DayStrider: Tales from a Time Traveler

Jun 3rd: Chicken or the Egg?

• Truman Pastworthy • Episode 12

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June 3rd is a great day in history!  It is filled with intrigue and thought provoking questions that you won’t wanna miss - as well as a handful of incredible movies you can add to your watch list.  Today’s stories include: 

  • Pondering the age-old question about the “chicken and the egg” - learn which really came first!
  • We’ll enter into the eerie world of one of the most talented storytellers of our time - and meet a wonderful character who was introduced to us on this day.  Do you think you can guess the storyteller and the character before I reveal them?
  • Do you know anyone who participates in the ROTC program?  If not, you will after today - and you can learn about how our nation develops military leaders.   

If it's a special day for you or for someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging stories.  You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can share!  If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).

Today’s show mentions a full length interview with a Major General - that link can be found below. (this link worked in mid 2024 - not sure how long the links will be available):

Note:  Permission to include soundbites from this interview granted by Luke Sprague in May 2024.  Copyright Wisconsin's Veterans Museum.

Gift ideas for folks who celebrate June 3rd:

Full disclosure:  If you use

Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!


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Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy


If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!


If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)



Truman:

Welcome, seeker. Your portal is all warmed up and ready to stride through history with me. Together, we'll discover why June 3rd is brimming with intrigue, discovery, and a dash of patriotism. Our journey will first take us deep inside the mind as we explore one of the most asked-about conundrums of our time. And I'm not exaggerating. Next... will travel into the mind of someone who's impacted the supernatural and horror landscape across all mediums for the past five decades. After we escape from the clutches of some malevolent entities, we'll earn our stars vicariously through some amazing men and women who've made leadership their specialty for over a century. We'll be sure to bring you back to your current self a bit happier, smarter, and armed with some debate material Oh, and a few movies that you can check out. Time's a-tickin', so let's get to it. Welcome, Seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider, the podcast where we embark on a daily journey through history. I'm your travel guide, Truman Pastworthy, and together we'll explore some fascinating stories that happened on this exact day but from some time in the past. From groundbreaking inventions to remarkable birthdays and extraordinary events to quirky national holidays, we've got it all. So kick back, relax, and open your mind for some lighthearted stories that'll leave you saying, huh, I never knew that happened on this day. Alrighty then, let's get to it. So if I play this podcast on my Bluetooth speaker out in the middle of the woods, did it really make a sound? I'd like to think that the trees enjoyed the show and grew slightly taller because of it. But you know that tree falling in the woods question? That is a bit thought-provoking, right? And maybe you've heard some others just like it. There's one called the Ship of Theseus Paradox. This one questions the identity of an object over time. So here, Theseus won a great naval battle, and he returns victorious home to the docks. They kept his ship on display as an example of greatness. But over time, as the wooden planks began to rot, they replaced them one plank at a time. And the question came up, as they replaced these wooden planks on the ship, After all the planks are replaced over a long period of time, is it still the ship of Theseus? Or is it something different? What's its identity? There's another one called the Sorites Paradox. And this one questions the concept of gradual change in boundaries. So, for example, if I have a full head of hair and I lose one hair follicle, am I bald? Of course I'm not bald yet. But if I lose a hair follicle every day, At what point do you claim that I'm bald? Well, that's the sorties paradox. Or what about this one? The chicken or the egg paradox. Which came first? If we consider that a chicken hatches from an egg, then we might argue the egg came first. However, as soon as we ask where did that egg came from, the answer is it came from a chicken. Well, since today is egg day, we are going to explore this exact circular dilemma. The chicken comes from an egg, but the egg comes from a chicken. leading to a paradoxical loop with no clear beginning. All right. Now, before we get into that mental exercise, I'm really excited to talk about the extraordinary little egg. I'm sure you'd agree that eggs are extremely easy to prepare, even if you're not an expert in the kitchen. There are so many excellent recipes for