OMM – July 2024 – #5

~ a curated selection of discoveries ~

Jul 28, 2024

::: The Open :::

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoy this weekly newsletter (published on Sundays).

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Thank you for reading and for your time.

With Gratitude,

~ Mark

Please Note:

This newsletter is typically too long to appear in its entirety in an email. Please click through to Substack to read in full.

::: Personal Notes :::

Two of my poems were published in Across The Margin. Much gratitude to ATM Editor-in-Chief, Michael Shields.

::: Recent Substack Posts :::

Defining Class Dysphoria

I posted an essay in OMM on Class Dysphoria.

What Lit Mag Is the Right Home for Your Work?

I’m still hoping other lit mags will join the cause and do a bit of research and contemplation about the lit mags they believe have kinship with their own. I’d like to see more community assistance helping poets and writers find appropriate homes for their work (and making the process less arduous).

::: Cleaver Magazine :::

I should mention more often that I’m Poetry Craft Essays Editor for Cleaver because I would love to receive more submissions (simply email me directly).

We just published Henrietta Goodman’s essay ‘Metaphor as Seduction’.

We recently published Rob Greene’s essay ‘The Devil Form’

::: ONE ART :::

26 Literary Journals with Fast Response Times (Authors Publish)

This list includes ONE ART.

Faith Shearin Writing Exercises & Consultation Opportunity

A Special Offer in Partnership with ONE ART: a journal of poetry

This is part of ONE ART’s ongoing fundraising efforts.

~ Upcoming Workshops ~

Short & Sweet: Writing the Short Poem
Instructor: Donna Hilbert
Date: Thursday, August 22, 2024
Time: 5:00-7:00pm (Pacific)
Price: $25 (payment options)

More registration info forthcoming. Contact Mark Danowsky directly @ oneartpoetry@gmail.com if you wish to attend.

::: Podcasts :::

Nothing monumental to share this week.

If you have suggestions for podcast episodes you love, please send them my way.

::: Music :::

It’s become a brat summer thanks to Charli XCX and Kamala Harris.

‘The martyring of Elliott Smith’

Honestly, it’s just felt like a while since I read anything thoughtful about Elliott Smith so it was nice to sit and think about Elliott for a while.

I’ve said elsewhere that Phoebe Bridgers is basically the new Elliott. She openly acknowledges the massive influence he’s had on her work.

‘Olympians’ warmup songs’ (AP)

::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

‘The Pros and Cons of Morning Pages’ (Authors Publish)

I’ve been mixed on Morning Pages since hearing about the trend.

There was a time when I deliberately stopped journaling (aka. keeping a diary) so that I would be forced to present the material I wanted to get out of my system in a creative way (rather than just word vomiting all over the page). This actually worked well for me for a time. It worked best when my life was particularly terrible. I don’t think all the creative work was good, in hindsight, though I do think there was value in taking the time to carefully present my emotional state and subject matter I wanted to share with a theoretical audience. That’s a difference, too— writing with the intent to share.

Morning Pages are not meant to be shared. As the author notes at the end of the article, they are really meant to be burned. This is because Morning Pages (at least so far as I understand) are meant to allow for raw emotion and saying the unsayable. You’re venting, you’re confessing, you’re getting it all out on the page. This can be therapeutic and that’s good. Does it get you anywhere with your creative writing pursuits is another question altogether.

‘What is it like to attend a predatory conference?’ (Nature)

“A key reason that they persist, she says, is that “researchers, especially those eager to strengthen their publication records, are sometimes lured by the promise of subsequent publication indexed in reputable citation databases”, such as in conference proceedings or in journals published by the conference organizer.”

Poetry Bulletin continues to generously offer “submission fee support”

‘35 Magazines Accepting Book Reviews’ (Authors Publish)

‘17 Magazines that Publish Writing by Children and Teens and New Adults’ (Authors Publish)

I’m still thinking about this short essay by Ann DeForest.

‘Someone Tried to Cast Fraudulent Votes in the Hugo Award, Was Very Bad At It’ (Book Riot)

“The Hugos have had their fair share of problems, but the latest headache isn’t their fault. After noticing odd voting patterns, the Hugos decided to throw out more than 300 votes for a single author. The patterns? The kind of things my kids wouldn’t expect to get away with: “These included voters with almost identical surnames, with just one letter changed and placed in alphabetical order, and some whose names were ‘translations of consecutive numbers’.” The author being voted for has not been disqualified, as there is not evidence they were involved. That sounds right to me unless the author’s name is Cheater McFraudFace, which is the level of sophistication we are dealing with here.”

::: Health & Wellness :::

Does Using a Walking Pad ‘Count’ as Working Out? (self)

Not really…but… if you’re struggling to get steps in then it’s certainly better than the alternative.

See my recent post: Air Quality & The Future

My personal experience with asthma, air quality, managing extreme heat, and future climate concerns.

