Stories: Old West & Beyond 09.03.24
“Creativity is an active engagement with the unknown, it’s risk-taking, it’s curiosity, it’s exploration, it’s discovery, it’s mystery. It’s all of that.” —Esther Perel
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Good Morning. It’s Tuesday, September 3, 2024. Today is Telephone Tuesday, National Bowling League Day, and if your name is Stephen, it’s your day.
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STORY MENU
A Man of Results . . . Hands Up! . . . Urban Legend . . . Star Power . . . FOMO . . . Writing Behind Bars . . . Unexpected Illusion
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WILD WEST
—Lawman David J. Cook spent nearly a year tracking the two leaders of the largest outlaw syndicate on the frontier and busted the gang of nearly 200 outlaws. During his career, he brought more than three thousand outlaws to justice. “Gang Buster.”
—In 1882, David Cook published a memoir in which he created a set of five rules called Self Preservation for newly hired Western peace officers. He also wrote Hands Up! or Twenty Years of Detective Work in the Mountains and on the Plains.
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FIVE STORIES FROM HERE & THERE
1—MOON AND THE MIND
If any of your friends or neighbors start acting weird during a full moon, don’t blame the moon. Researchers find no evidence supporting behavioral changes during a full moon. (Text and/or video)
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2—CELEBRITY POLITICS
The results of a celebrity political endorsement mostly benefit the celebrity.
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3—FELINE BEHAVIOR
When I close my office door, I sometimes glimpse a cat’s paw slipping through the gap under the door. Other times, I’ve seen the kitties sit and stare at a closed door. I surmised they were just being playful. But that’s not the case. Cats don’t like closed doors because of FOMO.
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4—REHAB & WRITING
Several years ago, I taught a class on writing to inmates of a medium-security prison in Ohio. I didn’t know what to expect but came away amazed at the interest and commitment of those in my class.
In the newsletter Capital & Main, inmate D. Razor Babb writes about his journey of redemption through writing. (Long read but delivered from a unique viewpoint).
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5—ILLUSION
The Escher Cube, known as the impossible or irrational cube, was invented by M.C. Escher for his lithograph Belvedere. Viewed from a certain angle, this two-dimensional cube appears to defy the laws of geometry. Check out the video for something you may not expect.
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DID YOU KNOW
—The current American flag was designed by a 17-year-old?
Seventeen-year-old Robert Heft designed the 50-star flag as part of a high school project in 1958. Although there were only 48 states then, Heft hoped that Hawaii and Alaska would soon be approved for statehood.
Here’s the kicker. Heft got a B- for the project, but his teacher later upgraded it to an A after he submitted his design to the White House, which was eventually accepted. President Eisenhower personally called Heft to tell him the news.
Heft later became a high school teacher and a college professor and eventually served as mayor of Napoleon, Ohio, before he died in December 2009 at 68.
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REFLECTION
"The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him." —Niccolo Machiavelli
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