Just a Bite 10-27-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

The Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet.
The future is still so much bigger than the past.
~ Tim Berners-Lee

Resources to bite into

1. Free Flowing Information

Most people seem to mark the beginning of the Internet as 40 years ago this fall, with the exact date depending on the various players involved. Dr. Len Kleinrock, a UCLA professor since 1963, was one of those players, all of whom were aiming to create a free exchange of information. “Allow that open access, and a thousand flowers bloom,” he said. http://www.buffalonews.com/145/story/780084.html#

This year is also the 20th anniversary of the birth of the World Wide Web. (To keep the two terms straight, think of the Internet as Europe and the Web as France.) British physicist Sir Tim Berners-Lee is widely credited with inventing the World Wide Web. He has been a lifelong crusader for keeping the Web free to all, and purposely chose not to financially benefit from the invention. (Imagine that, Google.) He sees the Web as a means of communication, of helping human beings to connect and understand one another better. Pretty refreshing. You can learn much more about his work at http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/.

2. Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly also celebrates this unusual group – talent combined with a delightful sense of humor. You can see for yourself by checking out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3gp7B8WC4Q (and be patient – They really start playing about 90 seconds in.) Also check out their website at www.ukuleleorchestra.com and listen to more clips at http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com/main/ListClips.aspx?SessionKey.

3. Which Is? Quiz for Witches and Other Goblins This Week


The trivia quiz in the current Brain Aerobics Weekly features excerpts from three of my favorite resources:
• Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Puzzle Book #2. To order, click here.
• Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Puzzle Book #3. To order, click here.
• Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Puzzle Book #4. To order, click here.
For example, do you know which is faster, the average sneeze or the average cough?
How about which pets watch more TV, cats or dogs? (Answers below)

Tips/ideas/insights to savor

This week Brain Aerobics Weekly uses its creative thinking pages to have readers choose among opposing proverbs, and evaluate why they prefer one over the other – and in what circumstances the opposite might be true!

Here are a few examples:
1. ___ Look before you leap.
___ He who hesitates is lost.

2. ___ If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
___ Once bitten, twice shy.

3. ___ You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
___ It’s never too late to learn.

4. ___ Where there’s a will there’s a way.
___ Time and tide wait for no man.

5. ___ Out of sight, out of mind.
___ Absence makes the heart grow fonder.


Answers to Which is quiz samples: cough and cats.


To order Brain Aerobics Weekly, go to www.wisernow.com now!
It’s a great “I am thankful for you” gift.

Using these resources effectively:

We suggest you create a file on your computer for Just a Bite where you save each week’s digest so that you can access these websites any time.

Let the ever-ripening Wiser Now website become the apple of your eye.

Just a Bite 10-20-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples,
don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious.
~Bill Meyer

Resources to bite into

1. Positive Attitude Month

As you well know, a positive attitude is good for body and soul; you can find a lot of inspiration at http://www.quotegarden.com/attitude.html. The current issue of Brain Aerobics Weekly asks readers to come up with their own metaphors for the idea. Bill Meyer combined crab apples with Golden Delicious in his. Albert Camus compared winter with summer, and Voltaire wrote: “Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” What’s your metaphor for the importance of a positive attitude?

2. Popcorn Poppin’ Month

It’s also a month to celebrate popcorn, and Brain Aerobics Weekly features a trivia quiz on the topic along with a mouthwatering list of unusual popcorn flavors found at http://www.popcornuniverse.com/popcornonline.htm.

In doing research for the week, I had thought of showing popcorn popping when four cell phones were placed together (YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjx4JROjR4) but thought better of promoting the hoax (explained at http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/06/10/cell-phone-popcorn.htm) because most of us are worried enough about what cell phones may be doing to our brains over the long term. And popcorn should be simply enjoyed!

3. Cake Wrecks

An article in the New York Times inspired me to celebrate Bake and Decorate Month in the current Brain Aerobics Weekly by highlighting the website/blog and new book by Jen Yates called Cake Wrecks. To order the book, click here. To explore her funny sense of humor go to http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/. And to see an example of a website that makes her laugh, go to http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/.


Tips/ideas/insights to savor

This week Brain Aerobics Weekly uses its imagination pages to talk about Photographer Appreciation Month by asking you to tap into your photographic memory and imagine your life summarized in just 15 – 25 pictures.

Here are five categories to think about:
• Family and friends
• Career, hobbies and special interests
• The political and social history you have lived through
• The places you have loved living or visiting
• Whatever else is missing: What else would you want people to know about yourself?

1) What are the 3 – 5 pictures in each that might sum up your life in each?
2) Why did you choose these particular ones?
3) In what categories do you need more than 5 pictures?


To order Brain Aerobics Weekly, go to http://www.wisernow.com/ now!


Using these resources effectively:

We suggest you create a file on your computer for Just a Bite where you save each week’s digest so that you can access these websites any time.

Let the ever-ripening Wiser Now website become the apple of your eye.

Just A Bite 10-13-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
~ Oscar Wilde (born October 16, 1854)

Resources to bite into

1. Character Counts Week, October 18 - 24

This special week starts before our next issue, so consider now how you might celebrate. In spite of the temptation we all have to discount those who disagree with us (as Oscar Wilde noted above), one mark of good character is the willingness to listen to others. Advice columnist Dear Abby (Abigail Van Buren) said:
The best index to a person's character is
(a) how he treats people who can't do him any good, and
(b) how he treats people who can't fight back.

2. Hollywood Squares

The current issue of Brain Aerobics Weekly features numerous examples of banter between Peter Marshall, the host for 15 years of “Hollywood Squares” (which premiered on October 17, 1966) and the celebrity panelists. The most outrageous of them was Paul Lynde who twice won a daytime Emmy for his quick retorts. Many of them are too risqué for this family-friendly blog, but here are two:

Peter Marshall: If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Peter Marshall: Paul, according to the classic movie “Frankenstein,” Dr. Frankenstein was supposed to do something important the day the monster killed him. What?
Paul Lynde: I think a tonsillectomy.

Check out many more at http://www.classicsquares.com/.

3. Gobblet

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly also highlights the games Gobblet and Gobblet Junior which are more complex versions of Tic-Tac-Toe (the game on which “Hollywood Squares” was based). While easy to learn and adaptable to various ages and abilities, they also require strategic thinking. The original Gobblet is attractive enough for a coffee table display, and that gives it the added advantage of instant, spontaneous intellectual stimulation. To order Gobblet, click here. To order Gobblet Junior, click here.

Tips/ideas/insights to savor

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly uses its imagination pages to talk about “do-overs.”
October 17 is Mulligan Day. In sports, a mulligan happens when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action. It seems to be particularly common in golf, when it is not unusual to allow a mulligan on the first shot by a player on the first tee. Obviously, the mulligan is meant to replace a bad first shot with a better one, but when the second shot is worse than the first, it’s called a “Finnegan.” I’m not sure why the Mulligans and Finnegans of the world have lent their names to the practice – origin stories are many and varied – but I’ve always thought do-overs were a good idea.

One of the happiest discoveries aging has brought me is that do-overs – that is, changing my mind and starting again with another choice – are possible throughout life. Careers, life partners, where to live, talents to nurture, how much to exercise, what movie to see and what route to take home are just a few examples of mulligans I have taken.

One way to help group members get to know each other and also, we hope, do some positive self reflection, is to think about all the ways you have done course corrections. Ask participants to discuss these questions:

• What are the most dramatic mulligans you have taken in life?

• What small, seemingly insignificant mulligans have you taken that have made your life easier?
(For example, the alternative to “If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well,” is “If a thing is just barely worth doing, then just barely do it.” Not everything requires full devotion. What things do you pay less attention to than you once did?)

• What mulligans do you still need/want to take?

• Finally, to whom do you need to give a mulligan and why?

Using these resources effectively:

We suggest you create a file on your computer for Just a Bite where you save each week’s digest so that you can access these websites any time.

Let the ever-ripening Wiser Now website become the apple of your eye.

Just A Bite 10-9-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

Orange is the happiest color.
~ Frank Sinatra

Resources to bite into

1. Fall colors

The current issue of Brain Aerobics Weekly is devoted to colors. The trivia quiz focuses on the fall colors of yellow, orange, red and brown. We have a tendency to think the whole world thinks like us, but even English-speaking people aren’t in agreement. Orange is the most controversial of colors, and many people would not agree with Frank Sinatra’s view of orange, although in China and Japan it is associated with happiness and love. Others see yellow as the most cheerful color, but in Egypt it is the color of mourning. In the U.S. yellow is also associated with cowardliness, but in Japan, it is symbolic of courage. No wonder cross-cultural communication can be confusing! Learn more at http://www.squidoo.com/colorexpert.

2. Car colors and personalities

The current issue of Brain Aerobics Weekly also features an explanation of what your car says about your personality. Created by Leatrice Eiseman, who is the founder and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, it suggests that if you drive a vibrant red car, you are sexy, high-energy, dynamic and like speed. A burgundy-colored car gives the same message, just toned down a notch. She says that owners of gray/silver cars are elegant, cool and love futuristic looks. It’s a nice message for the gazillion of us who own them, but the more likely thing it suggests is that we were willing to settle for the most abundant color on the lot! The fact that it hides the spills and crumbs of grandchildren also helps.

3. A colorful painter

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly also highlights the work of Pierre Bonnard, who was born October 3, 1867 and widely known for his rich palette of colors. Here, for example, is a corner of a still-life of spring flowers that might pass for an aerial view of a wooded hillside in fall.


Tips/ideas/insights to savor

When looking for ways to divide people into groups, start with something they have in common. If you don’t know the participants, you can make up something: Find someone who is wearing the same colored shoes or has the same number of rings or likes Chunky Monkey ice cream. However, when you are trying to create even-numbered groups, it sometimes takes manipulation.

Here’s a “colorful” idea for dividing people randomly into four groups of four. Let each person draw a piece of paper from an envelope. On each piece of paper, write a sentence with one word blank that must be filled in with a color. (See sample below.) Each person must then find all the other people with sentences in which the same color fits. You can immediately stimulate conversation by asking, “What was your sentence?”

Here are some examples taken from a word quiz in the current Brain Aerobics Weekly.

Set 1:
• Something unexpected comes from out of the __________
• Someone who is particularly loyal is true _______
• An inexpensively priced restaurant meal is called a ________ plate special
• If you are sad, you are said to be ________

Set 2:
• If you are a talented gardener, you are said to have a _______ thumb
• The place where performers relax before going on stage is called the _______ room
• When we gain approval, we are said to get the _________ light
• If you are feeling sick, you are said to be __________ around the gills

Set 3
• A _______ tie event is a classy, formal party that requires a tuxedo
• A disreputable character in a family may be called a _________ sheep
• Coffee without milk is called ______
• The highest level of achievement in martial arts is called a ________ belt

Set 4
• If you are caught _______ -handed, you are clearly guilty
• A warning of danger is a _____ flag
• Something that has no value isn’t worth a _______ cent
• Getting privileged treatment is associated with a _______ carpet

Answers: 1st set: blue; 2nd set: green; 3rd set: black; 4th set: red

Using these resources effectively:

We suggest you create a file on your computer for Just a Bite where you save each week’s digest so that you can access these websites any time.

Let the ever-ripening Wiser Now website become the apple of your eye.