Indice dei contenuti per May 2013 in Reader's Digest

In honor of our big story (page 132), let’s go over the things that indicate you’re in a marriage that, like mine, is perfectly normal. 1) You text your husband, “Let’s talk tonight,” and he responds, “Talk? About what? What do we need to talk about? Did I do something? What?!” 2) You like to throw things away. Your husband knows this about you, so he regularly peeks into the family garbage to rescue things like the half-finished drawing of a cat that he knows your daughter will ask about the next morning (and she does). 3) These words have come out of your mouth: “What did the bath mat ever do to you that you refuse to hang it up?” 4) The last time the two of you were…

On a sunny, breezy day last August, Nick Tumilowicz heard a commotion as he grilled bratwurst at a friend’s birthday party in San Francisco’s Candlestick Point Park. A group of party guests had gathered at the edge of the picnic area, yelling and pointing at something floating in San Francisco Bay. As he ran to investigate, he soon saw what was wrong: A couple of kids in a rowboat were caught in the current and being pulled out to sea. Two 12-year-old boys, Christian Pryfogle and Jack Olinger, who had been at the party earlier, had climbed into an eight-foot dinghy moored nearby and had begun rowing out to retrieve a football. Once they’d paddled beyond the calm waters of the cove, a beach umbrella rigged to the small craft…

Seems children of the 1820s were just as squirmy as children today, based on the development of an amusing convention: photographs containing hidden mothers (here, one disguised as a chair) trying to keep their little ones still enough for a non-blurry shot. Because old cameras’ shutters needed to remain open longer, a child’s slightest wiggle could result in an out-of-focus image, so women camouflaged themselves in tapestries and decorative throws to blend in while keeping their darlings quiet as photos were snapped.…

Freebies for Cancer Patients After she successfully battled breast cancer five years ago, New York City journalist Bethany Kandel founded the site breastcancerfreebies.com, which tells cancer patients where to find everything from free wigs and scarves to housecleaning services and transportation. “I kept coming across such great free things during my treatment—a gorgeous wig from the American Cancer Society, for example—and wanted to pay it forward.” An App to Prevent Medication Mistakes MediSafe Project is a free app developed by brothers whose father accidentally double-dosed on insulin, leading to a medical emergency. Only half of people typically take their medication as prescribed. To help prevent drug mishaps, MediSafe keeps track of multiple medications and sends a reminder when a dose is due. If the medicine isn’t taken, the app notifies…

FROM THE New York Times As kids, my three brothers and I fought over the normal things: baseball, checkers, Candy Land. But our sibling rivalry reached a fever pitch at the dinner table. Who got the largest hamburger? Who finished eating fast enough to get seconds? Who got the biggest slice of pie? Our mother cut portions so nearly identical, it would have taken a micrometer to tell them apart, but her efforts were in vain. Whether lunging for the last hot dog, filching an extra piece of crispy skin from the roast chicken, or merely noting who had gotten the most cherries in his fruit cocktail, each of us struggled, constantly, to get his fair share. Our fraternal feeding frenzy wasn’t unusual, as I learned while writing a book…

Keep It Cold 1) MAPLE SYRUP The real stuff has no preservatives and can become moldy after opening if it’s not chilled. 2) CUT FLOWERS Put blooms, vase and all, in the fridge overnight, and they will last longer; just remove any apples, which release wilt-inducing ethylene gas. 3) RIPE BANANAS They’ll stay at their perfect peak for another week if you toss them in the refrigerator—but wait until they’re ripe! 4) NATURAL PEANUT BUTTER It goes rancid quickly when stored at warm temperatures. 5) CANDLES Cold wax burns longer and more cleanly. Better at Room Temp 1) POTATOES Moisture makes spuds go blah; store in the pantry for three weeks. 2) HOT SAUCE Acidic, vinegar-based foods like this fiery condiment are fine at room temperature. 3) TOMATOES Avoid the…

