iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

25 years ago today, I packed two suitcases, flew from St. Louis to New York City, and settled into a YMCA that rented rooms with shared bathrooms by the week. I had no job, no contacts, no idea how I was going to make it. But I'm still here.

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Anyway, I'm deep in book proposal muck but will try to take a break and write a post on this soon. I met my wife in NYC, my daughter was born in Manhattan, and I still work here. I look back at that person 25 years ago and wonder if he'd think that this is what he was after.

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People all around me were crying and I realized right away that this wasn't my city, that even if I somehow found work and an apartment, I'd never be a New Yorker. That feeling has never really left me.

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I signed up for free internet at the library every day and applied for jobs. Otherwise, I wandered around. The streets south of Canal Street had just opened, and I went down to Ground Zero. It was blocked but you could still see and smell it. It was overwhelming.

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I had originally bought a ticket for September 14, 2001, but that got cancelled for obvious reasons. I thought of calling the whole thing off after 9/11, but then rescheduled instead. I had never spent any significant time in NYC, couldn't have even named the five boroughs.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

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Things are happening are happening so fast at my daughter's age that I can no longer tell what's a milestone. First time riding a pony? First time eating soup? First time saying "please"? Just part of a regular week now.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

"Digger" has been getting the sort of reviews that make me want to watch the movie more, not less--just not in the cinema.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I usually don't recommend books until I finish them, but I read 25 pages of John Valliant's "Fire Weather" this morning and it's extraordinary. The writing is so vivid and precise, such a stellar combination of depth and beauty. Can't wait to keep going.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

That one has a lot more sight gags. Ava had no idea what any of the kids were doing in the Halloween episode, but she liked it when Snoopy flew a plane.

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That whole bit about Lucy having a signed document that was never notarized flew right over her head.

Watching "Great Pumpkin" with my daughter for the first time and it's holding her attention. Her only criticism is that it needs more Snoopy.

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A fun game I play every morning is to go to the National Review homepage and try to guess who they think the president is.

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It’s cute that National Review and the Wall Street Journal still think that anti-Mamdani editorials will move the needle.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This is perhaps the most banal parenting observation ever, but having a child does wonders in grounding you in your community.

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It's the 75th anniversary of the "shot heard 'round the world" and in true Charlie Brown fashion, I was always more interested in the losing pitcher, Ralph Branca. I read tons of interviews with Branca, and he accepted his lot in baseball history with class, grace, and humor.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

It's the 76th anniversary of "Peanuts." Last year, to celebrate 75 years of the comic that made me want to write, I wrote a piece on Charlie Brown, Norman Vincent Peale, and the "power of positive thinking" as it applies to our current situation. substack.com/@lukeepplin/...

substack.com

Charlie Brown and the Futility of Positive Thinking

A celebration of "Peanuts" at 75

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Big day for you, Mr. President.

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I see that we're at the "Watergate was fine and Nixon was framed" stage of the presidency. What took so long?

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Again, man, that is a *very* weird thing to say.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm just trying to understand why you would respond to a joyous picture of my daughter eating pizza with a weird thing about how Italian immigrants had to eat pizza to not starve.

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It's certainly stressful when a family member/friend tells you they're reading your book. I had a family member tell me that I should be proud of "Moses and the Doctor" and I went in circles about whether that was condescending or innocent. (The latter, but authors assume the worst.)

Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The thing you realize when you publish a book is how difficult it is to get anyone to read it, whether friends or family or colleagues. It's a demand on their time, and you feel extremely grateful when someone surprises you by finishing it.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A fellow parent at my daughter's school texted to let me know that he read my book and it was such a grand gesture of friendship that I feel moved to babysit his daughter for a year as a token of thanks.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

There's certainly a dividing line: those who came before Magic/Bird are much easier to get a hold of. You can just cold-call Bobby Jones or Billy Cunningham and they'll answer and chat. Can't do that with folks who came after Bird/Magic.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm not surprised--Bird and Magic's representatives both made clear to me that neither was available, ever. Not all ex-athletes can be like Dr. J.

Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I'm not surprised. Keith researched the heck out of that story. Great book.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Dude, that is a *very* weird response....

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Here's the thing: Hot Springs National Park has a long history with professional baseball. It was a spring training site for many clubs. If you want to do a national park game, that's where it should be, not some place with no tradition attached to it. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

washingtonpost.com

Trump administration considers building baseball park in Grand Teton National Park

Major League Baseball contacted the administration about hosting a game in a national park, with an agency official scouting Grand Teton as a possible location.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My baseball playoffs rooting order: 1) Guardians 2) Brewers 3) White Sox 4) Padres 5) Rays 6) Phillies 7) Braves 8) Astros 9) Dodgers 10) Red Sox/Yankees/Cubs (don't make me choose)

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Ordering Candyland like a boss....

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A nor’easter weekend means one thing with a two-year-old: crafts, crafts, and more crafts.

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Well, that and the fact that I wrote a book about the Guardians….

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First pizza slice. Now a true New Yorker.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Once again, with my beloved Cardinals not a part of the playoff picture, I'll be rooting for the Cleveland Guardians to pull off the improbable....

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It's amazing how grifters like Enes Kanter and Royce White just disappear when folks stop paying attention to their nonsense. Funny the way that works....

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We're very lenient with letting our daughters splash through puddles, so a nor'easter is basically her paradise.

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Luke Epplin @lukeepplin.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

It's the 50th anniversary of Tom Waits's great album "Small Change" and his YouTube account just put an unedited video of his appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test to promote it. It's transcendent. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBb3...

youtube.com

Tom Waits – Live on The Old Grey Whistle Test (1977)

YouTube video by Tom Waits

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The rainbow before the nor’easter in Jersey City.

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We've decorated our house with Halloween decorations, and my daughter loves the ghosts. She has no idea that she's supposed to be scared of any of these things. There's no difference between a witch and Santa Clause in her mind.

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This is, um, an interesting perspective. Personally, I'd rather have interesting art, but maybe I'm just getting old. www.nytimes.com/athletic/762...

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Keith O’Brien’s Heartland is excellent.

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I repeat, it will have nothing at all to do with "Growing Pains."

Tomorrow I'm interviewing the guy who directed more 3/4ths of all episodes of "Growing Pains," and I don't plan to ask him a single question about the sitcom. This article I'm writing now is leading me to strange places....

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Again, I don't know what you're talking about....

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