Keen Cuisine: Gaga Over Goji

This Chinese "alpha fruit" has garnered a celebrity following.

By Jett Stone, published on March 01, 2009 - last reviewed on April 06, 2009

You can walk into a grocery store and shell out about $2.50 for a 12-ounce bag of raisins. Or, if you want to up the ante on antioxidants, you can get a 12-ounce bag of dried cranberries for around $9. Or you could stake $18 on a similar amount of dried goji berries. If you prefer liquid nutrition, you can get a quart of goji juice for $50.

Not every edible has a celebrity following. But goji berries have been touted as an anti-aging superfood in the tabloids by Madonna, Liz Hurley, and Kate Moss, among others. Mischa Barton attributes her flawless complexion to a daily shot of goji juice.

What i found interesting about this article is that we, the public, will do anything the celebrities do. Just because the author read the celebrities, like Kate Moss, drank it, he was willing to spend 50 $ on goji juice. What i learned is that we are in a celebrity obsessed culture, & might & will do anything our favorite "celebs" are finding "hot" these days. I picked it thinking it was info on a new fruit; which is what the author is talking about, but it is mostly of how expensive it is & which celebrities are buying & using it.

The Woman Who Refused to Die

The death and life of Amy Jones--domestic abuse survivor.

By Jen Kim, published on November 04, 2009 - last reviewed on November 04, 2009

When Amy Jones married her high school sweetheart, Chris Rezos, in 1995, she never suspected that he would turn into an abuser who would eventually try to take her life. For almost a decade, Chris controlled nearly every facet of Amy's life, mentally and verbally abusing her. But, in 2004, Amy decided enough was enough; she packed up her children and belongings and left him. However, Chris had other plans.

During the legal proceedings, Chris met Amy in a hotel to discuss the terms of their divorce, when --out of nowhere-- he attacked her. Chris beat, choked, and tried to drown her in the bathtub. Another hotel guest heard her screams and called 911-- a call that would save her life.

Still, Chris wasn't willing to give up. After posting bond three weeks later, Chris hid in her car and shot her twice in the head. What he didn't realize was that Amy wouldn't give up either. Amy survived the injuries, while Chris was finally put away.

What I found interesting about this article is that it shows how women in life may chose bastards to live with, that maybe at the time they got married didn't know they were bastards or had mental issues, & that some may have the courage to say something or to leave them, but that may have a consequence of what the spouse they leave might do to them. This is very common, especially in latin countries, where the "man" is taught to be like a man, by both the mother & the father, making the child disrespect the mother, in which later in life, the child may or even will, disrespect other women & his own wife, just to prove himself a man, leading to killing of women, cheating, etc. I picked it because it is very common here in Latin America, in which any, including our fathers could be like that, & also that femicides are in the increase because of "machismo" present in latin countries.

Two-Minute Memoir: I See Rude People

The fortysomething woman came within inches of crashing her Volvo station wagon into my car while simultaneously trying to park with one hand and yammer into the cell phone she was holding in the other. When I beeped to keep her from swerving into me, she vigorously and repeatedly flipped me the bird (I guess to punish me for existing, and directly behind her to boot). For her grand finale, she exited her car in workout gear, toting a yoga mat, and snarled back at me, "Just off to find a little inner peace, you redheaded bitch!"

Uh, have a nice day!

An aggressive lack of consideration for others is spreading across this country like a case of crabs through a sleepaway camp, and there isn't a lot standing in the way. Although people are quick to blame rampant rudeness on advances in technology, the unfortunate truth is, rudeness is the human condition. We modern humans are a bunch of grabby, self-involved jerks, the same as generations of humans before us. It's just that there are fewer constraints on our grabby, self-involved jerkhood than ever before. We're guided by quaint Stone Age brains, suited to manage social interactions within a small tribe—yet we're living in endlessly sprawling areas that would more accurately be called "stranger-hoods" than neighborhoods.

The article relates to of how random people (anyone), could be calm & sitting in their vehicles, while some crazy bitch crashes into their parking space, & while they are trying to tell them not to crash their car, they get pissed off for no reason. Showing that, we are very bitter people, & which is one of the reasons I chose it, I wanted to know how certain people react to certain situations.

How to Win American Idol

A creativity researcher cracks the pop-stardom code: It's not talent or looks—it's something far more improbable.

By Scott Barry Kaufman, published on January 01, 2010 - last reviewed on February 26, 2010

I really wanted to be an American Idol. I even auditioned twice. The first time, I showed off my R&B stylings; the second time, I went full-on drama-club-kid and belted out a Broadway ballad. I didn't make it past the first round either time. But the odds are slim and the stakes are high. During any given season, as many as 100,000 hopefuls audition, of whom only 36 make it to the official start of the competition. Last year's finale drew 30 million viewers, and past winners, such as Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, have gone on to sell platinum albums and win Grammy awards.

Sure, I was temporarily crushed to not have joined their ranks. But I've put my quest to good use: I've done a deep analysis of the contestants, and their effects on the audience that votes them to the top. I'm not just an entertainer, you see. I am a psychologist who studies creativity and talent. Talent has everything to do with who wins Idol; brilliance is hard to ignore. But my close look at the show's last eight seasons has led me to conclude that Idol can help academics and fans alike reconceptualize "talent" in the context of show biz. It's not just singing ability. It's a startlingly unique combination of many different traits, and a couple of things that lie outside the contestants' control. I didn't get to be an Idol, but I think I've finally cracked its code.

What i found interesting about the article is that it talks about how bad we all want to be on American Idol & how bad we want to be "the" American idol. I learned that by the author being a psychologist, he understood how he & million others feel & felt every year when not being chosen, & how we react & favorite that specific person in show business.

Portrait of a Hunger Artist

The anorexia began innocently enough, until eating became the point of living. Precisely because it was so special, it had to be made more perfect by hunger.

By Emily Troscianko, published on March 01, 2010 - last reviewed on March 08, 2010

"You are welcome in our new home, but your anorexia isn't," my mother said to me one day in April 2008. How dare she imply that there was any distinction between "me" and "my anorexia"?

I couldn't imagine my life without it, nor did I want to. It dictated everything I did and was, from going to bed almost when other people were getting up, to the solitude of my existence on a boat in Oxford, studying and starving, to my absolutely nonnegotiable daily bike rides and my constantly being cold—and my incomparable pleasure in the plate of bread and low-fat margarine and boiled vegetables in bed last thing at night, followed by cereal with skimmed milk diluted with water to go further, and finally mouthfuls of creamy chocolate to send me to sleep without hunger.

What i found interesting about the article is that the author who wrote it had something to do with anorexia, since she had it, so she could recall what happens to others who have it too. I learned that anorexia is a bad thing, that starving yourself could & would lead to death, & I picked it since it "pop"s out at you, it describes the life of a girl with anorexia, how she dealed with it.