over 35, (well) over 18, and more than halfway there

a big thank you and *bear hug* to all those adorable people out there who thought of my birthday and sent me text messages, e-cards or snail mail to wish me well. i hope i am growing old with dignity. *LMAO*

my wonderful students (the computer class) surprised me with cake - i managed to blow out all nine candles (one for each student and one for me) - and a gift, and they even sang happy birthday for me! i was sooo touched. :) i said goodbye to this group on friday, and was really sad. i will miss them.

here's a pic of me on bd #35. for, um, future reference, i guess. ;)



* * * * *

my five erotic poems are, um, up at clean sheets. that was fast! :)

* * * * *

round 9 of 30/30 update:
the titles so far:

poem 11 - Proposal - Sonnenizio on a line by Arlene Ang
poem 12 - Letter #7 (Your letter dripped into my cupped hands)
poem 13 - report with birthday cake
poem 14 - This Morning I Heard Church Bells Croaking Through Thick Mist As Bunches Of Leaves Dripped November On My Mood, So I Crossed My Fingers And Wished For Sunny Surprises (a cherylian)
poem 15 - Letter from Venice (Venice has not quite forgotten us. All that greedy water has not washed away)
poem 16 - He Asks Me Why I Keep A Queen-Sized Tea Mug On The Table, A Pair Of Yellow Canaries In An Alice Blue Cage By The Window, And A Cotton Pad With Three Drops Of Blood From A Paper Cut By My Bedside (a cherylian)
poem 17 - Letter #12 (I was wrong. No colour can spoil a sunset except the dull black)

song of the day: whistle for the choir by the fratellis. such a cute and catchy little tune.

Well it's a big big city and the lights are all out
But it's much as I can do you know to figure you out
And I must confess, my heart's in broken pieces
And my head's a mess
And it's 4 in the morning, and I'm walking along
Beside the ghost of every drinker here who's ever done wrong
And it's you, woo hoo
That's got me going crazy for the things you do

So if you're crazy I don't care you amaze me
But you're a stupid girl, oh me, oh my, you talk
I die, you smile, you laugh, I cry

12784 days

35 years. how on earth did that happen? and so fast.






















song of the day: what's another year? by johnny logan. being ironic here. i think.

drinks, fun, and poetry

my friends birgit, babs and andi came over last night for food (baked potatoes with two different fillings), sepp's legendary mulled wine (the first of the season, and yummy as usual), some more drinks after that (of course), and games. about ten minutes after everyone was here, i thought i'd die laughing. for a while, simply everything was funny. like andi saying "see-HUND!" (ie seal) in a funny voice. (oh it was a funny voice, andi, stop arguing with me ...)

so yes, we had a good time. i got some nice presents too - *hugs* to b&a, and birgit! we stuffed ourselves on healthy food like chocolate, and crisps, and more chocolate while playing "nobody is perfect" (i won! oh and how i won! *L*), "zoff im zoo", and "outburst!" birgit left at midnight, but babs and andi (who live close by) didn't start saying goodnight until 2 a.m, and they left nearly half an hour later.

here are some pics:


babs and the bounty monster


birgit and the largest mug in the house


andi, creator of the weisswedelhirsch (don't ask for a translation)


ever seen me think that hard before?


is babs trying to find her nose? or beckoning like some witch?


one of us is either having more fun, or has had more to drink


*LOAO*

* * * * *

round 9 of 30/30:
the titles so far:

poem 01 - Letter #9 (Your letter fell from a blue sky, so unbidden)
poem 02 - report with obsolete meaning
poem 03 - Letter #5 (You would have loved this sky: After dawn, a big paint brush)
poem 04 - Letter #3 (My dreams of Italy could fill a hundred cathedrals with shapes of campanili)
poem 05 - Letter #4 (Yesterday the sun rose at 6.24. I carried its heat within me all day)
poem 06 - Letter #8 (What is it about me that reminds you of black and white movies)
poem 07 - Silly sonnenizio for my second spouse
poem 08 - Letter #11 (I am no longer renaming streets for what we brought to them)
poem 09 - Letter #4a (What if? What if this is part of my truth? An ounce)
poem 10 - Letter #6 (Vienna is quiet again after the common Christmas frenzy)

the collaboration, as you can see, is progressing. i am loving it. the character is taking shape in my head, a little more every day. and i am just happy that alex asked me to do this with him. his feedback has been more than lovely, too. :)

song of the day: the dirt is your lover now by thea gilmore.

in the mail

a first birthday card from my old friend melva in mildura, australia - where i spent several weeks picking beans in 1991.

an early birthday present from my wonderful friend rachael near sydney, australia - music, a bag, a pillow case, a sweeeet card - and also a loooooong (yes, airlie beach, *that* long!) letter. big hugs!


rach and me, aaaaaaaaaaaaaages ago, in canberra (better appreciate this, i am risking my life here!)

finally - the summer edition of pebble lake review with work by sarah sloat, nathan mcclain, lauren mitchell, kristy bowen, sam rasnake et al. but you probably already know that. *S*

um. and bills. anybody want those?

song of the day: the dog song by nellie mckay.

it pays off to be dirty

can a monday start any better than with a note like this?