• FROM Sunset Easy Walden Zone: named after Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which chronicles the philosopher’s retreat from society. Designate a specific space in your house as a tech-free zone: Put a basket at the door for cell phones. Medium The Digital Detox: retreats in remote Northern California locales without any devices. Participants ditch all gadgets for long weekends of tech-free activities like cooking and hiking. For more information, visit thedigitaldetox.org. Hard Give up your app-filled smartphone for something simpler, like a flip phone or landline. One convert finds that he’s more engaged in the moment and now knows his city, San Francisco, better since he no longer has easy access to Google Maps.…

Financial website Card Hub analyzed 1,000 pieces of plastic in 2012 to uncover which ones have hefty costs for: Big Purchases ARVEST BANK CLASSIC It provides the least advantageous terms of cards that offer a low introductory interest rate for purchases consumers can’t pay in full. The intro APR is 4.9 percent for just six months, compared with other cards that offer a zero percent APR for 18 months. (Arvest commented that this card is not meant for short-term, onetime purchases.) Rebuilding Bad Credit FIRST PREMIER BANK GOLD With a $95 initial processing fee, a $75 annual fee the first year, a $45 annual fee in subsequent years, and a $6.25 monthly fee starting the second year, it’s a wonder you don’t go bankrupt just by opening the thing. Those…

• FROM BuzzFeed 1 From January through March of each year, Girl Scout cookies are the No. 1 cookie brand in the United States. Oreos are the bestselling cookie the rest of the year. 2 Fifty-nine percent of women in the U.S. Senate and 60 percent of women in the House of Representatives are Girl Scouts alumnae. 3 In 1942, Girl Scouts sold calendars in lieu of cookies due to sugar, flour, and butter shortages during World War II. 4 During peak bake times, Girl Scout cookie producers bake over 4.5 million Thin Mints per day. 5 The “healthy,” nutrient-enriched new Mango Crèmes have the most fat and calories.…

My Afghan interpreter loved using American idioms, even though he rarely had a firm grasp of them. One day, during a meeting with village elders, I asked him to leave out the chitchat and get to the point. “I understand, sir,” he said. “You want me to cut the cheese.” Patrick Haws, Lehi, Utah After my husband, a veteran, spoke at an elementary school, a student asked what he ate during battle. “C rations,” he replied. “Ooh!” she squealed. “I love seafood.” Dotty Boezinger, Helotes, Texas Classic We Love Just before I was deployed to Iraq, I sat my eight-year-old son down and broke the news to him. “I’m going to be away for a long time,” I told him. “I’m going to Iraq.” “Why?” he asked. “Don’t you know…

The man is doing something on his lawn that I don’t understand. As I pass, he’s cleaning a long canvas strap with a dull blade, as if he’s sharpening it. The strap is suspended, stretched between two trees. He nods at me, smiles from under his cowboy hat. I used to live in this neighborhood in Dallas, on this very street. But I don’t remember him. His beard is white, long, pointed. The red in his cheeks matches the red in his tie-dyed T-shirt. I nod and smile back, but then continue down the street, marveling at the new houses. When I return to the corner, the man is standing on the strap suspended between the trees. He’s walking, bouncing. In the time it took me to wander the length…

THE CELLS WERE HORRIFIC: cramped, dark, and blisteringly hot. The prisoners—hundreds of American servicemen captured by the Vietcong—endured torture, hunger, and crushing isolation. During the endless days and nights, in the bleak procession of weeks, months, and years of not knowing whether they’d ever go home or see their loved ones again, one thing pierced the utter desolation: the small sound of taps on the wall. From man to man, from cell to cell, a code was passed, a way to say “hello,” to say “I am still alive.” The tap alphabet was first brought into the North Vietnamese prison by a pilot who’d been shot down in 1965. These bare-knuckled ABCs were surreptitiously taught to new arrivals. With little explanation, one man would tap out the rhythms until the…

