Índex per June 2013 a Reader's Digest

The Thrill of Feeling Trusted Trust. It’s why I married Steve and not someone from the parade of parent-panicking bad boys that preceded him. It’s why I check Consumer Reports before buying a car, a barbecue grill—even a new blender. It’s a gut check I make on the road to assigning a story, believing a story, running a story. When I told Good Morning America cohost Robin Roberts that Americans had ranked her as the most trusted woman on television in the first-ever Reader’s Digest poll to determine trustworthy U.S. public figures, she was humble and gracious: “I am not worthy! But truly touched and honored.” When we sat down for a chat in her ABC dressing room, she shared why she was so moved by the news. She leaned…

Hunting for vintage G.I. Joes at an antiques store near their home in Wallkill, New York, Michael Mazzariello, 11, and his brother Mauro, 9, stumbled upon a link to a real American hero. “Michael ran up to me and said, ‘Papa, I found a Purple Heart!’” says the boys’ father, also named Michael Mazzariello. While rummaging through a bin of military memorabilia, the boys had unearthed a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, and a Good Conduct Medal bearing the name Charles J. George. The shop’s owner, Terrance Berean, said the medals were worth hundreds of dollars, but he agreed to let the boys have them for free on one condition: that they return the awards to the soldier’s family. The challenge was fitting for the brothers—they love history and, according…

Author Mark Bittman invents a new phrase and eating style with his latest book, VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00. The famed chef translates his own self-developed health regimen—no animal products, processed foods, or junk food before dinner—into a doable program that anyone can follow. What you eat for dinner is entirely up to you. Says Bittman of the VB6 lifestyle: “You’ll feel better, your health numbers will go in the right direction, and you’ll lower your carbon footprint—instantly.”…

NATURAL REMEDIES Garlic may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure levels, but its dragon’s-breath effects can last up to 72 hours. “Sulfur compounds in garlic are released not only in the mouth, but also in the gut, from which they seep into the lungs and skin,” says Victor Sierpina, MD, professor of family and integrative medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. This makes freshening garlic breath more complex than merely cleansing the mouth. These tips offer a multipronged solution: 1 Eat the Garnish It’s handy that chefs decorate plates with parsley: Plant chemicals like chlorophyll and polyphenols bind to sulfur compounds in garlic and help neutralize odor. Basil, thyme, cilantro, mint, and dill have similar effects. 2 Sip Milk Milk effectively reduces garlic breath if you…

NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF MEDICINE KNEE PAIN: The Blood Cure Increasingly embraced by athletes such as Tiger Woods, platelet-rich plasma therapy entails doctors drawing a patient’s blood, spinning it around to collect platelets, and injecting them into the injured area. In a new study from the Hospital for Special Surgery, this treatment reduced pain, improved knee function, and delayed cartilage deterioration in the majority of knee osteoarthritis patients after one year. The platelets release growth factors that activate stem cells to repair tissue. Researchers plan to test the therapy, not usually covered by insurance, in randomized controlled trials. Source: Brian Halpern, MD, chief of Primary Care Sports Medicine Service, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City CHRONIC PAIN: Snag a Good Night’s Sleep When mildly sleep-deprived adults got about…

These clever transformation tips give inexpensive home furnishings an upscale look DIY DECOR Nicer Nightstand TARVA ($39.99) How-to: Remove knob from drawer with screwdriver. Paint nightstand surface with layer of primer; let dry. Apply coat of paint. Screw in new bold knob to complete look. Cooler Compartments FORHOJA BOXES ($14.99 for set of four) How-to: Place box upside down on sheet of newspaper; coat box with matte spray paint and let dry. Apply painter’s tape in striped, checkered, or zigzag pattern; spray with second coat of paint in desired color; let dry. Remove tape for fun designs. Trendier Coffee Table LACK ($29.99) How-to: Cut two panels of wallpaper to length and width of tabletop and shelf; coat with spray adhesive (available at hardware stores) and apply to top and bottom…

Stay on top of it all—with a little help from your smartphone YOUR PASSWORD DataVault securely stores and keeps track of all your codes, making it easy (and smart) to use a separate password for each account and website log-in. $9.99; iPhone/iPad, Android A BIRTHDAY When a contact’s birthday is approaching, Cleverbug will send you an alert and a prompt to create a custom card using Facebook photos. The app then prints and mails the card in two to five business days, so it arrives in time for the big occasion. Free; iPhone/iPad TUNE-UP TIME Car Maintenance Reminder notifies you when your car is due for scheduled maintenance, in addition to tracking fuel usage, efficiency, and cost. $2.99; iPhone/iPad, Android YOUR MEDS RX Pal delivers multiple reminders to take medications…

