OMM – September 2024 – #1

~ a curated selection of discoveries ~

::: The Open :::

Dear Reader,

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With Gratitude,

~ Mark

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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.

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::: Personal Notes :::

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I have a poem, 'Honest to God', in Mobius: The Journal of Social Change

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Someone was nice enough to dig around in the “Mark Danowsky archives” and gave me a compliment on a poem of mine published in 2020.

The poem, ‘The Old Towns’, was published in The Ekphrastic Review.

If nothing else, ekphrasis provides artists with a way to engage with artforms other than their primary modes of expression. It’s good practice. And sometimes you create something that has the capacity to stand on its own without the requirement of direct knowledge or interaction with the original work. That’s the ultimate accomplishment for ekphrastic work, in my opinion. I’m not implying that I succeed at this goal in the example of ‘The Old Towns’.

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Haiku

Michael Dylan Welch shared my post-game write-up of his haiku workshop on his website. The presentation is even more readable. I hope you’ll check it out on Graceguts. While you’re there, be sure to take a look at the MASSIVE archive of exceptional essays Michael has written over the years. Truly phenomenal work. If you’re interested in haiku, then Graceguts is the place for you. Just no rhymes, please.

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::: ONE ART :::

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We’re a few weeks away from Kari Gunter-Seymour’s ‘Screw the Rules’ poetry workshop. I hope you’ll consider joining us!

Screw the Rules—Let’s Just Write
Instructor: Kari Gunter-Seymour
Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Time: 6:00-8:00pm (Eastern)
Price: $25

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::: Podcasts :::

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I recommend checking out recent podcast episodes by many of the usual suspects, including— Hidden Brain and The Poetry Space_.

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::: Music :::

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I’ve been liking Chappell Roan more than I anticipated.

‘California’, ‘Good Luck, Babe’, ‘Casual’, ‘HOT TO GO!’

The video for ‘Pink Pony Club’ is fun[ny].

I woke up with ‘Casual’ in my head one morning… felt lowkey awkward as it should be.

I’ve been trying to figure out, for myself, why Chappell Roan’s music clicks for me and yet, for the most part, I’m struggling to connect with Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’. Searching for reasons other than “I’m too old.”

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The Get Up Kids – Something to Write Home About (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (Pitchfork)

I’m not all that interested in the reissue itself… but this review is a fun read.

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Pitchfork’s Top 50 Albums of the Year so far.

RIYL being confused by RIYL.

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::: The Literary Community & Beyond :::

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I enjoyed a look back at Marjorie Maddox’s selections for ‘Poetry Moment’ including the newest selection ‘Sweat’ by Nathalie Anderson.

In the recent archives, you’ll find poems by Todd Davis, Hayden Saunier, Ann E. Michael, Barbara Sabol, David Livewell, Amy Small-McKinney, Steven Deutsch, Gary Fincke, Brian Fanelli, David Bauman, Lynn Levin, and plenty more.     

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Erica Verrillo is back with lit community resources for September 2024:

41 Writing Contests in September 2024 - No entry fees

67 Calls for Submissions in September 2024 - Paying markets

33 Splendid Writing Conferences and Workshops in September 2024

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In case you need to upgrade tools in your writing/art space.

A few ideas from Austin Kleon.

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‘Leonard Riggio, who forged a bookselling empire at Barnes & Noble, dead at 83’ (AP)

An interesting life story and legacy. 

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‘Publishing Advice from a Serial Submitter to Literary Magazines’ (Amy L. Bernstein in Jane Friedman’s blog)

Casting a cold eye on submissions.

“And if you are allergic to competing, then maybe getting published isn’t for you.”

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‘How a British billionaire posthumously roasted the art gallery he funded’ (NBC News)

“It was revealed this week that, during a refurbishment, construction workers demolishing the columns found a note Sainsbury had hidden inside one of them while it was being built in 1990.”

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::: Health & Wellness :::

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‘Arts and Crafts May Support Well-Being Even More Than Having a Job: Study’ (Nice News)

“Crafting and other artistic activities showed a meaningful effect in predicting people’s sense that their life is worthwhile,” lead author Helen Keyes of Anglia Ruskin University explained in a news release. “Indeed, the impact of crafting was bigger than the impact of being in employment.”

It’s these sorts of findings that arrive as a notable reminder about why a shorter work week and working less hours would behoove Americans.

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“Around 36% of American adults are earning money through a side hustle, per a 2024 Bankrate survey.” And this is because the cultural norm of side hustles has somewhat died down from all-time highs. 2023 polls suggested about 50% of Americans had a side hustle. When we’re officially in the next recession, I’m going to be we get back to more than 1/3. It shouldn’t have to be this way. It didn’t used to be this way. This is a systemic issue and we can fix it… but that’s not in the interest of the richest and most powerful.

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Scrolling that is less doom-y…

If you’re scrolling, try to slow down and enjoy it. (Guardian)

Basically, research appears to indicate you’re better off paying attention to a single video, really trying to focus and take it in, even if it’s not the most complex or serious material, rather than watching a few seconds of lots of videos/content. It sounds like we’ll feel better after. Maybe less of a sense of time wasted and more of a sense that we came away with something worthwhile, even if that something is simply a sense of having let ourselves relax while adsorbed in something that’s not highbrow or “important”.

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‘Humanity’s newest brain gains are most at risk from ageing’ (Nature)

“The large prefrontal cortex provides evolutionary and cognitive advantages over non-human primates — but there’s a cost.”

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::: Small Explorations & Deep Dives :::

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Everyone always wants to believe they’re Middle Class.

I’m sure there are quite a few households taking in excesses $400,000 (with plenty of liquidity and assets) who also feel Middle Class.

