RsPlDD9V-/s320/coverwithfrida.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5190547198074229778" /></a><br /> • Finalized <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> book cover. Ain't it gorgeous?!! The painting, <span style="font-style:italic;">Kindred Spirits</span> is used with the kind permission of <a href="http://www.dzaet.com/homex.htm">Pamela Hill/dzaet</a>. The mss, on the other hand, is still in the process of preparation — the 8 x 5 page size rather messed up with our longish lines, so we're editing a bit to give the aesthetics more bite. Who said men are the only ones who've got length problems?<br /><br />• Spent an evening, drink in hand, recording two poems for <a href="http://dirtynapkin.com/">Dirty Napkin</a> (see below).<br /><br />• Answered interview questions for <a href="http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/">E-Learning Queen</a> in an <span style="font-style:italic;">orderly</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">concise</span> manner that shouldn't betray the percentage of alcohol in my blood.<br /><br />• Exercised the right to vote for the first time in my life and as Italian citizen. Yay! <br /><br />• Finally updated my <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/aang/publications.html">site</a>, <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a>'s and <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/LeonardGontarek/index.html">Leonard</a>'s. <br /><br />• E-mailed around to request permission from people whose works I quoted in my other book (see below again). <br /><br />• Buzzed noisily around <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com">TPM</a> April 2008 issue and <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> May 2008 issue. <br /><br />• And before all the bees broke loose, finished modding <a href="http://www.theguild2.com/">Guild 2</a> to suit my evil deeds — like beguiling the opposite sex so they vote for me in elections or not going to prison after murdering someone in cold blood. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/mwahaha.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.cinnamonpress.com/">Cinnamon Press</a> accepted my book-length manuscript, <span style="font-style:italic;">Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu</span>. Wheeeeee! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/elephant.gif" border=0><br /><br />After accepting my poems for <a href="http://www.cinnamonpress.com/envoi/">Envoi</a>, the editor hinted that she'd like to look at a full-length manuscript for possible publication under Cinnamon Press. It was really good timing because I had the ex-<span style="font-style:italic;">Lean Season</span> mss in my Outbox just waiting for revision and for me to decide where to send it. <br /><br />Publication date is scheduled for March 2010. Hee. Just thinking about it gives me Alzheimer's. But it does leave me ample time to track down people whose work I've quoted in the book... people like Robert Frost and Tolkien who —erm— happen to be dead, but whose estate might want us to pay a fee for the usage. Good grief. This rather cures me of wanting to quote anyone dead or famous in my poems ever again. <br /><br />However, the husband put it another way to me: Since we will be selling the book, and theoretically, aiming to earn from the sales, it seems only ethically correct to pay for the usage of someone else's line on the basis that we are getting leverage from it and the famous person's name. Kind of sounds better and more logical in Italian, but there it is. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/sigh.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /> Manuscript e-mailed: 4 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 31 March 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://dirtynapkin.com/">Dirty Napkin</a> accepted two poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">The 37th Secret Love Poem</span> and (hehe) <span style="font-style:italic;">This dirty napkin</span> for their Summer issue, due out on 21 June 2008. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/studsmatta.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />Really adore this 'zine — very nice professional manners and terrific poetry. They've also got a cool online submission system where you can track your work and also withdraw them (if needed). On acceptance, they request a recording of your work — if you're not equipped, they'll do it with you over the phone. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 14 March 2008<br /> Reply date: 14 April 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• Have <a href="http://www.mascarapoetry.com/issue3/arlene_ang.htm">three poems</a> — <span style="font-style:italic;">Self-Portrait with Umbrella</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Warning about Attachments</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Wu Jin Contemplates the Tattoo on a Soft Cheek</span> — in the third issue of <a href="http://www.mascarapoetry.com">Mascara</a>. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/flirty.gif" border=0><br /><br />• My copies (2) of <a href="http://georgetownreview.georgetowncollege.edu/gr2008main.htm">Georgetown Review</a> arrived this morning. Because the FedEx guy woke me up, at first I thought I was dreaming. They accepted my work two years ago, after all. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/B-cloud9.gif" border=0><br /><br />One of my poems, <a href="http://georgetownreview.georgetowncollege.edu/Fourth%20Secret%20Love%20Poem.htm"><span style="font-style:italic;">The 4th Secret Love Poem</span></a> may be read online. I can't believe they've got my name wrong on the webpage after getting it right four times in the print journal. It's like a rock waiting to fall. Some days ago a TPM contributor addressed me as <span style="font-style:italic;">Dear Ariene</span>. I tell you, it's a conspiracy. Either that or my name's a finger-twister for typists. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_shifty.gif" border=0> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recently received</u>:</span><br /><br />• Craig Kirchner's <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Roomful-Navels-Craig-Kirchner/dp/1434844102/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208527038&sr=8-1">Roomful of Navels</a></span>. Wrote one of the blurbs at the back, so I'm rather biased about loving this book. Sample poems in this terrific collection may be found at <a href="http://freewebs.com/lilylitreview/2_12kirchner.html">Lily</a>, <a href="http://www.mannequinenvy.com/CraigKirschner_w06.htm">Mannequin Envy</a>, <a href="http://www.notellmotel.org/poem_single.php?id=223_0_1_0">No Tell Motel</a> and <a href="http://mywebpage.netscape.com/snrzine/0604ck.html">SNR Review</a>.<br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-12161181051071139762008-03-31T18:37:00.004+02:002008-12-11T07:35:49.925+01:00Writing poetry may be hazardous to your health<div align="justify">It's been proven, according to this <a href="http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,2266116,00.html">Guardian article</a> by Marc Abrahams (courtesy of the <a href="http://megalopoet.livejournal.com/">Normalcy Count Department</a> who shared the good news to her fellow 30:30ers). <br /><br />It's one of the reasons I was so freakin' happy to finish my 11th round in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> yesterday. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/yippee.gif" border=0><br /><br />Am taking a break now for a week or two because (1) primal energies need to focus on selecting poems for the April <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/">TPM</a>, (2) <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> requires all four eyes to get its ass into HTML, (3) I have video games to play [stated in the tone of <span style="font-style:italic;">I have mouths to feed</span>] and (4) it seems a good idea to live longer... if only for the simple pleasure of watching my face — in the mirror, in the toilet bowl, in the dentist's eyes — turn green with drink. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPF2r-Gh24vvQiTKZCmXRaXSMhnJovO1rA2_9T_fnUFoBAdN0E4j2ANPsvM_kcCHXG7nlUPDr1FODm3bcf2lz5uCComueOEmwR2RvZAaec6UFA0aJtUQvBv47-CgUd38emVbUq/s1600-h/c22-cover-lrg.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPF2r-Gh24vvQiTKZCmXRaXSMhnJovO1rA2_9T_fnUFoBAdN0E4j2ANPsvM_kcCHXG7nlUPDr1FODm3bcf2lz5uCComueOEmwR2RvZAaec6UFA0aJtUQvBv47-CgUd38emVbUq/s200/c22-cover-lrg.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183954243072962050" /></a> • Just got word that <a href="http://www.carouselmagazine.ca/current.html">Carousel 22</a> is "f-i-n-a-l-l-y competed [sic] and in-hand and will be appearing in stores starting this week!" Hee. Couldn't resist quoting that. I get all ticklish when it comes to typos and grammatical errors as long as they aren't mine. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/icon_e_geek.gif" border=0><br /><br />Anyway, this is one stunning print journal — with no-holds-barred full-color cover and pages. The poetry, fiction and artwork are delish, too. Very eclectic tastes — they seem to like mainstream and experimental in equal parts.<br /><br />• My poem, <a href="http://www.sidebrow.net/2006/a111ang.php">twenty-four : sawdust</a> is now up in <a href="http://www.sidebrow.net/">Sidebrow</a>. There's only one smiley for that —> <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/fiesta.gif" border=0></a><br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recently received</u>:</span><br /><br />• <a href="http://www.pnreview.co.uk/">PN Review 180</a>. Yep, in a moment of weakness, I actually subscribed. It's a UK-based print journal, A4-sized and flat-spined, which publishes poetry, reports, reviews and articles in more or less equal portions. I was particularly bowled over by Robin Maconie's article, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Way of Music: Aural Training for the Internet Generation</span>. It's ticklish, weird, thought-provoking and... well, it's got a dog in it. Here's an excerpt: <blockquote><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">From <span style="font-style:italic;">Book Two: Walking the Dog</span><br /><br />1<br />A dog barks: Woof! Woof!</span></center><br />When a dog barks, there are usually two parts, a Bow and a Wow. A repeated action such as this is a basic indicator that the source of the sound is a living creature and not a random natural event. Here is a proverb: 'A tree falls only once.' Some natural sounds repeat, like a bouncing table-tennis ball or a dripping faucet. In that event we hear the sounds not as a random event, but as an organised process.<br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">4<br />If you can hear it, then you can hear.</span></center><br />The world of sound is a picture in constant renewal. Sounds come and go. Our eyes tell us that the environment stays in place and is always complete; but for those who cannot see, the real world is a constantly-changing mosaic of momentary impressions. The more dependent we are on the sense of hearing, the more appreciative we are of what we hear.