Cramming for the driving test

This is another mass e-mail of sorts to let everyone know I'm still alive. Arrived back in Venice last Wednesday and was shocked to learn that I've been scheduled for the driving (theory) test on August 1st.

Have hit the books ever since. Am quite in a panic since I'm still making quite a lot of errors on the sample quizzes. My poor little brain is beginning to fall over its own cartwheels.

Have put everything on hold for now. Will catch up with everyone's lives after the exam. Yuk. Am beginning to scare myself out of my wits.

Will write more stuff next week. I received a new pet through the mail (thanks to Sharon) and yes, Valerie Fox's fascinating new book, The Rorschach Factory.

Recent acceptances:

Poetry Midwest recently accepted Lapis lazuli for their Spring/Summer 2006 issue. Yay!

This is my second appearance in this neat 'zine. Don't be discouraged by the long waiting time — the editor contacted me two months after the submission date to ask if he could keep the poems for consideration in the spring/summer issue. Very nice, professional manners.

    Submission date: 28 December 2005
    Reply date: 24 July 2006

Am also supposed to have a poem, further adventures into private parts in the "Pirates" issue of Painted Bride Quarterly. The issue is already up, but I don't see it there. Just mailed my contract last Thursday. Hopefully, they're only waiting to get that before publishing the poem. PBQ is one of those fantabulous journals where I'd like to see my name added in the contributors sections — correctly or incorrectly spelled. Hee. Crossing my fingers on this.

    Submission date: 13 January 2006
    Reply date: 25 July 2006

Monkeys and pleasures

Wheeeeeeeee!!! Ten Thousand Monkeys recently accepted the short story, Confessions of a Flying Baked Potato which I co-wrote with Valerie Fox. Particularly thrilled by this since it's the first fiction I've had published in ages. It will mark also our debut as co-writers. It's only our second jab at writing fiction, so this is quite encouraging -- especially since they replied within a few hours!

    Date submitted by Valerie: 14 July 2006
    Reply date: 14 July 2006

Have also received an acceptance note from Liminal Pleasures for Planchette Interpretation: A Short Guide to Reading Letters from the Dead (L-O) -- which I never thought would ever get published due to –erm– questions of length. This print journal also sports one of the most stunning poetry and web design I've seen around, so it's cloud nine for me.

    Submission date: 5 June 2006
    Reply date: 13 July 2006

Recent rejection:

Hiss Quarterly sent an encouraging form letter regarding my poetry submission to their "Sanity is a One Trick Pony" issue:

    Submission date: 18 June 2006
    Reply date: 11 July 2006

Driving update:

Have scheduled myself for 10 hours of driving lessons next week.

One week later...

waaaah!! Still suffering from jet lag. Not to mention that I'm way behind my e-mails. Been having some internet connection problems... takes me 5 minutes just to view a webpage and then the line keeps going down every 30-40 minutes.

Drives me crazy. I'll catch up on everyone's blog when I get back to Venice two weeks from now. Can't wait. I miss my –erm– ADSL line.

Acceptances update:

Boxcar Poetry Review has recently accepted two poems, Portrait of the Other Husband as a Clock and A Game of Patience for an upcoming issue.

    Submission date: 6 June 2006
    Reply date: 9 July 2006

Rumor has it:

• that Tattoo Highway is giving me an honorable mention for a poem in their "A Picture Worth 500 Words" contest. Yay!

• that I might be guest editing again this autumn. For The Pedestal Magazine this time. Sort of said I wouldn't be doing that again, but I've been told to stay away from trouble, like interviewers and interviewees, and to just stick to poetry. Hee.

Recent book purchases:
(or what little I managed to recall of the list I left in Venice)

• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
• Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan

Three poems in Eclectica

The July/August 2006 issue of Eclectica is now online. Have three poems there:

• Allure (read)
• Not So Much the Dark (read)
• The Twenty-First Secret Love Poem (read)

The editor commented that it's actually the eighth time I've been published in the 'zine... and that pretty soon, they'll need to get me a pension plan. Hee.

Website update:

Well, have finally given in to using (and learning) CSS. Have re-vamped the whole site. It's more functional now. All those butterflies and flowers were beginning to look scary and dysfunctional.

Have also removed the boring landscape pictures and added some of the recent photomontage I did with (almost) everyone's children. Also added new poems published in print journals.

Imminent departure:

Aaack. I'm leaving today. Haven't yet packed my stuff. Just wanted to say I'll be back in blogland sometime next week — depending on jet lag. Be seein' and readin' ya all soon!

Over and out.