Author Topic: In the New Yorker...  (Read 1925082 times)

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2660 on: February 07, 2021, 11:48:24 am »
Wow, I'm in awe! Regarding my idea, I would have no intention of actually submitting it, but it's just a nice thing to think about.

So, here's my idea. You know those recipe blogs on the Internet? You google something like "blueberry cake" and click on the first thing that pops up. So there's a catchy title and a scrumptious photo of mouth-watering cake with blueberry filling oozing out. Then, the first paragraph tempts you with the recipe's best features: only one pan to clean up! Cooks in 30 minutes! You can substitute any kind of berry! Followed by a close-up of a fork going in to the fluffy cake.

Then follows a rhapsodic account of the author's memories of blueberry picking on a summer morning in Michigan, followed by a photo of a pail full of blueberries.
Then follows a ... you get the idea. If I were to follow the usual formula, it might include the author sculpting the head of Napoleon completely in blueberries, or something like that.

At the bottom, instead of the recipe there is an alert saying "message clipped."
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2661 on: February 07, 2021, 12:15:17 pm »
That's a great idea! Personally I hate those long musing essays on memories of the food -- I just want to get to the recipe, so I usually scroll through them. I'm sure some people like them. In any case, they'd be a great target for satire, and I haven't seen a S&M on that topic.

If you write it, it only has to be about 500-750 words. Try writing a quick draft and see where it takes you! If you like it, you could polish it up and send it off. Mine came from a Facebook post that I wrote quickly off the top of my head and then later realized I could expand.

The actual online submission process is very easy. Getting it accepted is probably close to impossible if you don't have an agent. But there are at least a couple of other places to try. I also submitted mine to a literary contest on Dec. 31 (the deadline of the contest) so I'll let you know if I win.



Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2662 on: February 07, 2021, 12:37:02 pm »
I'm reading Luke Mogelson's article now.

Your thoughts?
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2663 on: February 07, 2021, 04:40:23 pm »
I'm reading Luke Mogelson's article now.

Your thoughts?

Be afraid. Be very afraid. And I ain't jokin'.

I was discussing the situation, not the article, with a friend yesterday, and I wondered, How many Timothy McVeaghs are out there now?
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2664 on: February 07, 2021, 04:57:16 pm »
Did you hear about the guy, a reformed QAnon member apparently, who apologized to Anderson Cooper for having once thought Cooper ate babies? I mean, I don't know if that particular guy has a high school diploma but it's hard to imagine graduating from elementary school and believing some of those things. At least without plenty of evidence. I'm still not sure I even believe Armie Hammer practices cannibalism, and didn't that come straight from him?

(I saw a headline in some respectable outlet saying "Armie Hammer rumors are offensive to ethical cannibals" or something like that. I didn't read the article and now wish I had -- what would constitute ethical cannibalism for those who haven't survived a plane crash in the Andes?)

Our local newspaper cartoonist just did one about ... well, why explain it in words?






BTW, Jeff, it was from you I first heard of Occam's Razor, back in probably 2006. Or at least the first time I heard it outside a college classroom. Now I use it a lot.



Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2665 on: February 09, 2021, 12:39:14 pm »
Here's a link to Jill LePore's article on cyber hacks, which are much worse than we thought:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/02/08/the-next-cyberattack-is-already-under-way

Looks like the Year 2000 scare happened, 20 years later than we thought.
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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2666 on: February 09, 2021, 01:41:20 pm »
I just read where hackers tried to poison a Florida city's water by changing the chemical composition remotely.  :o
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2667 on: February 09, 2021, 07:38:24 pm »
I just read where hackers tried to poison a Florida city's water by changing the chemical composition remotely.  :o

That has made national TV news.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2668 on: February 14, 2021, 10:07:25 pm »
I thought I was by way of catching up on my magazines, as I had two with me when I was at my father's place. However, I never looked at either one of them while I was there. Still, I have made headway.

I'm surprised no one has commented on Dorothy Wickenden's Jan. 25 article on Frances Seward and other women she knew and their involvement in Abolitionism and women's rights, or on Akash Kupur's article on the Himalaya.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: In the New Yorker...
« Reply #2669 on: February 15, 2021, 10:34:28 am »
Well, I'll have to catch up a bit first. Last night I read an article by Nathan Heller about cars in American culture. It was from July 2019.