HIV Prevention News

“A twice-a-year injection of the drug lenacapavir was 100% effective in preventing HIV infection in women during clinical trials, according to a [new] study” (Our World in Data)

New Car Smell Gone Wild

Researchers found that the volatile organic compounds emitted by new cars contain alarming levels of formaldehyde and other aldehydes—specifically on hot summer days. (QZ/Phys.org)

JC vs. The Guinea Worm

Jimmy Carter: “I’d Like to See the Last Guinea Worm Die Before I Do.” (Slate)

::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

How Game Designers Secretly Run Your Life (Scientific American)

“Competitive games are ultimately about cooperation. They train us to obey rules and achieve arbitrary goals in a fair and socially sanctioned way. Games are a kind of domestication.”

“Games force us to think about other people, to consider what they want and how they’ll try to get it. This isn’t the same thing as empathy, but it’s groundwork for it.”

“Today the business world uses probability theory as its lingua franca, and economic ventures are reframed as bets. The implications of this ramify through today’s stock markets and their myriad financial derivatives. The connection goes even deeper than that. Because games are so good at shaping our behaviors, they’ve been adopted in the design of many of our modern social and economic systems. Now game design dictates what ads we’re served as we scroll through our feeds, how we’re paired on dating apps and how we’re matched with jobs.”

Playing with Reality: HOW GAMES HAVE SHAPED OUR WORLD by Kelly Clancy

‘We’re spending more time watching videos on social media’ (Chartr)

Homelessness / Unhoused (Brookings)

“Homelessness and incarceration have long been linked in the U.S., with many people cycling between jails, prisons, and homelessness in an ineffective pattern that imposes dire costs to both human life and public resources.”

“This cyclical churn between homelessness and incarceration is estimated to cost taxpayers $83,000 per person per year—far more costly than providing treatment and housing.”

“Treating all homeless people as criminals, however, is fundamentally out-of-step with the evidence, and can actually make both homelessness and crime worse. For people experiencing homelessness, the collateral consequences that stem from criminal charges—such as loss of employment, separation from families, and fines and fees—reduce how likely someone is to secure short-term as well as permanent housing and increase their likelihood of being arrested in the future. In addition, debt from fines and fees associated with homelessness have been found to directly trigger incarceration, especially for young adults. Additionally, the criminalization of people living outside and in public spaces ignores the victimization that they often experience in the public realm, including physical and sexual assault and murder.”

Examples:

“In Los Angeles County, it costs an average of $548 per day to incarcerate a person in a mental health unit, compared to just $207 per day to provide housing and community treatment. In New York City, the daily cost for supportive housing is just $48 per person, compared to $1,414 per person for incarceration and $3,609 per person for hospitalization.”

“Rather than double down on costly and ineffective enforcement approaches, state and local leaders have the opportunity to embrace the evidence and implement more humane and evidence-based practices that get to the root of the challenges underlying homelessness—and, in so doing, increase public safety for all people.”

Housing First

“Increasing access to rental housing in low-income neighborhoods has also been found to significantly reduce violent crime, and providing permanent housing subsidies is correlated with reduced rates of intimate partner violence.”

Queer Community

In general, LGBTQ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their non-LGBTQ peers.

‘European climate agency: Last Sunday was the hottest day on Earth in all recorded history’ (AP)

Higher Ed

In many instances, it’s gotten easier to get into college.

‘Changing Difficulty of Getting Into Your College, Past Two Decades’ (Flowing Data)

“It’s gotten more difficult to get into top colleges over the years, but most schools have either admitted students at the same rate or increased admission rates since 2001.”

Real Fears

‘The Internet is Now So Centralized That One Company Can Break It’ (Benzinga)

Note: This event happened in 2022.

More recently, we experienced CrowdStrike’s snafu creating mass havoc.

Retirony

“The U.S. statutory retirement age is 66 or 67, depending on your birth year. That’s higher than the age in all but nine countries — worldwide, the median is 61.” (WaPo)

Toilet paper poetry? No. Why? No.

‘The Sandwich Method In Clothing’ (The Zillennial Zine)

I was pretty sure anyone with any fashion sense had already figured this one out.

Basically, someone on the top half of your body has something that matches your shoes. So, like, wear a hat that matches your shoes, or wear a jacket that matches your shoes.

Here’s my added rec: Have your outfits focus on one primary color (or shade – black/white/gray). The rest of the “outfit” can be kinda wild in terms of patterns and styles so long as you maintain a good sense of color coordination.

As a [weird] aside, I really like dressing people… So, if you want outfit advice. I’m happy to give an honest opinion. Just don’t be mad about the honesty (serious.)

Wow, points for Lexus (which is, of course, up-brand Toyota)… but, it’s not often I’m saying wonderful things about this brand, so good on them.

What vehicle would Mark desire to drive right now? Oh, so glad you asked.

If I had my choice (I’m not really all that fancy) … I’m into the new Nissan Kicks AWD (though the newfangled tech looks intimidating…) … The Chevy Blazer (or Equinox) “Blackout Package” looks, well, cool imho.

Why is Mark staring at cars so much? When I worked for the private detective agency, being able to quickly ID vehicles was an essential part of the job… after almost a decade, interest in the make/model gets in your head a bit.