Like it or not, your handwriting can divulge a lot about you. Here, what your penmanship reveals about your personality: You are outgoing with a big personality—many celebrities have large handwriting. You are tense and tend to restrict yourself. You are spontaneous and expressive. You are governed by your emotions instead of logic. You are independent and prefer to work at your own pace. You place a lot of pressure on yourself. Sources: graphologist Kathi McKnight, handwriting expert Dianne Peterson, handwriting analyst Sylvia Friedman…

Avoid being overcharged for a service you don’t really need. Here, the car upgrades to drive away from. FROM bargaineering.com STAY SMART Engine Flush Don’t let them trip you up: Get an engine flush only if you’ve been driving the car for several years and notice a buildup of greasy material under the oil cap. If a mechanic says you need a flush because your oil is “dirty,” he’s lying. Fuel-Injector Cleaning Fuel injectors should be cleaned, but usually not until they’ve logged a lot of miles (think 100,000 or more). If the mechanic says the ones on your 20,000-mile car are filthy, he’s full of it. However, if you do suspect that there might be a problem with your fuel injectors, play it safe and add fuel-injector cleaner to…

From the news: This help-wanted ad was rejected as discriminatory by a British job center. Try to spot the problem: “Domestic cleaner required for local hospital. Must be fluent in English for health and safety reasons. Previous experience preferred. Must be reliable and hardworking.” Give up? The offending line was the last: “Must be reliable and hardworking.” The reason: “They could be sued for discriminating against unreliable people.” Source: dailymail.co.uk The joke: A guy shows up late for work. His boss yells, “You should’ve been here at 8:30!” The guy replies, “Why? What happened at 8:30?”…

1 Tom Hanks actor 2 Sandra Bullock actor 3 Denzel Washington actor 4 Meryl Streep actor 5 Maya Angelou professor, Wake Forest 6 Steven Spielberg director 7 Bill Gates cofounder, Microsoft 8 Alex Trebek host, Jeopardy! 9 Melinda Gates cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 10 Julia Roberts actor 11 Robert J. Lefkowitz, MD Nobel Prize-winning chemist 12 Robin Roberts cohost, Good Morning America 13 Clint Eastwood director “Go ahead, make my day.” 14 Brian K. Kobilka, MD Nobel Prize-winning chemist 15 Lloyd Shapley Nobel Prize-winning economist 16 Mehmet Oz, MD host, The Dr. Oz Show 17 Sanjay Gupta, MD host, Sanjay Gupta MD 18 Ellen DeGeneres host, The Ellen DeGeneres Show 19 Michelle Obama First lady 20 Noam Chomsky linguistics professor, MIT 21 Tony Dungy football coach, retired 22…

SMART CELEBRITIES know when to be in the spotlight and when to avoid attention. A master of finding this middle ground: Tom Hanks, our No. 1 scorer. “We trust Hanks because we know that we won’t see his face in the tabloids,” says the Bleier Center’s Thompson. “Hanks’s roles have also helped his reputation—his movies [Saving Private Ryan and Forrest Gump] are about the American adventure.” According to experts who study the relationship between traits and trust, Hanks may also have a biological advantage: his face shape. Hair • Brunets are regarded as more genuine than blonds. Complexion • Soft eyebrows, lack of facial hair, and a warm, bright complexion convey honesty. Eyes • Wide-set eyes are nonthreatening. Mouth • A trustworthy face has a U-shaped mouth. • Wearing an…

Late last year, we planned to run an excerpt from a terrific book we’re publishing this month: The Bliss List, by J.P. Hansen. Reading it is instantly cheering: It tells you how to achieve your career goals by first identifying the things that make you happy. Happiness, ah ... who doesn’t want to see that in action? But then we started thinking: Instead of running an excerpt that takes you step-by-step through the grand Bliss plan, let’s show it at work. We asked a handful of people who were eager for change to follow the plan, and then tracked them for a couple of months. We even asked life coach J.P. Hansen to personally guide our subjects through the Bliss List steps. Let’s see what happened.…