• FROM The Art of Significance Once while I was a guest on a live television talk show, the hostess said, “So you’re an author and speaker, which makes you a perceived expert. Who said your values are the right ones? Who put you in charge of telling us what is right?” She blindsided me, but I found her questions provocative and welcome. “You are absolutely correct,” I answered. “I do not, nor does anyone, have the right to impose values on anybody. For some reason, many equate values with religion and immediately get their knickers in a twist. I fully understand the separation of church and state. But what values do you not want me to teach? Charity, forgiveness, honesty, love, acceptance, human rights with equal responsibility, hard work,…

YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE ROAD Smart streets make your ride much easier, thanks to Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde. Dynamic paint (that normally blends into the asphalt) signals road conditions by responding to temperature fluctuations: When a surface is cold and slippery, drivers see glowing images of ice crystals. And a solar-charged photoluminescent line paint glows in the dark at night. AT THE MOVIES The entertainment potential of 3-D experiences, like the recent virtual “performances” by the late Frank Sinatra and Tupac Shakur, inspired director Martin Scorsese to claim, “If everything moves along and there’s no major catastrophe, we’re headed toward holograms.” He described an experience during which 3-D images of actors would walk through the audience, transforming a theater into a live movie set. OUT TO EAT No more waiting…

• FROM Chicago magazine Diane and Rick Pacaccio mount the stairs in silence. They trudge to the second floor of their modest two-story house in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, and stand before the bedroom just to the left. Diane turns the knob with a trembling hand. The room is all pastel pinks and powder blues. Porcelain clowns line a set of shelves. The words Happy Sweet 16 shimmer on a piece of poster board. “Everything is just the same,” Diane says. She pauses, spots a framed photo of her daughter. The girl’s dark hair, parted on the left, falls gently over her shoulders. Her smile is girlish, sweet, tinged with yearning. “She’s got a beautiful face, this girl,” Diane murmurs. Rick lets out a sudden, sharp sob. He…

1) Can love really last a lifetime? Absolutely—but only if you chuck the fairy tale. Relationships require maintenance. 2) Does money really buy happiness? No. Because happiness isn’t for sale. Only people you love, and who love you, can bring it. 3) Can a man and a woman ever just be friends? Well, it requires that you find each other at least vaguely repulsive. Good luck! 4) Why do we turn into our parents when we swore we wouldn’t? Because, really, when all is said and done, we admire them. 5) How do you know when to end a friendship? As soon as you get that sneaking suspicion that it never really began. 6) Why does the line you’re in always move the slowest? Good luck rarely commands one’s attention…

Thanks for these stories! I’ve met one or two of these “genius” managers in my travels through life (“50 Dumb Boss Stories”). And guest editor Rainn Wilson’s interspersed comments were a delightful illustration of just how much funnier real people can be versus characters on TV. Garrett Michael Hayes, Smyrna, Georgia I bought a year’s subscription to Reader’s Digest for my iPad mini, and I love it! How fun it is to hear Rainn Wilson introduce the issue when I tap on the cover! Keep the interactive content and fun stuff coming! Tina Russell, Pawtucket, Rhode Island I was shocked at how mean and inconsiderate most of the bosses included in this piece were to their employees. I didn’t laugh once; in fact, it was difficult to read through the…

When Shawn Rux’s friends and family heard that he was taking the top position at struggling Middle School 53 in Far Rockaway, New York, they asked him the same question: Are you crazy? Rux wasn’t sure how to answer: He was given just three days to prepare for the job of principal in August 2011. During the previous school year, average student attendance at M.S. 53 was among the lowest in the city, 280 of 450 students were suspended, and 22 teachers quit. Rux knew he’d made the right move, though, when 14 months later, Hurricane Sandy forced the students to relocate and they still scored an 88 percent attendance record for the year. To boost attendance at M.S. 53, he’d created an incentive program: Each morning, a raffle ticket…

