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Cool Story, Bro: The Business of Storytelling Explained The attention we’re giving the term ‘storytelling’ these days is certainly well deserved, but the sheer amount of it simultaneously pushes us closer and closer to that cruddy umbrella-shaped place where words can mean both everything and nothing. And so, to clarify: the purpose of traditional storytelling is to create engagement by conveying events and messages through words, images or sounds. I’d argue that the same goes for the so-called “business of storytelling” (hat tip to @goonth for that one), but with a strategic twist: engagement, ultimately, as a means of building brand affinity. We Like You! - StumbleUpon Eating 10 hot dogs in 6 minutes and belching the national anthem may impress your friends, but neither of those feats will do much for your body—at least not much good. Instead, why not train yourself to do something that may actually pay off? We're not talking bench presses and interval training (though those do help). You can teach your body to cure itself from everyday health ailments—side stitches, first-date jitters, even hands that have fallen asleep.

20 obsolete English words that should make a comeback Photo: Katherine Hodgson If we all start using them, these words can be resurrected. DURING MY UNDERGRADUATE studies as a Linguistics major, one of the things that struck me most is the amazing fluidity of language. New words are created; older words go out of style. Let's Close Out April Fool's With This Unbeatable Minecraft Office Prank Closing out this April Fool’s Day is a prank that is 100 percent truthful in its awesomeness. At Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Greenview Data, the co-workers of one Minecraft-addicted employee, Matt, converted his cubicle into a Minecraft cave anyone could be proud of, in game or in real life. It wasn’t as simple as taking 62 boxes and painting them with grass and stone textures (though the textures are well done); support mechanisms also had to be built in.

The Quick 10: 10 Ways Shakespeare Changed Everything In honor of William Shakespeare’s birthday tomorrow, we’ve teamed up with Uncommon Goods to create a printable party kit to celebrate the Bard! (Oh, and we're reposting some of our favorite Shakespeare stories to get you in the mood.) The basic thesis of Stephen Marche’s How Shakespeare Changed Everything becomes obvious very early on (as in, it is expressed in the title). According to this fun, lyrically written and well-researched book, here are just ten of the many ways that Shakespeare changed everything: 1. He gave us a lot of new words

50 Ways To Be AWESOME by Meg RulliFebruary 18, 2013 Sharebar Tony and I just completed our trip around the world and as we are reconnecting with friends and family from home, I keep getting asked the same question: “Did travel change you?” In short: Nope! The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. "What Does Love Mean?" See How 4-8 Year-Old Kids Describe Love Article By:Ladan Lashkari A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds: "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think... "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.

Shakespeare Insult Kit Shakespeare Insult Kit Since 1996, the origin of this kit was listed as anonymous. It came to me on a piece of paper in the 90's with no attribution, and I thought it would make a cool web page. Though I searched for the origin, I could never find it. 10 Creative Notecards To Express The Sarcasm In Your Life We’ve all had Dear blank, please blank moments in our lives. If you don’t know what those are, just look at the notecards below. If you like sarcastic ironic humor, you’ll love the site which was started by Hans Johnson and Jared Wunsch. They don’t write the funny notes, they just approve the submissions. It’s open for anyone to contribute. It’s basically a site where you can express your frustrations about daily life.