Happy Cinco de Mayo! Reader,

Welcome to the 4x Friday, four of the coolest things I've found, learned, or experienced, this past week.

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What I laughed at

Today's social media feeds will be filled with Cinco de Mayo memes; you can count on it. I posted mine at 6:30 this morning. Where did I find such hilarious humor? LolaLambchops.com, of course. Tina "Lola" Lamb is a talented travel and entertainment writer whose post yesterday was The Funniest Cinco de Mayo Memes. We can all take a few minutes to address our funny photos fix and then have a productive day by avoiding social media. You'll thank me later.

What I discovered

Yesterday was yet another Star Wars day. And all the cool stuff I learn about too late. But here are some ideas to bookmark for next year. I discovered four vacation homes with Star Wars-themed rooms, all near the theme parks in Orlando, FL. The number of guest range between 15 and 28, and the nightly rates are from $225 to $425 per night. There is a galaxy tiki room, an Ewok village bedroom, a Jakku-themed bedroom, and a Falcon-themed bedroom. Explore this galactic villa to inspire your next out-of-this-world getaway.

What I watched

13-year-old Cillian O'Connor is a teenage magician whose mesmerizing performance (00:08/27) on Britain's Got Talent left Simon Cowell speechless and the judges in tears. He has already clocked up more than 140 million views around the world. During his appearance, inspiring Cillian told the audience: "Having autism is not a disability; it's an ability. When I was younger, I was unable to interact with people. After discovering magic, my life changed. It was like a light switch coming on inside my head." I found an interview by the Irish Star where Cillian pulls out a Book of Pi containing 100,000 digits of Pi. The journalist opened a random page, picked a row, and Cillian rattled off 30 numbers. Because of sensory autism, he can remember all of them. It took two days. "I let the magic speak for me. I always have a pack of cards or a Rubik's cube. I can narrate the trick, and people ask questions, and I can talk then. Before, I didn't know how to join a conversation." What a great lesson to be learned by us all.

What I read

Speaking of magic and inspiration, I finished reading Magic Words: What to Say to Get Your Way by Jonah Berger. I find it fascinating that we all use language all the time. We use language to pitch to clients, we use language to talk to friends and family, and we use language to write emails and make presentations. But while we spend a lot of time thinking about what we want to talk about, the topics, the ideas we want to get across, and the things along those lines, we think a lot less about the specific words we use to express those ideas. That's a mistake because subtle shifts in our language can have a significant effect on our impact, according to Jonah. Adding a word like "because" to a sentence can increase the likelihood of people saying "yes" to a request by about 50%. Rather than saying, "I like something," saying, "I recommend it," makes people about a third more likely to take your recommendation. And everything from email language to loan applications to various domains provides deep insight into the people creating that language.

Have a triumphant week.

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