<br /><br /><center><span style="font-weight:bold;">5<br />In a bark, a dog exists.</span></center><br />In identifying a disturbance as a dog barking, the listener in effect 'calls the dog into existence'. The notion of a revealed reality is the underlying meaning of the bible creation myth.</blockquote> <br />• Sogyal Rinpoche's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying</span>. I'm still in the initial pages — it arrived last Saturday — but I'm loving it. I rather wish I'd read it before my parents passed away because, apart from teaching one how to understand death, it also gives advice on how to help/accompany the dying in the passage between life and death.<br /><br />Thank you for this book, <a href="http://agcaint.blogspot.com/">Liz</a>!! <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/0flowers.gif" border=0> <br /><br />And more importantly [hee], thanks to the Amazon.com box, I've finally kicked away my old-sneakers-faux-nightstand. Due to the weight of my books, they've gotten all squashed and unbalanced, and it was more difficult by the night to keep everything from sliding to the filthy floor. I was seriously thinking about putting some back to their shelves. However, with Liz's box, I now get to clear the matrimonial bed and pile up to 30 books nightly in the box in less than a minute — which means less time spent watching the husband at the corner of my eyes roll his eyes and make lurid signs that have to do with one foot tapping. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/woohoo3.gif" border=0> <br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-15528001730269810512008-03-23T11:54:00.009+01:002008-12-11T07:35:50.701+01:00HAPPY EASTER!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQuX7FqInv_E74nTZHYXPU_cr05yFuU4CdnbsggsugRuA3pfT6CtOtaQHe2b-3UnRQ3wuurz45bF_hJmmv6cRvf8FpVln2kQd92d8Zt5mT69_2TFsb3fNHkhkZKY0kcyEcICA/s1600-h/bunnyflasher.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQuX7FqInv_E74nTZHYXPU_cr05yFuU4CdnbsggsugRuA3pfT6CtOtaQHe2b-3UnRQ3wuurz45bF_hJmmv6cRvf8FpVln2kQd92d8Zt5mT69_2TFsb3fNHkhkZKY0kcyEcICA/s400/bunnyflasher.gif" border="5" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180889783907266034" /></a>
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<br /><div align="justify">Hope everyone has a great time today. Because of an outbreak of flu in my sis-in-law's family and a morbid fear of contagion from the husband's parents, we've decided to skip celebrating Easter this year. Instead we'll be spending some time with friends in the country for Easterette (the day after Easter) — which is still a holiday... probably based on the Italian tradition to stuff oneself so much with food and drink that one requires a whole day-after to recover from one's excesses. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/rolleye.gif" border=0></a>
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<br />After catching up on my sleeping yesterday, my right tonsil has returned to its normal size. Like any day laborer, it goes on strike when it works overtime. It particularly favors acting up during festivities — to provoke the worst bother possible. Nasty bit of goods. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/swear1.gif" border=0></a>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>A couple of Easter quizzes</u>:</span>
<br />
<br /><table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td align=center>
<br /><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><div align="center">What does your
<br /><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/theeasterbunnyquiz/">Chocolate Easter Bunny Eating Habits</a>
<br />say about you?</span></font>
<br />
<br /><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'>
<br /><strong>My Easter Bunny Personality</strong>
<br /></font>
<br /></td></tr>
<br />
<br /><tr><td bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<br /><center><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/theeasterbunnyquiz/bunny.jpg" height="100" width="100">
<br /><font color="#000000">
<br />You are friendly, optimistic, and kind hearted.
<br />You don't have a harsh word for anyone. [You reserve that for your body parts.]
<br />
<br />You cheerfully live your life with little complaining or suffering.
<br />You are creative and artistic. You live in your own inner world.
<br />
<br />You live your life freely, without guilt or restrictions.
<br />And you would never feel bad about eating too much chocolate!
<br /></font></td></tr></table>
<br /></center></div>
<br />
<br />And where there's the Easter Bunny, there's also Liquor Sunday!!
<br />
<br /><table width=350 align=center border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2><tr><td align=center>
<br /><font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" style='color:black; font-size: 14pt;'><div align="center"><a href="http://www.blogthings.com/whatalcoholicdrinkareyouquiz/">What Alcoholic Drink Are You?</a>
<br />
<br /><img src="http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatalcoholicdrinkareyouquiz/whiskey.gif" height="100" width="100"> </div>
<br />
<br /><strong>I am Whiskey</strong>
<br /></font><center>You're a tough drinker, and you take it like a man.
<br />That means no girly drinks for you - even if you are a girl.
<br />You prefer a cold, hard drink at the end of the day.
<br />Every day, in fact. And make that a few.