One of the more eye-catching vehicles I’ve noted recently is Mercedes’ GLC 300 4MATIC … there’s a sleek design. It’s certainly no Maybach but us mere humans don’t have access to such luxuries… not that we have heavy access to mid-range luxury vehicles either.

Still, a long-held opinion, the ultimate sleek design goes to Porche Cayenne which, in black, is rather stunning.

Frighteningly, these are all “normal” vehicles… for non-celebs. These are not wild concept cars.

Aside from the aforementioned detective agency heavy exposure to vehicles makes/models, living in wealthy areas lends itself to an unrealistic sense that 1 out of 3 people drive a Maserati. I’m exaggerating… but only a little. It’s a strange experience… Over time, you begin to question why you don’t drive a luxury vehicle. Why don’t you have what others have? Don’t you want the same things others want? Not necessarily… but it’s confusing. This ties into my essay on class dysphoria.

Who is JD Vance? Seriously.

JD Vance has an inconsistent belief system.

There’s political flip-flopping to win elections… and then there’s changing your value system.

We also know some of his connections because of VenmoGate.

Putin created a housing bubble in Russia. Great time to be a Russian citizen. (Economist)

‘Hijacked journals are still a threat — here’s what publishers can do about them’ (Nature)

‘As new tech threatens jobs, Silicon Valley promotes no-strings cash aid’ (NPR)

Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) says we’re going to need Universal Basic Income (UBI) in the near future.

Chefs agree that Rao’s is the best brand of tomato sauce you can buy at the store.

But, they also have tips for what to look for in the ingredients of good less expensive brands.

(All Recipes)

Dark Oxygen

“Dark oxygen isn’t just a great name for a Kentucky Derby-winning horse. It’s also what scientists are calling a discovery that could have implications for the critters at the bottom of the ocean and the treasure-seeking, deep-sea mining industry.” (Morning Brew)

News about “dark oxygen” has been everywhere.

There are “nodules” about the deep down at the ocean floor that have piqued interest for understandably controversial “deep-sea mining”. John Oliver did a whole special on this on LastWeekTonight.

The news about “dark oxygen” only furthers concern about removing these “nodules”, which contain precious metals used creating lithium-ion batteries from relatively pristine (aka. untouched) areas of the ocean.

“Scientists hypothesize that these nodules act as a “geobattery,” emitting electrochemical activity that separates H2O into oxygen and hydrogen.”

It’s possible that these “nodules” are an essential part of the ecosystem and removing them may be highly disruptive to oceanic ecosystems and we (scientists) do not have a solid grasp on how this might play out.

If you watched Biden’s address and were like “what the heck is the Resolute Desk”… well, it has quite a history.

Everyday Americans Are Broke

Data shows Americans are not able to pay down their credit cards. We’ve come a long way from household stability increases that occurred as a result of pandemic stimulus checks. We need to find a way to tackle this issue because cost of living is not remotely aligned with wage growth or the availability of good jobs.

Based on Pew Research from 2023, more ‘adults under 50’ than ever are saying they do not plan to have kids. Up to 47% from 44% in 2022.

“The U.S. fertility rate reached a historic low in 2023, with a growing share of women ages 25 to 44 having never given birth. And the share of U.S. adults younger than 50 who say they are unlikely to ever have children rose 10 percentage points between 2018 and 2023 (from 37% to 47%).”

Learn a bit more about why

First blind Barbie released in partnership with the American Foundation for the Blind

AI doing something positive…

‘Google AI predicts long-term climate trends and weather — in minutes’ (Nature)

::: Google Search Trends :::

The People are wondering if Hello Kitty is a cat. What!? Does not compute. What else would it be? Ok, well, apparently I’m just wrong.

People liked Joe Biden’s exit letter.

I agree, it was well done.

People’s #1 concern with Kamala after the announcement? Her age. She’s 59. A Gen Xer. Gen Xers should be running the show at this point and time. Millennials are next in line.

Staycations are popular once again this July.

“Junk journalism” appears to be a chaotic form of scrapbooking.

Older generations are baffled by Charli XCX’s “brat aesthetic” and, frankly, I’m not entirely sure I fully get it either.

Lemme say tho that I was an OG Charli fan and my fav track remains “Track 10” (actual title), deep cut (?), off of her (still best) album “Pop 2”.

Older generations still don’t know what a “finsta” is… I learned late in the game, too.

It’s a fake Instagram account so kids can look all wholesome to their parents and then the, uhh, not G-rated Instagram account can be privately shared with friends.

Seems like Gen Z is getting into Pinterest.

Hybrid vehicles remain the most sensible option for the time being.

Consistent Recommendations:

ONE ART: a journal of poetry – daily poems

Verse Daily – daily poems

Chill Subs – down to earth submissions resource

** Want to subscribe? Get a discount using this ONE ART exclusive affiliate link.

Becky Tuch’s LitMagNews – literary community news & essential resource

Trish Hopkinson – resource for the literary community

Erika Dreifus – resource for the literary community

C. Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers –weekly email newsletter contains invaluable short essays

The Poetry Space_ with Katie Dozier & Timothy Green (podcast)