MOTHS: An Allergy-Free Flu Vaccine Flu vaccines are typically produced by growing influenza virus inside chicken eggs, which means people with egg allergies may develop a serious reaction. A newly FDA-approved vaccine, Flublok, avoids this risk by replicating the virus in cells derived from the fall armyworm moth. The method has been used for other vaccines but not for flu until now. What’s more, it allows for much quicker vaccine production, which will make more doses available sooner if there’s ever a flu pandemic. The new vaccine will be ready for the upcoming flu season. Source: Manon Cox, PhD, president and CEO, Protein Sciences Corp., Meriden, Connecticut FROGS: Fight Infections Scientists are hoping to develop new drugs from the skin of the Russian brown frog after discovering that it secretes…

… Why We Get Pruney Fingers in Water Thank your primate ancestors for those wrinkly digits in your bath. Pruney fingers provide a better grip for wet objects, so they may have evolved to give humans an advantage in gathering food in the rain, British researchers at Newcastle University reported in the journal Biology Letters. The scientists, who studied how quickly participants could move wet versus dry marbles, found that people with dimpled fingertips were about 12 percent quicker at moving wet objects, according to the New York Times. … Feeling Misunderstood Hurts, Literally When your sister doesn’t get why it’s so important that she attend your husband’s party, it hurts—physically and emotionally. Researchers found that feeling misunderstood makes people less tolerant of physical pain. Those who felt they were…

• FROM THE BOOK CookFight SEVERSON’S PICK: Fried Chicken This is America, I often have to remind Moskin. Sure, we’ve borrowed the culinary customs of plenty of other countries. Sure, most of us are from someplace else when you look back a few generations. But there are some things that have been American for so long that they are ours, free and clear. A picnic is one of them. Eating outdoors is a great part of our culinary fabric, starting with the clambake and moving through our expansion westward: the cowboy campfire meal, the pit barbecue, the salmon roast. So leave it to Moskin to try to French it up with a pan bagnat. Most people planning a picnic don’t even know how to pronounce it. What they want on…

Foods That Harm FERMENTED FOODS If mold makes you sneezy, skip anything that’s been fermented or could harbor other strains of mold spores: raisins, beer, wine, sourdough bread, blue cheese, pickles, and vinegar. HONEY If pollen leaves your eyes red, skip honey: The sweet stuff can have microscopic amounts of the allergen mixed in. PLANTS IN THE SUNFLOWER FAMILY If ragweed triggers your symptoms, avoid its edible relatives as well: tarragon, artichokes, endive, and chamomile tea. Foods That Heal SALMON AND HERRING Some reports suggest that eating omega-3 fatty acids can help soothe symptoms; salmon and herring are excellent sources. FLAXSEEDS The tiny seeds are packed with omega-3s, but don’t pop them whole: The body can absorb their fatty acids only when the seeds are ground. TURMERIC The prime ingredient…

What if you could fit all of a library’s collection in the palm of your hand? That’s part of the idea behind an upcoming bookless public library in San Antonio. Called BiblioTech, the system will lend out e-readers loaded with 10,000 titles for two-to-three-week periods. But don’t bother holding on to the device longer than that because it’s programmed to go dead. Other libraries have tried similar programs: In 2002, the Santa Rosa Branch Library in Tucson, Arizona, launched a digital-only facility, and a bookless project was proposed last year in Newport Beach, California. Those digital-only projects folded—residents wanted their paperbacks—but Stanford University maintains a successful bookless engineering library with over 65,000 titles. Officials say digital libraries are a low-cost way to educate the masses and argue their rise is…

Your Money Goes Further The median home price is under $100,000, the cost of living is 14 percent below the national average, and Social Security income isn’t taxed. And we’re just getting started: There’s no state estate tax, and property taxes are low. Earn a Little Something With an unemployment rate that hovers around 6 percent—significantly below the national average—restless retirees can keep working. Expand Your Culture Residents are never far away from cultural events and trendy restaurants with over 50 colleges and universities throughout the state. Bask in Nature’s Eye Candy Like lakes? The state boasts about 200 man-made ones. Mountains? It has those, too—like the scenic Ouachita and Wichita ranges. Oklahoma is actually one of only four states to have more than ten distinct geographical regions within its…

