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Staying positive


Negativity is everywhere on the internet, it's rampant. I can handle it in small doses -- I've been known to go on a rant or two -- but it's much too pervasive and has gotten particularly disturbing over the last couple of years.

I made the mistake of watching "The Social Dilemma" on Netflix earlier this week and that documentary would make anyone want to delete every social media app off their phone. But whether you subscribe to the theory that social media is the cause of many of society's current ills -- depression, isolation, political polarization, incitement to violence -- or that the ills of society influence social media, there is no mistake: the internet is letting you know -- all the time -- that things are not OK.

I don't need that reminder every waking hour of the day. It's not healthy.

That's why having a card hobby, and living out that hobby online, is a good thing. It's a way to stay positive, and a way to connect to other positive people -- online. Collecting is a positive hobby -- despite what Twitter may say -- especially on the blogs.

"Look what I got!" "Check out this new discovery!" "Here is what I found when I played with my cards!" "Hey! Here's some good news!"

All of those sentiments are on card blogs. In force. Every day.

This is why I say all the time when I spot grumpy people -- usually fans of baseball teams bickering with each other on social media -- that those people should start collecting baseball cards. Collecting is finding the fun in baseball, instead of the negative name-calling and battle-line drawing that you see between fan bases.
 
So how about I stop dwelling on the negative and focus on the positive? What positive things have happened to me this week?
 
Well, keeping it in the hobby, I'm happy to say that I arranged to write my next three articles for Beckett magazines this week!
 
Weeeeeeeee!
 
These should be articles 8, 9 and 10 that I've written for them. I'm not going to mention what the articles are about, but I will say that all of them have been topics that have been discussed on card blogs or other online sites, including by myself. Also, I'm really fired up to tackle all of them.
 
Writing those stories should keep me busy for the rest of 2020. I don't anticipate it affecting my blogging time -- the other articles haven't -- but if you do see a slowdown, that's probably the reason why.
 
OK, now for a little actual card good news.
 

 

Nothing earth-shaking here: you can't complete a set every week, you know. But any time I pick up Kellogg's 3-D cards from my childhood, it is a happy, happy, SUPER POSITIVE day.

These three 1978 Kellogg's cards are the latest in my set quest and they contain two childhood favorites in Cecil Cooper and Ralph Garr.

Each are in spectacular shape. You'll notice the bottom edge of the Jose Cruz is pretty ragged. I didn't spot that until I scanned it. But it's not anything that will bug me. The card is just as shiny and 3-Delightful as the others.




The best thing about my latest online purchase arrival is that some 1975 Kellogg's cards hopped into the cart with my 1978 Kellogg's cards!

What? What are you guys doing in here! I'm not collecting the '75 Kellogg's set yet!

But I certainly wasn't throwing them out of the cart. Not with that super handsome Dick Allen card staring at me. What a wonderful-looking card. Makes me want to go back in time and change my favorite team. That's how powerful that card is.

There is nothing like a '70s Kellogg's card to brighten your day, and scatter all of the negative thoughts put in my mind by all of the online doom-and-gloomers. (Facebook, shut your face).

Yeah, I get it. You have a cause that's IMPORTANT.

I just think a lot of people could go about it in a much more pleasant way. Is social media the sole cause of all of the negativity in the world? No. But we could all do a better job online of brightening people's days.

I'm trying to do that with this baseball card blog.

I'm telling you, everyone should take up this hobby (and by taking up the hobby I mean by being a collector, not a flipper).

The world just might be a little more positive for it.

P.S.: Another positive development: I think new Blogger has fixed the spacing between paragraphs!

Comments

I don't use the social media platforms so I can't attest to whether they are the root of all evil or not (although I do find that I'm in a better mood if I limit my internet time). However I do know that baseball cards make me happy. I just stay off of eBay so I don't have to see the ridiculous prices for the $19.99 blasters I can't find at WalMart or Target anymore.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to select all the images that feature tractors to prove I'm not a robot.
A positive hobby for sure. So is model building which I started up again a couple years ago. I post to Instagram, and 95% of who I follow are other modelers. That community has been pretty good at keeping politics out and just focussing on the building and end results. Lots of good positive feedback there too.
bryan was here said…
I do enjoy social media, I probably spend more time on it than I should. But when I'm not enjoying my cards, I'm searching out more diecast cars (Hot Wheels, etc.). And since WalMart and Targets' card sections are leaving a lot to be desired, I find myself adding to my car collection.

