OMM (On My Mind) – November 2023 – #2
~ findings & research ~
::: The Open :::
Dear Reader,
If there’s anything in particular you’d like me to write about, please reach out and let me know.
A current goal is to “Pick my battles wisely and with intention” insofar as what I decide to write about. Otherwise, I end up going down all sorts of rabbit holes that I’m not sure are of great interest to readers.
If you’re a subscriber, please consider reaching out to a friend you think may enjoy this newsletter and encourage them to sign up.
If you can, please consider signing up as a Paid Subscriber. I’ll be just as happy if you donate to ONE ART: a journal of poetry.
Thank you for reading and for your time.
With Gratitude,
Mark
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::: Personal Notes :::
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I wrote a piece that appears in Becky Tuch’s substack LitMagNews.
'Demystifying the Editor/Writer Relationship: Submission and Etiquette Guidelines'
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Much gratitude to Erika Dreifus for including my piece 'Demystifying the Editor/Writer Relationship: Submission and Etiquette Guidelines' (published in Becky Tuch's Lit Mag News) in her new edition of 'Finds for Writers'
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::: Coming Soon :::
New ‘On Your Mind’ posts in conversation with poets and writers.
If you’d like to write about what’s On Your Mind, please reach out and we’ll discuss.
::: Music :::
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‘Even In Grief, Ben Kweller Won’t Disappear Again’ (Stereogum)
This interview with Ben Kweller is so good, and touching.
It’s a long read and I highly recommend taking the time.
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Older Gen Z / Young Millz have [re]discovered shoegaze. I’m all for it. (The Zillennial Zine)
My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, and Ride are certainly good places to start, right?
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::: Weekly Podcast Recommendations :::
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Fresh Air – Matthew Perry (a look back at an earlier interview)
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Hidden Brain – Healing 2.0: Change Your Story, Change Your Life
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The Pitchfork Review – Debating the Best Songs of 2023 (two parts)
This is really just a bit of fun. Light listening if you will.
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::: The Arts & The Literary World:::
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New Release:
‘When We Walk by: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America’ (Bookshop)
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Article in Nice News about the book.
“[We’re] willing to group the mother with a child who’s escaping a domestic violence situation to someone who has severe mental health issues that are untreated, to LGBTQ youth leaving their family to try to get by, to someone who’s lost their job, to someone who’s coming out of the criminal justice system,” he explained. “All of that in popular discourse is kind of grouped together as ‘the homeless.’”
“That tendency leads us to view those experiencing homelessness “as problems to be solved rather than as people to be loved,” Adler says. And that in turn results in an unhelpful, one-size-fits-all course of action.”
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A wealthy person decided to build a bunch of tiny homes for his community’s homeless population. Why can’t more people use their wealth for similar purposes? (Good News Network)
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[on] The book-owning habits of Americans (Book Riot)
Not to do a “Whataboutism” argument but… what about audiobooks?? How many audiobooks does your average American own?
Seriously though… 20% of Americans only own “between one and ten books” (!?!?!)
Ok, so, they can move a little easier than the rest of us… but that is a sad way to be.
How many books does a bookish minimalist own? Is 100 the cutoff? Buy 1, Must give away 2?
Hot Take: People who organize their books by color are more interested in interior design than they are in reading.
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Elsewhere… it’s been found that maybe more than 5% of Americans read poetry.
“Nearly 12 percent of U.S. adults read poetry or listened to it via media…” (NEA)
The 12% figure includes “streaming”.
Let me add that 5% is not bad given contemporary competition from other mediums. Some would argue that 5% is a comfortable niche for lovers of poetry. On the other hand, many of us would like for our words to travel and reach more eyes & ears.
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How cool would it be to land this opportunity (!?):
ANNOUNCING THE RETURN OF OUR COLUMN CONTEST
by McSWEENEY’S INTERNET TENDENCY
Please submit only one entry per author. Pick your favorite idea and run with it. Deadline for the contest is November 30, 2023, at 4 p.m. Eastern time. Winners will be announced no later than December 15, 2023.
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The November Poem-A-Day Challenge is here from Robert Lee Brewer and Writer’s Digest.
It’s totally okay if you’re getting a late start. Better late than never, right?
2023 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Guidelines
If you didn’t already know, this contest, as well as one in April for National Poetry Month, are hosted annually.