<br /><a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/drunksmilef.gif" border=0></a></td><font color="#000000">
<br /></font></table></center></tr>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-64718951594861385502008-03-19T14:01:00.010+01:002008-12-11T07:35:50.887+01:00Recent whatabouts of A — for the curious<div align="justify">Apart from doing a schizophrenic marathon called <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/">30:30</a> and my <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/">TPM</a>/<a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> duties, I am also guilty of such oddities:<br /><br />• The mercy-killing (through viral infection) and eventual resuscitation of my laptop. Because it got rid of programs and files I wanted to get rid off but didn't have the heart to remove. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_shifty.gif" border=0><br /><br />• On my way to yoga class, I allowed myself to be picked up by a strange man, and later, gave him a full-body massage. Teehee.<br /><br />It's actually a lot less interesting than that, but it's way too ticklish not to write about in public. The guy's actually someone I know (not biblically, sorry to disappoint) in yoga class. The ayurveda massage was part of the yoga class — which involved a lot of kicking on the fella's arms and legs, who took it lying down. All very boring. Of course, afterwards I made it a point to ask how it was for him. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif" border=0><br /><br />• Have discovered a new use for old sneakers: When positioned correctly, they act as a second night stand and can safely balance up to 20 poetry books. When performed every night for three years in order to allow bed space for a spouse, it may actually lead to enlightenment. <br /><br />• <span style="font-style:italic;">Yoganidrasana</span>, or the Yogic Sleep Pose (see pic below) seems to be part of my default setup. The keyword no doubt is sleep. Program anything with the word "sleep" in it and my body will see it to completion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywc2hc2gm5NUc6Rw1rO1ny74p4Jcau1RbXCDgllJQkpemebbW-l85GaI9FmaXEc-IhP8whYAYQCw_ZuHzRYh2TAB8ZreL32m_Q2liwsyqU6L1y_9n4gNJ3XQtlzAqehpeQ0fs/s1600-h/yoganidrasana.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhywc2hc2gm5NUc6Rw1rO1ny74p4Jcau1RbXCDgllJQkpemebbW-l85GaI9FmaXEc-IhP8whYAYQCw_ZuHzRYh2TAB8ZreL32m_Q2liwsyqU6L1y_9n4gNJ3XQtlzAqehpeQ0fs/s400/yoganidrasana.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179441906920694162" /></a><br />• Revised a collection of 70 poems in one day. Tentative title moved from <span style="font-style:italic;">Lean Season</span> to <span style="font-style:italic;">Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu</span>. Probably the result of reading too much spam mail that say I've got length problems.<br /><br />• Took pictures of myself as requested by the <a href="http://34thparallel.net/">34th Parallel</a> editors. Nothing topless — sorry to disappoint again. And even if, you'd still need a magnifying lens to see what I've got... only on a cloudy day, too — or you'd end up with stuff that look like dead ants. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/evilsmile.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br />• Was thrilled to receive an acceptance note from <a href="http://www.cinnamonpress.com/envoi/">Envoi</a> that they're accepting three poems: <span style="font-style:italic;">Fallen</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Glass</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Hush</span> for Issue 150. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/strip.gif" border=0><br /><br />This is one of the most gorgeous print journals I've ever had the pleasure of stroking... uh, I meant reading. If you non-aliens out there send stuff now, we can be in the same issue together — the response time remains quick and easy. <blockquote>Submission sent: 4 March 2008<br />Reply date: 11 March 2008</blockquote>• Also received an acceptance form letter from the <a href="http://34thparallel.net/">34th Parallel</a> editors who are interested in publishing my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Time with Frieda</span> in their next issue. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/trumpet.gif" border=0> <blockquote>Submission sent: 12 February 2008<br />Reply date: 16 March 2008</blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>My multiple selves are currently on their hands and knees for</u> —</span> <br /><br />Ilya Kaminsky's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Odessa-Ilya-Kaminsky/dp/1932195122/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205939771&sr=1-1">Dancing in Odessa</a>. This is such a gorgeous collection — one of those books that make you stare at the ceiling all night thinking if there's a god, there's my god. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/B-cloud9.gif" border=0><br /><br />Here's an excerpt from his longish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Praise</span>: <br /><blockquote>A woman asks at night for a story with a happy ending.<br />I have none. A refugee,<br /><br />I go home and become a ghost<br />searching houses I lived in. They say —<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">the father of my father of his father of his father was a prince<br />who married a Jewish girl<br /><br />against the Church's will and his father's will and<br />the father of this father.</span> Losing all,<br /><br />eager to lose: the estate, ships,<br />hiding this ring (his wedding ring), a ring<br /><br />my father handed to my brother, then took. Handed,<br />then took, hastily. In a family album<br /><br />we sit like the mannequins<br />of school children<br /><br />whose destruction,<br />like a lecture is postponed.