The Newsletter Leaf Journal XLVIII 〜 The newsletter-elect
Welcome to the 58th edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. After having eight articles to share with you for the last newsletter, we return to normal with five new articles this week. Those New Leaf Journal article summaries will be accompanied by our usual assortment of content from around the web and news and notes about the site.
Table of Contents
- New Leaves From the Week that Was
- Leaves From Around the Web
- The Old Leaf Journal
- Most-Turned Leaves of the Week
- News Leaf Journal
- Taking Leaf
1. New Leaves From the Week that Was
Things returned to normal after our record-setting eight-article week last week. However, “normal” still means we published five new articles for your reading enjoyment.
“The Inspiring Political Comebacks of Byron Brown and Vito Fossella”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 7, 2021.
Whether the comebacks I describe in the article are “inspiring” is up for debate, but both stories are interesting. Byron Brown, the four-term Mayor of Buffalo, failed to take seriously a primary challenge from a self-described “democratic socialist”, and he was unceremoniously defeated. However, he decided to try to hold his seat in the general election via a write-in campaign, and he succeeded decisively. Mr. Fossella was a Republican Congressman from 1997-2009 whose career was ended by a scandal that involved his driving under the influence and the resulting disclosure of a second family. More than a decade after his fall from grace, he returned to politics to win the election for Borough President of Staten Island.
“Ed Durr Walks To A Stunning Election Upset In New Jersey”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 8, 2021.
After covering two New York elections, I shifted my coverage next door to New Jersey. There, a political neophyte trucker by the name of Ed Durr defeated the longest serving New Jersey State Senate President in state history, Stephen Sweeney, while spending less than $10,000. I updated the article on Thursday when Mr. Sweeney formally conceded to Senator-elect Durr.
“My Glass Cannon is Tankier than Expected 〜 Lysithia-Fire Emblem Story”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 10, 2021.
In the early days of The New Leaf Journal, so early that we had not started this humble newsletter yet, I had a memorable campaign in the Nintendo Switch strategy game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. On a stage that my small army was not adequately leveled for, my archetypal glass cannon mage character, Lysithia, turned out to take physical attacks more easily than any member of my army. It was a perfect storm that led to this strange point, and the storm subsided for future campaigns. But here, I tell the story of that one time my glass cannon was tankier than expected.
“‘The Little Genius’ - An 1879 Short Story For Children”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 11, 2021.
Reprinting and discussing a very short children’s story from the November 11, 1879 issue of Harper’s Young People. The article includes the original illustration that accompanied the story.
“A Walker’s Review of BLUPOND’s Knight Vision Night Driving Glasses”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 12, 2021.
I have dealt with absurdly bright car headlights in Brooklyn by wearing driving glasses on my evening walks. I offer a walker’s review of my pair of driving glasses, for that is the only kind of review that someone who has never driven a car can offer.
2. Articles From Around the Web
Now for six articles from around the world wide web.
City Journal: “A Moderate Revolt in Buffalo”
Dave Seminara and Brian Anderson. November 11, 2021.
An interview on the Buffalo mayoral election that I discussed in my article on inspiring comeback stories. It includes details that I was not privy to about Mr. Brown’s failing to take the primary seriously and subsequently reversing his fortunes in the general election. Do note the author is not a fan of Mr. Brown or his opponent, but like the majority of voters in Buffalo, had considered Mr. Brown to be the superior option.
The Register: “FYI: If the latest Windows 11 really wants to use Edge, it will use Edge no matter what”
Thomas Claburn. November 11, 2021.
The anti-competitive and privacy points go without saying, but I am going to attack this from a different angle. At least Edge is perfectly useable now. Imagine if Microsoft was this aggressive in pushing the pre-Chromium version of Edge. Now that would be brutal.
Reason: “Voters Don’t Want To Pay for Your Dumb Stadium”
Eric Boehm. November 5, 2021.
While much of the media focused on the election results in Virginia, voters turned out in smaller elections in cities across the country to vote down plans to use their tax money to pay for sports stadiums. From the article:
“If stadiums really were the cash cows that cities promise they are, there would be ample private funding for them. After all, cities don’t need to use public funds to build commercial properties like warehouses and office buildings—because those projects can be reliably trusted to turn a profit.”
Allow me to add that stadiums are almost always eye-sores.