Phil Vogel • Cincinnati, ohio Phil, 45, spent his career selling everything from Samuel Adams beer to photocopiers, but in February 2012, he was laid off by his employer and spent nearly an entire year looking for a new job. The divorced dad has joint custody of his son, ten, and daughter, 12, and wanted his next gig to be less time-consuming and more stable. Phil’s Bliss List showed that money was an important goal. To illustrate his Bliss Board, Phil pinned a photo of students at a graduation ceremony (because he hopes to pay his children’s college expenses) and another of Disneyland (for the family vacation he dreams of) to spark his motivation. Hansen instructed Phil on the importance of positive thinking. “Some of my fellow unemployed friends were…

Whether it’s health tips that will make you blush or surprising facts about your favorite foods, our physician friends on the hit syndicated TV show The Doctors make a living by sharing information that other doctors may be too busy or too shy to discuss. Some of their pearls of wisdom: Get intimate more often Having sex two or three times per week can add years to your life, cut your risk of heart disease and stroke, boost immunity, and improve sleep. Laugh a lot Laughing can add years to your life. Act like a kid—children chuckle much more often than adults do—and get your giggle on. Wear a ponytail to ease allergies Hair is a pollen magnet. On high-pollen days, pull your hair back, use less hair spray, and…

FROM THE Miami Herald Would you like to make some extra money and at the same time run the risk of being eaten by a carnivorous reptile the size of a war canoe? Yes? Sorry, too late. Had you jumped at the chance between January 12 and February 10 of this year, you could have joined the Python Challenge. I am not making it up. It’s a real event that was dreamed up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which apparently was concerned that Florida does not seem insane enough to people who reside in normal states. The Python Challenge was a month-long contest; its purpose, according to the official website (pythonchallenge.org), was “to raise public awareness about Burmese pythons.” Q. What do they mean by “raise public…

1) “What happened on your first date?” To ease into a difficult conversation, ask your parents about when they were younger. Try a question like: “Tell me about when you decided to have us kids” or “What was your favorite family vacation?” They rarely get to talk about that stuff and will welcome the chance. Hint: Be sure to listen! 2) “How have you been sleeping?” To address health concerns, ask your parents questions that aren’t intrusive. Open-ended questions like “When did you last see a doctor? How did that go?” and “Did your mom or dad have health problems that you knew about?” are gentle. Your main goal is to keep things calm. No one wants to open up to someone who’s telling him what to do. (Remember when…

What’s in a Name? Some military nicknames strike fear in the hearts of the enemy (we’re looking at you, General George “Ol’ Blood and Guts” Patton). Others, like these actual nicknames, don’t have quite the same effect: • James "Soupy" (U.S. submarine commander) • Gail "Uncle Wiggly Wings" Halvorsen (U.S. Air Force officer) • George "Turkey Neck" Crawford (U.S. submarine commander) • Winfield "Old Fuss and Feathers" Scott (U.S. Army general) • Louis Franchet "Desperate Frankie" d’Esperey (French general) • David "Barbara" Campbell (British general) $ Get Paid $100 for a Laugh! The best, burst-out-loud funnies come from readers like you. Send us your funny jokes, true stories, and quotes, and if we publish one in a print edition of Reader’s Digest, we’ll pay you $100. To send us your…

What Makes a Hero? The man who “saved” his dog from the jaws of an alligator should be cited for animal neglect instead of being called a hero (Everyday Heroes, “You’re Not Going to Get Her!”). Anyone who lives in that area of Florida knows there are alligators in the waters where he let his dog run around without a leash. He put his dog at risk, and an innocent alligator died because of it. C. B., Leesburg, Florida Caregivers Respond I emphatically disagree with the suggestion that you not visit your relative during his first two weeks in a nursing home (“50 Secrets a Nursing Home Won’t Tell You”). To be dropped off in a strange environment and not see friends or family for that length of time can…

Nobody wants a pain reliever that’s anything less than extra-strength: “Give me the maximum-allowable dosage. Figure out what will kill me, and then back it off a little bit.” Jerry Seinfeld A Red Sox fan walks into a Boston pub and spots a guy wearing a New York Yankees cap. “Drinks for everyone here, bartender!” shouts the Red Sox fan. “Except for Mr. Yankees!” The Yankees fan smiles and says, “Thank you!” Infuriated, the Red Sox fan orders another round of drinks for everyone except Mr. Yankees, who, again, thanks the man. This goes on for a while, until Mr. Red Sox asks the bartender, “What’s the matter with that guy? I’ve ordered rounds of drinks for everyone but him, and all he does is thank me. Is he nuts?”…

