Listicles

The listicle (not to be confused with icicle or testicle) is my new word (new to me mostly) for the end of this year, or at least very close to the end. The listicle is a short-form of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure (aka list format articles) and I have actually written quite a few in this blog, unbeknownst to me at the actual time of writing. The truth is that I really like lists and I make them all the time for all kinds of purposes. I make grocery lists. I have a life list of every type of bird I've ever seen including where and when I spotted them. I make lots of lists about crocheted hats, the kinds I sell the most of and the hats people have ordered and I still need to make. I make lists of hats I’ve shipped with the dates and destinations. When I get ready to travel I make a list of things that I need to pack so I don’t forget the important stuff. Listicles are a little more than just a list however. Each item listed in a listicle comes with a brief description or summary, and although these don’t go in depth there is enough information for the reader to decide whether or not they want or need to know more, and of course with all the search engines out there the reader can. From 10 rookie mistakes to avoid at the gym to the 10 best island getaways for 2015, listicles abound. I figure I’ll keep reading and writing many more of them in 2015. 

Good Night Bedbugs!

Good night, sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite, is something I've

 said countless times to my kids and grandkids at bedtime often followed by their response, if they do we’ll bite ‘em back! Well it appears that there’s a promising new trap coming soon to the market that may help us say a final good night to bedbugs! A team of biologists have finally found out what combination of pheromones to use to lure bedbugs into a trap before they take to your bed and their favorite late night snack, you! It took two years for the team to find the molecule histamine that attracts bedbugs to human skin and keeps them there due to a composition that sends them a signal of safe haven. This histamine combined with two other compounds from previous research was used to create the concoction that works in the bait and switch traps soon coming to market (commercially available as soon as next year, which last I looked is only a few days away!) Too bad, so sad bedbugs, I won’t be singing your national anthem anymore (to the tune of our national anthem), Oh say can you see, any bedbugs on me. If you do, take a few, cuz I saved them just for you! Happy New Year and many better nights of sleep to everyone else!

Potato Extracts

My husband played the word potato for 31 points in our ongoing game of Words with Friends today. My older daughter ate the last of the hash brown potato casserole today. I read about the difference between yams and sweet potatoes in the latest edition of Hobby Farms magazine too. All this (and I’m swearing off French fries for New Year’s) is nudging me to blog about potato extracts. A daily dose of potato extract (derived from 30 potatoes -yes, 30- that’s a lot of spuds!) could be a solution for preventing both obesity and type 2 diabetes. The testing that arrived at the aforementioned conclusion was done on mice. In fact investigators fed mice an obesity-inducing diet for 10 weeks. The results soon appeared on the scale: mice that started out weighing on average 25 grams put on about 16 grams. But mice that consumed the same diet but with a potato extract gained much less weight: only 7 more grams. The culprits (or obesity fighting heroes) in the potato extract are polyphenols. Polyphenols are also found in other so-called super foods (fruits, like blueberries, and vegetables) that we eat. Despite the fact that potatoes are cheap to produce, and already part of the basic diet in many countries, it takes an awful lot of potatoes for each suggested dose of potato extract. Nevertheless if the trials are eventually designed for humans, I will be interested to find out if the extract works to prevent obesity and diabetes. Maybe now I’ll be able to put potatoes out of my mind. 

Tis the Season for Random Acts of Kindness

Originally I planned to sum up my progress on my pledge to perform random acts of kindness at the actual end of this year, but this is the season of giving so I figure it fits. The nice thing about random acts of kindness is that they don’t have to cost much if anything at all. In 2013 I pledged to do a bunch and fell way short of my goal. Despite that (and embarrassed by it too) I decided that I would do better for 2014 and I have. I surpassed my goal and I learned that giving is its own reward. Performing small random acts of kindness has been my way of making a positive impact (however small) on my world. I haven’t made much of a dent in the big problems I read about in the news everyday but I don’t doubt that the small differences I make, like tiny ripples in a puddle that keep moving forward, might join with others to impact the future in a positive way. Being on the receiving end of a random act of kindness is pretty nice too. I can say this because I have been there too. I haven’t got any proof that any random act of kindness performed by me has ever been paid forward but that doesn't matter because random acts of kindness are given without conditions. I invite you to try performing a random act yourself. Hold a door open for someone, leave some change in for a cause at the dollar store or even just a penny for the person in line that might be a penny short, share a meal with a senior, or volunteer somewhere. You’ll be glad you did. As for 2015, I pledge to be mindful and keep my eyes and heart open to opportunities for performing random acts of kindness and in that way do my part in making 2015 a happier new year.

