On a good day, Wednesday can feel like a Friday, with a sense of accomplishment, looking forward to a short regroup before heading back into a productive sprint.  The stories we highlighted today make for a good day. We start with a story about stretching and why most don't. Next, a story we hope to continue to report on talks about a New Deal Era program called the Federal Writers’ Project and how it could make a comeback today. We follow with the apostrophe and a guitar responsible for a million memories.

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Take your vitamins, drink more water, get consistent sleep, and stretch. There is a long list of things we should do, many of which come with plenty of data to support them. Stretching is one of those things; it can be important to healthy muscles, faster recovery, injury prevention, and a person's ability to work as they age. Why is it so hard to make it a consistent part of an exercise program? As a lifelong exercise enthusiast and a stretch-challenged person, it comes down to time and perceived results.  

I love to work out, but busy schedules mean that working out might have to squeeze into a busy day, and if something has to go, stretching is usually it. My compromise is a gentle yoga class at the end of the week that acts like a good all-over body stretch. Mind Journal links to a story in Glamour, with several suggestions of how and when to stretch, and the benefits.

One of the best things I've done on the injury prevention front is working with a personal trainer who modified how I lifted weights. It took time, my strength improved, and my injuries went down. The same goes for stretching; doing it incorrectly will reduce the benefits. The Glamour article explains the benefits of stretching; depending on your fitness level and commitment, start small and pick a few stretches. If you have a particular area of soreness or stiffness, use the stretch associated with that area. According to the experts, most stretches I've been doing since high school are completely wrong; the modifications look like yoga stretches and work better than some of us learned in gym class.

As a 50+ miles per week (indoor) cyclist and a huge fan of leg day, the Elevated Pigeon is a requirement and the one stretch I do multiple times daily. It's great for the IT Band, which can affect your knees. Your homework for today:

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An interesting story from Jon Allsop for Columbia Journalism Review about a program started as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The Federal Writers’ Project was a project created to provide jobs during the Great Depression and create guidebooks throughout the country. My initial read of the project reminded me of today's influencers; we called them writers and journalists back in the day! 

Similar to many 2019-20 Pandemic programs, the original Federal Writers' Project was quickly assembled, and given that communications in the 1930s were done primarily through the written word, it was a bit of a slow grind. The results of the Guidebooks and other writings are a story in and of themselves. Citizen journalists nationwide documented all stories for the "Book of U.S."

Allsop reports that a few ideas have been floated at the government level, but it's early in development. Another idea discussed in his piece is the use of local news outlets that have the infrastructure for news and story documentation but are evaporating as news consolidates to large media organizations and is distributed online.

A new Federal Writers' Project is a great idea with a good foundation, a peace corps for storytellers who may not have access to a traditional journalism path but know how to find people with stories to tell.

Most systems have certain foundational rules; simple math follows specific formulas, and everyone must agree. Challenges can arise when tools will do the work of the foundation. A person doesn't need to understand algebra to use a calculator correctly. They might be unable to validate the answers, but the tools are accurate. A person doesn't need to know grammar to write and communicate. Spell Check and grammar checks are now built into most word-processing software; a person doesn't need to know how apostrophes work to use them. The writing won't be as good, but it might make do.

On Seth’s Blog, he asks a similar question about apostrophes and says the sign makers and quick communicators have taken possession of the language. Godin is correct; how often has someone said, "You knew what I meant," when something about the statement was corrected? Language will continue to change; try speaking to someone using Shakespearean vocabulary, but going from Shakespeare to “ur qt” is a chasm of language.

This could be the most recognizable Fender Telecaster since the first one was introduced in 1951.

A good spin.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

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Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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