Foods That Heal The key: Eat foods that contain potassium, a mineral that helps your body break down carbohydrates and build muscle. A daily serving of a high-potassium food—a handful of dried fruits; a glass of tomato juice, citrus juice, or milk; a slice of melon, an orange, or a banana—can help banish leg cramps and prevent their recurrence. Drink a lot of water too: It maintains circulation and helps flush cramp-causing waste products from your muscles. WANT MORE? Our newly updated top-selling book helps you prevent and treat diseases at their roots. You’ll find 175 foods and the 100 conditions they harm or heal (rd.com/foodsthatheal; available wherever books are sold). Foods That Harm Caffeine, usually found in coffee, tea, and soda, can contribute to cramps by constricting your blood…

PROP STYLIST: ARIANA SALVATO FOR APOSTROPHE NUTRITION SHOCK Functional foods (those that are fortified or make health claims) are taking over grocery store shelves, but that trend may not be as beneficial as it sounds. That’s because eating too many of these foods may provide more vitamins and minerals than you need. We asked New York City–based nutritionist Brooke Alpert, RD, to analyze a typical Americans may spend $9 billion on fortified foods by 2014. daily American diet (see chart on page 36) and were shocked by the steep amounts of certain nutrients it contained. If you pop a supplement (as more than half of Americans do), you’d take in even more. Consuming so many vitamins and minerals, which the fortified food trend encourages, may carry health risks. Large doses…

Craving chocolate-covered pretzels? Have one or two—then wait 15 minutes to see if you really want more. That’s the lesson from new Cornell research on 100 adults who ate either a small or large serving of the same snack. While the group who ate the bigger portion consumed about 100 more calories on average, both groups reported equally fewer cravings 15 minutes later—a sign that it’s the pleasure of eating, not the portion size, that satisfies us.…

INSPIRATION Revolution Reinvented In the ’60s and ’70s, protesters marched and demonstrated in front of the White House. Today, they take to Facebook instead. For example, social media–organized protests in Egypt led to the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak. Disaster Relief In October 2012, New Yorkers with no electricity and barely a bar of cell phone service hopped on Twitter to share Hurricane Sandy emergency information, including transportation updates and gas station availability, with other stranded locals. News, Now On January 15, 2009, Janis Krums, of Sarasota, Florida, didn’t know he was about to become a breaking-news reporter when he took a snapshot of passengers being evacuated from US Airways Flight 1549 into freezing-cold waters. He beat cable news channels and tweeted, “There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on…

You can now catch celebrities on the web—and we don’t mean the Internet. Director of Alabama’s Auburn University Museum of Natural History and study author Jason Bond recently revealed 33 new species of trap-door spiders, including Aptostichus barackobamai, named for Spider-Man–fan Barack Obama, and Aptostichus bonoi, named for U2 front man Bono. Other celebs who have been honored with a creepy-crawly doppelgänger: Beyoncé Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae Her horsefly is distinguished by its golden fuzz. Bob Marley Gnathia marleyi The bloodsucking parasite is native to the Caribbean. Marilyn Monroe Norasaphus monroeae An hourglass-shaped body makes this extinct sea creature stand out. Stephen Colbert Agaporomorphus colberti The diving beetle bears little resemblance to the comedian, but he asked the science community to name something “cooler than a spider” after him.…

Having trouble breaking bad habits? Try these nifty gadgets, which offer ingenious ways to make you or your pet work for a greater good. Here’s how to stop … FUN Sleeping In If you press snooze on the Clocky ($45), it will shoot off your nightstand and roll around on the floor, forcing you to chase it to turn it off. If that doesn’t wake you up, we’re not sure what will. Raising Pudgy Pets Fido will get fit figuring out how to get food from the Aïkiou Interactive Dog Feeder ($28.95), which releases grub gradually as your pet nuzzles, chases, chews, or swats at it. E-mailing While Tipsy It’s 2 a.m. on Saturday, and you decide to send your ex an e-mail. Well, not if Mail Goggles has anything…

Grocery Aisles An ESPN study found that men do 31 percent of the grocery shopping, which is up from about 14 percent in the 1980s. The result: Chain stores like Target and Walmart have launched designated “man aisles” stocked with items geared to the testosterone crowd. A small New York City chain has even incorporated man-centric items into its guy aisle, like hot sauce, beef jerky, batteries, and beer. Lad Laundry Did you know that Tide is the official detergent of the NFL? Along with Gatorade, Tide has entered into an agreement with all 32 teams and even hired Drew Brees, quarterback of the New Orleans Saints, as its spokesman. Keep an eye out for bottles of Tide with Febreze Freshness bearing his likeness. Man Vans Move over, Aston Martin.…

The Stumpers! What words perplex us most often? The folks at Merriam-Webster revealed 2012’s most frequently searched words on their website, and some of them may surprise you. Answers on the next page. 1. paradigm (’payr-adiym) n.—A: puzzle or problem. B: pattern or archetype. C: fringe. 2. malarkey (muh-’lar-kee) n.—A: wild partying. B: foolish talk. C: habitual laziness. 3. ubiquitous (yoo-’bik-wi-tus) adj.—A: found everywhere. B: pertaining to a wife. C: spoiling for a fight. 4. hypocrite (’hip-uh-krit) n.—A: syringe. B: overstatement. C: phony who acts counter to stated beliefs. 5. louche (’loosh) adj.— A: quite comfortable. B: of doubtful morals. C: childlike or naive. 6. didactic (diy-’dak-tik) adj.— A: taking bold steps. B: intended to teach. C: shrill as crickets. 7. albeit (awl-’bee-it) conj.—A: such as. B: even though. C:…

1 We Trust People We Know More Than Anyone Famous Confession: The real winners aren’t here. We removed the three highest scorers from our list of 100—which were “your own doctor” (77%),* “your own spiritual adviser” (71%), and “your own child’s current teacher” (66%)—to focus on the public figures who resonated with everyone. 2 We Really Trust Doctors (Especially If They’re on TV) Of the 15 professions tested, doctors came out on top (see “The Most Trusted Professions” list on page 105). Among the physicians tested, TV doctors were rated as some of the most trusted individuals in the country—with Mehmet Oz, MD, Sanjay Gupta, MD, and Travis Stork, MD, all scoring in or near the top quarter of the most trusted Americans. (Nancy Snyderman, MD, of Today, came in…

She’s smart, sincere, and strong, and she’s our most trusted woman on television. After taking over ESPN’s SportsCenter in February 1990 with her catchphrase, “Go on with your bad self!”—and winning three Emmy Awards in the process—Roberts joined Diane Sawyer as coanchor of Good Morning America in 2005. That year, Roberts anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina tore through it. (Her hometown of Pass Christian was hit especially hard.) She teamed up with George Stephanopoulos in 2009, and GMA became the No. 1 morning show in April 2012 for the first time in 16 years. Gracefully dealing with hardship is a quality for which Roberts has become famous. When she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in 2012, Roberts decided to fight—and…

Norah and Chris Guignon • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Norah and Chris seemed to have the perfect life. Highly educated (Norah has a master’s degree in cultural heritage from the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England; Chris has a master’s degree in architecture from MIT), well-traveled, and worldly, they had settled in Boston and married in June 2010. Norah, 31, and Chris, 30, landed what they believed were ideal jobs: she as the manager of an art gallery, and he as an architect at a prestigious architectural firm. They planned to buy a house and start a family. Then they hit a bump in the road: These goals were daunting on arts salaries in such an expensive city. After much discussion, they decided to quit their jobs and start over in…

Jeremy Cole • Omaha, Nebraska Since 2002, Jeremy, 29, has served three tours of duty as a combat medic, one in Iraq and two in Afghanistan, where he met his wife, Ciara, who was also deployed. In 2009, he returned to the United States with the dream of finding a civilian job and spending more time with his children, now two and four. Jeremy was anxious to find out whether his medic skills would translate from the battlefield to the office. “Most civilian jobs required me to have college credit, but I don’t have that—my knowledge and expertise come through firsthand experience in war.” This is where Hansen stepped in, changing the military jargon on Jeremy’s résumé into more descriptive sentences that better convey his qualifications to civilian recruiters. “I…

