My dentist recently told me that I was brushing my teeth too often, which kind of shocked me. He seems to think once or twice a day is sufficient, and that more risks causing the gums to recede. (No limits on flossing, though.) This bummed me out because in the winter I drink a lot of tea, and I'm afraid of having…

Has anyone else noticed that the sweater stone emits a strange smell when they use it? I like it well enough, but feel that it pulls up so much ambient fuzz that the sweater tends to pill up again right away. I think I'll try the safety razor.

Get enough sleep. Hardly anyone does anymore, and insufficient sleep is enough *all by itself* to make your muscles sore, even without strenuous exercise. So, it makes sense that if you've overdone it at the gym to go to bed early for a couple of nights and sleep as much as you can.

I belong to that tiny class of people whose bag was "lost" and never recovered. (I've just assumed it was stolen by staff at the airline or airport.) This was during one-stop, small-plane flight changing in Boston on American Eagle, an airline I'll never fly again. One thing to be aware of is that you will not be…

Call me old fashioned, but I rely on the Baroque classical channels on iTunes, and sometimes the classical guitar ones. (The standard classical stations are prone to segueing in to bombastic, distracting symphonies.) It makes me feel smart. Ambient music makes my brain go all unfocused. I guess I associate it with…

I have a Book Gem and use it all the time. It can be a little hard on the book, especially if it has a very thick spine, but I have to admit this doesn't bother me much. What I like it for is reading to sleep on winter nights. I like a cold room to sleep in, but hate how the arm holding the book outside the covers…

If your friends go out of their way to entertain you — planning excursions and so on — it's nice to bring a digital camera, take plenty of snaps and then put them together in one of those album templates that digital photo sites offer. (I use the ones supplied by iPhoto). You can add captions, have it printed and sent…

I am a former English major. I have to admit that I didn't slave the way this yahoo did, probably because I really, really liked it. I didn't instantly forget all the "classic literature" I read, because I actually enjoyed reading it and learning how to understand it better. Of course, I had to put up with people…

Small, plastic accordion file, often sold as a check organizer. It has to have enough slots — 13 is the best. I sort the receipts every month when I balance my checkbook and enter the expenses into Quicken, so I never even have to open it at tax time. I just close it up, label it "2007 receipts" and stash it with the…

I spend a lot of time chopping up veggies ( think I'm pretty fast and neat) and I can see no good reason to adopt this fairly awkward method.

Actually, I gave a copy of Scrivener (not free, but not pricey) to a writer friend for her birthday. She is a little cautious about trying new software, but the tutorial for that application is so good once she tried it she was hooked, and she still thanks me profusely for it every so often.

Yes, this page is bizarre. It almost seems like an in-house edit that's not yet ready for press. Is the idea that readers are supposed to contribute the "input needed" on various blank numbered items?

The idea of a standing workstation looks a little nutty to me. People who stand all day in factories and stores suffer a lot of health consequences from that — bad backs, fallen arches, or just plain physical discomfort, which I remember from my days working a counter job. The Treadputer seems like a better bet.

Quicken makes this so easy, I've never considered another system. My tax accountant mails out a list of expense categories every year, and there are a few more that are peculiar to my profession — like movie and theater tickets. I try to charge as many of these as possible as a backup to the paper receipts. Then I tag…

If you do it enough for it to have an effect (and you do it in a gym, rather than playing a sport or cycling), it's going to get boring. So save up really nice diversions just for the gym. I read printed books, but I know people who find that too difficult. Stock up on suspenseful audiobooks or a season of a show like…

I usually don't have much trouble getting to sleep, but when I do, I've developed the habit of trying to make up a fairy tale to tell my niece and nephew. Thinking of "nothing" or "pleasant thoughts" or deliberately boring things like counting sheep is usually not enough — whatever is stressing me out will distract me…

Is it still the case that Super Duper only works over a Fire Wire connection? I don't use it for that reason; my external hard drive is USB. I've been stuck using Apple's Back Up for that reason, so Time Machine is appealing to me. I have a nagging feeling I ought to be making a bootable copy of my MBP hard drive, but…

Yes, it absolutely works and is incredibly easy if you can handle the advance planning in putting the dough up for 18 hours. You can have fresh-baked, crackly-crusty, artisanal style bread every day if you want. From what I've observed, people who have had trouble with the recipe have fudged on the container. A…

Actually, you can only access abstracts of journal articles through Project Muse. For full access, you have to be at a participating library or be a student, teacher, etc.

I've never understood the French press/metal filter preference. When forced to drink coffee made with either one I always find it gritty and bitter. My $20 plastic filter holder and unbleached paper filter produce the best brew in my book.