Orioles Opening Day 2025!
Lineup for opener against the Blue Jays + Roster to start off the season
Here we go! ⚾
Was recently reminded of the mind-expanding video, “I, Pencil: The Movie”, based on the essay by Leonard E. Read.
And gotta love the opening Chesterton quote:
“We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders." - G.K. Chesterton
If you haven’t seen it before, or it’s been awhile, take a moment to appreciate the wonder of the pencil and what it signifies about modern human interaction:
Business must be run at a profit, else it will die. But when anyone tries to run a business solely for profit, then also the business must die, for it no longer has a reason for existence. —Henry Ford
I’d seen this a few years back and forgot it existed (I think it may not have been that attractive at the time). But bookmarking here as I can see using this for small business purposes in the very near future.
Steve Martin, of course, is an American treasure. I can return to his work time and again, and still find a good laugh, even when I know what’s coming.
One example, his acceptance speech for the Mark Twain Award, which he won in 2005:
Approaching 100 playing golf & staying active
Warm story of a woman approaching 100 while enjoying life & staying active. Definitely wanna say this is true when I get there too.
It seems also that folks who reach this age just have a real down-to-earth and generally positive outlook, which I have to imagine plays a role too. (Certainly genetics are part of the story as well I’m sure.)
WSJ article about MLB’s scramble to update its revenue model before it’s too late.
Chief among the changes, consolidating broadcast rights into an option that eliminates blackouts (something that’s akin to punishing your most ardent fans).
Looks like 2028 may be the earliest that’d be possible, based on when certain rights contracts expire. And there’s also the need to get the bigger clubs on board.
Politics aside, this chestnut shared in Peggy Noonan’a WSJ column this week prompted a literal LOL moment. 😂
Well, the O’s are off and running with their first spring training game today. Not exactly one for the record books, but hey, at least we’re moving again. 🙂⚾️
From today’s Baltimore Sun, Bernard Coleman shares the SLIP method for helping changing your, or other’s, thinking.
“Festina Lente” // “Make Haste Slowly”
An old Latin phrase I heard on a podcast at some point last year* - it keeps coming back to me.
Part is that, it’s good to remember that the end is not as far off as it may seem. Part is that, good things take time, they happen bit by bit, there’s a cumulative effect. Some things that count cannot be done in a ‘sitting’, or even a decade. If you do not string together, you’ll not have accomplished anything of length.
And so there’s an immediacy, a pressure to do something now. While there’s also a patience and a plodding, one step, then the next. But most of all, there’s a need to be moving in the same direction, lest, after countless steps, one has not yet left the room.
(*”OptimalWork” podcast)
Apparently ChatGPT added a “Projects” feature, a way to house and interact with related data and even define constraints for that Project.
Continuing to explore this brave new world.
Baltimore Sun 48-year columnist submitted his final column yesterday, Sunday, January 12.
I’ve always appreciated his take on things, even if I didn’t always arrive at the same conclusions. You can tell he loves his town, tells the story of the everyman, and was always looking for ways to help encourage the positive.
Although I’ve only been a follower for the last 6-7 years, thank you for your unique personality and perspective that you brought into the paper each day - You’ll be missed.
(The Editor-in-Chief’s salute.)
There’s just something about a winterscape - it’s stark and bleak, but somehow also pregnant with a life of its own.
Bob’s Red Mill Oatmeal
The best oatmeal you ever will have - Gentle on the stomach, smooth taste, pairs well with a cold morning (and honey stirred in). 🍯👍🏼
It seems we’re at that special time of year: the baseball solstice ⚾️☀️ —> Half-way between the last pitch of the Fall Classic and the first pitch of Spring Training.*
(*Note: I have not verified the math, but seems about right.) ;)
From this year’s Christmas haul:
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“The Good, the Dad, & the Punny” by Logan Lisle of Dock Tok fame
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A Teflon “bone folder” from the folks at Dry.Inc
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MLB.tv subscription for next year ⚾️
😀
Merry Christmastide to all! - Let’s keep the celebration going all 12 Days! 👶🏽🌟🎄
“Who are you when you do not exist?
“… When the question presents itself as an alien chill, it is saying something important: it is an accusation. It is telling me I am too concerned with trivialities. That life is losing itself in trifles which cannot bear inspection in the face of death. That I am evading my chief responsibility. That I must begin to face the deepest of all decisions — the “answer of death” — the acceptance of the death sentence – and with joy, because of the victory of Christ.
—Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
Not the news wanted for this area:
‘An 80% drop in multifamily transactions in these counties, while investment in northern Virginia up 155%’ … Remains to be seen how permanent or temporary, but clearly a shift.
Insurance and Taxes Now Cost More Than Mortgages for Many Homeowners
In September, 32% of the average single-family mortgage payment went to property taxes and home insurance,
Kirby Ferguson’s (of Everything is a Remix fame) list of apps he uses, a.k.a. “Tools of the Trade 2025”
Includes things like free video editors, notation app, affordable image editors, favorite niche browser, YouTube video downloader, and more.
If you’re looking to do something you can’t do now, this can be a good place to check. :)