N.A. Ferrell
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naferrell.com
N.A. Ferrell
@naferrell.com
Administrator and Editor of the perennially virid New Leaf Journal (https://thenewleafjournal.com) and The Emu Café Social (https://social.emucafe.org/naferrell). By day I am a legal research specialist in the area of U.S. immigration law.
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Thanks to @ap.brid.gy and the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress, you can follow my two website projects using your Bluesky account.

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November 25 marks New York's Evacuation Day. On this day in 1783, British troops completed an organized evacuation of New York City, making way for General George Washington to lead American troops into Manhattan and complete the transfer of power.

thenewleafjournal.com/b/60M
History of New York’s Evacuation Day
A history of New York City’s Evacuation Day, a former holiday that fell on November 25 and marked the November 25, 1783 British evacuation of Manhattan.
thenewleafjournal.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:33 PM
A humorous story about a translation mishap bring an English RPG title to Japanese reminded me of my experience using Google Translate on the website of a 2005 Japanese visual novel called Gogatsu no sora (May Sky is the official En localized title).
JP to EN Game Translation Mishaps
A mishap translating the name of an RPG called The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles into Japanese creates an unexpected Steam success story in Japan.
thenewleafjournal.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:54 PM
I building and running PumpkinOS, an open source re-implementation of PalmOS, on a Linux computer.
Building and Running PumpkinOS
A short article on building PumpkinOS, a ground-up re-implementation of PalmOS, and running it on the EndeavourOS Linux distribution.
thenewleafjournal.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Having previously written three articles about the anime adaptation of The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, I took a stab at my first "teaser trailer review"
Reviewing Teaser Trailers for Angel Next Door Season 2
I review the first two teaser trailers for the second season of The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten after recapping my season one coverage.
thenewleafjournal.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Three years to the day, I reflected on my memories of playing Pokémon Red in 1998-99 and what made the generation one games genuinely great.
Imagination in Pokémon Red and Blue
A look back at the aesthetic wonder of Pokémon Red and Blue and a look forward to how modern Pokémon games can recapture the spirit of the original.
thenewleafjournal.com
November 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
I published notes from my discussion with my long-time friend and Brooklyn-based musician Victor V. Gurbo on his new album, Outrun the Invisible Man. You can learn about Victor, who is influenced by American folk music, and listen to his album at the link.

#Music #FolkMusic #Album #Brooklyn
Victor V. Gurbo Interview On Outrun the Invisible Man
Brooklyn musician Victor V. Gurbo discusses his and Mark Caserta’s new album, Outrun the Invisible Man, with Nicholas Ferrell of The New Leaf Journal.
thenewleafjournal.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:54 PM
A short fictional dialogue on the modest virtues of being in awe of oneself.
The modest virtues of self-awe
A dialogue about a star baseball player relating to a younger player who was in awe of him. “I’m in awe of me too,” he said.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 23, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by N.A. Ferrell
Seen on Love Lane and College Place in Brooklyn Heights (NYC) on June 23, 2025, a free white desk.

Article:
https://thenewleafjournal.com/free-desk-on-love-lane-in-brooklyn-heights/

Tags:
#newyorkcity #nyc #Brooklyn #BrooklynHeights #desk #furniture […]

[Original post on pixelfed.social]
August 22, 2025 at 2:48 PM
In 2023, I came across a broken link in the Department of Justice's Immigration Court Practice Manual. While many other people would have done nothing (the page also had a working link to the same place), I did the "heroic" thing and reported the issue.
My heroic broken link report to U.S. DOJ
I don’t like to brag about being a hero, but sometimes it’s necessary to tell a story to inspire our millions of readers.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 22, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Back in 2021, my good friend and colleague, Victor V. Gurbo, who happens to be a professional musician and luthier, offered his take on why vintage guitars sound better.
On Why Vintage Guitars Sound Better
Guitarist and luthier Victor V. Gurbo offers his opinion on why vintage guitars sound better than new guitars.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 21, 2025 at 12:54 PM
While I am not sure about live action 5 Centimeters Per Second (open to giving it a go), I'm a big fan of the animated version. Back in 2022, I wrote about my favorite scene in the movie: Takaki's idyllic memory montage in Act I.