Any Kelloggs cards are welcome additions to any collection, in my opinion. When I find some at a card show, I get that look like Dick Allen does above.
AWESOME post. LOVE it! The cards ain't too bad either. As you already know, I do not do any social media. Must be why I wake up HAPPY (even when hurting) EVERY Freaking day. ONLY a few times a year do I find myself raising hell about something. Drives the two helpers NUTS, which makes me even more happier. I am such a pain in the ass....see I'm smiling right now. POSITIVE PERIOD! Negativity has NEVER brought anything but more NEGATIVITY and never will. It has never solved a darn thing. Congrats on the 3 future articles.
Fuji said…
Agree 100%. The hobby is definitely my happy place. By the way... I'm totally guilty of being a "Negative Nancy" on my blog. I'm definitely conscientious of it... but at the same time, I want to keep it real since my blog is kind of like a diary.
bbcardz said…
I think the vast majority of people would agree that sports and hobbies are a form of entertainment and thus a form of temporary escapism. Sports and card-collecting, cheaper and probably more effective than a therapist, lol.
Professional sports is a wasteland now.

I didn't even realize until yesterdayvthat the NFL has already played 2 games, because:

1. Since I now work at home, I no longer listen to sports radio during my commute.

2. On August 1st, I cancelled my cable TV, because the provider raised the rate by $50 per month. I realized I wasn't watching that much TV anyway.

3. I usually stay away from local news websites, and never go to the various leahues' websites.

I was at a pizza place a few weeks ago, and they had a MLB game on the TV. Cardboard cutouts in the seats? Piped-in crowd noise? It's all just so laughable.
Robert said…
Agreed 100%. Enjoy the hobby. If you're not having fun you're not doing it right.
Jon said…
I do believe that social media (along with corporate news outlets) is guilty of exacerbating most situations, as well as aiding people in the creation of problems that aren't problems, and don't need to be problems. I've spent the last year or so consciously trying to limit my time spent on the internet, especially Twitter. I've done really well with this, and even though I never spent a lot of time on Twitter, I'm very pleased with the five minutes (sometimes ten) or less that I spend on their each day.

Congratulations on getting three more writing gigs with Beckett. I can't justify paying the new price for those, but I'm still holding out hope that I'll come across a cheaper used one at some point, so that I can see what all the fuss is about.
GCA said…
It's all what you make it. If the only social media you consume is following 50 gorgeous women, then that's positive, right?

I don't need to express my opinion about every little thing, but I will jump on the bandwagon that says vintage Kelloggs rule!

"Facebook, shut your face!" LOL
Nick Vossbrink said…
Yup. I try to keep my blogging positive too. Even when I complain about something I try and find a way to turn it into something productive (hence all my deep dives into printing on SABR whenever Topps does something in Archives/Heritage that rubs me wrong)
gregory said…
All this time and I didn't know the "D" in 3-D stood for "delightful"!

Looking forward to your new Beckett articles and the dose of positivity they bring, for sure. Congratulations on receiving the assignments!
flywheels said…
Yes, I do believe you're right about the spacing issue. That alone is super positive for me!
Chris said…
I'm not even on social media and I'm drowning in negativity. It's mostly the state of the country that gets me down, and when I try to use sports or card collecting as a distraction it oozes into those "safe spaces", too.

There are certain bloggers that rarely have anything positive to say, and it's been difficult to get back here and post or comment with that in mind.

But I'm going to close with a positive comment - this is a great week for pro sports, and your Dodgers are the class of the league. I'm predicting an LA-Tampa World Series, which could give one of those cities two titles in as many months.
Nick said…
When I can limit it to card content, social media is mostly good -- negatives here and there, of course, but I've fallen into a mostly good group of people on Twitter and such. It's when I start to expand outside the world of cards that the problems really start. Plus it's just so refreshing to read card blogs because there's always something good going on, it seems.
RunForeKelloggs said…
Finding nice 1975 Kellogg's cards is difficult to do. I am jealous - but positive and upbeat about it.
Matt said…
I love reading card blogs because of their positivity and I have found myself backing off of social media more and more especially on twitter where you have people who wont sell to people because of who they are voting for.

As for new blogger, if you go over to the triple dots on the line with all of the other options, click it. Control A all of your article and use the / T on thats on that triple dot option. It will clear all of the extra space. Though you will have to go back through and do it yourself but it won't leave the space once you have done that. It's best to use that option before you write and just have your pictures there.