<br /><br />Then my mother begins to dance, re-arranging<br />this dream. Her love <br /><br />is difficult; loving her is simple as putting raspberries<br />in my mouth.<br /><br />On my brother's head: not a single<br />gray hair, he is singing to his twelve-month-old son.<br /><br />And my father is singing <br />to his six-year-old silence.<br /><br />This is how we live on earth, a flock of sparrows.<br />The darkness, a magician, finds quarters<br /><br />behind our ears. We don't know what life is,<br />who makes it, the reality is thick<br /><br />with longing. We put it up to our lips<br />and drink. </blockquote> <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/worship.gif" border=0><br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-66775520039404015182008-03-08T13:09:00.002+01:002008-03-08T17:17:00.503+01:007 Going to Day 8<div align="justify">Only 21 more poems/days to go through. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/Thud.gif" border=0><br /><br />I'd be having more fun in <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> if it weren't for the need to come up with a poem daily — which is getting more morbid by the hour. I've always had an unhealthy interest in death, but something tells me I'm way past that. Catching up on <a href="http://www.tv.com/pushing-daisies/show/68663/summary.html?q=&tag=search_results;title;1">Pushing Daisies</a> every day doesn't help either. It tickles really well though. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/evilsmile.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />Anyway, the whole girl wagon is there: Annie, <a href="http://www.breathingarts.blogspot.com/">Brenda</a>, <a href="http://agcaint.blogspot.com/">Liz</a>, <a href="http://theraininmypurse.blogspot.com/">Sarah</a>, <a href="http://sharonfieldnotes.blogspot.com/">Sharon</a>... and guess what the squid inked in: <a href="http://megalopoet.livejournal.com/">Mary-Nicole</a>!! Depending on the kind of nuts you eat and/or the quality of your weed, we're either the Seven Virtues or the Seven Deadly Sins. Maybe 50/50 of the Seven-Year-Itch. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent and not-so-recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• My copy of <a href="http://pbq.drexel.edu/">Painted Bride Quarterly</a> has arrived!! I'm a pirate! I'm a pirate! More on that in a while.<img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/carrot.gif" border=0><br /><br />• Am so bunny-thrilled to announce that the ticklish story Valerie and I wrote ages ago, <span style="font-style:italic;">I have names for the ways they twitch their ears: The story of one man's flight from his wife's rabbits</span> is now up in the March 2008 issue of <a href="http://admit2.net/admit2.htm">Admit2</a>. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/smileybunny1.gif" border=0></a> <br /><br />This is actually a kind of continuation of our first published story in <span style="font-weight:bold;">Edifice Wrecked</span>, <a href="http://www.edificewrecked.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&itemid=34&id=185">Nature Hates a Vacuum</a>. Have gotten Richard-obsessed after that. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_shifty.gif" border=0><br /><br />• Ooops, kept forgetting to note that I've got three poems in the January 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.sub-lit.com/arleneang.html">SUB-LIT</a>: <span style="font-style:italic;">So What If You Love Your Migraine Like a Second Coming</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Eve</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">A Night in the Suburbs</span> (a Richard poem).<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Various links which might or might not be of interest</u>:</span><br /><br />• I was asked to help spread the word about <a href="http://kudoswriting.wordpress.com/">KUDOS</a>, a newsletter run by Carole Baldock (editor of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Orbis</span>) which publishes "current UK writing competitions plus an increasing number of Overseas contests. Also includes news items and information about markets, outlets and opportunities for all kinds of writing." <br /><br />• If you're having trouble sticking to 30 poems for 30 days, <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/apwproject_dailypoems?hl=en">APW Project</a> may be your thing! The deal here is to write 100 poems within 365 days — you're allowed to play hooky for a few days. After that... I think it's in <a href="http://johnvick.blogspot.com/">John</a>'s default setup to let you have it. Hee. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/SmackBottom.gif" border=0><br /><br />• If you like writing prompts, you might like to subscribe to the <a href="http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101972763913">Red Morning Press newsletter</a>. This free newsletter is bi-weekly and states — get this: "If this newsletter doesn't inspire you to become a better writer after twelve months, then I'll send you a free copy of any book from Red Morning Press' catalog." <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border=0><br /><br />• And a small note about <a href="http://blueline.goobertree.com/forum/">Blueline</a> forum — because that's where I've declared an all-out war against spammers. Registration is possible only by means of a code word requested from either me or HA. It's a really neat phpBB mod... and 100% spam proof. I'm feeling particularly smug about the secret handshake. Here's to me and HA not receiving any more fake user registrations. <img src=" http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/PDT_dan.