preparing eggs. You'd have to experiment with them all to find one that you think is most exceptional. Yeah, you might say I'm being a little excessive here, but hey, can you blame me? This little kitchen sidekick is exactly what every meal needs. So please excuse me while I explore the many options available. I'm sure the final outcome will be egg-straordinary. Yes, at this point, my kids are going to say that I'm being egg-stra. Yeah, I know. My mom's saying I need to stop with these egg-scapades. All right, fine, I'll make the egg-secutive decision to end this egg-cessive egg-stravaganza. No more egg-stracurriculars for me. I guess we'll get back to the reg-ularly scheduled program now. All right, getting serious, which did come first, the chicken or the egg? Well, eggs have been around since the dinosaur days, so eggs came first. Okay, we're done. Let's get back to our wordplay. Maybe we can explore if extraterrestrials laid eggs like the dinosaurs did. No, no, no. Let's get back to serious. We need to reframe the original question. Which came first, the chicken or the chicken egg? Now that one's a bit harder to figure out. So let's be clear here. Only a chicken can produce a chicken egg. And I'm talking scientifically. It's actually an exact science. All right, so why do I say that? Because the chicken eggshells have a very specific protein in them, and it's really hard to say, so I'm going to call it OC-17. That's the abbreviation they've given it. The only animals that can produce this protein are chicken hens, so only a chicken hen can lay a chicken egg. All right, that's it. We're done. Because if only a chicken hen can make the eggshell, then the chicken had to come first. So now, can we take another egg-spedition into the world of wordplay? No. You're begging me to stop. Alright, I'll stop. But of course we aren't done with this argument yet. The problem here is, we haven't defined what exactly is a chicken egg. Is a chicken egg one that's laid by a chicken? Or is a chicken egg one that contains a chicken? Or is a chicken egg both? An egg laid by a chicken that also contains a chicken? Oh my gosh, this is driving me crazy. All right, well, guess what? If you were to Google this paradox or watch YouTube videos on it, everyone ends up in the same place, that the egg came first. So let's walk through how they got there. The argument is based on evolution. And the theory is that over time, generations of animals, they mutate and change. So the chicken as we know it today had ancestors that evolved from other bird-like animals that eventually became the chicken as we know it today. So the thought here is that this pre-chicken bird animal laid an egg that had a mutated offspring, and that mutated offspring was actually the very first chicken as we know it today. And so since that chicken as we know it today came from an egg, The egg had to come first. Now, obviously, no one was around observing this very first chicken and claiming that it was the first chicken as we know it today being born. But that's the theory. That's what they're using to solve this logic puzzle. Yeah. So either way, you now have enough info to get into this argument and win the argument at the next party or wherever you regularly get into such debates. Okay, we made it. So let's just talk about how eggs are truly an amazing food, and they're also a great source of quotations that have become cliches. Yep, so for the food part, besides the obvious ways of cooking an egg, boiled, scrambled, poached, and fried, there are recipe books and sites out there that claim to have a hundred different ways to prepare an egg. Now, of course, I was tempted to list them all in a Bubba Gump shrimp fashion, you know, just listing them off, but we've already had an extreme amount of silliness in this segment, so I decided against it. But I would like to throw down a challenge. November 2nd is Deviled Egg Day. Now, I'm not sure why they selected that day, but either way, there are many fun and tasty recipes for making deviled eggs. My favorite is the Spicy Nacho Dorito version. This is where each deviled egg is served resting on a spicy nacho Dorito chip, and then the egg filling, you know, the yellow stuff, is sprinkled with spicy nacho Dorito crumbs, making a cool presentation and adding a little crunch to the experience. So anyway, my challenge is to ask you to send me your favorite deviled egg recipe ideas, and then I can feature them on Deviled Egg Day. Are you up for the challenge? Send me an email. In the meantime, be sure not to put all of your eggs in one basket. And definitely try not to get egg on your face. And hopefully you can avoid situations that require you to walk on eggshells. And definitely make sure you don't count your chickens before they hatch. I'll leave you with the best advice for building up your nest egg. Try to find a goose that lays a golden egg and you'll be all set. Roses are red and eggs are white. It's about time a review you did right. Is your mind too scrambled and lost in a haze? Type, this pod never fails to brighten my days. For the movie buffs out there, I'm going to list some movies and ask you to tell me what they all have in common. Their plots are very different