BY KENNETH MILLER Her feet hit first, striking the rock with the force of a hammer blow. Then she toppled onto her side, facing the cliff on a ledge barely wide enough to support her body. The rope at her waist snapped taut almost immediately, but she clung to a knob of granite in case it went slack again. The fall had happened without warning, so fast that she’d had no time to be frightened. Now she fought the panic rising in her chest. Thirty feet above her was the overhang from which she’d dropped. Nine hundred feet below lay the floor of Death Canyon, a carpet of pines and brush strewn with house-size boulders. Her ankles were already swelling, ballooning over the tops of her climbing shoes. Ants began…

Man in the Crowd In 1983, I was traveling with a tiny theater company doing vaudeville-type shows in community centers and bars—anywhere we could earn $25 each plus enough gas money to get to the next small town in our ramshackle yellow bus. As we passed through Bozeman, Montana, in early February, a heavy snow slowed us down. The radio crackled warnings about black ice and poor visibility, so we opted to impose on friends who were doing a production of Fiddler on the Roof at Montana State University. See a show, hit a few bars, sleep on a sofa: This is as close to prudence as it gets when you’re an itinerant 20-something troubadour. After the show, well-wishers and stagehands milled behind the curtain. I hugged my coat around…

In our April issue, we asked you to help Distracted Employee silence his humming coworker. You advised him to speak up: How do you get him to stop? Talk to him. It’s pretty hard to respond and hum at the same time. Steve Crabill The best way to get a serious point across without causing offense is with humor. For example: “Wow, you’re really getting into the music, aren’t you?” This will hopefully cause your coworker to realize what he’s doing and stop humming. turtledove As politely and sincerely as you can, explain the negative impact that this is having on your job performance. If you don’t feel you can talk to your colleague, ask your supervisor to handle it. George Huber…

Our minister announced that admission to a church social event would cost $6 per person. “However,” he said, “if you’re over 65, the price will be $5.50.” From the back of the congregation, a woman shouted, “Do you really think I’d give you that information for only 50 cents?” Thomas Ellsworth, gcfl.net What All Gym Rats Know Every gym has an indestructible issue of People magazine with Katie Holmes on the cover. You can throw it in the recycling bin and two weeks later, it will be there, on a treadmill and open to the Katie Holmes article. By Jason Gay, on wsj.com Overheard at a fair: Little girl: I want cotton candy! Mom: You can have some cotton candy after you eat something healthy. Little girl: I want cotton…

• ADAPTED FROM THE Star-Ledger Cheryl Galante learned the virtue of keeping still on a rainy afternoon in May 2012. Returning from her sister’s house, about four miles from her home in Maplewood, New Jersey, Galante, 52, lost control of her blue convertible. Her car slid across four lanes of traffic, crossed the median, hit another car, spun around, and came to rest facing oncoming traffic on Interstate 78. Galante felt oddly peaceful as she stared over a deployed air bag at what looked like smoke gushing from below her car’s crumpled hood. Her thumb twitched on the seat belt latch. To watch an interview with Galante and Zaleski, download the Reader’s Digest app for your iPad or Kindle Fire. Then she heard a man’s voice. “Don’t move,” he told…

TWEET & EA We asked top chefs and gastronauts to share their simply delicious combos for sliced bread. They tweeted these delectable duos! Mario Batali @Mariobatali My two fave sammie ingredients: fresh mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes on ciabatta! Chef, TV personality, cookbook author, restaurateur Elizabeth Minett @HautAppetit I love a sweet and warm bite of grilled peaches over mascarpone on toasted challah bread. #yummy Founder of dessert blog hautappetit.com Doron Petersan @stickyfingersdc Thinly sliced baked eggplant with spicy marinara sauce on a crusty Italian roll. Owner of Sticky Fingers Bakery, cookbook author, winner on Food Network’s Cupcake Wars Laura Theodore @Jazzyvegetarian Roasted red beet slices topped with sliced Granny Smith apples. Serve open-faced on crusty bread! Host of PBS’s Jazzy Vegetarian, cookbook author Tracy Saelinger @Tracy_Saelinger I have to say…

1 I can tell which way you sleep. Sleeping on your side or stomach creates a furrow on one side of your face. For an easy way to minimize wrinkles, sleep on your back. You may snore, but you’ll age better. 2 If you hit the pillow at night without washing, every single thing you came into contact with that day is on your skin. If you’re usually too tired to lather up, keep a box of alcohol-free towelettes on your nightstand, grab one as you fall into bed, and swab your face. Otherwise, don’t be surprised when you break out. 3 Anything that makes your skin feel squeaky-clean is stripping out all the moisture, and that’s not a good thing. If you have dry or sensitive skin, wash with…

