Just a Bite 12-29-09

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

This coffee tastes like mud!
Well, it was ground this morning.
~ Unknown bad punster

Resources to bite into

1. Coffee and tea

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly focuses on coffee and tea trivia in honor of the soon to arrive Hot Tea and Gourmet Coffee month. We suspect there is much you don’t know about these beverages. For example, here’s a bit about tea:
• Did you know that loose tea leaves should never be stored in the refrigerator because they pick up food odors like baking soda does?

• Did you know that pouring tea over a lemon slice in the bottom of your cup will prevent scum forming on the top of the tea?

• Did you know that milk negates the impact of tea’s natural antioxidants? Try green tea, which has higher levels of antioxidants, and is more flavorful, thus less in need of milk for flavor.

2. Coffee trivia

People have been adding flavorings to coffee for a thousand years. Here are some local preferences:
• Italians drink their espresso with sugar
• Germans and Swiss with equal parts of hot chocolate
• Mexicans with cinnamon
• Moroccans drink their coffee with peppercorns
• Ethiopians with a pinch of salt
• Coffee drinkers in the Middle East usually add cardamom and spices
• Whipped cream is the favored by Austrians
• Egyptians like pure, strong coffee without extras. It tends to be sweetened only at weddings.
Others add spirits – whiskey or Kahlua, for example – especially to welcome a New Year!

3. End your year with charity

You have only a few more days to make charitable contributions that will count on this year’s income tax, but I hope you will keep charity in mind throughout the coming year as well. One of the journalists I admire for his dedication to making a difference is Nicholas Kristof, who devoted a recent New York Times column to listing some of the lesser known charities whose work he can vouch for. Check out the column at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/24/opinion/24kristof.html?_r=1&th&emc=th. Here are a few he listed:
• Acumen Fund, http://www.acumenfund.org/
• Afghan Institute of Learning, www.creatinghope.org
• BRAC, http://www.brac.net/, a Bangladeshi antipoverty organization
• Sustainable Health Ventures, http://www.sheinnovates.com/
• The Worldwide Fistula Fund, http://www.wfmic.org/ and the Fistula Foundation, http://www.fistulafoundation.org/fistulafoundation.org/

Tips/ideas/insights to savor

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly also suggests that as an alternative to making New Year’s resolutions, you consider single words you want to concentrate on for the year. You may choose one word or different words for various areas of your life, such as:
• A word for your relationships with family and friends
• Your volunteer or paid work
• What you hope to accomplish
• How you will care for yourself physically and/or mentally
Some words are always on the list – like love, compassion, laughter. But other words or phrases take on a particular meaning in certain years: balance, travel, focus, success, triumphing over adversity, for example.

What’s your word for 2010?

To receive the advantage of seeing all these ideas in an expanded version, subscribe to Brain Aerobics Weekly today.

To order Brain Aerobics Weekly,
go to www.wisernow.com now.
It’s a great anytime gift for everyone who needs a legal form of positive mind stimulation!

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

Quote to ponder under the apple tree

Nothing is better than the unintended humor of reality.
~ Steve Allen (born December 26, 1921)

Resources to bite into

1. Creating intentional joy

As noted in the current Brain Aerobics Weekly, Jytte Lokvig, a fellow member of the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH), recently wrote a blog about her fondest Christmas. In her native Copenhagen, celebrations had been elaborate, but when she and her family first immigrated to the United States, they were very poor, and old customs were unaffordable. Determined to celebrate anyway, they wrapped each present in newspaper, trimmed with bows and fringes cut from old magazines, and when it was time to open them, they took turns and exclaimed with joy as the contents were revealed. What were these pleasurable gifts? Necessities opened with an attitude of gratitude: “With each reveal, we would thank each other profusely with appropriate comments like: ‘Oh, what I always wanted’ (toothpaste) – ‘How did you know?’ (deodorant) – ‘Perfect size!’ (toilet tissue) – ‘Love the color!’ (dishwashing liquid). Not only had we saved ourselves from a lot of the stress, but we had the best laughs in years.” Whatever gifts you receive this holiday, consider accepting them with the same bright spirit. (To sign up for Jytte’s blog, write to her at lokvig@yahoo.com.)

2. Making the mundane merry

While I’m mentioning ideas from fellow AATHers, here’s one from Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant, M.P.H., whose website (where you can also sign up for her blog) is www.accidentalcomic.com: “There is a company online that gives awards for making mundane things more fun. Their theory is that people are much more willing to do something that is good for them (like taking the stairs) if that thing is made enjoyable. Check out some of their giggle-inducing videos at: www.thefuntheory.com.”

3. Easily amused

Nearly out of space, so here’s one last quickie: You have a little time left to “Elf Yourself” http://www.elfyourself.com/. (Insert your own picture, and SHARE it!)

Tips/ideas/insights to savor

The current Brain Aerobics Weekly takes advantage of this week before Christmas to fit in one more holiday quiz – this one on matching punny punch lines with an often absurd question. For example:

1. What do snakes sing in December? ___
2. How do fish celebrate Christmas? ___
3. How do sheep in Mexico say Merry Christmas? ___
4. What do English sheep say to each other at Christmas? ___
5. How do cats greet each other at Christmas? ___

Can you match the answers?
a. Fleece Navidad!
b. Have a Furry Merry Christmas and a Happy Mew Year!
c. Season’s Bleatings! or Merry Christmas to Ewe!
d. Sssssss-ilver Bells
e. They hang reefs on the door

A variation on this theme would be to think of how other animals or characters might celebrate December holidays or greet one another. What ideas do you have for:

• Penguins
• Bears
• Chickens
• Dracula
• Mary Poppins
• Anyone else?

Idea inspired by the website http://www.brownielocks.com/ChristmasJokes.html
Answers are 1. d 2. e 3. a 4. c 5. b

To get the advantage of seeing all these ideas in an expanded version, subscribe to Brain Aerobics Weekly today.

To order Brain Aerobics Weekly,
go to www.wisernow.com now.
It’s a great holiday gift for anyone who needs a legal form of positive mind stimulation!