In my opinion, it’s more about getting yourself in the daily writing habit than attempting to write a good, effective, and cohesive collection in the matter of a single month.
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I highly recommend poets & writers consider signing up for Chill Sub’s ‘The Sub Club Newsletter’. It’s truly an exceptional resource and they are being generous by charging so little. You can learn more on the Chill Subs website and their Substack.
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Graywolf Lab: interdisciplinary conversations and new writing from Graywolf Press
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‘The Emptiness Of Literature Written For The Market’ (NOEMA)
“Each one of the Big Five is a conglomerate operating any number of semi-independent imprints that used to comprise a dynamic ecosystem.”
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Stephen King is writing a prequel to Cujo.
IYKYK. Those who have read King’s ‘On Writing’ may recall his story about writing Cujo…which involves not exactly remembering writing Cujo.
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Data on The National Book Award… is a reminder that we’re all, um, biased. Sure, let’s say biased. (data)
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‘White-guy novels: Nathan Hill’s Wellness and Ben Fountain’s Devil Makes Three, reviewed’ (Slate)
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::: Health & Wellness :::
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Based on my recent hospital experiences… I’m sad to say that it seems certain facilities are being graded on a curve.
“The 10 states with the highest number of “A” hospitals are Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Connecticut, Montana, Tennessee, Florida and Texas.”
“States that had no “A” hospitals are Vermont, Wyoming, Delaware and North Dakota, as well as Washington, D.C.”
God forbid you have to go to a C or below hospital. Yikes.
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It’s ethical to pretty much live on potatoes. Is this a balanced diet? Well… (Visual Capitalist)
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‘Autonomous Drone-Delivered Defibrillator Helps Save Cardiac Arrest Patient Within Minutes’ (Nice News)
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It will come as no surprise that a high-sugar diet is very unhealthy.
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‘Drugs aren’t required to be tested in people who are obese. Here’s why that’s a problem’ (AP News)
“But if drugs aren’t studied in a condition that affects 42% of the U.S. population, the real-world consequences can be dire, experts said.”
Whenever you hear about clinical trials they always make a point about saying only “healthy individuals” can participate. I’ve never been able to participate as I’ve always been on at least one prescription medication.
This seems intuitive and yet why are we only hearing concerns now?
I would hazard the answer is that secretly (not so secretly) there’s a form of discrimination going on here. We (society) are most concerned with keeping healthy people healthy. There’s this sense that anyone who has an issue (whatever that may be) is somehow damaged goods and not a top priority. You can feel it in the air.
As well we know, life’s not fair and we do not live in a just world.
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‘Mind-altering ketamine becomes latest pain treatment, despite little research or regulation’ (AP News)
I learned firsthand recently that the opioid epidemic has handcuffed doctors, even Emergency Department doctors, from giving out opioids under many circumstances. Overall, it’s good they are being hesitant and there are other medications (including NSAIDs) that are often suitable (or even preferable) depending on the medical scenario.
When someone is actively in acute pain, action needs to be taken. I’m fully convinced that it’s not good for the body to be in severe pain for a prolonged amount of time. I’ve been told that this is certainly true in the case of pain, in general. Pain that is left untreated can become chronic pain. Once a person has chronic pain, it can be very difficult to undo. This is because the body adapts.
While I agree we should be cautious about newer forms of treatment that have not been time-tested, ketamine treatments under doctor supervision are showing promise. This is also true of psychedelic mushrooms and MDMA. I’ve encouraged before checking out Michael Pollan’s book (and/or four part documentary) on the matter.
It’s also not exactly true that these treatments have not been tested. They have. For many years. And they’re not new-fangled designer drugs either. The FDA is surprisingly quick when it comes to pushing through a new SSRI (or related) compared to regulations surrounding the use of substances that are familiar but come with baggage.
I’m by no means encouraging experimenting with substances. All of the above statements involve taking medications under doctor supervision and, in many instances, in a medically supervised setting.
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Here’s an article from Vox that just came out.
‘Psychedelics can have enormous benefits, but the risks shouldn’t be ignored’ (Vox)
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‘A mom whose 19-yr-old died by suicide has a vital message for parents about marijuana today’ (Upworthy)
“Stack explained that Johnny had "dabbed" since he was 15 or 16. "Do you understand the difference between smoking pot (and some edibles) and dabbing high-THC wax, shatter, or butter?" she asked. "Most of my friends look at me blankly when I say these words and say, 'I've never even heard about this.' If you don't know what cannabis extracts are, and you have children, grandchildren, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews between the ages of 14 and 24, PLEASE keep reading."”
