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I read three other books between the day I began Sophie’s Choice and when I completed it. It was among the strangest books I’ve read: it had moments of pure drudgery, of self-indulgence, of compelling storytelling, of discomfort, of confusion, of literary triumph. When I reached the moment of the titular choice, all my struggles through the purple prose and plodding details felt worthwhile. But at that moment of completion, I had no words to describe my experience. Only a few months later did my feelings, and this post’s title, coalesce. ...

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." ...

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.1 Starting at 11 in the morning on the “cool, clear, and bracing”2 day of July 1, 1859, Amherst faced Williams in the first recorded “Base Ball” game between two colleges. ...

My several-year-long nerd snipe has comprised inspecting the inspection certificate in every elevator I enter. Who watches the watchers? I do. I focused on Connecticut legislation throughout this, though I expect the broad strokes are similar in many states. ...

This has been a hectic month, and I need more time to finish some planned posts. So, I’ll fall back on that old crutch of using this blog as a limited journal of a few notable events. Pizza Erin and I participated in New Haven’s record-breaking pizza party. We were two of the proud 4,525 people who ate two (small) slices of pizza and drank eight ounces of water in the generous span of fifteen minutes. We then walked around and enjoyed the festival: I tried Sally’s for the first time, had a cannoli, drank some local beer, and received a promotional 10" pizza box for the effort. ...

We spent a long weekend in Toronto, and much like our trip to New Mexico, I’m not sure that I’m capable of fully sharing that experience in words. Unlike the trip to New Mexico, I’m going to give it a shot. ...

Enjoy these brief scenes featuring Artemis Diehl, an American businessman renowned the world over. ...

Mark Armour has worked on his Satchel Paige Project for a few years. It’s an amazing feat of historical research about one of the most enigmatic characters and players in baseball history. It’s worth looking through regardless of your overall interest in baseball. If you’d like to hear a good conversation about the project, I suggest listening to episode 2352 of Effectively Wild, which is how I first learned about this work.

Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels: September is around the corner, and that means our campaign to raise money for St. Jude is back! I’ve listened to Relay shows for years, and I’m always excited about and proud to nominally participate in their fundraising campaign for St. Jude each year. I’m one audience member who gives what he can, but I know every little bit makes a difference. Whether you care about podcasts or this podcast network in particular, supporting the resesarch and medical care that St. Jude provides for pediatric cancer is important. I’m a regular donor to a few organizations but St. Jude is my largest recipient, partially because of what they do, and partially because it’s thrilling to be part of a community joining together to do amazing work. The Relay network isn’t huge, but its generous and wonderful community members make an outsized impact. ...

I have a work trip to San Diego and all my other blog post ideas need more time, so here’s a quick list of my favorite tech media. I stick with these outlets for their staunch commitment to quality and independence; they’re all owned and run by excellent people with that ineffable and intangible quality of taste. These lists aren’t in any particular order. Websites Daring Fireball 512 Pixels The Verge Six Colors Podcasts ...