Life, Health and Enjoyment

We’re all in that humanistic mode of evaluating our lives – coming up on the end of the year and the last time a zero will be the third digit on our calendars. We’re all (from Variety to Cat Fancy ) also waxing expert on what films were the best of the best of the best of the past ten years. Which is why there is an unnavigable sea of opinion polluting the internet right now. Neil and I thought, ‘If everyone else is doing it, why can’t we? And why not do it better?” You may ask (since I’m forcing you to rhetorically), “How can giving your opinion be better than everyone else’s tepid version of an almost-arbitrary-seeming list?” I’m glad you asked. Neil and I anticipated this task back in October and began planning what would become far too much work for two people who essentially sit around watching Animal House all day. Still, despite the cyclopean nature of the beast, we dug our feet in and compiled just over 3,000 films that were released from January 1, 2000 to D...

Physician Diagnoses The following quotes were taken from actual medical records as dictated by physicians: By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped, and he was feeling better.   Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.   On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared.   She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.   The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983.   Patient was released to outpatient department without dressing.   I have suggested that he loosen his pants before standing, and then, when he stands with the help of his wife, they should fall to the floor. ...

Become a Lie Detector    Warning: sometimes ignorance is bliss; after gaining this knowledge, you may be hurt when it is obvious that someone is lying to you. Introduction to Detecting Lies: The following techniques to telling if someone is lying are often used by police and security experts. This knowledge is also useful for managers, employers, and for anyone to use in everyday situations where telling the truth from a lie can help prevent you from being a victim of fraud/scams and other deceptions. Signs of Deception: Body Language of Lies: • Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space. • A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact. • Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. No...

Whether the information is outdated or outlandish, the truth is that some of the beauty advice you hear simply isn't true. It's not that someone is trying to deceive you. Maybe it's an old wives' tale passed down from woman to woman, or maybe it's a bit of wishful thinking. Whatever the reason for the confusion, here's the real deal on the top beauty myths . Myth 1: Crossing your legs will give you varicose veins . Sitting down and crossing your legs won't cause varicose or spider veins, but standing may. Pronounced veins often crop up on people who either have a genetic predisposition to them or have jobs that require them to stand a lot, said dermatologist Kevin Pinski. Standing makes the vascular network work extra hard to pump blood from the legs up to the heart. If the valves, which keep blood flowing in one direction within your vessels, aren't functioning properly, a pooling of blood can occur and result in unsightly veins. Pregnanc...

In the late 1800s, children’s literature split into two overall genres: boys’ books and girls’ books. Although girls’ literature continues to be published today, the recognition of female protagonists is often overlooked. In a world full of Mowglis (from The Jungle Book ) and Harry Potters, it’s hard for girl characters to get the recognition they deserve. However, though these novels may not receive attention from critics the way boys’ books often do (they are more likely to be critically acclaimed), girls’ literature has been incredibly influential in shaping girl culture overall. These novels are considered to be classic pieces of girls’ fiction and the issues they touch on helped put the culture of girls and women on the map as an important issue in literature. These novels changed the genre with their forefront issues of gender, socio-economic class systems, body-image and eating disorder acknowledgment , racial discrimination and minority representation, sexual abu...

Men may hold the future in the palm of their hands -- or more specifically, in the tips of their fingers if they're wanting to know their chances of getting prostate cancer later in life. A new study has found that men whose index fingers are shorter than their ring fingers have a greater risk of getting the disease than those whose index fingers are longer than their ring fingers. Those with longer first fingers are a third less likely to develop prostate cancer, according to researchers from the U.K.'s University of Warwick and the Institute of Cancer. Previous studies have shown men with longer ring fingers may exhibit more traditionally "masculine" traits like aggressiveness because they are believed to have been exposed to more testosterone in the womb, according to LiveScience . "The genes involved in how the hand grows seem also to be involved in how the testicles develop," Peter Hurd, a psychology professor at the University of Al...

What's better than reading a health news report about something good that happened in the world? Reading about a whole bunch of happy news. Here's a recap of 10 of the most inspiring health stories from 2010, so that you can wrap up the year on a positive note. Woman Who Had All Major Organs Removed Becomes Doctor Although she's had nearly every major organ in her body transplanted , including her liver, kidney, heart and lungs, over the span of 12 years, U.K. resident Allison John still managed to fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor after 14 years in medical school. Needless to say, she's happy to be entering the hospital as a healer rather than an ill patient, according to this report. Grocery Customer Gives Kidney to Favorite Cashier Most people just give supermarket cashiers money or a smile with the swipe of their credit card. But longtime customer Dan Coyne provided his favorite cashier at Jewel Osco Supermarket in Evanston, Ill., Myra de...