Category: Ideas

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An 1859 Note on Citizenship

While reading through the Springfield Daily Republican to investigate early baseball games, I found an opinion piece discussing naturalized citizenship in the United States. This paragraph stuck with me in light of the current administration. The emphasis partway through is mine.

The truth is that Mr. Cass and his party have receded from the doctrine always hitherto held by our government. The right of voluntary expatriation has always been the American doctrine. It is the true doctrine, for if there is any universally acknowledged civil right it is the right of each human being to choose his place of residence on the globe. This right is as unlimited as is the corresponding duty of each man to submit to the government and laws under which he has placed himself. When a foreigner becomes a citizen he is not admitted to half citizenship, but is wholly a citizen, endowed with all the rights, subject to all the liabilities and entitled to all the protection of a native born citizen. The constitution and laws make no distinction between the two classes, with the single exception that the president of the United States must be native born.”

People have spent decades, centuries, sharing thoughts that remain salient for today. Additionally, no media is too poor to have good ideas, nor is any media too good to have poor ideas.

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Amherst Wallops Williams in Two Consecutive Years

While the modern iteration of Amherst College’s baseball team is approaching three decades of minimal success in NCAA Division III, its origins date back over 165 years. That’s before John Smoltz was regularly announcing how much he hates baseball on national baseball broadcasts, before Nolan Ryan demonstrated the thrilling force of old man strength, before the Shot Heard Round the World, before the Iron Horse, before the Red Sox were cursed or Mordecai Brown lost the end of his index finger.

The team began before rules were consistent.1A note on the genesis of this post: On a train ride back from the Newark airport I searched for “Baseball” in the Hartford Courant archives on Newspapers.com, set my sights anywhere starting in 1839, and sorted by oldest available reference. Since 1839 is apocryphally considered the year when Abner Doubleday established the modern game of baseball, it’s a useful starting point for the search. But it took several more decades before there was standardization. Starting at 11 in the morning on the “cool, clear, and bracing”2Springfield Daily Republican, July 2, 1859. day of July 1, 1859, Amherst faced Williams in the first recorded “Base Ball” game between two colleges.

Continue reading “Amherst Wallops Williams in Two Consecutive Years”
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    A note on the genesis of this post: On a train ride back from the Newark airport I searched for “Baseball” in the Hartford Courant archives on Newspapers.com, set my sights anywhere starting in 1839, and sorted by oldest available reference. Since 1839 is apocryphally considered the year when Abner Doubleday established the modern game of baseball, it’s a useful starting point for the search. But it took several more decades before there was standardization.
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Surviving the Card Aisle

I’m a certified card guy. A notable greeting card enthusiast. A frequent mail-based correspondent. I think Bob at my local post office recognizes me.

I purchase two or three birthday cards from my local grocery and drug stores each month, and I don’t cut corners. I am steadfastly selective. Below are my card criteria I recommend everyone use to ensure a meaningful choice, and to encourage card manufacturers to improve their options.

  1. Any card you buy must, upon first read, elicit an audible laugh or a shrug.
  2. If you anticipate the card’s punchline, it’s not funny enough.
  3. Avoid crude humor unless the recipient regularly tells and enjoys such jokes.
  4. Singing cards are an intruding embarrassment, unless you’re confident the recipient finds them charming.
  5. Select cards with no more than two sentences of text in the interior. One sentence is preferred. The only exception is if it’s tremendously funny.
  6. When in doubt, choose a card that plainly states the occasion on the outside and lacks inside text altogether.
  7. If you find a card that would be ideal for a particular person in the future, buy it.

Happy shopping.

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Revisiting Morning Pages

I discussed morning pages just over one year ago when I was one month into the practice and, as it turned out, one month away from dropping it. My last set of morning pages was July 27, 2024.

I’ve been in a creative rut over the last couple months, often writing blog posts last-minute, not making progress on other projects, and not even taking time to read consistently. It’s hard to pin down a cause but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t try a treatment. I’ve written 1000 words of morning pages each day of the past week, having made two changes that I hope will help it stick.

First, I created a simple shortcut on my phone, iPad, and MacBook that builds a new morning page sheet in Ulysses, requiring only a single tap (or click) to begin writing. This reduces any potential friction in the process and, by adding the shortcut to my home screens, keeps the process in mind immediately upon waking up. Even when I consciously choose to complete some or most of my morning puzzles first, I won’t push it back too far.

Second, I’m treating these morning pages as less of an additional journal and more of an exploration of my creative brain. I definitely get out thoughts related to recent events and day-to-day miscellany, but I want to treat morning pages as a space for my brain, unencumbered by a long day, to let loose and find elements of my creative voice that I’ve misplaced. I’m using to freely explore new blog post ideas, play with perspectives and literary devices to make them more engaging, more of what I want to read. Having a goal beyond mental decluttering has made the time feel more worthwhile without putting additional pressure on the concept.

Even after a few days I can sense my brain is refreshed and excited to tackle projects old and new. A year was too long, but I’m glad I decided to restart regardless.

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Indiana Pi Bill and Irrelevant Authority

There are better sources for exploring exactly how the current political regime’s actions rhyme with other populist and fascist movements. Instead, let’s consider a story that is tamer while also being emblematic of current policies.

In 1897, a state representative in Indiana attempted to legislate that a disproven mathematical statement was true and, in the process, implied that π is equal to 3.2.1An excellent, detailed account by Arthur Hallerburg at Valparaiso University can be found here.

Continue reading “Indiana Pi Bill and Irrelevant Authority”
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    An excellent, detailed account by Arthur Hallerburg at Valparaiso University can be found here.
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A Quick Note on “Sports Fan”

I don’t recall what I was listening to when this popped into my head, but I was curious about the origin of fan used to mean a “supporter” or “devotee.” I recently installed Terminology across my devices and set the Online Etymology Dictionary as a preferred resource.

According to them:

1889, American English, originally of baseball enthusiasts, probably a shortening of fanatic, but it may be influenced by the fancy, a collective term for followers of a certain hobby or sport (especially boxing)… Fan mail attested from 1920, in a Hollywood context; Fan club attested by 1930.

I’m pleased that the best-guess origin is with baseball.

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Two Good Essays

These are two essays by a couple of “guys on the Internet” whose work I enjoy. John Gruber created Markdown and now works in the Apple/tech media space. Merlin Mann used to be Merlin Mann, one of the first modern productivity gurus. Now, he’s essentially a comedic personality. Both are tremendous writers, and these two essays are supremely affecting and have unique styles that show the authors flexing their muscles.

Cranking by Merlin Mann, posted April 22, 2011. (About parenting and priorities.)

How It Went by John Gruber, posted November 8, 2024. (About the election, kind of.)