0 Smart as can be

The Original Smart Cookie company contacted me and offered me some healthy cookies. Oh, man, I cringed. Oxymoron—healthy cookie—if you liste...

0 More from Shaman Brant

There is a rumor going around that Oprah has quit dieting. Skies open, hosannas! See below—Brant Secunda and Mark Allen wrote Fit Soul: 9 Ke...

0 It's that time again--recession-style

Ah, Girl Scout Cookie time. Life is good. Not so fast. Shelly Banjo, WSJ, Jan 27, 2011, says you may find some favorites missing this year. ...

0 Sad, but true

Elizabeth Bernstein, WSJ, Jan 25, 2011, says it’s hard to know what to do when someone dies. I am at the age where people are…well…ticking d...

0 Eat like a shaman

Let’s face it—our bodies carry our brains around, but these flab factories are not always our friend. It’s that darn evolution. Survival gen...

0 Smoking Mom's bath salts

Do I really have to type this up? You want to smoke Mom’s stuff on the tub shelf? I used to know a guy named Rocky who would take a pill—you...

0 It was a very good month

David Kesmodel, WSJ, Jan 21, 2011, says today’s wine drinkers are getting pretty unpicky. Apparently the industry was recessed, but is now c...

0 Ooops--doc almost kills her dog

A physician writes in the NYT’s “Well Blog” (Jan 20, 2011), that she gave her limping German shepherd ibuprofen (three 600-mg pills) and he ...

0 I think that I shall never see--welcome to poetry therapy

Linda Wasmer Andrews wrote about this. Poetry therapy goes back to the shamans, who used to chant poems for sick people. There is a National...

0 Kids who are bad sleepers

Andrea Petersen, WSJ, Jan 18, 2011, says some recent studies show that kids who had trouble sleeping at 12-14 years of age were more than tw...

0 Poverty and fear--in your dreams

Marilyn Elias, LA Times, Jan 17, 2011, says anxiety dreams are swarming us in this recession. I know they are getting to me. People trapped ...

0 Do you have a winter hairstyle--besides hathead?

Joey Noufal, owner of Noufal Hair Color Studio (dot com), recommends winterizing hair and skin. What? You don’t like the itchy fish scale lo...

0 Can you have a romance texting?

Does love really transcend communication? I know some people, even older people, who are still sort of on the lookout for love, but what’s u...

0 What to do if you know someone like this

Mental illness is so misunderstood, so hard to pin down, so scary, people tend to try to ignore it even in their families--or especially in ...

0 Sorry, no ER for stomach flu

According to Christopher Zipp, a family physician at the UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine, stomach flu may be miserable, but you can pro...

0 Who needs a farmer?

Eat microgreens! As the name implies you will need…um…a lot! I saw seeds of some peppery type on Amazon for $3.50. Yes, seeds—you grow these...

0 Advice from Canada on how to stay alive

Joanne Richard, Toronto Sun, says eat raw garlic, drink brewer’s yeast, and take a cold shower to prevent colds. Well, the raw garlic would ...

0 Are we BFLs about our eating?

Forget all the rash resolutions (briefly) making an appearance. Even without those, Consumer Report Health says nine out of 10 Americans des...

0 Quit trying to improve me

I worked pretty hard for more than six decades to get this twisted, funny, irrational, and yes, even sometimes thoughtful. Yet, politicians ...

0 My trip to the doctor--was not awful

I know, I know—I am a worrier. Wasted time and all that. Well, this time it was! I decline to get weighed at doctors—I just say no. Guess my...

0 Going to the doctor tomorrow--major deal

I am going to meet my new primary physician tomorrow. Good, you say? No, no, not good! I am a ball of dread, fear, anger, suspicion—every me...