FROM Weight Watchers Magazine If you: Record your eating and fitness habits Then you’ll start: Making better food and exercise choices Tracking is a constant reminder that you have chosen a healthy route. If you: Go for a short walk every morning Then you’ll start: Eating healthier portions People who exercise regularly are less likely to overeat, reports a study in the journal Obesity Reviews. If you: Eat breakfast Then you’ll start: Cutting back on sweets Young breakfast skippers consume 40 percent more sugary foods than those who eat a morning meal, according to data from the Dairy Research Institute.…

Accessory Hooks Line up shower curtain hooks on a closet pole to hang handbags. Reinvented Rods Place tension curtain rods vertically between cupboard shelves and use to organize baking sheets and cutting boards. Utensil Trellis Hang a wooden trellis on a kitchen wall and secure hooks for storing strainers, ladles, and more. Style-Sorting Hanger Fold eyewear legs around the bottom bar of a wooden hanger to keep shades organized. Sources: Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, and BuzzFeed…

BIG IDEAS FROM salon.com Researchers from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and the University of California, San Diego, tested volunteers to see how well they could remember text from Facebook updates compared with sentences chosen at random from books. The findings: Participants’ memories for Facebook posts was about one and a half times greater than their memories for sentences from books. Now, before you slap your forehead and lament the death of the written word, consider the implications. The study’s findings shed considerable light on the kind of information we are hardwired to retain, revealing that our brains favor natural, spontaneous writing over more polished content. Think about your Facebook timeline. Sure, there are too many posts about babies, but there are also responses to news stories…

FROM THE New York Times T schools. He sinuous letters of the cursive alphabet, swirled on countless love letters, credit card slips, and banners above elementary-school chalkboards, are going the way of the quill and inkwell. With computer keyboards and smartphones increasingly occupying young fingers, the gradual death of the fancier ABC’s is revealing some unforeseen challenges. Students nationwide are still taught cursive, but many school districts are spending far less time teaching it, says Steve Graham, a professor of education at Arizona State University. Most schools start teaching cursive in third grade, Graham says. In the past, most would continue instruction until the fifth or sixth grades, but many districts now teach cursive only in third grade, with fewer handwriting lessons in general. Jimmy Bryant, director of archives and…

1 Pearl Diver It’s dangerous out there in the deep-blue sea—especially when the job description calls for you to slowly skim the ocean floor off the coast of Australia as sharks glide by. That being said, diving for pearls is lucrative—rates reach $1,200 per day. 2 White Hat Hacker Instead of illegally gaining access to and tampering with computer information, these do-good cybergeeks help companies or governments find security holes in their computer systems. A top certified ethical hacker can earn $125,000 a year; an applicant typically has a bachelor’s degree in computer science or information technology. 3 Oil-Rig Dive Technician You won’t stay dry, but you will make lots of dough building rigs and laying pipes on the ocean floor. A diver can make $1,500 a week and up…

BEHIND THE SCENES OF A CONFERENCE CALL “My favorite part of this 12-person conference call is the sound of caller seven eating at his desk. How’s that apple, Charlie? Sounds delicious.” Tweeted from a miserable office drone to meetingboy.com Customer: Pardon me, I’m lost. Me: What are you looking for? Customer: I’m looking for Milkjer Boulevard. Me: I’ve never heard of it. Can I see your directions? Customer: Sure. See, it’s spelled M-L-K-J-R Boulevard. Next! Epic fails on the interview front, as reported by hiring managers: • "When the interviewer asked the candidate to name his greatest accomplishment, he replied that it was writing a short novel. When the interviewer explained, ’No, I mean something you did while at work,’ the candidate replied, ‘But I did write it at work.’”…

Trust: It’s cited on our currency, valued in our relationships, and vital to our faith. Trust matters, which is why Reader’s Digest teamed up with research firm The Wagner Group to poll over 1,000 Americans and discover which individuals—and the ideals they represent—have earned our confidence. The results are revealing, hopeful, and sometimes shocking. Trust is a tricky business. On the one hand, it’s a prerequisite for many worthwhile things: child care, professional relationships, friendships—even just eating at a restaurant. On the other hand, putting your faith in the wrong place often carries a high price. Then why do we trust at all? Well, because it feels good. When people place their trust in an individual or an institution, their brains release oxytocin, a hormone that produces pleasurable feelings and…