from each other. Ready? The Shining, Misery, Stand By Me, The Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, It, Children of the Corn, and The Running Man. All right, for the day striders out there who are also readers, I'm sure you've made the connection already. Those movies are all Stephen King creations. Yep, that's right, Stephen King. So no, today is not Stephen King's birthday. That happens to be in September. But my favorite character of his, she was introduced to us on this day in history. And we're going to take a few minutes to honor this character and her remarkable transformation from an obsessive compulsive with an inferiority complex into a witty and courageous private investigator who stared down the barrel of a gun and wrestled herself out of harm's way while locked in a cell. If you're a really deep Stephen King reader, you know who I'm talking about already. Now, before we get into revealing who she is, let's take a moment to think about Stephen King's most memorable characters. There are so many, and in so many settings, that this is almost an impossible task to handle in a 10-minute segment. In fact, there's so many characters, you could break them down into lists and have segments about each of those. You could do a top 10 heroes list, a top 10 villains list. There's so many characters, you could even do a top 10 sidekicks list. or even a top 10 inanimate characters list like Christine the car or the dome. Remember the dome? You could do a top 10 towns or settings like Derry and Castle Rock. You could also have a debate about the top 10 powers that Stephen King gave some of his characters. That could probably lead to an entire podcast series debating those. And on top of that, you have the top 10 movie casted characters and TV show casted characters. My goodness, there's so many books to choose from, 86 as of this recording, and so many characters, they just stick with you. Some of them stick with you for a long time. Even if they aren't the main character, sometimes they stick with you for a long time. All right, let's get into it. So we're going to keep this easy because we don't have all day. We're going to go with the top 10 most memorable characters, and we're blending the books and movies and shows together. We're going to blend the villains and heroes together. Let's just get to it. All right. Kicking off the list at number 10 is Roland Deschain. He's the gunslinger from the Dark Tower series. The movie came out in 2017 with Idris Elba playing the part. Roland's on the list because King wrote eight books in the series covering his journey and transformation. But he's number 10 because I just wasn't a big, huge fan. Coming in at number 9 is Cujo. He is a scary St. Bernard. Even his name, Cujo, that's scary. But he wasn't an evil dog, he just had rabies. Now, I read the book as a young person, and I was frightened to death for sure. And the movie is worth watching if you can find it, but it's pretty old. It's an old movie, so remember when you're watching, it's old, you know, the graphics and all that. Alright, I'm going to put Chris Chambers in the number 8 slot, but really, he shares the spotlight with his 10-year-old pals, Gordy, Vern, and Teddy. So you might remember them in the movie Stand By Me. It's a really well done show and it has some great casting that you'll enjoy. You have to check that one out. But the story itself is about some boys who head out into the wood to find the body of a missing boy and the trouble that they get into along the way. So the book is, or the movie is a great movie. If you haven't seen it, you got to check it out. The book, if you want to read that, is called The Body. That's the name of that story. So for number seven, I put John Coffey here. because he was played so well by Michael Clark Duncan in the movie The Green Mile, and is supported by Tom Hanks' role as the Death Row prison guard. That made it even better. So this story makes it easy to fall in love with someone on Death Row, and it does blend in some supernatural, a la Stephen King. So, he's a good one. John Coffey, Death Row inmate. Green Mile. All right, now many people have Annie Wilkes rated higher than this, especially on their villains list. She is the crazy number one super fan of a best-selling author, and she kidnaps him and forces him to write a sequel novel featuring her favorite character. And then when he tries to escape, she cuts off his foot. In the book, he also loses a thumb. So if you haven't seen the movie Misery or read the book, you need to check them out. Kathy Bates plays this part perfectly. She will definitely freak you out. All right, in the number five slot is Danny Torrance. He shows up as a boy in The Shining, which is a great book and incredible movie. More on that in a minute. And again, as a man in Doctor Sleep, which is easily my favorite audio book. So if you've never tried an audio book before, I want you to try this one. Give it a chance. Will Patton. is an amazing reader of this book. Yes, Will Patton is the actor, and you've got to check out the audiobook. The movie? Eh, Dr. Sleep, the movie wasn't that great. The next character coming in at number four today is why we're talking about Stephen