me. them. him.

okay. it is irresponsible. i should have known. i've had one fellow poet, ros barber, wasting her morning on research concerning yours truly, and i don't think i want to take the responsibility for any such thing happening again. so: yes, i am austrian. yes, i was born and raised here (spittal/drau, a small town in the south). yes, both my parents are austrian. yes, german is my mother-tongue. yes, english is a second language. and ros, there really is no need to admire me for my command of english for more than, say, it takes this blog to load. or at least, let me admire you back for your wonderful poetry. deal?

had my hair cut yesterday, dyed today. love the smell of henna!

classes are going well, having fun, but mondays and thursdays *are* long days.

day 28 at 30/30, tough going yesterday, so i wrote a cento using lines from lyrics by chris eckman (the walkabouts). today, another poem for the apparently never-ending nigel series, digby's soliloquy. sent out one submission, but checked out some zines today, and perhaps i get around to sending out some more poems tomorrow.

i am in love with lines from quite a few songs at the moment, among them many from walkabouts songs (lyrics by chris eckman), like

The nightbirds stumble in like broken pendulums (Nightbirds)

The sky's unwinding here twisted like a busted spring (Unwind)

And just in time to see / A promise in each pocket / And a liar in each sleeve (Smokestack)

And I'd come back to get you someday / with silver for teeth and blood in my hair (The Stopping-Off Place)

Spin doctors gave you / All those remedies to choose / So you'd be the weathervane / For clouds that never move (Break It Down Gently)

Weakness coughs, then ricochets / Our boredom bleeds us wide awake (Fuck Your Fear)

Truths a whisper / A shaky whisper / chase it, then it's wrong / Time is panic / Hushed and rankled / You feel it, then it's gone (Whisper)

Shout! Where is the now? / Where are the next three minutes? (Whisper)

Deliver us from deliverance / deliver us, from all these awkward pauses / you are as brave as you believe / you are as brave as what you won't repeat /You are as lost as you need to be /You are as lost as what you won't admit /The future is a slow retreat / The future is a muscle you don't have (Devil in the Details)

and there are a few adorable lines from songs by jenny lewis which can be found on the terrific album rabbit fur coat (jenny lewis with the watson twins):

And I'm in love with illusions / So saw me in half / I'm in love with tricks / So pull another rabbit out of your hat (You Are What You Love)

She knew the girl was not there / But her father was in cufflinks with slicked-back black hair / He invited her in, they never sang a note / But she took off that rabbit fur coat // And who do you think came home? / Miss so and so( Rabbit Fur Coat)

I worry about cancer and living right / But my mama never warned me about my own / Destructive appetite (Happy)

or this from belle & sebastian:

Boo to the business world! / You know a girl who’s tax free on her back and making /Plenty cash / While you are working for the joy of giving (Lazy Line Painter Jane)

and something i think i have quoted before, by martha wainwright:

I'm not such a good lover / I'm a better talker / So when you touch me there / I'm scared that you'll see / Not the way that I don't love you / But the way that I don't love myself (TV Show)

more some other time.

and before i go, my poet friend alex stolis has had another chapbook published (by now, i am hopelessly trailing him by about 5). read the review in the middle section of this page, and buy the book. i was fortunate enough to see it in the making, and i recommend it.

song of the day: you are what you love, jenny lewis with the watson twins.

and please, someone, stop the snow.