Every once in a while, I get a grouping of poems that just go together. I like all of these and would like to use them all as one posting -- probably within the next few weeks.

the note is from clean sheets poetry editor devan macduff. i sent the submission on 29 october, which means the response time was only 2 weeks. i'll let you know when my five poems are, um, *up*. *wink*

so, you see, all the naughtiness at the ITWS forum was a goooood thing, and a big thank you to my partners in crime (you know who you are)! btw - two of the poems are reports. :)

and and and! the masochistic mr mcclain has honoured me with a sonnenizio on a line from my sonnet Desperate Times, Desperate Measures, recently published in (the poetry)worm. thank you!

the letters collaboration is going well; i am very pleased with what i have written so far, and i am enjoying it tremendously. i'm working on the sixth letter already. this collaboration has come at the perfect moment, as i was already warmed up, and i can handle the challenge. i'll keep you posted.

song of the day: in the air tonight by holly mcnarland.

more poems. more. and other stuff.

okay. yes. yes. stark raving mad. doing another round of 30:30 without taking a break. day 62. ask me again in a week. *rolling eyes at myself* good thing mr mccan't-stop is keeping me company. and the freaky ms ape-woman is still around, too. but it is a lot quieter than about 2 weeks ago.

now, that collaboration project i mentioned. it is kind of official now, so i can blab: alex stolis, my old (well, as in, have-known-him-for-a-while) poet friend, surprised me with an e-mail only a few days ago: he said he had started working on this project, with a chapbook in mind, a series of "letters", but that he didn't think he could pull it off on his own, and he thought of me as the "other voice". the 10 poems he sent are wonderful - definitely among the best i have seen of his. and while i was still wondering whether i could live up to expectations, whether i would be able to "deliver", i started to scribble. i already have two "letters", and a third draft is nearly done. and images and lines just keep coming. alex reckons the first couple of poems are "perfect" for what he has in mind. i am soooo thrilled! i'll keep you posted.

here is the first one i wrote:

Dear L______,

There were no stars last night. I missed their reflections
in puddles on my bathroom floor. I tiptoed among shards,
their green teeth eating into the light, like your eyes on
Tuscan mornings. And I remembered how you smoked

another cigarette that day, beside a grave that wanted
to collapse under the weight of unsaid words between us.
You did not so much exhale as spit grey, angry swabs into
the open mouth of a winter that kept robbing us of sleep.

We counted peals of heavy bells. I still know their secret.
I wonder, do you still dream of winged shapes, concertinas
squeezed until the sky finally caves in, its colour sliding to
the gutter in loose folds, dyeing the tarmac a sickly shade

of red? I slept and dreamed your voice, a dry rasp across
my palm. I woke up aching for thorns. The mirror showed
me the lonely stem of a rose, memory of petals beginning
to drift, a white wind singing to her of the sea, of salt.

J

n-apeman, one half of the itws challenge judges, has just informed me that i am one of the two october challenge winners - or rather, my poem what is the sound of one hand clapping is. i am chuffed!

a little late to the party, but happy birthday neil gaiman!

oh and ... vienna can still look like this ...



a day that starts with a headache and being totally knackered can still turn out good: my students have changed so much since the beginning - they are such a lot of fun now! also, the results of their first test made me (and them!) happy. then a colleague gave me three little chocolates during lunch break. the collaboration. the challenge win. the light/sky when i crossed the danube at 4 pm. the play we went to see tonight, with two of my former celta course colleagues in it, justin and sharron, and catching up with our celta tutor patrizia too, and a few glasses of wine ...

song of the day: i'll be your man by the elected.

eight times thirty

i am still getting over my cold - but it seems i picked the perfect three days for being sick and housebound: the weather was very november. yesterday it was much nicer, and today it was sunny and warm. aaahhh!

sunshine suited me fine, but even now that the sun goes down, there is reason to be happy: i finished my eighth round of 30 poems at ITWS today! it's been the toughest round so far, and had it not been for the good vibes and fun at the forum (as well as the highly addictive "report" form), i don't know what would have happened. but who's looking back now? it's done!

here are my titles #19 - #30:

viii.19 - report with salt in old wounds
viii.20 - centre
viii.21 - seascape
viii.22 - Report with blade slicing through time
viii.23 - report, with dessert
viii.24 - small world
viii.25 - Outside
viii.26 - this poem
viii.27 - haiga with clouds
viii.28 - love song in d minor
viii.29 - report with d-cup
viii.30 - Letter #2

also finishing today is mr mccrank who's been especially supportive this round.

other good news:
one of my favourite small press poets who's also a friend of mine has asked me to collaborate with him on a project that sounds very, very interesting. i am sooo going to say yes. and then i will tell you more.

i found some great music recently - e.g. emily haines, the decemberists, band of horses, the tyde, the guillemots, piano magic, the fratellis, nina nastasia. i'm totally smitten with emily haines. love her lyrics, and her voice. do check her out.

song of the day: the crane wife 3 by the decemberists. with thanks to matthew.

michi in (winter) wonderland (?)

the weather has gone completely mad. snow flurry, followed by blue sky, followed by rain, followed by sunshine, followed by snow flurry, followed by blue ... you get the idea.







no wonder a girl gets sick.

the good news is - the new all-alice issue of wicked alice is now online, with five of my poems (one of which is a sonnet ... yep. again.). it was a funny coincidence - i wrote a short series of alice poems, and then found out about the themed issue kristy bowen had scheduled for autumn. as if she had been looking over my shoulder. i am thrilled, of course! and i am sharing zine space with some very talented poets, among them the ubiquitous alien alice ang (with five poems too!), my poem-a-day-forum and blogging buddies sarah sloat and liz gallagher, my old poet friend terry lowenstein; shisa poet, shann palmer, lisa zaran, c e chaffin, and rebecca loudon.

go on, step through the looking-glass.

song of the day: white rabbit by jefferson airplane. what else.

icing

this morning, after less than 15 minutes in the bathroom, this awaited me:



*shiver*

feeling poorly, temperature's up, my throat is totally sore, and i am coughing too. :(

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