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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::
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‘Spotify Premium subscribers can now listen to over 200,000 audiobooks for free’ (CNBC)
I took some time to see what is available and was… very impressed.
This really puts having an Audible subscription in question.
Spotify is offering a great deal of good *new* books… for free… with a subscription that many already have for streaming music. And Audible has gotten even more expensive over time.
In fairness, Audible (owned by Amazon) does offer some great audiobooks with an active subscription. I get it, but still. I periodically pause my membership (annually) because these days I simply don’t get through audiobooks fast enough to keep up with the monthly credits. It’s an expense I’ve never been thrilled about. With all this in mind, Spotify is really giving Audible a run for… Lemme cut myself off here and say I realize that music services are not properly compensating artists. This isn’t fair or good or acceptable, by any means. Amazon is currently under fire for “allegedly” having a monopoly. Competition with Spotify (even though Spotify is imperfect) is still healthy for the overall market.
A caveat: I haven’t tested this yet… but it does seem that Spotify is capping total free audiobook listening hours to 15-hours per month. They estimate this to equal about “two audiobooks” which is certainly not the case in many instances. That being said, there is the opportunity to skip around and theoretically listen to a few hours of several audiobooks in a single month as you slowly go through a number of texts.
Not sure what happens when you run out of hours… Presumably they then expect people will shell out the funds to buy the full audiobook to final it out. A more reasonable solution, in my opinion, would be to offer a subscription model that allows you to pay a few extra dollars per month based on the amount of audiobook listening you partake in. 50 cents per hour?
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Gen Z is helping reshape the workplace. (Axios)
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"The greatest odds of hitting an animal on the highway are in West Virginia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, Virginia and Missouri, the insurer said. The odds range from 1 in 38 in West Virginia to 1 in 80 in Missouri.
Nationwide, the odds of hitting an animal are 1 in 127."
"To put that in perspective, the odds of finding out your child is a genius are about twice that, at 1 in 250, and the chances of catching a ball at a Major League Baseball game are more than quadruple that, at 1 in 563, State Farm actuaries have said."
(State Farm)
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Back to cash?
Using a credit card can cost consumers 2-4% for each transaction. This is often justified by cash back rewards or some sort of “points” system. In any case, the businesses still bear the brunt of fees and that’s led to surcharges. The National Retail Federation reports these charges coset the average U.S. family about $1000 each year.
The Verge weighs in on cash discounts.
Increasingly, I personally try to make sure to use cash at small businesses. It’s always appreciated. It’s usually vocally appreciated as in I’m actively thanked for doing so. Plenty of local businesses will also round down because they know they’re saving money when you pay in cash. Something to consider next time you order pizza. It’s fairly well-known that restaurants operate on very slim margins. You’re doing both sides a favor when you pay in cash.
I’ve written about tipping in cash before. I’ll double down on the importance of that while reminding that, in many scenarios (and I’m not talking about touch screens where you are tipping for no apparent reason) it’s appropriate to tip 25% (or close to it). 25% is the new 20%.
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Meanwhile, it seems Gen Z (see: TikTok) is still into #CashStuffing. This is not a new concept. It means you take cash for different expenses and separate them into envelopes. It’s a way of making sure you can pay your bills and save money. It also means you’re keeping a lot of cash around the house, which is not ideal. I’d suggest using an Excel spreadsheet or keeping a notebook with all your expenses and writing it out by hand. Writing by hand makes you more aware.
Maybe what this says more than anything else is that Gen Z is extremely cash-strapped and living paycheck to paycheck. If you have enough money in the bank to cover your expenses (and then some) you’re probably not thinking about carefully separating bills into envelopes.
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‘Why Being Near Water Really Does Make Us Happier’
“Without water, then, we miss a part of ourselves, perhaps.” (CN Traveler)
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‘The Science of Wanderlust’ (CN Traveler)
It’s possible there may a chemical/biological/genetic component.