thenewleafjournal.com/b/32W
August 20, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I was watching Puella Magi Madoka Magica with a friend way back in 2012. I was in college at the time. A philosophy major, no less. My friend's inability to recognize a key character with different hair raised in me some philosophical questions.
Anime Hairstyles on the Ship of Theseus
Does a 2D girl in anime wear a hairstyle, or is she a hairstyle? I examine the Ship of Theseus as applied to anime, with an anecdote.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 20, 2025 at 12:54 PM
A short piece in the September 19, 1829 edition of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction reminded me of an account of the death of Caesar Augustus.
The Comedy of Life and Augustus’s Death
Examining an 1829 London magazine piece, “The Comedy of Life,” and the last words of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 19, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by N.A. Ferrell
Seen in Red Hook, Brooklyn (NYC), on April 29, 2025: A solitary yellow and red tulip.

Article:
https://thenewleafjournal.com/a-solitary-tulip-in-red-hook/

Tags:
#nyc #newyorkcity #Brooklyn #redhook #flower #tulip #weeds #rocks #tree #googlepixel […]

[Original post on pixelfed.social]
August 19, 2025 at 2:50 PM
I published an article on March 21, 2022, praising Nintendo for being "cartridge-first" with respect to the Switch. Fortunately, I never predicted that the cause for praise would persist indefinitely.
Physical Game Cartridges are Pro-User
I write in praise and defense of Nintendo’s focus on marketing physical game cartridges for the Switch while its rivals focus on digital-first strategies.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 18, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Back on August 8, 2018, I saw what appeared to me to be an albino sparrow in Brooklyn Heights. Unfortunately, it flew away before I could document it with my former BlackBerry Classic.

thenewleafjournal.com/b/W5
An Albino Sparrow Sighting in Brooklyn
The story of a possible summer albino sparrow sighting in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 16, 2025 at 9:48 PM
NLJ was originally on a shared Bluehost server with cPanel. Back in 2022, I moved the site to a Hetzer VPS and manage the server with Cloudron. I consider this a good upgrade, but mileage may vary (note Cloudron free, which I use, has a 2-app limitation).

thenewleafjournal.com/b/2gZ
August 16, 2025 at 7:06 PM
One man's trash is another man's treasure, or so the saying goes. While that is often not the case, I turned some trash in Red Hook, Brooklyn, into a photo post which did surprisingly well thanks to the NewsBreak App.
Garbage and Free Stuff in Red Hook, Brooklyn
On two separate walks past Hicks and Nelson Streets in Red Hook, Brooklyn, I encountered refuse coffee cup art and two free chairs left out for the taking.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 16, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Featured photo from my article on a humorously mis-placed "Liquid Death" sticker under glass bottles of Coke.

thenewleafjournal.com/coca-cola-li...
I was looking to buy a drink in a small produce store in Boerum Hill (Brooklyn NYC neighborhood) August 14, 2025. While looking at the options, I was surprised when I saw a "LIQUID DEATH" sticker under glass bottles of Coca Cola. I noticed that there was a […]

[Original post on pixelfed.social]
August 15, 2025 at 4:44 PM
I continue to watch the Rent-A-Girlfriend anime into its 4th season for some unknown reason. My time was not totally wasted, however. Episode 42 revealed hair color information about the hapless protagonist, Kazuya Kinoshita, which I turned into an article.
Kazuya’s Hair Color in Rent-A-Girlfriend
A flashback scene in the fourth season of the Rent-A-Girlfriend anime revealed that the brown-haired protagonist Kazuya’s hair is naturally black.
thenewleafjournal.com
August 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Thanks to @ap.brid.gy and the ActivityPub plugin for WordPress, you can follow my two website projects using your Bluesky account.

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bsky.app/profile/nafe...
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August 14, 2025 at 7:54 PM
The featured image from my article on a laundromat in Ridgewood, Queens. I took this photo back in May 2024 (only my second, and to date, last, trip to or through Ridgewood).

thenewleafjournal.com/b/7y8
Pictured is the window of a non-descript laundromat in Ridgewood, Queens. I photographed this on what was the back-end of a 22.6 mile walk from Brooklyn to the Queens neighborhood of Forest Hills.

Article […]

[Original post on pixelfed.social]
August 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM