outside / inside, yes / no

we've gone back to standard time - it is five and almost dark. yesterday it was worse - after a dreadfully windy, rainy morning and some hours of kitschy blue sky, we had a short but violent thunderstorm with hail around five. it just turned pitch dark within minutes.



it was quite amazing - the wind whipped the rain and hail against windows, off rooftops, like huge sheets. lots of lightning that looked almost pink - beautiful.



i did not expect it to be nice today, but it was. i forgot to bring the camera, so there are no pics of today's walk on donauinsel, which is a shame, really, because the light was perfect. more barren trees after the storms of the weekend, and more red in treetops. the danube looked almost blue today. temperatures have dropped, but it was warm enough to sit in the sun for 20 minutes or so, the same spot where i saw on friday. a half moon was rising - huge and white, like some leftover cloud. beautiful.

it's supposed to get *really* cold on thursday, with a chance of sleet and a few snowflakes - please, no! :(

my current students seem to be warming to me - one of those groups that are really quiet at the beginning, not talking among them, not interacting much. but they're (yes, this is for you, arlin and natch!) opening up now. much more fun. they're a homogenous group, no real beginners, and fast learners. three of my former students who are in another class now, still come to see me to tell me they miss me. aww. *S*

poetry-wise: a yes from (the poetry)worm - and what's amazing here is that they have chosen a sonnet! i've only ever written about four in my life, so that's not bad. it's, once again, part of the now almost legendary nigel series, and called Desperate Times, Desperate Measures.

a no from tipton poetry journal. standard rejection letter - and rather impolite, IMO, that they don't even bother addressing recipients by name. what i *really* don't get is this bit included in the rejection:

If you are not familiar with the kind of work we publish and would like to know more, current and previous issues as well as subscriptions are available for purchase on-line by credit card, through our website:

wouldn't you assume that people have read the zine? i felt like they were suggesting i had sent a blind sub, which i never do.

reading corey mesler's chapbook, dipped into frank matagrano's, and that clean sheets anthology that ms angling sent. received one of the PSH prizes today, too, a chapbook by wendy grosskopf.

song of the day: doctor blind by emily haines & the soft skeleton.