King characters. She was in five novels, three of which were a trilogy and one short story. And if we're lucky, before Stephen King finishes his writing career, we'll get one more. Maybe two. But more on her in a minute. I put her in fourth. You're saying she was my favorite character. Why did I land her in fourth? Well, the top three are going to be the mainstream top three most memorable Stephen King characters. And they've earned that spot, and they're not going to get knocked off. They're almost interchangeable. So landing at the third spot is Andy Dufresne. He's the accountant from The Shawshank Redemption. And really, for this one, you need to layer in Red, the narrator, played by Morgan Freeman. That combo makes this an outstanding performance. And this movie is probably one of the top ten all-time classic movies that you've ever seen. Many people would agree with that. If you haven't seen it, you've got to make time. Plus, the book was awesome. There's a lot of things that are in the book that didn't make the movie. I've read that book two times. I think you should give it a chance. All right, many people would have Pennywise the Clown as their number one most memorable Stephen King character, and I get it. This clown is scary. He's scary in the movies and TV series, and he's scary in the books. And if you've never seen it, you've got to make sure you don't read this thing right before bed. Because if clowns freak you out, you're going to have nightmares. Yeah, he's creepy. All right, I know we're running out of time. So we'll get to what has to be the most creepy and scary character and memorable character Who was played by the incredible Jack Nicholson back in 1990 is Jack Torrance. So this is from The Shining. The hotel was creepy. The blood elevator, room 237. Danny Torrance, I just mentioned him as my fifth character, sang Red Rum, Red Rum. And those creepy twins. And of course, Nicholson's off-the-charts performance. It was amazing. All of this makes Jack from The Shining the most memorable Stephen King character of all time. You have got to see that if you haven't yet. Even if it's an old movie, it's still creepy and scary. Okay, that was a great list. Thank you. Thank you for coming along the ride with me. Back to my favorite character, I was talking about none other than Holly Gibney. Now, some diehard Stephen King fans will definitely disagree with me. But hey, that's okay. That's why I have my list and you have yours. But I love me some Holly. And remember I mentioned Will Patton in The Doctor Sleep? Well, he is also one of the reasons why I love Holly so much. His interpretation of her in the Bill Hodges trilogy as well as in The Outsider was just amazing. He plays to me the perfect presentation of what Holly was like, how she acted and behaved. And what's interesting to me is that she's come up now in multiple stories, and they're all different from each other, different things going on. Some of them have the supernatural Stephen King-esque, and then some of them are normal stories that could happen. I just like Holly, and I think King does too. He often says that he wonders, hey, I wonder what Holly's up to these days. And bam, out comes another book. So Holly was first introduced to us in the book Mr. Mercedes, which was released on June 3rd, 2014. And the opening scene of that book, oh my gosh, it's a page-turner. You've got to check that out. But it is gruesome. I will give you the spoiler alert. That's a gruesome scene. Anyway, she was then featured in The Outsider, which is also a very creepy and scary story. And both of those were turned into TV series, so you've got to check them out. All right, so cheers to whatever Stephen King comes up for next in the Holly Gibney Adventure Series. A time traveler's delight, many paths we explore, meeting lots of great people along this fun tour. If these tales you've heard bring a grin to your face, please share with your friends so the same can take place. Surely you've wondered how the tiniest of choices you make have an impact on your life, right? Something where, at the time, it seemed totally insignificant. But then later, when you look back, you think, wow, had I not done that one little thing, my life would be totally different right now. Right? Now, here's an example. Today's the big day. Time to select the classes you'll be taking next fall. Now, way back in the 70s, before the internet, this process was done manually. College students would head to the gyms or field house and stand in long lines, hoping to be able to sign up for certain classes. And if the line was too long, you would worry that the class would get filled up before you could sign up and register. So that meant if you got to the gym a little late, now you had to decide which line was your best option to get the classes you wanted. So you're walking into the gym... And you're weary of these long lines, and then you look over to the side and see a table with no one standing in that line. Why not go look and see why no one else is there, right? It's worth a look. Well, that's exactly what Marsha Anderson did one day, and it changed the course of her life and her career significantly. Here's that experience in her words.

