EricNentrup.com

NBC covered a story about Greenfield, Ohio’s little league program nearly shutting down. But thanks to good-hearted volunteers and generous donors, they’re still playing ball. Keep watch for Kim’s aunt, Katy Farber.

Socrates said to Plato about reading:

“This discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.”

So, is he right? Are innovations like Amazon, the iPhone, Google Books and other mashups of modern hardware and software with classic content reducing our intellects to the semblance of truth as opposed to the attainment of genuine wisdom?

Remember…David Allen of Getting Things Done fame chides one for using your brain as a “trusted system,” admonishing one to export, download, and contain your data anywhere besides your noggin, because your brain is NOT capable of keeping up. So, put that in your marble pipe and smoke it, Socrates.

Really, we have Gutenberg to blame, not Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos. Gutenberg’s contribution to society was the ultimate liberator. It began the toppling of the pseudo-theocracies of the time, or whatever you call a governing body ruling strictly on the basis of having more cumulative knowledge than the masses. Wait…that’s ANY tyrannical governing body.

Regardless, the printing press ushered in an era of “privacy” and individualism where one could “hole up” with a good book and engage ideas without the intervention or guidance of others. They could decide for themselves what they thought or felt about a subject. Of course, that’s a transactional occurrence. The “deposit” into individualism was made by a “withdrawal” from public and communal life activities: public storytelling, theater, speeches, etc.

Considering that we STILL have public performance in many shapes and forms today, and have the added bonus of being able to REVIEW the text of these performances (that used to be exclusively “you had to be there” situations), it seems to me that Gutenberg’s printing press was a non-zero-sum, win-win, invention and contribution to society. And for years I’ve thought that the public domain collection at Gutenberg.org was fantastic and I have wanted a better way to access it than trying to read it on my computer screen or print it myself. Finally the hardware/software has caught up.

So, maybe Socrates couldn’t envision an Amazon Kindle, let alone a Barnes and Noble. And that’s okay, he had bigger fish to fry.

One more Gutenberg observation, I’ve heard it claimed that it was the printing press that was the second coming of Jesus Christ, because suddenly, the Word of God was available to any and all, not just the elite and educated. The theory maintains that because Jesus was the “Word made flesh” that the availability of the printed Bible constituted his anticipated second-coming. Not sure about that, but being able to READ such crazy theories is always enjoyable and entertaining. I’d argue that reading these thoughts is more mentally stimulating, in comparison to hearing someone rant extemporaneously about it. But what do I know…by typing my opinions, I’m using the very medium in question.

Although the printed page is getting more and more pressure, Johannes paved the way for us to come up with a better mouse trap. So, does the mouse trap make our lives better or is Socrates right? Does it matter to our gray matter? Or is it GREY matter? I don’t know…I’ll have to look it up on my smartphone.

Last night Kim and I had the good fortune to go see what has to be the concert of the year. Both bands were great and here’s the Indy Star’s gallery:

I’ve been wanting to put together a fixed gear bicycle for quite a while now. Last night I got this guy up and running. And man…it is FUN. It’s about as simple as you can get on a bike, with no shifting, no coasting, and one brake lever. I had no clue how it was going to ride or that I’d enjoy it so much. I still love my road bike, but this old Fuji that I picked up for $1.99 at Goodwill (seriously) is my new toy!

I’m looking forward to painting it up and giving it some character. More photos to come!

In Colorado, I fell in love with New Belgium Brewing Company’s Fat Tire Amber Ale and their many other amazing brews. I learned yesterday that they’re breaking into Indiana’s major supermarkets and liquor stores April 20, 2009.

I pre-ordered a case of Fat Tire*8 and a couple bottles of their Mothership Wheat and 1554.

New Belgium not only makes a fantastic product, they do it with passion and do it well. They protect the environment, give generously to the community of Ft. Collins, and take righteous care of their employees. I tried VERY hard to land a job there a couple of years ago!

Can’t recommend it enough. Stop by next week and see for yourself!

It’s 34˚F outside and a mixture of snow, sleet, and rain is coming down here in the midwest. But it doesn’t matter. Today is OPENING DAY 2009.

Baseball has returned and winter is declared over. The Yanks and Mets have new cribs, players have shifted around the leagues, and somewhere today, vendors will be crying COLD BEER, HERE! Nachos, and hot dogs will be slathered and gulped. There will be controversy, there will be disappointment, and somewhere after the All-Star break, there will even be a sense that October will never get here. But those moments are fleeting, or should be, and ultimately pale in comparison to the evergreen grass, the rich patina of a loved leather glove, and the glorious crack of the bat.

The game of baseball is one of our most enduring emblems of hope. It persists, season after season, and the promise of players giving it their all against the backdrop of an eager Spring, is something we all need. Play ball!

Even as the inauguration from two weeks ago begins to fade into history, and the bleak realities of a world in trouble take their place, still present is the hum, the hope of something different.

Maira Kalman’s illustrated tour, “And the Pursuit of Happiness,” captures the fleeting moment well, and frames a new perspective looking forward.

Recently, I passed the 12,000th day I’ve spent alive. Had I the forethought to have planned better, I’d have done something celebratory. And perhaps I will for dinner or something.

I’ve been marking every 1,000th day since 10,000. I stumbled across a website that does it for you and you might find this more interesting than your own birthday…especially since it takes nearly three years to log a thousand days.

13,000…here I come!