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Currently enjoying</u>:</span> <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/bokmal.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />• Jonah Winter's <a href="http://oberlin.edu/ocpress/Books/Winter.htm">Amnesia</a>. First discovered his mind-blowing poetry in <a href="http://www.tarpaulinsky.com/Summer06/Winter_Jonah.html">Tarpaulin Sky</a> and just love it. Here's a favorite excerpt from his longish poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Postcards from Paradise</span>: <blockquote>I remember being alone<br />like an ocean, each day<br />a wave, greenish-gray,<br />each night black with fish<br />and flotsam <br /> from other people's lives. </blockquote>• Jayne Pupek's <a href="http://www.mayapplepress.com/BookPages/Pupek.htm">Forms of Intercession</a>. Have actually read this before it went to the press, but getting the real thing and re-reading it still gives me the thrills. It's a spanking good debut collection of poetry. There's a wonderful <a href="http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com/2008/03/review-by-louann-shepard-muhm-at-her.html">review</a> by LouAnn Shepard Muhm at Jayne's <a href="http://jaynepupek.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.<br /><br />• Andrea Barrett's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ship-Fever-Andrea-Barrett/dp/0393316009">Ship Fever</a>. This is an amazing short story collection — I just love how she weaves science and history into her stories. It's pure magic. <br /><br />A special thank-you-you-made-my-week goes out to <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/vfox/index.htm">Valerie</a> for sending me this surprise package. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/thankyou.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />• Anne Carson's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Decreation-Anne-Carson/dp/1400078903">Decreation</a>. I'm a huge fan of anything she writes and would probably kill termites for her fridge notes, so I'm heavily biased already. Here's one of the essays included in the book: <a href="http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/common_knowledge/v008/8.1carson.html">How Women Like Sappho, Marguerite Porete, and Simone Weil Tell God</a>. <br /><br />• <a href="http://pbq.drexel.edu/">Painted Bride Quarterly</a> — the Print Annual 4 — is getting dirtier by the minute in my hands. The black-and-white photo cover is a riot... the front shows a classroom half-filled with bored-looking old geezers. I turned it around, and saw [gaaawk!] a totally naked woman at the back, apparently in the same room with them because it's got one old geezer there, too. It's a picture that simply babbles a million interpretations. Teehee. <br /><br />Anyway, it's a HUGE book. Really thick. As in, if I throw it between the eyes of a burglar — ski-mask or none — it's the kind of book that kills on contact. That's the kind of book it is. <br /><br />Here's a delicious excerpt from the Pirate issue (#78) — <span style="font-style:italic;">The Poem that Fell from Grace with the Sea</span> by Donald Dunbar: <blockquote>... the salt wind anchors<br />in my throat and the peach lights<br />above the sidewalks moan as we leave the bar,<br />hum, I mean, like the day janitor<br />tomorrow who'll mop the drinks<br />you've spilled; who'll nuzzle the lipstick<br />you've smeared all over the payphone.</blockquote><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-86793205233973887562008-02-28T20:02:00.003+01:002008-02-29T19:39:52.930+01:00I want...<div align="justify"><span style="font-style:italic;">... to do everything. Instead, I do nothing.</span> <br /><br /><a href="http://megalopoet.livejournal.com/">Normandy</a> said it, not me — but it nicely sums up what I've been up to these past few weeks. <br /><br />However, I'm cleaning up my act. Because (1) <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/">The Pedestal Magazine</a> has just reopened its doors to submissions and I'm the editor on duty, (2) have re-scheduled myself to return to <a href="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/index.php">30:30</a> tomorrow, (3) a rumor's been flying around that I've been abducted by aliens [i.e. myself and more of myself] and (4) there's something not quite healthy about watching all 13 episodes of <a href="http://www.tv.com/touching-evil/show/24686/episode.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs;episodes">Touching Evil</a> in a single day — in bed, with popcorn. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/843.gif" border=0><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent acceptances</u>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.mascarapoetry.com/">Mascara Poetry</a> accepted three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Self-Portrait with Umbrella</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Warning about Attachments</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Wu Jin Contemplates the Tattoo on a Soft Cheek</span> for publication in their 3rd issue. <br /><br />This is a neat journal with very eclectic tastes. While they're particularly drawn to the work of contemporary Australasian and Indigenous poets, they also consider works typed in English from other carbon-based lifeforms. And hey, they've just become a paying market (Aussie dollars). Check 'em out. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/coolthumb.gif" border=0><br /><br /> Submission sent: 7 November 2007<br /> Reply date: 15 February 2008<br /><br />• <a href="http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1748/chiron1.htm">Chiron Review</a> accepted three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Driving Home</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Snow Globe</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Sunday Morning Mass</span> for a future issue. According to my —erm— Poet's Market 2000, it is "a quarterly tabloid using photographs of featured writers" (why am I suddenly thinking of the Rocky Horror Picture Show?) with a print run of "about 1000". <br /><br />They accept e-mails submissions <u>only</u> from overseas writers. <br /><br /> Submission sent: 15 February 2008<br /> Reply date: 25 February 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• Have three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">Black Tar Girl</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">Night, with Owls on Witch Trees</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Commute</span> under <span style="font-weight:bold;">L. Ward Abel</span>, who is the Featured Poet for February 2008 in <a href="http://contemporaryamericanvoices.wordpress.com/2008/02/">Contemporary American Voices</a>. So thrilled to be sharing space with <a href="http://collinkelley.blogspot.com/">Collin Kelley</a> and <a href="http://www.beverlyajackson.com/">Beverly Jackson</a>! <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/pinkglassesf.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />• Was delighted to receive three copies of the Fall 2007 issue (Volume 3.2) of <a href="http://www.western.edu/marginalia/purchase.php">Marginalia</a> and find Carol Frith, Paul Sohar and Dana Sonnenschein — whose works I came across and loved while doing <a href="http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/">TPM</a> duty. This is one gorgeous magazine: flat-spined, full-color glossy card cover with around 160 pages of poetry, fiction and art. A tiny, tiny prose poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">My SimCity Llama Has a Cold</span> makes its debut sneezes on page 15.<br /><br />• While Valerie and I were preparing the final draft of our <span style="font-style:italic;">Bundles</span> mss for <a href="http://www.texturepress.org/">Texture Press</a>, I summed up enough courage to query about the publication of my poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">further adventures into private parts</span> in <a href="http://pbq.drexel.edu/">Painted Bride Quarterly</a> — I signed the contract two years ago, didn't hear about their Pirates issue anymore, and didn't know what to write under the Acknowledgments page (finally opted to pull it out of the mss). <br /><br />Anyway, I asked and found out that <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/woohoo3.gif" border=0> their print annual is just hot off the press and heading my way as soon as I provide them with a "brick/mortar" address. I know. I'm a woman of little faith.<br /> <br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Talking of faith</u> —</span><br /><br />There's a... **whispering** ... priest who's been after me since my mom's funeral. He got my e-mail address. He is concerned about the salvation of my soul. He wants me to confess my sins. To him. <br /><br />All my nightmares about stalkers and Satan have come true.<br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-60150169845648495862008-02-07T08:53:00.001+01:002008-12-11T07:35:51.261+01:00It's the Year of the Rat!<div align="justify"><a href="http://www.freakingnews.com/Happy-Year-of-Rat-Pictures-42478.asp"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqxbCAohKCNJna6Fl8n9ULAjbOT9HZ6vTjwvRdd01fBmZwdb1oYtSe9J4v21iRfUBZ4wilzAqE-w_Zbkm9_dagWetNc43iQr6Y6t5I0dbh6ETvue1ReYXF5jVHMKvg1T-5fQ5/s1600-h/Happy-Year-of-Rat--35486.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqxbCAohKCNJna6Fl8n9ULAjbOT9HZ6vTjwvRdd01fBmZwdb1oYtSe9J4v21iRfUBZ4wilzAqE-w_Zbkm9_dagWetNc43iQr6Y6t5I0dbh6ETvue1ReYXF5jVHMKvg1T-5fQ5/s400/Happy-Year-of-Rat--35486.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5164150987299361874" /></a></a> Here's to wishing everyone a wonderful Lunar Year ahead — with lots of great surprises, charm and luck. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/drunksmilef.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Sliding slowly back to normality</u>:</span><br /><br />Got back last Saturday. Didn't really feel much like blogging or doing social work (what I've come to call my mailbox and phone book). Not really sad or even brooding, just all very Mark Ehling's <a href="http://webdelsol.com/DIAGRAM/1_4/ehling.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">I Seem to be Dead Inside</span></a>. <br /><br />My mom passed away on January 11th. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/sorrowsmiley2.gif" border=0></a><br /><br />She was practically only waiting for me. When she heard that I'd already arrived, she stopped eating and just let go. It was, I think, a good death. We had some nuns come over who "lifted her to the light" with their prayers and mass songs while she was dying. It was agonizing to watch her slow slide into death, but we (including my mom) agreed that death was preferable to the pain which had become excruciating and almost impossible to manage in the last few weeks. </div><br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_rtx9_6FAgkL6M_PrgcK0uAPK1guzo1IlLFFC9ug0Irrmort1q0or0gd777hcx3wX9GSk1urRvQB1wEaW_Fajq8wtUQf9hfTn2TZWVVaMC_wQW2M6omQ9U3E-rNT3xLJ3LPT/s1600-h/meandmom.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-_rtx9_6FAgkL6M_PrgcK0uAPK1guzo1IlLFFC9ug0Irrmort1q0or0gd777hcx3wX9GSk1urRvQB1wEaW_Fajq8wtUQf9hfTn2TZWVVaMC_wQW2M6omQ9U3E-rNT3xLJ3LPT/s400/meandmom.