…some won’t be about baseball. Every one of them will be built from the same components: love; attention; curiosity; pain; fear; the need for connection; and research (done by me, a human person). Will anyone care? I dunno, but I can’t control that. I’ll worry about the shit I can control. 2/2
OK here's the deal: I’m angry about AI and scared of the world being born but I’m going to keep making these human things, books written by a person, 100% free of LLMs. I can't control whether or not people/publishers want them, but I’ll keep on as long as I can. Some will be about baseball... 1/2
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is hitting .425 during his 10-game hit streak đź’Ą
But what if -- hear me out here -- he *wasn't* the closer?
jeff hoffman is an issue
Bay of Islands from Mt. Burke
Franklin Carmichael
1931
A can of beer, specifically Ice Cold Beer by Left Field Brewery in Toronto, sits on a wooden railing. In the background trees and a blue sky are visible.
Me, a middle aged white guy wearing glasses and a Toronto Blue Jays cap.
In a way that doesn't hold up to logic, these first few glorious spring days feel, by virtue of the hard winter that preceded them, like something we've earned. (Which makes the cold and flurries coming our way feel like a cruel corrective.)
Anyway, happy Friday. Hope it's nice where you are.
Couple of recommendations. First, listen to this episode of @thetwinbill.bsky.social podcast featuring author Andrew Forbes @utilityofboredom.bsky.social. Andrew's books rock. Second, listen to/read more Twin Bill content! thetwinbill.com/about/
bookshop.org/beta-search?...
youtu.be/9qWinrbR4xQ?...
Thanks, Dan. And yes, seconded: read/listen to The Twin Bill!
This is a hellish time to be alive, but I'm cheered this rainy night by the memory of the time that I, a lowly content inputter, when learning that I lived in the same rural community as my employer's CEO, said to him, "We should totally carpool," and I've never seen a human look more uncomfortable.
Jeeeeezus.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-57...
(Apologies @sjonespoet.bsky.social it wouldn't tag you earlier during the Great Bluesky Glitch.)
I was thrilled to form a jury with @sjonespoet.bsky.social and spend much of the winter poring over the amazing entries. The decision wasn't easy, but we were blown away by the winner and the runners-up. Looking forward to keeping up with their work. I'm grateful to the SWG for the opportunity. 2/2
The Saskatchewan Writers' Guild recently announced the winner of the Regina Writing Award: Medrie Purdham, for her poetry collection "The Solve." The runners-up were also outstanding: Keegan Grandel ("Lineage”); and Carla Harris (“The Accumulation of Waiting”). 1/2
skwriter.com/about-swg/ne...
The MLB-approved statement the teams’ broadcasters are reading about Jackie Robinson Day is an embarrassment. Jackie didn’t face “adversity” — he faced loud, violent, entrenched racism. He integrated baseball & saved it from collapsing in on itself. Say that.
Congratulations!
Can’t tell you how much I loved this book. One of the best I’ve read about the game.
Thanks, Chris!
One year ago today we published Field Work: On Baseball and Making a Living by @utilityofboredom.bsky.social
⚾️⚾️⚾️
If you haven’t read it yet, now’s the perfect time to scoop up a copy from your local bookstore or library - it pairs well with a snack and a live game 📖 🥨🏟️
Heyyy! Thank you! But yeah, there certainly are bits that haven't aged well.
C cleaned it up a bit, made sure it's in working order, and today, with spring here, we bolted it to the work bench in the garage. This thing is amazing. Enormous. You could crush some v substantial things with it. C's already using it to debark an applewood branch he's been drying. Cool stuff. 2/2
A massive V-shaped black iron vise bolted to a work bench.
C found this while scrambling around under the cottage (which began as a 12x12 shack built ca.1960). It's a blacksmith's leg vise, aka a post vise, and it's a monster, 40" tall, solid hand forged iron, weighs a ton. C's been obsessed with mounting it and using it to do... whatever. Cool stuff. 1/2
Valenzuela is too handsome to be a catcher. A catcher (with a few exceptions obvs) should look like a stubbed toe. Lumpy. Battered.
youtube.com/shorts/-CAmu...
Text exchange with my daughter: Kid: Section 212 :)) super sweeetttt Me: Good spot. Catch a foul ball for me! Kid: I'll do my best fight a man if I have to M: That's my kid. K: love you :))
Kid's at the Jays game. Lined up early to get the Springer bobblehead. Package secured.
Go Jays.
Heroic.
Baseball is fun, but funner when your team wins.
PLUCKY DAVIS SCHNEIDER ELECTS TO WIN THIS BALLGAME ALL BY HISSELF
I might be hooked. This is as good as square breathing for bringing me back to level after ingesting the latest global horrors via my pocket horror delivery system.