I visited my accountant to pick up an estate-planning form. His assistant was at lunch, so he hunted through the filing cabinet without success. When she returned, he asked for the form. She went straight to the filing cabinet and handed one over. “How did you file them?” he asked. “Under S for estate,” she said. Alex McErvale, Hamilton, Canada Plane Crazy When passengers complain, flight attendants listen. Here, some of the more bizarre things they’ve heard. • A colleague was asked if she could turn down the noise of the engines as they were too loud. • Midflight, a passenger asked if I could crack open a window because it was too stuffy. • A man who didn’t like our food service suggested I arrange it buffet style so…

Lions Care About Their Hair According to Peyton M. West, PhD, an evolution and animal behavior expert, female lions actively court males that are more heavily and lushly maned, especially at night, which is reserved for socializing and grooming. Of course, today such bald discrimination is frowned upon by men and women, but the big cats are content to be old-fashioned. When fights break out among members of the pride, lions with flowing tresses get preferential treatment. Whale Says Thanks Each winter for nearly 20 years, Great Whale Conservancy codirector Michael Fishbach has traveled with other research scientists to the Sea of Cortez off Mexico’s west coast to study blue and humpback whales. In 2011, he and his team spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent…

The summer of 1975 I’d just graduated from college in Southern California and received a 1968 Ford Capri for a graduation present. I had my first job, in Los Angeles. One Sunday night, thinking myself a very independent grown-up, I left my uncle’s place in South Laguna after a visit, without confessing to him that I had less than an eighth of a tank of gas and no cash to buy more en route to L.A. I pulled onto the Pacific Coast Highway and watched the needle descend as I headed north. When I started running on fumes, I pulled into a gas station. There was no self-serve then; there were no credit cards, no ATMs. I begged the guy at the station. I could write him a check for…

SONNET 4 45 43 (SONNET FOR US) The world without, within our weathered walls, Remote, like useless windows, small and barred. Here, months and years run quickly down dim halls, But says, the daze, the empty days come hard. I used to count a lot, count everything, Like exercise and laps and words of prayer. What hurt that hunger, thoughts that thirst can bring, Companions, waking, sleeping, always there. But policy unsanities unwind, Till bad is good and betterment is worse. So refuge blanket, net, and molding mind Create a mingling dream-real universe. I’m told that steel is forged by heavy blows. If only men were steel, but then, who knows? John Borling COPYRIGHT © 2013 MASTERWINGS PUBLISHING LLC, AN IMPRINT OF THE PRITZKER MILITARY LIBRARY…

Is it normal to rarely fight with my husband? To be intimate less than once a month? Am I nuts to pretend I’m happier in my relationship than I am? To lie to my wife? Whether you’re fresh off your honeymoon or celebrating your silver wedding anniversary, questions like these have surely crossed your mind, says Chrisanna Northrup, coauthor of The Normal Bar: The Surprising Secrets of Happy Couples and What They Reveal About Creating a New Normal in Your Relationship. She would know—the idea for the book came at a rocky time in her own 15-year marriage. “I remember thinking, ‘Is this as good as it gets?’” writes Northrup. “The ‘normal’ my husband and I had created for our relationship was making us both more miserable than we cared…

• FROM THE BOOK My Planet There are three kinds of people in this world: 1) People who make lists, 2) People who don’t make lists, and 3) People who carve tiny Nativity scenes out of pecan hulls. I’m sorry, there isn’t really a third category; it’s just that a workable list needs a minimum of three items, I feel. I am, as you might have guessed, a person who makes lists: daily to-do lists, long-term to-do lists, shopping lists, packing lists. I am married to a man whose idea of a list is a corner torn off a newspaper page, covered with words too hastily written to later decipher, and soon misplaced or dropped on the floor. Every now and then, I’ll discover one of Ed’s lists in some…

