romanticizing anything I possibly could
Poetry, that nine-month cruise, and more nostalgia
first off
Just last week, I talked about how I’m starting to submit my work to literary magazines again, so I want to start out by sharing that one of those pieces has already been accepted for publication and will be out in April. The most amusing part, to me, is that it’s a new piece (I’d spent a lot of last week’s newsletter talking about how I was trying to place older material). In fact, this piece was in my work-in-progress folder until I saw a themed call I thought might be a good fit and decided to toss it in for consideration. That one didn’t work out, but a few days later, I connected with a publication that wanted it as part of another very satisfying themed call — you’ll see.
(Quick sidebar: This process is not usually this quick. According to my own stats, the longest I’ve ever waited to hear a “yes” was about eight months, though that’s a big outlier — it’s usually around 2-6 months. “No” varies a bit more, but trends shorter. I’m saying all this to clarify that I wasn’t expecting to have heard anything from anywhere yet when I wrote about this process last week, much less a “yes.”)
The piece that’s being published is a poem. But, as I wrote last week, categorizing writing can be a little nebulous sometimes. It’s about seven lines in a Word doc and was inspired by a 12-word idea I jotted down in my phone’s notes app, and it’s in paragraphs! Two paragraphs! But I submitted it as poetry because, well, vibes? The piece may only be about nine times longer than the notes app jotting that inspired it, but I was really intentional about matter-of-factly overwhelming the reader with imagery in a way that doesn’t come across in my longer prose writing. That’s the poetry that’s typically stuck with me — you don’t have to dig too deep for meaning, you don’t have to get the references or have special knowledge; all you have to do is read it. (Some people would say this applies to all poetry, but I am not one of those people. There is a lot of “good” poetry that I don’t get, that’s just not for me.)
Here are a couple of examples of poems I like, for context: Mark Strand’s “Keeping Things Whole” is a quick hit, and Jill McDonough’s “Love and the Deli Counter” paints a vivid picture, adding detail after detail until you’re sure you’re there.
This will be my first published poem since 2018, and I’m excited for you to read it.
one rec
The 9 Month Cruise - TikTok's Insane "Reality Show" by Pinely (1:27:17)
I remember wanting to follow along with the inevitable drama on the infamous nine-month cruise when I first learned this was a thing people were doing. But as time passed, I found that I didn’t want my TikTok For You tab to be dominated by nine-month cruise content in real time. So I really appreciate this thoroughly researched chronological recap, and especially the analysis of how social media (and social media personalities) enhanced the spectacle of the nine-month cruise.
wholesome scroll
Last week, I shared the first 25 items of a list I made in 2010 of 100 things that make me happy. Here’s 26 through 50 (with commentary as needed):
Professors that are 100% badass
A professor I had in undergrad saved my life, so.Apple crisp
Sneaking outside food into movie theaters
Harry Potter
She didn’t have to say all that. She didn’t have to torch her career. But she did, and here we are.iChat emoticons
I’m not sure if “emoji” was in popular use in 2010? When you typed an emoticon into AIM and it turned into a smiley face or whatever, I don’t think we had a name for that. Please let me know if you remember otherwise.Finishing a really long book
Reading outside in the sun
Hugging people who smell nice
This is me romanticizing anything in my life that I possibly could, and sure, fine.Pokémon
Finding old photos of myself I don’t remember taking
The way I make my lowercase F’s
Nothing too fancy — at the time, I started the long line from the bottom and crossed it in the middle like usual.Alan Zweibel
I’d read exactly one book of his, The Other Shulman, and I don’t remember it enough to shed more light on this.Teen lit that’s actually quality literature
My nostalgia drawer
I remember a tangle of sports medals being in here, but I’m not sure what else.When things just make sense
Being in the company of a good friend
Being alone when it’s really necessary
Philip Glass
Apple products
New Zealand
I’m lucky enough to have been twice (once before writing this list, most recently in 2023) and I cannot stress enough how beautiful everything is at all times. It’s overwhelming.
Lake Pukaki The view from an airplane window at 40,000 feet
Going to SF Giants games with friends
Laughcrying
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up”
Real:Now the standard cure for one who is sunk is to consider those in actual destitution or physical suffering — this is an all-weather beatitude for gloom in general and fairly salutary daytime advice for everyone. But at three o'clock in the morning, a forgotten package has the same tragic importance as a death sentence, and the cure doesn't work — and in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day.
Being familiar with a city