Be Happier the Amazon way

Happiness can be elusive. We have many millions of people suffering from various anxiety and depressive disorders. There is rampant drug abuse and alcoholism, and the divorce rate is skyrocketing. Prozac, Paxil, Xanax, and Ativan are as likely to be found in homes as Tylenol and Tums. We are looking for happiness in all the wrong places. If you're unhappy, you're about to learn why and what you can do about it. If you're already happy, you're about to learn how to possibly be happier and experience more joy and peace of mind.

-- A guide by Alan Gettis "Author of The Happiness Solution, and, Seven Times Down, Eight Times Up"


[4/1/08] just about all of us would welcome being happier -- it's even a part of our Declaration of Independence: the pursuit of happiness. Fortunately, we needn't flounder alone. There's a growing body of research on the topic.

Mastah Preddi fell from the sky

Fred Hargesheimer was shot down in the southwest Pacific on June 5, 1943. A lifetime later, he sits in his quiet California ranch house amid the snow and soaring sugar pines of the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The light blue eyes, at age 91, can't see as well as they once did. But when he looks back over 65 years, the smiling Minnesotan sees it all clearly — the struggle to survive, the native rescuers, the Japanese patrols and narrow escapes, the mother's milk that saved him. He remembers well his return to New Britain, the people's embrace, the fundraising and building, the children taught, the adults cured, the happy years beside the Bismarck Sea with Dorothy, his wife.

"I'm so grateful for getting shot out of the sky," he said.

Handicapping American Idol

Rodney Ho handicaps the top 12.

1. David Archuleta
The former “Star Search” winner is only 17 years old but has oodles of experience. He’s performed mature, nuanced, yet captivating takes on John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Phil Collins’ “Another Day in Paradise.” Odds to win: 3-2

2. Jason Castro
The shy dreadlocked Texan got virtu-ally no airtime before the top 24, but he instantly stood out with his soulful blue eyes and equally soulful voice. He is a solid dark horse and could sneak up on Archuleta. Odds: 4-1

3. Syesha Mercado
This is clearly the year for the guys. But “Idol” has never had a top 3 with-out at least one gal. Syesha’s combo of stage presence, vocal chops and in-triguing looks could help her outpace her fellow female competitors. Odds: 7-1

4. David Cook
The Oklahoma rocker possesses both confidence and pipes. His take on Lionel Richie’s wimp ballad “Hello” looked like a disaster on paper, but he gave it surprising rock cred. Odds: 10-1

5. David Hernandez
The minor uproar over his gay strip-ping past didn’t keep him from making the top 12. He arguably has the purest male voice in the competition. Smart song choices that show off his range could land him into the top 5. Odds: 12-1

6. Carly Smithson
Off-camera, the Irish native is warm and gabby. On-camera, she becomes this diva-like songstress. But in a quixotic way, that warmth seems to go AWOL when she performs. Odds: 20-1

7. Brooke White
She’s a modern-day Carly Simon, with a sweetness and sincerity that translate well in her performances. She successfully inserted coffee-house-style melancholy into what is normally an intense Pat Benatar song. Odds: 25-1

8. Michael Johns
Former club singer and Aussie trans-plant makes women swoon in a way that evokes a bit of late INXS singer Michael Hutchence. But he lacks the swagger. Odds: 30-1

9. Amanda Overmyer
Her “Munsters” hairstyle and raspy Bonnie Tyler voice make her stand out. Unfortunately, her appeal seems nar-row. When she goes off the rails (“Carry on Wayward Son”), she goes way off. Odds: 75-1

10. Ramiele Malubay
She’s cute and her vocals are solid, but her onstage persona has been deathly generic. Odds: 100-1

11. Chikezie Eze
He exudes some R&B charm but not nearly as much as past contestants such as Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard or Season 3’s George Huff. Odds: 1,000-1

12. Kristy Lee Cook
Since her wonderful first audition of “Amazing Grace,” this country singer from Oregon has failed to impress. Asia’h Epperson should have made the top 12 in her place. Odds: 500,000-1

Kahai Street Kitchen

I tried it. Pretty good taste at a pretty good price. Parking is a problem though.

Thoughts can make you healthy

Some people still are surprised to discover that thoughts can control physical sensation. “The body responds to mental input as if it were physically real,” explains Larry Dossey, a physician and an advocate for mind-body study since the 1980s. “Images create bodily changes—just as if the experience were really happening. For example, if you imagine yourself lying on a beach in the sun, you become relaxed, your peripheral blood vessels dilate, and your hands become warm, as in the real thing.”

Similarly, under clinical hypnosis, someone who is told he is being touched by a red-hot object often will produce a burn blister, even though the object touching him was at room temperature.

* * * (also)

Foods that help you lose weight

How to live to 100

-- from Parade, March 9, 2008

clean sponges

Don't keep using germ-ridden kitchen sponges to "wash" your dishes--rid them of bad bacteria every 3 to 5 days using cleaning methods proven effective by researchers at the USDA's Henry A. Wallace Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in Maryland. Of the four disinfection methods tested, two made the grade:

Wash this way
Microwave the sponge for 1 minute, which kills virtually all bacteria, yeast, and mold. Just make sure it's wet first!
Run the sponge through a complete wash-and-dry dishwasher cycle; it's nearly as effective as microwaving.

...Not this way
Soaking a sponge in lemon juice for 1 minute had practically no effect on bacteria, yeast, or mold.
Soaking it in a bleach solution killed more bacteria than did lemon juice, but not all--and it had next to no effect on yeast or mold.

Hawaii from above

Over the last quarter-century, NASA has accumulated a vast collection of Earth imagery, including many stunning photos of Hawaii. The photos here, a small sample, show the wondrous range of possibilities: glimpses from high at the so-called Forbidden Island, Niihau; the dark green slopes of the archipelago's rain-fed windward shores; ocean shallows where humpbacks gather to bear and rear their young.