Marcia Anderson:

And as I was standing around looking, I saw a table where there was nobody in line. And it said military science. I thought, well, you know, I didn't know anything about it. So I went over and asked some questions, ran into a master sergeant who probably could have, you know, sold me the Brooklyn Bridge. He pretty much was a master recruiter. He didn't lie to me, but he did answer the questions that I needed answered, which was, when does this meet early mornings? Because it was ROTC. They're going to get up early, go do PT and have a class. And then they paid a stipend, which was music to my ears. $100 in 1977 was a lot of money. So I was all over it. $100 just to go into class? Sign me up. And he had posters behind him of people jumping out of airplanes and rappelling. And I said, well, it's a lot like physical education class. He goes, yeah.

Background Noise:

So yeah.

Marcia Anderson:

I was like, sure, okay, I can do this. This will fit into my schedule. I get paid to do it. Why not?

Truman:

Yeah, why not? By the way, $100 in 1977 is worth about $500 in today's money. That was the Major General, Marsha Anderson, from a recorded interview that I received permission to share. So it was recorded by Luke Sprague on July 29, 2020, for the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Oral History Collection. And the link to the full three-hour interview, as well as the citation, are included in the show notes.

Marcia Anderson:

My dad, he was clearly proud that I was getting commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served in the Korean War, and he never rose beyond the rank of, I guess the equivalent would be E3. And so for me to be an officer, it was a big deal for him to have a daughter who was a lieutenant. because those opportunities were, you know, not big when he was in the military.

Truman:

Yep, so her dad had good reason to be proud. It's not easy for people who just enlist in the Army, like he did, to get promoted to an officer. The question here is, how was it that Marsha, who was a college student selecting classes, going to become an officer in the Army? Well, that's what happens with college students who choose the ROTC program. You heard her mention that. So what is ROTC? It stands for Reserve Officer Training Corps, and it was actually established on this day in 1916. You see, the military determined that there was a severe lack of leadership in all the armed forces branches, and they wanted to implement an efficient way to train and educate capable people to become leaders, while at the same time keeping up the appropriate physical standards of the military. So at that time in history, America's presence as a world leader and influencer was just starting to grow. Yeah, so World War I was raging in Europe for about two years at this point. And if America joined, it would need a stronger, better-led armed forces. And so why not leverage off of what the colleges and universities were already doing to educate business, political, and other professional leaders? So this ROTC concept was designed as a trade of sorts. So college students could get a free education in exchange for working in the military for a certain number of years after they graduated. It's a great deal for the student, especially those in financial need, and it's a great deal for the Army and all the Armed Forces, because now they had more capable leaders available to help push the mission forward. Now, according to some stats that I pulled off the Army's website, The ROTC program currently produces over 5,000 officers each year, and they claim that for all the branches it's over 7,500 officers. The site also says that the program has led to more than 1 million officers since its inception over 100 years ago. And there are a handful of very famous leaders who were part of the ROTC, including the most famous, General Colin Powell. He was born in Harlem to Jamaican parents and was raised in the South Bronx. He graduated from high school with no specific ambition, his words, and decided to try the City College of New York in the field of geology. And it wasn't until he joined the ROTC that he found his calling, again his words. He graduated first in his class, achieved the highest rank possible in that program, and as the cliche goes, the rest is history. He is most widely known and became a national figure in 1991 during the successful Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations, which expelled the Iraqi army from Kuwait. All right, so let's get back to Marsha. She was also breaking down glass ceilings by becoming the first woman in many of her roles and positions, and she appreciated that fact with each promotion.

Marcia Anderson:

I wanted to get it right because I knew I was only the second African American woman in the Army Reserve to achieve the rank of Brigadier General. The Army Reserve had been around over 100 years by this time. So I knew there'd be lots of people watching everything I did. And a lot of people would have my best interest at heart and a lot would not. So I just thought that it was important that I kind of set the stage with my ceremony and my remarks.

Truman:

She climbed her way all the way up to Major General. which is an impressive feat. And she had to battle through all kinds of situations because people just didn't want her there.

Marcia Anderson:

I brought my drill sergeants around because, again, they were real skeptical. They thought they had gotten the short end of the stick when... The female company commander shows up, and they were like down the dumps until, as I mentioned to you before, I'm pretty good at PT. And so I blew them away. I passed a couple of them on the two-mile run, and then suddenly went, wait a minute, this is how this is supposed to work. And I said, yes, it is. So they came around to my way of thinking, and I actually had converted them by the time we went down.

Truman:

But her efforts have paved the way for many women to follow. One such young lady is Olivia Ritchie. who is a friend of a friend and she's joined the ROTC and attends college at James Madison University. Olivia, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and why you joined the ROTC program?

Alivia Ricci:

Sure. Yeah, I always knew I wanted to be in the military. From a younger age, I really thought that maybe enlisting was going to be my speed. In middle school, I did a camp at West Point. I thought it was for me. I loved the dual experience of college and the military lifestyle. And gaining that experience, I knew I wanted to become more of an officer. And so when I got to high school, I really started looking at options. And then I found out about ROTC and all the benefits of that. So I applied for the scholarship in high school.

Truman:

In high school?

Alivia Ricci:

Yes. So at the end of the day, my goal is to be an officer in the United States Army. And no matter how I get there, it's what I want to do. So I applied for the scholarship. I started the application in the entails different writing samples obviously SAT ACT score a physical fitness test and then an interview with a professor of military science so A little bit more than your average person applying to college. And then in October, I found out I received a three-year full tuition scholarship. So that was a good day. The special thing about ROTC is you can apply your scholarship to any school in the nation that you get into. So I narrowed it down to a couple schools being JMU, obviously, University of Tennessee, and University of Texas at Austin.

Truman:

Okay.

Alivia Ricci:

And then I found that JMU was the right fit for me. Nice distance from home, good program. Very nice. Yeah, and here I am.

Truman:

And here you are. Fantastic. All right, so you are first year in.

Alivia Ricci:

Yes, sir, yeah.

Truman:

You're now a rising sophomore. Yes, sir. And how was your first year in the program?

Alivia Ricci:

Loved it. It was a learning curve for sure. You know, early morning wake-ups. On top of my school load, you have your military classes. Yeah. extra stuff that you have to do sometimes on weekends, but it was a learning curve and it hits you hard, hits you fast, but it was good. It definitely reinforced the idea of what I wanted to do, which is good. I'm glad I came out of it happy about it and looking forward to my MS2 year.

Truman:

Okay, good. How would you describe the balance, right? So you had PT, you had military science classes, and then you also had your regular curriculum for JMU. How would you- How would you describe

Alivia Ricci:

that balance? Um, like I said, it's a learning curve for sure. Cause you have a, like a typical week looks like we have PT three times a week at five 30. So it's Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Um, and then you have two in class, um, learning like tactics, stuff like that. That's twice a week. So you're in the classroom learning all that type of stuff. Um, like what the, like the army core values, um, all stuff like anyone would learn. Um, if you enlisted and went to basic training, get a little bit of an introduction to that type of stuff. And then also once a week we have a lab. So you go out, you go out into the field and you get to put what you learned in the classroom into action. And, uh, that's the fun part. You get to, you know, go around in the woods, um, finally get to get some hands on experience. So I'm a business management major and I have a, minor in military leadership. And so, um, definitely was a rude awakening from high school. Um, you know, just trying to balance all of that. And I'm also, I rushed a business fraternity at JMU this year. So yeah, so definitely, um, was a learning curve is the best way I can put it. Cause, uh, you definitely have to grow up Real quick, real fast.

Truman:

Good. All right. Are your plans after you graduate from JMU, obviously you'll have your military career, I guess it's four years minimum service?

Alivia Ricci:

Yes. So it's technically eight years, but I hope to branch four years active duty and then four years in active ready reserves. You can do switch. The cool thing about ROTC is you get the option to potentially branch into the National Guard, which is neat. Yeah. But I want to do active duty. Yes. Yeah.

Truman:

Okay. So do you have any advice for people who are considering ROTC?

Alivia Ricci:

Yeah. I mean, if it's something you're passionate about and you think that it's what you want to do, why not try? I have a lot of friends actually who joined ROTC as a sophomore and didn't know much about it or was hesitant about doing it their freshman year. And you know, the best way to try something is just to go, you know, head first and see what happens. I mean, you'll find out very quickly, um, if it's for you or not, they, the army does a good job. Um, definitely deciding that for you. So, um, if you're interested, I think the best way to do is try because I mean, you don't want to have any regrets for sure.

Truman:

Very nice. All right. Is there anything else you want to share or talk about any, any stories? Did you have any cool stories from

Alivia Ricci:

your first year?

Background Noise:

Um,

Alivia Ricci:

Just a lot of cool experiences. We got to do a water survival training course. So got to, you know, see how to react in the water. They taught you some cool things about what to do in those situations. So that was pretty neat. I was also on the color guard and the cannon crew for our battalion. So for the football games, I got to present the colors, which is really cool in front of a large crowd and at special events. And then we also have a cannon that we maintain and keep tradition of that JMU's had for.

Truman:

And you fire the cannon?

Alivia Ricci:

The commander of the cannon crew does. So I was mostly just working either like support for it. So that's pretty neat. Definitely just a lot of cool experiences that you wouldn't get anywhere else. Yeah. Because ROTC gives you a lot of opportunities over the summer as well. I know some of the seniors or MS4s, they shared their experience from going to different units and learning from officers there. So just a lot of cool, neat experiences that you will not get anywhere else.

Truman:

Yep. So good stuff, Olivia. And we're going to try to track your career as you get through the program and graduate and then head off into the military. So thank you so much for your service now. and your sacrifices and service in the future. I'd suggest that we are pretty lucky that the ROTC program is available because it ensures that the people protecting our freedoms every day have the best leaders possible.

Background Noise:

Hoorah!

Truman:

Am I allowed to say that? And there you have it. Some great stories to share with your someone special to celebrate June 3rd. Once again, those are, you can now definitively argue that the egg came first. You got to meet Holly Gibney, my favorite Stephen King character, and how the ROTC has produced some great leaders that protect our freedoms and keep us safe. So if you're a foodie and love talking about eggs, a mini potato treat is featured in the February 2nd episode. And that story is one of my favorite stories I've told in the Daystrider series. Also, if you like candy, the invention of the Tootsie Roll is covered in the February 23rd episode. And there's a surprising story that went along with that one. You should check those out. If you enjoyed learning about an impressive female, even though she was a novel character, I get that, you'll love the real-life achievements of Clara Barton from May 21st and Ella Grasso from January 8th. You'll have to go check those out to find out what their remarkable achievements were. Both quite impressive ladies, for sure. All right, if all things military get you amped up, there are several stories connected to some interesting inventions. There's a war story that accompanies the invention of the Morse Code, January 8th, the F-14 Tomcat, December 21st, and the Tootsie Roll, which was just mentioned, from February 23rd. So many stories, so much fun. A little bit of something for everyone. So my reflection here comes from the ROTC segment. And in that segment, we got to hear some soundbites from the interview with Marsha Anderson, the Brigadier General. One of the soundbites that I wanted to play for you was what she plans to do when she retires from the military.

Marcia Anderson:

I've thought about writing a book on leadership, but not for adults. I think it's important to maybe write a book for kids. maybe even engage in some social media to talk to kids about leadership because I think back on who I was when I was middle school age. You know, my teachers didn't see me as a leader, so they weren't paying attention to me because I wasn't one of the popular kids or an athlete. But still, somewhere in me, there was a little leader in there, and it should have been cultivated earlier. And I'd like to cultivate it earlier in kids who are just like me, who don't necessarily stand out as the obvious choices, but who are good listeners, who know how to collaborate, who maybe have a quiet vision that they're not always going to shout from the mountaintops, but they have good ideas, but they need to be encouraged. Because I think that's where we need to start, is with that next generation.

Truman:

Absolutely, with that next generation. Great stuff right there. All right, so after you share your special stories, you can also mention the following famous folks who celebrate their birthday today. Rafael Nadal celebrates today. He's the most famous Spanish tennis player, and he's often called the King of Clay for his dominance on clay tennis courts. He's won 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 from the French Open, which, of course, is on clay courts. In France, they call him the Matador from Manicor. Ann Winters turns 30 today. She's an actress who played in TV serieses on FX and ABC and Netflix, as well as a handful of movies. She's most famous for her role in Zack and Mia, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award. Anderson Cooper, the CNN newscaster, adds another candle to the cake today. Some of you may remember him as the host of The Mole, which is a reality TV show from way, way back. But most of you probably recognize him from CNN, where he's been for the last 20 years. And the biggest events he's covered are the Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti. And then Jill Biden, the current first lady, she turns 39 again today. She's had more than 30 chances to turn 39. She was a community college educator, a military mother, and a best-selling author. And she was also the second lady... for eight years back when Michelle Obama was in the first lady role. Now, normally, I like to feature the 50th most famous person showing up on famousbirthdays.com right here in this slot. But that person was just not interesting enough to cover today. So then I tried to find the oldest living person born on this day. But the centenarians list that Wikipedia keeps doesn't have anyone born with June 3rd as their birthday. at least in 2024, so I'm just going to keep moving right along. All right, today is National Chocolate Macaroon Day. Macaroons are drop cookies made from almond flour, not to be confused with macarons, which are the little puffy sandwich pastries. Most macaroons are made with coconut, and there are two camps of styles. There's the French version and the Italian version. But both are fancy cookies that are quite yummy. Oh, and as an aside, we'll be featuring the macaron in the October 28th episode, which isn't published yet. Today is also World Bicycle Day. The United Nations promotes this holiday to raise awareness of the bicycle as an affordable mode of transportation and as a means of reducing carbon emissions. According to the UN, over 100 million bicycles are sold annually. That's a crazy stat. We'll be featuring the bicycle in the June 12th episode. which also isn't published yet. Oddly enough, today is also a quirky day called Repeat Day. This gives you the excuse to do something over and over again. For example, having your favorite meal for lunch and then again for dinner. Or watching your favorite show or movie two times in a row. Or how about this? Getting ice cream for dessert and then having a second bowl. What a great excuse for having two desserts, right? All right. And oddly enough, today is also a quirky day called Repeat Day. This gives you the excuse to be a goofball podcast host. All right. So you need a great gift idea for your loved one? Well, after you share these awesome stories, you can have them open up a gift that is customized to their birthday. And I have several great ideas for you. And as always, you can find links to these in the gift idea section of the show notes. Remember we covered the egg in the first segment? There are some great egg cookbooks available, as well as books that feature the chicken versus the egg paradox. And I was surprised to discover there's also a chicken or egg board game out there. It seems pretty rare. It looks expensive. We covered Stephen King's character, Holly, in the second segment, and of course those books are available. And finally, we covered ROTC in the last segment, and there are some interesting ROTC items available. Your loved one might not have been in that program, but if they're one of those people that have everything, this could be a good option for you. We mentioned Rafael Nadal. There are all kinds of cool things related to him, especially if your loved one is a tennis fan. He has a matador-looking logo on his hats. I thought that was pretty cool. I was surprised to discover that Anderson Cooper... Remember who celebrates his birthday today? He's written several books. So those are available. Another custom gift idea for the person that has everything. Yeah, so there are actually lots of customized gifts to June 3rd as great options for you. And some of which are totally unique to this day. And, as always, if those ideas aren't cool enough, you could give them a personalized shout-out right here on this podcast. If you want to try the old fashioned way, you can email me and tell me their name and some interesting tidbits. And then I can mention it for you. I can do the shout out for you. Or if you want to try a new feature we've added, you can record your own shout out to your loved one by using the SpeakPipe app. You can find the link to do this in the show notes.

Ozzie's Friends:

Happy

Truman:

birthday, buddy. I love you very much. Have a great day. But if you have a story that just needs to be shared about any day in the past, send me an email and let's connect. All right. Now, while you're thinking about all that, How about clicking the Follow button on your podcast app so that you get notifications when the next episode is released? And if you're still listening at this point, I'm going to give you a challenge. Now, this one's really easy. I'm going to ask you to think of your favorite time travel movie. And then I'm going to ask you to try out a new feature that Buzzsprout has just introduced. Buzzsprout is the application that I use to host this podcast. So there's a link in the show notes that says... Text me your favorite time travel movie. Just click that link and type it in after the number that's already there. That's it. You can do it right from your phone right now. Literally, it's easy. Now, on my end, I'm not able to tell what number you're texting from, so it's completely anonymous. So I'm just asking you to try it out. You can do it. You can do it. I know you can. My mom is a listener. If she can do it, Actually, Mom, can you? Can you do it? If she can do it, then everyone should be able to do it. Just click the link and type your favorite movie. I, of course, have my own list, and I'm going to be featuring that on December 8th of 2024. But if you have some time, please, please send that to me, and we can check out how this cool feature worked. All righty, I'll end with the same thing I always say. I hope you had half as much fun listening as I did creating this episode. Sharing this with a friend or family member would be incredible and sincerely appreciated. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, this is Truman Pastworthy reminding you that every day has a great story. And we'll be striding through them all to find some more goodies for you. Now get out there and make your own great story today.