I have long said that there is no situation so awkward that it can't be made worse by somebody saying "This is awkward".

Very cool, and easy to remember: Red cuts to port, and green cuts to starboard.

It's a bit of an aside, but the whole "antioxidants are good for you, therefore more antioxidants are better" thing is a bit of a myth in its own right. The evidence that boosting antioxidant activity is a good thing is inconclusive, to put it politely, and some studies even suggest it can be harmful. Free radicals…

Breathing. I breathe like I would if I were asleep (or at least as I imagine that sounds!) and focus on that practice. Sometimes my attention will drift, but as soon as I notice I bring it back.

Good process: it forces you to make a decision about each item. There's a similar recommendation in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (which, if memory serves, I bought from your recommendation in an earlier post). In the book, Marie additionally emphasizes the importance of handling each item and deciding whether…

Oh, I agree — I cook all the time and I understand where you're coming from — but somewhere between the bachelor misery of soaking lentils in the bathroom sink because you only own one bowl and you haven't washed it since breakfast, and having a small but effective set of stuff is ideal. Avoiding single-purpose…

I applaud the sentiment; when does it start?

Every time I think about adding more storage to my kitchen, I realize that the real solution is to have less stuff.

I was really hoping for a tip for half-and-half or light cream. I usually only need a couple of fl. oz. for a recipe, but can't buy anything smaller than a cup. I've tried freezing it in ice cube trays, but it separates on thawing and does seem to recombine well the way milk does (because of the higher fat content?)

Yes, that's another good article; and I've used it to justify my throwing stuff out. But it doesn't work for her because whenever I go to deal with an expired box, she is "just about to deal with it" (including the time when apparently it was my fault she hadn't touched one for the previous year because, I kid you…

In principle, this is great advice.

BTW, when these sources say "glasses" they assume one glass = one cup volume.

Where is your doctor getting these numbers? According to Heinz Valtin of the Department of Physiology, Dartmouth Medical School, there's no scientific basis for even the 8 cups that pop science recommends, let alone these larger numbers. The closest thing to a scientific recommendation is 8 glasses, INCLUDING THE FREE…

Some of the leaks are easy to pinpoint: Is your electric bill higher than last year's? Dial down your thermostat a few degrees. Credit card interest go up a few percentage points? It's time to call your credit card issuer to request a lower APR.

The Eastern roots of Zen contribute both to its power to shake up the average Westerner and to its difficulty. For that reason, some people may find it easier to approach these same lessons from a more Western-rooted perspective, and for those people I highly recommend the writings of the Quakers (Society of Friends).…

I understand the point he's trying to make. My counterpoint is that this doesn't negate the value of the article for the rest of us, since many of us were going to those stores anyway. YMMV.

This just in: other people's circumstances are different from yours. I live in the country, have to drive to get to *any* supermarket, go to Costco once a month for other stuff, so why not pick up bacon while I'm there? It also freezes well, so makes sense to buy the large pack.

By the way, a single-stage can kinda-sorta self-propel itself at least up shallow slopes: because the augur makes contact with the surface, it will pull itself along. I live in northern Virginia, have 100+ yards of driveway, and a typical "big" snowstorm is 4" to 8", and usually we get 3 to 6 a year. For me a…

I've discovered a couple of other advantages to taking notes, especially by hand. First, I find that I remember much better things that I've written down — the mere act of writing consolidates them. And second, it prevents me from getting distracted during conference calls where it's all too easy to drift away into…

That's sad. I guess that's always the risk with something that relies on goodwill and volunteerism, and that nobody is making money from.