Next week With A Shout will update the format of the newsletter.  The new year's challenges will be complete, and the daily drive to produce high-quality content will continue.  Thank you for your patience and feedback as we make our way into format 3.0.

Today we are talking about what they name towns in the U.K. and how entertaining that can be.  We spotlight a school art teacher filled with inspiration and finish up with a robot you won’t believe. 

The Stoic challenge today moves away from inner spiritual evaluation and into outer experiences.  Finding ways to feel and experience the value of the past from the outside.  Two places come to mind when thinking about ancient history in your town.  First, I tend to think of churches; one of the cities I've lived in over the years had a functioning church that started in the 1800s.  The second place I thought about was Union Station; most major cities in the U.S. have a central train station.  Trains don't usually run out of them anymore, but the buildings are beautiful.  Airplanes are a modern miracle; we can go anywhere.  Airports are not Union Stations, only sad pits of travel drag and frustration. 

Thinking about the greatness of a Union Station and the lives that have traveled in and out of it.  That sense of humility, of the center of the universe being outside yourself, is this challenge's goal.

Changing the Night Journal post, ask yourself the same three questions, throw your answers into the comments, and we will highlight some of the responses.

Saturday means The Guardian is filled with stories perfect for morning coffee and laying back for light-hearted reading.  Tom Lamont, a freelance writer for The Guardian, writes about his travel adventures to all the towns in England with nasty names.  This is not his first titillating town name trip; he's been doing it all around the globe for years.  For Lamont, this fascination started with a town called Fu**ing in Austria.  It became a story because of the number of signs the town had to replace. 

You have to step up your game when you go from a freelance enthusiast, checking out these quirky towns, to 'On Assignment' by The Guardian.  When Lamont started to do his Internet research and typed in Three Cocks in Powys or Three Holes in Norfolk, the results that showed up wouldn't surprise you, but if your partner ever went through your browser history, there might be a conversation.

The whole piece reads like a fart in church; silly, dirty, and impossible not to Google some of the towns yourself.  One of the best parts is the fight Lamont had to wage with his handlers about taking his picture next to the sign for the town of Twat!  We are fans of the work, which is an excellent way to make a living in any town.

The Washington Post has a great piece on an art teacher in San Diego who took his kids to the streets for an art project.  LeoAngelo Lacuna Reyes thought his neighborhood looked a bit run down and did what an innovative art teacher would do.  Made art out of blight and made that art with his grade school students.  Large electrical boxes in the neighborhood were being painted with graffiti, and Reyes turned the same boxes into street art. 

The goal was to improve the area, discourage others from negative graffiti and get his students involved.  The results can also give the students a sense of ownership over their neighborhood and a desire to make it beautiful.  To see a gallery of art, click here.

In an excellent article for the Industrial design section, Designboom delivers a video of the latest Boston Dynamics robot.  If you have seen the creepy headless dog robot Boston Dynamics debuted several years ago, wait until you see the full-on robot helper bot Atlas.  When you watch the demonstration, it's hard not to think the video is doctored or there is a person inside that robot costume. 

To assist in the learning process of understanding surroundings and environment, the software engineers at Boston Dynamics turned to Parkour.  This helps build a robot with the ability to move, adapt and adjust to a diverse environment.  Why does it need a backflip?  Because it's cool, that's why!  The story and the video are unique.

Words | Music | Art | Unknown

American Fool.

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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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