Hold the Sarcasm A close friend of mine is a total smart aleck who has a tendency to make rude, know-it-all comments. Unless you know her as well as I do, it’s difficult to have a conversation with her. I don’t think she is aware of this. How do I tell her without hurting her feelings? Protective Pal Dear Protective, Time for an intervention! Be forward yet tactful to get the point across. For example, say “It really hurts people’s feelings when you use that tone” instead of “You are really rude.” Don’t accuse, attack, blame, or try to analyze; that will just make her clam up. You’re her friend, and you owe her the truth of your experience. Tell her that you think that people might feel hurt by…

My sister’s dieting stint ended the day her eight-year-old saw the price tag on her weight-loss shake. “Whoa!” he yelled out. “Eight bucks for this, and it doesn’t even work.” D. W., via e-mail My husband and I were driving past our neighbors’ home when I noticed a decorative wooden stork in their driveway. “Did they have a baby?” I asked. “I don’t know,” he said. “Why?” “There’s a stork in their yard.” “Dear,” he said, “that’s not the way it happens.” Jennifer Walker, Magee, Mississippi My 80-year-old grandmother suffers from crippling arthritis and impaired vision to the point of near blindness. So when I booked her on a flight, I made sure to tell the airline about her special needs, including a wheelchair and an attendant. “Everything will be…

GREATEST HITS FROM OUR SITE *In case you missed it, go to readersdigest.com/dailydigest. Of Immediate Interest HOW TO REMEMBER EVERYTHING Can’t stay on top of it all? Try downloading these eight helpful apps for instant reminders about passwords, dates, and schedules. BLOOD TYPES HOLD HEALTH CLUES Several recent studies connect the different blood groups (A, B, AB, and O) with their relative risks of heart disease, blood clots, stomach cancer, and infertility. Learn about yours. LIQUID GOLD Extra-virgin olive oil yields incredible health benefits—pain relief, acne cure, and more—and has been linked to longer life in Greeks, who seemingly live forever. CHEESY PICK-UP LINES GUARANTEED TO GET A LAUGH We found a bunch of howlers: “Are you a parking ticket? Because FINE is written all over you.” HIRE THESE GUYS!…

Every day, a woman stood on her porch and shouted, “Praise the Lord!” And every day the atheist next door yelled, “There is no Lord!” One day she prayed, “Lord, I’m hungry. Please send me groceries.” The next morning she found a big bag of food on the stairs. “Praise the Lord,” she shouted. “Ha! I told you there was no Lord,” her neighbor said, jumping from behind a bush. “I bought those groceries.” “Praise the Lord!” the woman said. “He not only sent me groceries, but he made the devil pay for them.” Bad Driver! Bad! The SPCA in New Zealand taught some dogs how to drive. David Letterman isn’t sure it’s such a good idea for these reasons: • Instead of “10 and 2,” steering wheel positions are…

What You’ve Heard If you’re heavy, you’ve probably been told to slim down for your health. After all, everyone knows that overweight people have higher risks for life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers. The Headlines Now Extra padding may not be that deadly, according to an attention-grabbing CDC report that pooled data on nearly three million people from all over the world. The analysis found that while extreme obesity shortened lives, people who were just overweight (having a body mass index between 25 and 30) were actually less likely to die than those who were normal weight. The paper was a follow-up report to a groundbreaking 2005 study that reached similar conclusions. This growing body of research makes some experts question whether being overweight is really…

1 The goal of tutoring is to get the child out of tutoring. If the tutor’s references include students she’s been tutoring for years, that’s not a good sign. 2 I was once paid $3,500 a week to basically run a kid’s entire life. I worked with him on time management, tutored him for standardized tests, and helped him with every single piece of homework. 3 Please, call me early. Sometimes I get hired because a child needs a specific grade in order to graduate. That’s way too stressful for everyone and doesn’t set up your child for success. 4 When you meet a prospective tutor for the first time, have your child with you. You want a tutor who engages the child, not someone who talks to only you.…