Why did the chicken wake up on the wrong side of the fence?

This is like the age old question about chickens crossing the road. And as I figure chickens really do cross the road for reasons unbeknownst to me, I may as well relate how my very own Extra Crispy woke up one morning on the wrong side of the fence and found herself unhappily separated from her flock-mates, Original Recipe and Peaches. My worry about her becoming a snack for the neighbors pit pooch (a good reason for the fence in the first place) or an owl (we have great horned ones roosting nearby too) was immediate when I went out at the crack of dawn I did my usual chicken count (yes, after they've hatched) and noticed her absence right away. Fortunately I did not discover a pile of feathered remains as Original Recipe and Peaches pointed the way, since birds of a feather do actually flock together (even when separated by a chicken wire fence) and I spotted the girl that flew the proverbial coop and landed on the wrong side of the fence right where my rabbit hutch abuts. Under the hutch huddled two concerned hens clucking out loud about their sister’s predicament and poor Extra Crispy clucking right along, seemingly oblivious. So with a handful of chicken feed and my own sister to run interference I ventured into the neighbor’s back yard. The pit pooch never made an appearance (but he gets along with my dog, Fred, so even if he had I was hopeful and prepared with a dog biscuit in my pocket anyway) and that was a good thing. Extra Crispy was an easy catch and quickly returned to the right side of the fence where she has happily awakened every day since.

Phytoceramide Advanced!

This was the title of the latest junk email I deleted, but then I got to thinking about it. How did the makers advancing this product know how wrinkly and aged I am? They claim this is better than Botox which I have never used so there can be no hacked record of that. Of course it could be a plot by the North Korean hackers but it seems even more than their Sony Pictures hack, pretty far fetched. Then I heard on the radio Maroon 5’s song, Animals, especially the part in the lyrics that goes…Maybe you think that you can hide-I smell phytoceramide-just like animals, animals…at least I think that’s how it goes. Now I’m having trouble getting that earworm out of my wrinkled old head and I’m wondering who changed the station from the oldies too. I think it’s time for phytoceramide to retreat! I’m glad I deleted that email and I’m planning on staying away from daytime Dr. Oz and his infomercials too!

Hot Honey

Hot Honey is apparently a new thing and all the latest buzz in culinary circles. Some are even calling it the new sriracha. And you may have been thinking I am referring to my husband (he says hope springs eternal) but in this case I am not. This hot honey is created by bees. I tasted it this weekend at the St. Marys Community Market and I think our local honey man Dan is on to something wonderful. He used ghost peppers to bring the heat to his local honey and that heat sneaks right up on you after you taste the sweet. I tried drizzling some Dan’s hot honey on a peanut butter and apple sandwich and boy did it liven my lunch up. I also put it on cornbread fresh from the oven and it was the perfect compliment. I can only imagine how delicious hot honey will taste on wings, at least until I make my next foray to the commissary for some chicken. In the meantime if you find you like to add a little sweet hot zing to your menu like I do, I recommend you try some of Dan’s Hot Honey. 

Low Hanging Fruit

When I think of low hanging fruit, especially around this time of year right in my own neighborhood, you may have guessed it, I think of citrus. Orange is not only my favorite color, it’s also the color of the fruit that’s ripening in yards all around town. The last couple of cold snaps we've

 had just makes this local low hanging fruit even sweeter. I find it the perfect complement to an early morning walk.

Now for the other low hanging fruit that I read about on the news. Apparently because actual low hanging fruit (on actual trees) is more easily obtained by children and the vertically challenged (myself included) the phrase low hanging fruit has become synonymous with targets or goals which are easily achievable and which do not require a lot of effort. In the news a Republican was accused of going after low hanging fruit when she tweeted off some negative comments regarding our President’s daughters and their dress and demeanor during the annual pardoning of the turkeys during the recent Thanksgiving holidays. This rather than taking on higher hanging fruit like the President’s policy on immigration, Obamacare, or even the President himself fits better with the more recent definitions of the phrase low hanging fruit.

I guess ironically enough in an offbeat kind of way, I have finally found some common ground with Republicans via low hanging fruit.