Norman Rockwell didn't create his celebrated images using only brush and paint. They often took shape first as scenes that Rockwell literally acted out, not only for his editors atthe Saturday Evening Post, but for his real-life models, too. "It was difficult," he once explained, "but I felt it was the best way to get across my meaning." And so he would enthusiastically play out his visions and ideas, a one-man show packed with just the right expressions, giving enough details of each character in the scene to inspire his models and more importantly, get his editors to buy his ideas.

Now, more than 30 years after his death, Rockwell is still acknowledged for skillfully documenting the best of 20th century American life with drawings of simple emotions inspired by everyday people. To create his detailed recollections of everyday American life, Rockwell worked much like a film director, not just acting out the scenes in his imagination, but looking for locations, casting everyday people from his town for particular parts.

The recognition he received strongly proves Rockwell's superior skills as a storyteller and is the subject of another kind of one-man show: the upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., titledTelling Stories:Norman Rockwell from the Collections of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. The exhibit, gathered together from the private collections of these two popular film directors, will feature rarely viewed pieces of Rockwell's artworks.

That concentration of information as well as emotion is something essential in Rockwell's art. Emotion certainly spoke to Steven Spielberg when he first saw one of his favorite Rockwell paintings,High Dive, the August 16, 1947 Post cover that describes a boy at the top of what must be a towering diving board. He crouches (蹲伏) high above a swimming pool, too afraid to either jump or climb back down. The painting hangs in Spielberg's office at Amblin Entertainment because it holds a great deal of meaning for the filmmaker.

Frustrated by an increase in wild boar(野猪) attacks, officials in Hong Kong used bread to attract and trap some of the animals in a district close to the city Press reported. Wild boars can be seen frequently along Hong Kong fuse to obey orders from authorities to stop feeding them because they can gather in large groups and pass along diseases. Attacks by wild boars have also become an increasingly common issue. In an attack last week, a wild boar knocked down a police officer and bit his leg last week before the animal fell from a residential car park and died.

Government data indicates that there are roughly 3,000 wild boars in Hong Kong. They are not a protected species. Though Hong Kong authorities have attempted to naturally cut down the boar population, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department said it " could not effectively control the wild pig disturbance." "A large group of wild pigs continued to wander and gather at the site, posing threats to members of the public and road users," a statement from the department read.

Since the attack on the police officer, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam has cautioned that the city could impose more severe punishment against people who continue to feed the boars. "I understand that a lot of Hong Kong people love the wetlands and nature. However, we also need to protect public safety.We can't simply sit on our hands while things worsen," she added.

Philanthropic group ADM Capital Foundation, the Hong Kong Veterinary Association and other animal rights organizations have since sent an open letter to the government criticizing its shift in policy to kill the boars. A request by groups including Hong Kong Animal Post and Hong Kong Wild Boar Concern Group said that the measures announced by the agriculture department to regularly capture and put down wild boars "ignore their right to live. This approach is extremely unreasonable and contradicts previous animal management policy principles."

Hong Kong needs legislative reform to deal with the current gaps in existing laws, so that wildlife feeding is an illegal activity, punishment is severe and can be enforced effectively.

Francesca Gino, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, explores a range of fascinating subjects in her new book. Gino's new book also highlights the science of gratitude.

In two of the gratitude experiments, Gino worked with Professor Adam Grant of the Wharton School. They first asked 57 students to give feedback to a fictitious (虚构的) student, Eric, regarding his cover letter for a job. Half were emailed a brief confirmation without gratitude. The other half received gratitude: "I received your feedback on my cover letter. I am really grateful."

When Gino and Grant measured the students' sense of self-worth afterwards, 25 percent of the group that received just an acknowledgement felt higher level of self-worth, compared with 55 percent of the group that received thanks.

In a follow-up experiment, participants received a message from another fictitious student Steven, asking for feedback on his cover letter. Would participants who had received thanks from Eric be more likely to help Steven? Indeed, more than half of the students in the gratitude group (66 percent) helped Steven, compared with just 32 percent of those in the no-gratitude group.

"Receiving expression of gratitude makes us feel a heightened (增强的) sense of self-worth," Gino said.

Gino built on the research in a field study that looked at 41 fundraisers (募捐人) at a university, all receiving a fixed salary. The director visited half of the fundraisers in person, telling them, "I am very grateful for your hard work." The second group received no such expression of gratitude. Gino said that "the expression of gratitude increased the number of calls made by that group of fundraisers by more than 50 percent" for the week, while fundraisers who received no thanks made about the same number of calls as the previous week.

By missing chances to express gratitude, organizations and leaders lose relatively cost-free opportunities to motivate their employees, Gino said.

"The work behind my book really makes me think more carefully every time I am the one expressing gratitude to others. I don't want to miss opportunities. I have learned from my own research and now try to say ‘thank you' much more often", Gino added.