“If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.” Abraham Lincoln in a speech in Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854 “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” Ralph Waldo Emerson…

One thing has been gnawing at me recently: Am I dumber than I was in high school 18 years ago? I figured there was only one way to find out—take the SAT one more time, cold. With no preparation of any sort—just the way I did it then. I went to the College Board website and printed out a sample test, and then sat down and sweated over its three overarching sections: writing, math, and reading. If you’ve ever considered doing something stupid like retaking the SAT when you didn’t have to, put down that No. 2 pencil and heed the hard lessons I learned. No One Likes to Be Yelled At One reason the SAT is so reviled is the way the test itself is written. Everything is an…

1) Identify your passions. Hansen calls them the six spokes of bliss—spiritual, relational, financial, emotional, physical, and intellectual goals. Write these goal types across the top of a piece of paper and then compile your Top 15 Bliss List underneath them. 2) Keep it simple. No shocking revelations? Don’t sweat it. “There were no real zingers on my list. I didn’t discover that I wanted to fly a plane or live in the forest,” Norah says. “But I did realize money wasn’t as important as I’d thought.” 3) Narrow your list. Concentrate on the top seven goals—you’ll see better results than if you try to pay equal attention to all 15. 4) you can change it. Don’t be afraid to tweak your list as your goals evolve or are accomplished.…

Doctors help bodies heal and stay healthy, but they’re still human. So your physician might not have gotten every memo on the latest findings from health research done in the past few years. As a result, some of her recommendations may be out-of-date, unhelpful, or even harmful. Case in point: Although research has proved that cloudy mucus often isn’t a sign of a bacterial infection, physicians are six times as likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients whose nasal discharge has a greenish tint compared with those whose discharge is clear. We’ve combed through the most recent research and consulted experts on the latest thinking in nutrition, fitness, sleep, back pain, and more. Read on to learn what long-standing advice you should trash—and the smarter, science-backed tips you should replace it…

ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK Bringing Mulligan Home One summer weekend when I was a boy, my father took my brother and me camping. I vividly remember the odor of cooking bass mixed with wood smoke, the splash of the Milky Way in the heavens, and the burning ember of Dad’s unfiltered Lucky Strike against the night. Even then, I knew how hard Dad was trying at this enormous thing, to be a father. But I also recall the innumerable times he’d erupt in screaming fits after one of us kids did something as innocuous as spilling water at dinner; sudden noises also triggered outbursts. It was as if there were two guys at war inside him. Why was he like this? Sgt. Steve Maharidge, my father, served as a U.S.…

Cell Phone Standoff I was making copies at work, and someone came into the room while talking on his cell phone. Should I have left to give him privacy, or was it OK to stay and finish? What’s your take? Just Doing My Job Dear Job, It’s the copy room, not the gab-on-the-cell-phone room. The proper etiquette is that a person seeking privacy … seeks privacy. This guy chose not to, so it’s not your concern. Copy away. Just don’t repeat what you heard. Wanted: Time Apart My boyfriend and I live together. He works from home, and I’m around a lot. He used to leave one day a week for meetings, and for a few wonderful hours, I’d have the house to myself. But that stopped, and I haven’t…

Get the full stories at rd.com/dailydigest. Of Immediate Interest EAT LIKE A BABY; LOSE WEIGHT? You don’t have to puree your meals, but studies show that eating slowly, trying new foods, and pushing away your plate as soon as you start to feel full will help you consume only what your body needs. WAIT: VIDEO GAMES ARE GOOD FOR YOU? We found surprising ways that certain types of digital play can help boost the brainpower of kids, surgeons, war vets, and more. 6 WEIRD KICKSTARTER PROJECTS THAT GOT FUNDED If a dream-enhancing sleep mask can raise $572,891 through the popular site, so can your wacky idea! see what else got money. 13 FOOD MYTHS YOU STILL BELIEVE ARE TRUE Are carbs evil? Does chicken always have to be cooked skinless?…

Shaquille O’Neal Sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself. It’s as if they are showing you the way. Donald Miller, spiritual author Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect. Margaret Mitchell That’s what real love amounts to—letting a person be what he really is. Jim Morrison Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha. Robert Brault, writer Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t. Bill Nye There is no such thing as fun for the whole family. Jerry Seinfeld I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss…