Submission

I'm tossing this out to the greater blogosphere.

For those of you who go through the slush pile rigamarole as a route to publication, how do you pick and chose lit mags? It's tough to keep up with what's out there. I try to surf websites and snoop around before sending out packets--but I'm wondering if there's a better, centralized source?

Name That Bloom

I saw this tree (well several of them, planted around Brian's building) while I was out of town and I love it...problem is, I don't know what it is.

I know plants and flowers but when it comes to trees and shrubs I'm pretty well clueless and lost. I'm wondering if anyone out there has an idea.

Here's a closer picture of the leaves and one of the flower bunches.

They had it in three flavors: white, light pink, and this darker pink. I'd love to get a couple of the darker pink ones for my own garden. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Save Me from Myself

Despite listening to a whole lot of American Doll Posse today I have the execrable Michael Bolton ditty "How am I Supposed to Live without You" stuck in my head.

NaPoWriModified

As I've noted, the NaPoWriMo poem a day project has suffered. So I'm modifying the assignment. I'm actually going back to the cannibal file and culling all these little drafts and lines of poems that never really seemed to fit what I was doing at the time. I've come to realize that they're all part of a single larger project. It's only taken about 2 years to make the connections (sometimes I'm a bit slow.)

All of the pieces are printed out and I'm going to start tackling them today with a pen. I don't think the entire thing will be done by the end of April; who knows, I could surprise myself. But this is definitely, potentially, the longest/largest poem I've ever written.

I know there are a few of you poetical types who check in now and then, so I'd like to throw a question out to you (okay, two questions): 1. What is the longest poem you've written? and 2. How was that process different than your normal process?

Comment vous dites?

"But isn't that my betty?"

Are there any reliable online transliterating options aside from BabelFish? I'm looking for more idiomatic translations for something I'm working on. I don't want to be stuck with "la plume de ma tante" style stuff. Suggestions?