In the Rainforest

Dennis sent me this fabulous picture he took on a tour of the rainforest yesterday. He says this ant is the size of his thumb. I'll post more pictures when he sends them. I'd be jealous, but ants the size of a man's thumb?! No thanks.

Catching up

- Dennis is in Costa Rica for two weeks. When he gets back, he'll be home for one day, then he'll head off to California for a week. We miss him!

- My parents are here for two weeks. This is not a coincidence. I have the best parents in the world.

- It's Girl Scout cookie time. Emma didn't sell nearly as many as last year, but that's okay. It just sort of worked out that way. We'll be delivering them later this week.

- Kate finally got that tooth pulled last week, the one that she banged back in October. She actually liked having it pulled. The dentist gave her a dollar and a special Tooth Fairy box to put it in. Did you know the Tooth Fairy pays double for extracted teeth?

- Recent acceptances include Poet Lore (2 poems!) and Fifth Wednesday Journal. I have a good handful of print publications coming up. I'll try to keep you posted when they're available.

- Speaking of print publications, I finally realized last week that I had never received my copy of Main Street Rag. It was mailed in September. We have the worst mail carrier in the world. The publishers were kind enough to send me a new one:
Inside are my poems "Shovelbum's Lament" and "The Stratigraphy of Love."

- I'm on Round 15 of 30 poems in 30 days. It's a sickness, I tell you, a sickness.

What British Romantic Poet are You? Your Result: You are John Keats!   Ars gratis artis! Keats had only one idea, but it was a good one: "Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty." Unlike the other British Romantics, he didn't have a political agenda. He died at 26.
You are George Gordon, Lord Byron!
You are Percy Shelley!
You are William Wordsworth!
You are Samuel Coleridge!
You are William Blake!
What British Romantic Poet are You? Create MySpace Quizzes

Sure, I'm still knitting...

...for the Groovy Girls.




Right now I've got a top secret project on the needles. Originally intended as a Valentine's Day surprise for the girls, until I gave in and acknowledged there was no way it would be done in time. Now I'm taking a more relaxed approach, and when it's done, it's done. It'll be sweet. Think Spring. Think dress-up. And here's another hint: their American Girl dolls, Samantha and Nellie, will match Emma and Kate. Oooh, I can hardly stand the wait!

Another 30 Days

I can't believe Valentine's Day is next week. Weren't we just having Christmas?

I finished my 14th round of 30 poems in 30 days yesterday. Here's what I wrote:

1. Story
2. Icon
3. All the Observed Contacts were Gradual
4. Underground
5. We Did Not Know
6. The Mistress of Watermelon
7. haiku
8. To a Girl on the Beach at Twilight
9. What to Make of a Diminished Thing
10. Midlife
11. Kate is Five
12. Between Strawberry and Pine is a Place like Paradise
13. Ode to the Salmon in the Back of the Freezer
14. The Marlboro Man Eats a Bullet
15. The Baby's Laughter
16. Black Body
17. Grand Epiphany at Punkin Center, Arizona
18. In the Maternity Ward
19. After the Last Angry Word
20. A Woman's Song
21. Secret Life of the Rhizome
22. Liberace's ghost plays Für Elise
23. What Can Be Broken, What Can Be Fixed
24. Confession of a Recovering Nymphomaniac
25. Sutures
26. haiku
27. Small Predator, Large Prey
28. Immortality at the Tip of a Shovel
29. Outside Saint Mary's at 3:15 pm
30. Toward a Larger Awareness

Pretty Ink

Current issue of the UK print mag Orbis, including my poem "When Words Fail, Use Other Means."