1 DORITO DUST Smash a handful of chips, stuff into a clean pepper mill, and grind away onto everything from mac and cheese to broccoli. 2 CHIP DIP Flip your chip-and-dip routine: Add finely crushed veggie or tortilla chips to your favorite creamy dip (think sour cream–cream cheese blends), and serve with crudités. 3 CRUNCHY COOKIES Fold a cup of crushed potato chips into chocolate chip cookie dough for a sweet-and-salty combo (like chocolate-covered pretzels). Sources: foodbeast.com, Food Network Magazine, Momofuku Milk Bar…

• FROM jezebel.com Watch out, mason jars at weddings: You’ve got some serious competition for Most Popular on Pinterest. When the Mercury newspaper in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, started pinning mug shots of citizens wanted for things like DUI, theft, and assault to its Pinterest boards, the local police department increased its arrests by more than 50 percent. “We’ve seen a 57 percent increase in our warrant services and got more people based on our tips and our calls,” Pottstown Police Captain F. Richard Drumheller says. People even started turning themselves in, fearful of the power of one of the Internet’s largest photo galleries. The police consider this a major success, and many departments are rushing into the warm embrace of social media. So get ready to see mug shots mixed in…

Drip Coffeemakers PROCTOR SILEX PROGRAM-MABLE COFFEEMAKER Price: $24.99 For a basic price: • Typical glass carafe • Brew-pause button to control coffee strength • Quick average brewing time of one minute per cup • No permanent filter CUISINART EXTREME BREW THERMAL COFFEEMAKER Price: $129 For an extra $100: • A thermoslike carafe: Double-walled stainless steel thermal carafe to keep beverages hot • Morning convenience: 24-hour programmer brews coffee at a specific time • Saves 15 seconds: Average brewing time of 45 seconds per cup • Fancy filters: Permanent filter plus charcoal filter to purify water Single-Serve Machines MR. COFFEE SINGLE SERVE BREWING SYSTEM WITH RESERVOIR Price: $79.99 For a basic price: • Beverage is ready in three minutes or less. • No storage for used K-Cups • Selection of 156…

FROM THE New York Times SURVIVOR ON THE SURFACE: It’s not smart to boast around your competition. HIDDEN LESSON: You can’t escape who you really are. Survivor is really about the inescapability of being yourself, even when you have told yourself you can be someone different for 30 days. For example, Russell Hantz, arguably one of the wiliest players ever, still couldn’t figure out that in order to win, he needed to pretend to be humble for five minutes during his final speech. Last season, John Cochran, a Harvard Law student and self-professed Survivor superfan, predicted great things for his game play. Still, when the ringleaders of his tribe decided he was an unfunny dork, he couldn’t stop joking. He was doomed to be who he had always been, even…

Zoo Logic A real safari may be out of reach, but you can still talk about the animal kingdom like a seasoned guide. Explore this menagerie of words and then scout for answers on the next page. 1. fauna (’faw-nuh) n.— A: baby deer. B: beast of myth. C: animal life in a region. 2. nicker (’ni-ker) v.— A: chirp like a cricket. B: chatter like a chimp. C: whinny like a horse. 3. savanna (’suh-van-ah) n.—A: grassland. B: paper fan. C: tall cabinet. 4. nocturnal (’noctur-nal) adj.—A: fast moving. B: without legs. C: active at night. 5. vulpine (’vul-piyn) adj.—A: like a wolf. B: like a fox. C: like a crow. 6. flews (’flooz) n.— A: swarms of midges. B: cuckoo nests. C: droopy lips, like a bloodhound’s. 7.…

• FROM THE BOOK Animal Wise Animals have minds. They have brains and use them as we do: for experiencing the world, for thinking and feeling, and for solving the problems of life every creature faces. Like us, they have personalities, moods, and emotions; they laugh, and they play. Some show grief and empathy and are self-aware and very likely conscious of their actions and intents. Not so long ago, I would have hedged these statements, because the prevailing notion held that animals are more like zombies or robotic machines, capable of responding with only simple, reflexive behaviors. And indeed there are still researchers who insist that animals move through life like the half-dead, but those scientists have been left behind as a flood of new research from biologists, animal…