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Shout-out to Doylestown, PA
‘9 Underrated U.S. Towns’ (The Discoverer)
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Countries where people feel the most safe:
Kuwait, Singapore, Tajikistan, Norway, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Luxemburg, Finland
Countries where people feel the least safe:
Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Chile, Ecuador, Eswatini, Liberia, Myanmar
Lesotho
Source: Gallup
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The Most Popular Dog Names by State and Across the U.S. (U.S. News and World Report)
Overall?
#1 Bella
#2 Luna
#3 Max
#4 Daisy
#5 Charlie
#6 Coco
#7 Buddy
#8 Lucy
#9 Milo
#10 Bailey
See the full list though… there are some…odd choices. To each their own, I suppose.
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The Nature Conservancy -- 2023 Photo Contest Winners
I’ll admit my personal snapshots can’t compete.
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‘Neo-Nazis and the Far-Right Are Trying to Hijack Pro-Palestine Protests’ (VICE)
No one should be surprised by this.
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An explainer on the economics of ALDI (YouTube)
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‘An Alabama mayor ended his life after a website showed pictures of him cross-dressing’ (NPR)
We live in a hateful and intolerant world.
Suicide should not be the outcome in this situation.
We need to do better as a society.
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‘Mike Johnson’s Wife Runs a Counseling Service That Equates Being Queer With Bestiality’ (them)
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A look at why people immigrate to the U.S. (Visual Capitalist)
Only 1.9% of immigrants come to the U.S. for safety.
“Safety: Includes refugees and asylees, as well as immigrant visas and new arrival green cards issued for fears of safety or persecution.”
Meanwhile, 41.8% of immigrants come to the U.S. to work and 32.2% come to the U.S. for education.
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‘Rats may have power of imagination’ (The Guardian)
Testing on rats is sounding even more unethical…
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‘If it seems like there are a lot of acorns this fall, you might be seeing a `mast' year’ (AP News)
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‘AI’ is Collins Dictionary’s word of the year (CNN)
Personally, my vote is for “precarity”.
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“Cherelle Parker has been elected Philadelphia's 100th mayor, winning decisively 75% to 25% over David Oh. The Northwest Philly native will be the first woman and first Black woman to ever serve in the role.” (WHYY/NPR)
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Rhode Island voters made history by electing Gabe Amo (Dem) as the state's first Black congressman.
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Someone was hired as a full-time Taylor Swift reporter. Frankly, I’m surprised this was not already a position at some “news” agency. Hey, and they say there aren’t any good jobs out there. (Variety)
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“Larger, fancier homes are being built”
This isn’t new.
I don’t know why some houses have 3 bedrooms and 7 bathrooms, but I think all modern houses should have at least a ½ bath for each permanent resident in the household as well as at least one additional full-size guest bathroom.
Does anyone actually like carports?
There are so many unnecessary features in houses… maybe we can focus on the basics… like a solid foundation and a long-lasting roof. We all read about those three pigs…
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How to Improve Teacher Retention and Burnout (Gallup)
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‘How a signature pen has been changing lives for 5 decades’ (CBS News)
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‘Chaos as Optus outage disconnects half of Australia’ (Reuters)
After an internet outage for most of a weekday, hearing this new from Australia has me thinking… We’re in dangerous territory. So much of our lives are dependent on the internet in its various forms.
Maybe we should reconsider keeping a landline around… just in case.
And this emergency radio can even keep your phone charged.
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‘Waze will now warn drivers about crash-prone roads’ (Popular Science)
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‘Abandoned golf courses are being reclaimed by nature’ (CNN)
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‘Building Black wealth through community real estate ownership’ (Brookings)
"For households that do own CRE [commercial real estate], the average white household owns $34,000 of it, compared to just $3,600 for the average Black household."
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‘Read Philadelphia Mayor-elect powerful victory speech’ (Billy Penn)
"My life should be a textbook case study on how you turn pain into power."
— Cherelle Parker
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‘Jezebel: Feminist media site shuts down after 16 years’ (BBC)
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The IRS released new tax brackets. It’s more complicated than it appears on first glance once you start considering the “marginal” aspect. (CBS News)
See the “How to determine your tax bracket” section…
Please consult a financial advisor. This is above my pay grade.
On the subject, I cannot recommend enough the value of a good accountant.