Fox 32 Chicago: “77-year-old man with a concealed carry license shoots and kills robber in Chicago, police say”
Staff. November 7, 2021.
A robber by the name of Mr. Bernard Patterson attempted to rob a lone 77-year old man at gunpoint in Chicago. The attempt ended poorly for the robber, for the elderly gentleman was a retired firefighter with a concealed carry license. It goes to show that even when a criminal picks his or her target carefully, some things are still left to chance.
Tyblog: “Building My Ideal Router For $50”
Tyler. April 9, 2018.
Interesting project.
SoraNews24: “Bootleg anime cakes? Charges filed against Tokyo woman for selling unlicensed Demon Slayer sweets”
Casey Baseel. November 11, 2021.
Rather than weigh in on the merits of arresting a woman for selling cakes with her own chocolate pen drawings of anime characters, I think about how this principle could help New York City. What if someone was similarly aggressive in enforcing copyright violations on the mascot panhandlers in Times Square?
3. The Old Leaf Journal
Now for an article from our archive…
“Veterans Day and World War I Double Quarantines”
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 11, 2021.
My 2020 Veteran’s Day article covering the first-hand account of World War I solder Carleton Burr and his brief “double quarantine” during the war.
4. Most-Turned Leaves of the Week
For every newsletter, I review the most-visited New Leaf Journal articles of the week, according to our privacy-friendly local analytics solution. The ranking covers the seven-day period between newsletters, beginning on Saturday and ending on Friday. The week leading to this newsletter was the 45th “Newsletter Week” of 2021. Below, you will find the most-read articles of Newsletter Week 44 along with additional information about each article.
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“The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei“
Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 14, 2021.
Last Week: 1. Weeks in Top Five: 29 (18 in first). -
“How to Find Substack RSS Feeds and Other Notes“
Nicholas A. Ferrell. June 19, 2021.
Last Week: 2. Weeks in Top Five: 13. -
“Installing Ubuntu Touch on an Asus Nexus 7 (2013)“
Nicholas A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.
Last Week: 4. Weeks in Top Five: 13. -
“The Last Stand of Constantine XI“
Nicholas A. Ferrell. May 30, 2020.
Last Week: 3. Weeks in Top Five: 17. -
“Persona 4 Golden Digital Artbook Review (Steam)“
Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 15, 2020.
Last Week: 7. Weeks in Top Five: 35 (6 in first).
Analysis
My Tsuki ga Kirei post had its best week as it notched its 29th consecutive appearance in the top five and 18th at the top of the ranking. Behind Tsuki ga Kirei, my post on RSS feeds for Substack newsletters posted its best week, benefiting from being shared by an RSS-centric Twitter account. My articles on installing Ubuntu Touch and on the last stand of Constantine XI rounded out the top four, which has featured the same articles for the past three weeks. The top five was rounded out by the return of my Persona 4 Golden artbook review, which was published nearly one year ago to the day.
While my Tsuki ga Kirei articles looks poised to top the rankings for the tenth week in a row, we may begin to see a few surprises toward the bottom half of the top five.
5. News Leaf Journal
For this News Leaf Journal, I will provide progress updates on a few projects.
I am working on a pair of articles about my phone, the Teracube 2e running the /e/ OS mobile operating system. At the beginning of the month, I stated that I would also write a review of the Ubuntu Touch operating system by UBports as it runs on my 2013 Nexus 7. I became aware that the new release of the operating system is coming on November 19, so I will focus the review on that new release. I may also try to squeeze my review of the PocketBook Color e-reader into November, time permitting. My review of the Pine Time smartwatch will wait for December.
December will also feature two sets of anime reviews. Last year, I posted an article on my recommended anime series from the 2011-2020 decade. This year, I will review the year that was in 2020, having watched just about all the series I had some level of interest in this year. Furthermore, I will also work on a separate post briefly recapping the best series for each year from 2015 to 2020 as a lead-in to the 2021 year-in-review.
If you are reading this newsletter well after November 11, 2021, some of the projects that I mentioned above may already be published on The New Leaf Journal.
6. Taking Leaf
Thank you for joining me for another issue of The Newsletter Leaf Journal. I look forward to returning next week to report on our new content and the other assorted news and notes that you can expect from our humble newsletter.
Until we meet again,
Cura ut valeas.