Here’s some data:

‘The Line Between Middle Class and Upper Middle Class in Every State’

The difference between the low end and the high end are substantial.

‘How the American middle class has changed in the past five decades’ (Pew)

‘The State of the American Middle Class’ (Pew)

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Speaking of the world of work…

Australia just passed the “Right to Disconnect” law.

In short, unless a request is deemed absolutely necessary, employees should not be contacted outside of their agreed upon work hours.  

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“Americans are taking sick days—Gen Z especially. Human resources platform Dayforce found that sick leave jumped 55% from 2019 to 2023, while data from Gusto, which serves 300,000+ smaller businesses, showed 30% of white-collar workers taking sick days last year, a 42% hike from 2019, Business Insider reports, when 21.1% took sick leave. Both platforms also found younger workers were leading the not-toughing-it-out charge: Dayforce said sick leave rose more from 2019 for workers under 35, and Gusto found that the 24–35 set was taking more sick time than older colleagues. Experts attribute this post-pandemic rise in calling out to several factors, including Gen Z’s willingness (and need) to take mental health days.” (Morning Brew)

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Men may go through a real evolution… eventually.

Sadly, it’s unclear if our planet, let alone humanity, will stick around this long.

‘The Y Chromosome Is Slowly Vanishing. A New Sex Gene May Be The Future of Men.’ (ScienceAlert)

“In humans, as in other mammals, females have two X chromosomes and males have a single X and a puny little chromosome called Y. […] The X contains about 900 genes that do all sorts of jobs unrelated to sex. But the Y contains few genes (about 55) and a lot of non-coding DNA – simple repetitive DNA that doesn't seem to do anything. But the Y chromosome packs a punch because it contains an all-important gene that kick-starts male development in the embryo.”

11 million years from now… there may be multiple human species.

Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll still find plenty of ways to be super obnoxious to each other.

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Mosquito season is getting longer in some parts of the U.S. (WaPo)

The stuff of nightmares. My nightmares to be specific.

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“Less than half of nonretirees (45%) expect they will have enough money to live comfortably upon retirement.” (Gallup)

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Recession.

There’s some alarming evidence that everyday people are short on funds.

Notable uptick in people buying sausages (cheaper meats) and a decline in men’s underwear sales. I want to point out that neither scenario applies to me.

Data shows more than 50% of parents are going into debt buying back-to-school tech for their kids.

On a grim note, there’s a rise in “unclaimed corpses” at morgues… because burial costs (and other methods) are expensive.

Analysts are calling attention to atypical indicators because the usual metrics (red flags) that would indicate we’re in a recession have not revealed the evident reality.

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The Kelce kids are up to a boatload. Beyond their $100M podcast deal, Jason joined ESPN as an analyst and Travis has been more than dabbling in Hollywood suggesting a potential eventual pivot.

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‘Harris plans to tax unrealized stock gains — but only for people worth $100 million’ (NBC News)

This is upsetting people on who expect to one day be this wealthy… as if that is one of the more likely American Dream outcomes in the 21^st Century.

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“There are half a million paper millionaires out there. Fidelity researchers say that 497,000 401(K) accounts have balances of at least $1 million.” (QZ)

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You may or may not have read about “corn sweat” in the Midwest due to recent heat waves. It’s not a good sign. It makes hot days feel even more oppressive.

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“Only four states, Vermont, Maine, West Virginia, and Mississippi have majority rural populations in the entire country.” (Visual Capitalist)

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“OpenAI says more than 200 million people use ChatGPT every week — doubling in a year” (Tom’s Guide)

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::: Google Search Trends :::

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Most searched “why do [astrology sign] ...” actions

past month, US

·       Why do Cancer cheat?

·       Why do Aquarius run away from love?

·       Why do Scorpio hold grudges?

·       Why do Gemini ghost?

·       Why do Libra talk so much?

·       Why do Sagittarius shut down?

·       Why do Aries like to fight?

·       Why do Leo go silent?

·       Why do Capricorn pull away?

·       Why do Virgo act like they don't care?

·       Why do Pisces ignore you?

·       Why do Taurus push away love?

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Most searched “are [astrology sign] …” 

past month, US

·       Are Cancer liars?

·       Are Aquarius stubborn?

·       Are Scorpio loyal?

·       Are Gemini sensitive?

·       Are Libra indecisive?

·       Are Sagittarius loyal?

·       Are Aries stubborn?

·       Are Leo loyal?

·       Are Capricorn loyal?

·       Are Virgo emotional?

·       Are Pisces trustworthy?

·       Are Taurus stubborn?

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Most searched “why … parents [birth order]”

past year, US

·       Why do parents ignore the oldest child?

·       Why do parents hate the middle child?

·       Why do parents favor the youngest child?

Most searched “why [birth order]...”

past year, US

Oldest child

1.     Why is the oldest child the shortest?

2.     Why does the oldest child get blamed for everything?

3.     Why is being the oldest child so hard?

Middle child

1.     Why is the middle child always hated?

2.     Why is the middle child always forgotten?

3.     Why is the middle child always left out?

Youngest child

1.     Why is the youngest child the favorite?

2.     Why is the youngest child always spoiled?

3.     Why does the youngest child get away with everything?

Only children

1.     Why are only children weird?

2.     Why are only children so sensitive?

3.     Why are only children spoiled?

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Consistent Recommendations:

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American – daily news with historical context

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 

Jane Friedman – blog, email newsletter, resource for the literary community 

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

Commonplace: Conversations with Poets and Other People (podcast hosted by Rachel Zucker)

The Gray Area with Sean Illing (podcast)

Hidden Brain (podcast)

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