The Introverted Detective

People reveal their thoughts through body language, voice tone, eye contact, facial expressions, and behavior patterns. That being said, reading some people is like reading a rock, while others are a completely open book. Today I'm going to give you curious people-watchers some tips on what to look for when observing your friends, coworkers, strangers, dates, and family members. Your first step is to remain objective. No preconceived notions about them, just the facts that you are seeing right in front of you. Use logic, though it should be known logic won't tell you everything. This also requires non-linear thinking skills. Pure logical deduction and Sherlock-ing won't get you all the way there. It gets you close, but not quite there. Observe comfortably and don't over-analyze. Body Language How are they dressed? For instance, did they put a lot of effort into appearance or just roll out of bed with their hair still a mess. This may tell you some abou...

Today I'm going to do something a little bit different. I have a personal theory. Our society is mostly extrovert-focused in my perspective. I sometimes have trouble fitting into it, as an introvert, because of this. I'm going to break it down for you. Extroverts get energy from social life. Introverts gain energy from time alone. This is important to note for this theory. Why's that? Because, to make a long story short, society pushes social activity on us at a young age. Introverts need time to recharge, but most public social activities don't allow that. There is nothing wrong with community, a social life, and friends. Human beings are made to have community and social life. Hermitting and isolation for long periods of time is not a good thing. I want to be sure you understand this before we go on. Public Education I'm betting that introverts will understand exactly what I mean. I know some of you won't, and that's okay. With public edu...

Most baseball movie fans have probably seen A League of  Their Own. In that movie, we see the war take most of the men from the sport of baseball and send them to fight the Nazis. Just how factual is this movie? Here's the scoop on the real facts. Spoiler alert: Harvey Bars was actually Wrigley Gum. These women are in the Baseball Hall of Fame. They were in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). The acronym changed a bit, but we know it most for the first one, for the most part. It began in 1943 and lasted 12 years. Philip K. Wrigley, Chicago Cubs owner, created it to keep baseball in business as men went off to war and less male athletes were around to play. Big names went off to war because men were encouraged to be men and fight Hitler. Thus, these women played at Wrigley Field. Big names in Baseball managed the teams. Hall of Famer Max Carey was president of the league. The teams themselves included Fort Wayne Daisies, Minneapolis Millerettes, ...

Nancy Drew has several TV shows, book series, and games under her belt. Did you know that different series have different love interests? Some promote the "Francy" relationship, while others only show Ned. There is even one book series where she dates multiple men. Let's dive in! For those of you who don't know your Nancy Drew basics, here's a basic overview. Ned Nickerson and Nancy Drew have been together in the books since the beginning. Frank Hardy has had a crush on Nancy throughout the Supermysteries, and this idea is known as "Francy". These two ideas have come up over and over again throughout Nancy's history. Ned Nickerson Ted Nickerson and Nancy  Starting from the original books, we have Ned Nickerson, or as the Bonita Granville Nancy Drew movies call him, Ted Nickerson. He is established as only a close, consistent friend in the original books, but later in the series becomes jealous of the young men around her. With the...

Spies were in every war. Espionage was how you got information about the next enemy attack and their strategy, as well as who was in charge of what and anything else that made a difference in the war. Knitting Stitches were a way of sending coded messages. When it came to WWI and II this meant hiring women to be 'code girls'. These women would go home and tell their folks they pushed pencils and were personal secretaries, when they were actually breaking codes for the military. WACs and WAAVs were hired to do this, though WAAVs got cooler uniforms and more perks. This wasn't the only espionage that went into these wars. Men and women were both spies, through code-breaking and undercover work. Today I'm here to tell you all about them. WWI Mata Hari Exotic dancer Mata Hari did strip teasing and was shot for spying for the Germans. She was Dutch, but claimed to be raised as an Indian temple dancer. She performed under the name Lady Gresha MacLeod, ...

The Civil War, two sides fighting each other over the issue of slavery. This war was filled with female spies. Who else could get closer to a general or an officer than a 'harmless' woman? There were dresses that held secrets in their underskirts and women wouldn't be frisked. It was genius! In the Civil War women weren't equal to men, according to society, so women could get real, real close to diplomats, politicians, officers, and leaders in the community and pass on what they overheard to the side they actually supported. A little charm, some romance here and there, maybe some listening at doors, and you already have a lot of information at your fingertips. As for messages being hidden, try hiding a message in your hair or underskirts. Most men are not going to frisk a young or aged woman. Women spies were caught, in some cases, but by then the other side had gotten quite a bit of information if the spy was smart. Some got messages out despite house arrest. ...

In a previous blog post, I talked about propaganda toward women. Today is propaganda directed toward men. Propaganda is political, biased information put out to influence the public through any media source possible, sometimes subtle in nature and other times extremely obvious. The Disney Cartoon Private Snafu  - WWII era propaganda from Warner Brothers I'm starting from the Civil war and ending on today's propaganda, because believe me, propaganda is still out there. It just isn't as obvious as the 1950s carpooling posters and offensive appliance ads. I'd encourage all of you out there to analyze the messages in your daily dose of media to see what comes up over and over again. You might be surprised. Civil War proslavery propaganda The civil war, as most know, was within one country over the issue of slavery. Most of the propaganda was in the form of songs, songs that sang that real men went off to fight. Some propaganda toward men was in the newspap...