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163882345684931650" /></a> Here we were clowning around a few hours before my wedding (2001).<br /></center> <br /><div align="justify">She was buried — wearing that dress in the photo — on the 17th after a 6-day wake. I was practically living (and sleeping) at the funeral parlor since my brother and his wife had to go home at night to be with their kids. My job was to entertain the guests during the day because tradition makes them expect to be entertained, offered food and drink, etc. Rather draining. Afterwards, we all decided NOT to have a wake once we're dead. Just cremation within 24-hours. Spare our loved ones, puh-lease. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/surrender.gif" border=0><br /><br />Finally attended yoga class again last Tuesday. And glad I did. It gave me a bit of pep — enough to go back to blogging, answering my e-mail and limit my daily staple of PC games. Eventually, I'll get back to writing and submitting — haven't done either in like two months. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/electricf.gif" border=0></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Not-so-recent acceptance</u>:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.parametermagazine.org/">Parameter Magazine</a>, a UK-based print journal accepted three poems, <span style="font-style:italic;">A Driving Student Conceptualizes Rain</span>, <span style="font-style:italic;">My Gorilla Suit Was Outfitted With Two-Thousand Christmas Lights</span> and <span style="font-style:italic;">Luckily, Near Memphis</span> in a future issue (probably issue 7) due out in Fall 2008.<br /><br /> Submission sent: 25 September 2007<br /> Reply date: 15 January 2008<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>Recent publications</u>:</span><br /><br />• My poem, <a href="http://www.the-chimaera.com/January2008/Various/Ang.html"><span style="font-style:italic;">Agoraphobia</span></a> is in the January 2008 issue of <a href="http://www.the-chimaera.com/January2008/">The Chimaera</a>. It's kind of creepy how it foresaw my mom's death prior to it happening. <br /><br />• Have got a kinky poem, <span style="font-style:italic;">Please Meet My Breasts</span> in Issue 45 of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Rising</span> — a UK-based print journal edited by Tim Wells, who was so kind as to invite me to send work. Fellow blogger, <a href="http://robmack.blogspot.com/">Rob</a>'s got stuff here, too entitled <span style="font-style:italic;">Hangover Hotel</span>. A poem after my own heart. Hee. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/luxlove.gif" border=0> <br /><br />• With much gratitude to the same Tim Wells who submitted on my behalf, have also got my <span style="font-style:italic;">Driving Instructor’s First Gastrointestinal Cramp</span> finding its page in <a href="http://penpushermagazine.co.uk/">Pen Pusher</a> (#8) — a terrific flat-spined, UK-based print journal. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><u>So, what else is new</u> —</span><br /><br />A decided to bring home some fresh <a href="http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html">kefir</a> grains again. In a sealed plastic container. Saran-wrapped. In her checked-in luggage. <br /><br />NEVER AGAIN. <br /><br />A has learned her lesson. A hasn't yet finished hand-washing her soiled underwear. A hasn't yet scrubbed down the interior of her luggage in the shower like a dog. But she knows. No more traveling with kefir or other micro-organisms. The husband has put his foot down — on the stench in the hallway, on the kefir in his duty-free cigarettes. <a href="http://www.millan.net"><img src="http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/cigbuttsmile.gif" border=0></a> <br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14315467.post-37362215120612403852008-01-08T22:20:00.000+01:002008-01-08T23:06:35.022+01:003rd issue of Press 1<div align="justify">I'm happy to announce that the 3rd issue of <a href="http://www.leafscape.org/press1/">Press 1</a> is now officially up and running — with fantabulous poetry and prose by Ruth Altmann, CL Bledsoe, Michaela Gabriel, Louisa Howerow, Miriam Kotzin, Jayne Pupek, Renato Rosaldo, Paul Siegell, J Michael Wahlgren and Tim Wells. The stunning surreal visuals are provided by <a href="http://enpsyane.deviantart.com/">Paul Bleiweis</a>.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br /><u>Departure time again</u>:</span><br /><br />Am leaving in a few hours to go home again. My mom's been having a lot of breakthrough-pain days and keeps asking for me. She wants to discuss her funeral. It's creepy and distressing, yet surreally mundane. She has already chosen what to wear. WOMEN, huh? <br /><br />Not sure when I'll return to Italy. This will probably be my last post for January. When I get back, I always get stuck with the night shift... which doesn't necessarily mean I can sleep during the day since there's some kind of crisis every day — like that time when my sis-in-law locked the gate keys in the bedroom and couldn't let her husband (my brother) in, or when my mom gets her breakthrough pains and someone has to run to the pharmacist. In-between I play hide-and-seek with Niece #1... she's absolutely tireless, unlike my aging pooches. <img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/Thud.gif" border=0><br /><br />A ten-wheeler load of hugs and thanks to everyone who have offered prayers and support. You are the GREATEST!! <br /><img src="http://www.rachelmallino.org/ITWS/phpBB3/images/smilies/367023_smaaackkk.gif" border=0><br /><br /></div>Arlenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00292956898019230814noreply@blogger.com6