New Years Day Archives - Lisa Colón DeLay

Soul School – Lesson 12 (Starting NEW-symbols and the brain)

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SHOW NOTES
A new year gives us a chance at a new start at life and this episode is all about how that works.

Resolutions are common and they are commonly broken quickly. U2 (the band) sings that “nothing changes on New Years day” and it seems painfully true. But, there is more hope than we realize.

Here’s the Daily Ritual resource to start your new year right. You can download both for free. Click the images to go to the links. If you’d like to say “thank you” for the work I put into them, you can tip me a few dollars.

Symbols, brain chemistry, perception, placebo, and the way a re-start can work can truly give us a new chance. There’s science behind it too. Today’s episode highlights the work of Ellen Langer.

Dr Ellen Langer

WEBSITE
http://ellenlanger.com

Her Research Institute

wikipedia article entry

Not dying in an EPIC PIZZA Fail.

pizzzafail — package design varies in 14 years

What happens when you eat 14 year old pizza crust from Betty Crocker? We found out.

On January 1, 2011, in a short series of unfortunate events, my husband prepared a Betty Crocker pizza crust from a mix. It turned out terribly. We couldn’t figure out why. It was paper thin, and stuck so badly to the pan that it seemed to only come off in stamp-sized pieces, not to mention being brittle and tasteless.

I forced it down, and after the kids bemoaned their meal, I, being a proper mom, I had them finish most of it–by decree. It was only after I saw the varying package design of some just-bought Betty Crocker pizza crust, did suspect something was amiss. That little wave of electric panic fear went around on my back. This could be a long night in the bathroom, I thought.

Soon, it seemed clear that we ingested 14 year old crust mix from 1997. There was no expiration date visable on any package, but there were copyright dates. The new ones said ©2009. [Obviously the old one read ©1997.] Gulp. This was bad news. Really bad news. This is nearly double the age of my daughter. Who eats food twice their age, and gets away with it? Okay, babies. But who else?

The thought was sickening, but oddly the meal wasn’t, in a true sense. We were all fine. No harm done.

4 Proposals:
1. Betty Crocker Pizza crust is not food.
2. God spared us (because sometimes he’s wacky like that.)
3. Pizza crust couldn’t hurt us, even if it was 50 years old…’cause that’s how p.c. rolls.
4. We’ve just realized we are the real life version of “No Ordinary Family”
Do you have any ideas?

It was a mysterious way to start the new year, and things have only gotten stranger since.

What the oldest thing you’ve eaten recently?
Or…What’s the strangest thing that’s happened to you so far this year?

Nothing Says “Happy New Year” like Old Time Babies Drinkin’ Booze!

U2 sings “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day”, and I think they’re right. BUT, over the years what was considered cute seems to have changed. A lot.

This vintage card is from about the turn of the 20th century. (1900-ish, for anyone who is confused). Maybe this is why they came up with the Constitutional Amendment forbidding alcohol, (prohibiting alcohol, Amendment 18, for those of you who are confused). It seems too many babies were celebrating New Years Eve, and perhaps other holidays, and drinking from huge champagne glasses.

Babies shouldn't drink, even on New Years Eve

In 1933 came the repeal of this ill-conceieved ban: the 21st Amendment. This repeal was basically so people could drink themselves into drunken stupors because The Great Depression (economic collapse) made everyone (except really rich people) really poor. I’m not sure if babies got in on the drinking at that time too, but most of them probably went off to war a few years later (December 8, 1941–September 2, 1945) to fight the Germans and the Japanese. Lots of alcohol was flowing then. And boom–no more Depression. Alcohol had solved everything.

Or maybe babies were just much, much smaller 110 years ago. The cork seems gigantic also. So, the mystery continues!

Any thoughts on this matter?

Any hopes for the New Year that you’d like to share?

Oh, and Happy New Year!