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‘Dengue rates drop after release of modified mosquitoes in Colombia’ (Nature)
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‘Glowing Fingertips And Green Eyes: First-of-Its-Kind Monkey Chimera Born in China’ (Science Alert)
The word “Chimera” is neat, right?
As Google will inform you, “Chimera” has at least three distinct meanings:
Greek mythology: A fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail
Something made up: Something that only exists in the mind, such as a dream, fantasy, or delusion
Biology: An organism that contains a mixture of genetically different tissues, such as a human with two or more different sets of DNA
Genetics: A person who has cells from two different sources, such as a non-identical twin pair
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‘7.3 Months Without Alcohol Lets Brains Repair Damage From Heavy Drinking, Study Finds’ (Science Alert)
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‘Ranked: The World’s Most Popular Apps by Downloads’(Visual Capitalist)
This visual tells you a lot of what you need to know about the Attention Economy
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‘Outrage grows after ‘chilling call for genocide’ by Florida Republican’ (Guardian)
Everyone should be outraged.
This is extremely disturbing and not at all helpful.
Civilians are innocent bystanders. Period.
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‘First-Gen Social Media Users Have Nowhere to Go: The collective erosion of X, Instagram, and Facebook marks a turning point for millennials, who are outgrowing a constant need to be plugged in.’ (Wired)
“Social media today is less driven by actual social connection. It is powered by the “appearance of social connection,” says Marlon Twyman II, a quantitative social scientist at USC Annenberg who specializes in social network analysis. “Human relationships have suffered and their complexity has diminished. Because many of our interactions are now occurring in platforms designed to promote transactional interactions that provide feedback in the form of attention metrics, many people do not have much experience or practice interacting with people in settings where there are collective or communal goals for a larger group.” This has also led to people being more image-conscious and identity-focused in real-world interactions, too, Twyman adds.”
We’ve gone from “plugged in” to… something else. And that something else has been worrisome for a long time.
That being said, I really value my online connections and many people who I’ve never met in person have become dear friends. We sign off emails with “Love” and mean it.
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‘See the cities with the highest — and lowest — cost of living’ (Axios)
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::: News of The Weird :::
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DiGiorno releases… Thanksgiving pizza??
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“When will frozen iguanas start falling from trees in Florida?” (The Hill)
I haven’t seen them fall but I’ve seen the iguanas. They’re big and they will chase you (when they’re not frozen…)
“While the green reptiles may look dead, it’s best to leave them be—and don’t bring them into your home because once the temperatures heat back up, they’ll revive and start to walk around.”
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‘Cattle producer Colin Deveraux survives crocodile attack after biting back’ (ABC News)
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Hatfishing. (The Zillennial Zine)
I admit it, I got more into hats when I started losing my hair.
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::: Google Trending Searches This Past Week :::
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“mori style outfits” … light research indicates these outfits have something to do with looking like you live in the woods
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The "burnt toast theory" is a viral theory on TikTok that suggests that setbacks can lead to something good.
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Silent walking. I’d reckon this pairs well with talk of “nature bathing”.
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Aura nails are in.
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People are understandably concerned that hair products may have health risks.
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“Walmart adding daily "sensory-friendly" store hours” (Axios)
Sounds nice. Thing is, you still have to deal with the treacherous fluorescent lighting.
Having spent shifts in a Walmart (not as a Walmart employee), hours in Walmart are not healthy. There’s a reason people abandon shopping carts in the store partway through a shopping trip. It’s an unpleasant environment in many ways.
All this without even addressing the working conditions and the wake of destruction in Walmart’s history.
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Searches for Abraham Lincoln spiked
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People are already on the hunt for Christmas movies
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Searches for “tea” have reached their highest point (since Google starting keeping track)
Vietnam is the top region for tea searches, followed by Taiwan and then Honduras
Green tea gets 3x more searches than black tea (in the U.S.)
Iced coffee is searched for twice as much as hot coffee
People are searching for tea in the context of “sore throat” and “cough” quite a bit as well as, interestingly, “weight loss”
Recent trending tea flavors:
#1 Ginseng
#2 Spearmint
#3 Peach
#4 Citrus mint
#5 Chai
People also search a lot for boba and bubble tea
Recent search trends:
#1 Mochi
#2 Thai
#3 Taro
#4 Lychee
#5 Honeydew
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It sounds like a lot of folks are going to be making/eating green bean casserole for Thanksgiving.
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