When I was a chaplain intern at UCLA Medical Center, I entered the lives of strangers at the worst possible moments. In those dark hours, when a patient was dying, I would show up, a stranger, an unfamiliar face and voice and touch. In the beginning, I dreaded those visits, viewing myself as a poor substitute for the comforting intimacy of family and friends. I felt helpless to help. Then I learned an important spiritual lesson from one of those strangers and never looked at life the same way again. She was dying of kidney failure, and her only hope was a transplant. Every day, 18 people in this country die waiting for an organ donation. I waited with her, and prayed with her, and finally said with a sigh,…

I don’t mean to complain, but … OK, actually, I do. And I’m not alone. We all do it. And our gripes can get so ugly that we describe the very act as “venting one’s spleen.” Such is the world today that we will whine about anything (“Ugh … Why does global warming always happen to me?!”). Just like every other creature that roams the earth (“Why does Earth have to be so muddy?!”), whiners come in different shapes, sizes, and attitudes. See if you recognize yourself in any of the following descriptions. IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE A man who robbed a Wendy’s in Atlanta was so put off by his skimpy haul that he called the restaurant twice to voice his disapproval. That’s better than what police say Arthur Bundrage…

Funny how a day can change so quickly. It started well: The Body had one of my favorite meals for breakfast—yogurt and oatmeal with blueberries. I’ll be running smoothly, if you know what I mean, thanks to the fiber in the oats and fruit. Even better, the yogurt is teeming with probiotics—live bacterial critters that help maintain my Gut Flora (GF), the amazing microbes inside me that help with digestion and immunity. When my GF are balanced and happy, The Body may be more likely to eat that who-knows-how-old Chinese food in the fridge without getting sick. But more about that later. It’s only 8:30 a.m., and my optimism is fading on the morning commute. The Body remembers that late-night e-mail from her boss (“See me at 3:30 tomorrow.”) Hmm…

Roach finds the funny in our everyday lives. Here, her thoughts on: Sleeping: “A married couple is defined as a unit of people whose sleep habits are carefully engineered to keep each other awake.” Sports: “I watch sports the way a dog will watch TV: I’m attracted by the motion and color, but no actual comprehension is taking place.” House hunting: “The other day—true story—we saw a listing that said ‘yard, complete with outhouse.’” Googling symptoms: “The dangerous thing about Internet diagnosis is that most hypochondriacs will attempt it late at night, when everyone else is asleep and no one is around to reassure them that they’re nuts.” Reading glasses: “In my book, reading glasses are not cause for cheer. They are cause for depression, or regression, or diphtheria—I don’t…

In our March issue, we asked you to help Too Many Photos decide whether she should display all the pictures that loved ones send. You offered creative suggestions: Purchase a digital photo frame, scan the photos, and then download them onto the frame. When friends and family come to visit, all the pictures will be cycling through on a loop for your pleasure and theirs. Patricia O. I display photos under the glass of my coffee table as opposed to framing all the ones I receive. You can easily update them as needed. C. Thompson I tuck the photos into cookbooks. Every time I use a book, the pictures pop out, and I enjoy seeing them again. Lisa An album: Enough said. Sometimes Dutiful Son GIVE YOUR BEST ADVICE Write…

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking. Haruki Murakami I have decided to stick to love … Hate is too great a burden to bear. Martin Luther King, Jr. The goal isn’t to live forever; the goal is to create something that will. Chuck Palahniuk You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it. Goldie Hawn Stress cannot exist in the presence of pie. David Mamet It’s the great gift of human beings that we have this power of empathy … We can all sense a mysterious connection to each other. Meryl Streep Humor keeps us alive. Humor and food. Don’t forget food. You can go a week without laughing. Joss Whedon, director…