Doves are distinguishable from the common pigeon in several respects. They are smaller, more twitchy around people, and their wings make a distinct whistling sound while flying. But sometimes they remind you that there is not too much distinguishing them from their close cousins. In one article, I documented a dove taking advantage of its size to barrel through a grouo of sparrows to get to something it wanted to eat.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/on-doves-and-pigeons-in-brooklyn/
Two years to the day, I published an article about refilling a bottle of sunscreen. I plan to publish a follow-up this afternoon. Let no one say I am not consistently publishing the hottest of hot takes.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/refilling-water-gel-sunscreen-bottle/
Last year, I became tired of seeing articles about Palworld appear in my feed reader. I decided to remedy the issue with a filter. Sometimes things slip through the filter.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/palworld-article-feed-reader-filter-evasion/
I was browsing the indoor plant section of Lowe's in Gowanus (a neighborhood in Brooklyn, NYC) back in 2021. I noticed something unusual on one of the plants: A sparrow. Instead of telling everyone that I saw a sparrow, I used my photo and anecdote as inspiration for an original NLJ fictional dialogue.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/justin-justina-the-sparrow-in-lowes/
Back in 2021, I wrote a dialogue about the quince. While I was in the topical area, I also wrote about some quince recipes from the 1733 edition of Mrs. Mary Eales’s Receipts (which is available on nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpqks70cf3wt30sn2gqjnw4zjtd7ztwnnaq4fy0azpdvtlthg7eqrpqr2gtst ).
https://thenewleafjournal.com/quince-recipes-from-mary-eales-receipts/
Back in 1999, a classmate told me about a "secret cave" behind Bill's house in Pokemon Red/Blue and the necessary entry conditions. I remembered his story and conducted some research more than two decades later. I discovered his "cave" story was similar to the Bill's Secret Garden legend, but it seems like his version was somewhat unique. In any event, my article discusses the story I heard and the more common versions I found through research.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/bill-secret-garden-pokemon-urban-legend/
A news story about a man robbing 14 Dunkin Donuts locations brought me down memory lane -- not because I have ever robbed a Dunkin Donuts (perish the thought) or been present for a robbery (other than seeing someone feel like he was robbed when the coffee he paid for was lukewarm), but because I regularly frequented two Dunkin Donuts locations in high school and college. The differences showed me that not every location is the same.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/dunkin-donuts-are-not-all-the-same/
I use nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnddaehgu3wwp6kyqpq3d7yl3wtrc5jueveqnv3cg3gc6ys4362hhuk9n4ek22c5yn9rx8skstw9k to build and mail a weekly newsletter (The Newsletter Leaf Journal). Each edition of the newsletter comes with 21 links from around the web with my commentary. How do I find and format 21 links for each edition of the newsletter? I wrote a New Leaf Journal article explaining my link collecting and formatting workflow.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/my-newsletter-link-saving-workflow/
As we look ahead to another NYC mayoral election, I look back at an article I wrote four years ago wherein I picked apart a depressing and ultimately ineffective campaign website.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/the-awful-about-page-for-sara-tirschwells-nyc-mayoral-campaign-site/
I saw a domain called papersowl.com in my referrers a couple of weeks ago. I decided to see what it was. It appears to be a service for buying school papers -- although if you dig it does seem to have some plausibly less dubious offerings. Thoughts ensued.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/dubious-school-paper-service-referral/
The news about a Saudi Arabian company acquiring Pokémon Go reminded me of stories from the early 2000s about Saudi religious authorities "banning" Pokémon. In a research-type article, I look back at the original 2001 Pokéban and examine the peculiar history of Pokémon in Saudi Arabia.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/pokemon-and-pokemon-go-in-saudi-arabia/
Issue 225 of The Newsletter Leaf Journal features links to my five newest articles, 21 links from around the web with my sometimes-punny commentary, and other news and notes from the week that was.
I published an article on a small change to my home internet setup. I use an ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 modem and MikroTik hAP ac3 router (wi-fi disabled) and kept those to parts. I swapped my basic TP-Link wireless access point for a NETGEAR WAX 202 functioning solely as an AP. For the NETGEAR, I installed OpenWrt (I suppose it counts as a backup router too). My TP-Link AP also found a new life...
https://thenewleafjournal.com/my-openwrt-netgear-wax-202-access-point/
I recently published a photo article about a brave decorative pumpkin in a knit hat seen outside a Carroll Gardens brownstone on January 11, 2025. While the pumpkin was hanging in there, it was showing signs that caused me some concern.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/b/75A
I regret to inform readers that as of the afternoon of February 9, 2025, the brave pumpkin has "deflated"
Unfortunately the brave pumpkin didn't make it into the image thumbnail with the automatic cropping.
I recently published a photo article about a brave decorative pumpkin in a knit hat seen outside a Carroll Gardens brownstone on January 11, 2025. While the pumpkin was hanging in there, it was showing signs that caused me some concern.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/b/75A
I regret to inform readers that as of the afternoon of February 9, 2025, the brave pumpkin has "deflated"
Back in 2021, I wrote an article about an unpleasant dress code situation in a Japanese middle school. One Japanese student who had naturally brown hair was forced to dye her hair black to conform with a dress and grooming code which was ostensibly designed to ban unnatural hair colors. Readers will see a link to a follow-up article just below the introduction wherein I discussed the Tokyo school system's decision to move away from this policy (not directly related to the case I wrote about in this article). My post comes with my own U.S.-based hair style-dress code anecdote (one I witnessed, not directly involving me).
https://thenewleafjournal.com/around-the-web-hair-dye-in-japanese-schools/
Four years to the day, I published a photo post centered on BLOB DYLAN graffiti seen in a rare trip to the Brooklyn NYC neighborhood of Bushwick. That post ended up becoming the start of a series and research project. Link to the series collection is in the article.
Two years to the day, I wrote a story/strategy guide for the first paralogue chapter in the then-recently released Fire Emblem Engage for the Nintendo Switch. The extra battle had a definite difficulty spike compared to the regular campaign and I was slightly under-leveled. I came up with a cheesy approach to dealing with two enemies late in the stage and thus avoiding having a couple of hours of work unraveled.
(PS: I still need to finish Engage...)
https://thenewleafjournal.com/tiki-paralogue-trick-in-fire-emblem-engage/
Two years to the day, I told the story of how me and my friend and sometimes-New Leaf Journal colleague, Victor V. Gurbo, temporarily birdnapped a pigeon in Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn NY to remove twine tied around its feet -- all, thanks to Victor, without inadvertently amputating the pigeon's feet.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/nlj-brooklyn-nyc-pigeon-rescue-story/
Back in 2023, I was inspired by a news story about Cuban nationals illegally enterting the United States via hang glider to put the knowledge I have gleaned from my day job as a legal researcher and writer in the area of U.S. immigration law to terrible use -- a new fictional dialogue covering the secret Hang Glider Citizenship Clause, a shadow provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
https://thenewleafjournal.com/the-hang-glider-citizenship-provision/