Pategan's Blog

Things You Can Do To Keep The Season From Stressing You Out

1. Anticipation and Imagination

Planning ahead for the pitfalls of the holiday season is one of the best ways you can smooth your way. For all the events coming up, visualize the experience in your mind — if it’s a tradition you’ve been part of before, remember both the good and the bad. 

Focus on ways you can maximize the positive and prepare yourself to handle or even avoid the negative. If you had a great time last year on that last-minute shopping run with your sibling, this year, make it a plan. If a colleague tends to become obnoxious at the holiday party and make you uncomfortable, prepare yourself with a few hasty departure excuses, so you’re not fumbling at the time.

2. Sleep and Exercise

Just because it’s the holidays doesn’t mean the basics don’t apply. Research study after research study show that getting enough sleep and exercise are surefire ways to keep your mood up — and your ability to handle stressful situations at its peak.

3. You Time

The holidays can take up a lot of time with parties, events, family, colleagues — all of which can be fun and festive, but may also feel like an endless load of obligations. Make sure you schedule time at least a couple of times each week to do something that really is fun, and also relaxing — whether you sneak off to a movie, or lock the door and take a long bubble bath, or crack a bottle of wine and stay home with your best friend (and NO one else), remember that the holidays should leave you feeling joyous, not resentful.

Before You Take That Pill Or Eat That Peanut Butter

It seems like every week another report comes out announcing a product, food or drug that has had to be recalled from the shelves because it malfunctions, or isn’t what it’s supposed to be, or is contaminated in some way.

How’s an average person supposed to know that this week isn’t the week to buy peanut butter? Or that the pretty bassinet you were eyeing poses a suffocation danger to your new baby? 

Some recalls hit the news in a big way. The Excedrin recall this year was a hot topic and all over TV, the internet and the newspapers. That’s one item. Last year there were more than 2,000 product recall announcements.

Various U.S. agencies offer alerts for product safety issues — via email or various social media platforms.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is “committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children.” You can subscribe to their alerts — and even specify just what kind of updates you’d like to receive (all recalls, child/infant product recalls, household product recalls, etc.). 

 Sign up for alerts from the CPSC here.

 Follow @OnSafety on Twitter to get their updates on safety alerts and recalls

 Check out CPSC’s Facebook page for updates on recalls. 

U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)

When items that fall under the purview of the Food & Drug Administration (such as Excedrin, spinach, peanut butter, etc.) are recalled, the FDA oversees the recall process to make sure it is adequate and effective. The FDA keeps a record of product recalls, which can be searched, sorted by name, date or product type, as well as an archive of press releases related to products and product safety. 

  Sign up to receive information on recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts from the FDA here.

 Follow @FDARecalls on Twitter here. 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Part of the USDA’s charter is to make sure that the “nation's commercial supply of meat, poultry, and egg products is safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged.”

 Sign up to get notified when the USDA issues a recall or public health alert here.

 Follow @USDAFoodSafety on Twitter here. 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

The NHTSA is tasked with “achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety” — not only does the agency monitor manufacturers’ recall efforts, they can also order recalls and repairs of vehicles and parts. You can sign up for the NHTSA’s email notifications on their recalls — and even tailor the content to your area of concerns (e.g., child restraints, specific makes/models, motorcycles).

Sign up for email notifications of NHTSA recalls and safety alerts here.

 Follow @NHTSAgov on Twitter for recalls and other vehicle safety announcements.

Survey Says….

According to Facebook “Likes”

#1: Skittles (23.55 million thumbs up)

#2: Starburst (11.5 million)

#3: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (10 million)

#4: Kit Kat (9.4 million)

#5: Twix (5.26 million)

(statistics via Today.com)

 According to Huffington Post Editors

#1: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures

#2: Starburst

#3: 3 Musketeers

#4: Nerds

#5: Kit Kat

(via Huffington Post)

Halloween Is The Perfect Time For A Horror Movie Marathon

Although there is no definitive list — and the American Film Institute failed to give horror movies its own Top 100 list — there is no shortage of “experts” ready to rate, rank and recommend the top horror movies ever made. 

What are the scariest movies ever? Check out these lists:

• Time Magazine’s Top 25 Horror Movies of All Time
• Top 50 scariest movies of all time on Boston.com
• Chicago Film Critics Association’s 100 Scariest Movies of All-Time
• Top 25 Horror Movies of All-Time on IGN
• Top 100 Horror Movies as ranked by Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes

 

In no particular order, seven movies made at least three of the above lists’ top 10:

1.  Alien (1979) — “If serving as the incubator for a killing machine from outer space doesn’t scare you, then just wait until it grows up, and hides in the shadows of your spaceship, and picks off your crew one-by-one.” (Boston.com)

2. Psycho (1960) — “Honor thy mother” has never been so scary.

3. The Exorcist (1973) — If you think this movie is just Linda Blair’s turned-around head and projectile pea soup, hang on to your hats.

4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) — “Once Leatherface makes his entrance, get ready for a full hour of psychological terror. If you ever complained about your in-laws, watch this movie and thank your lucky stars.” (Boston.com)

5. Jaws (1975) — The highest-grossing movie in history at the time, Spielberg’s second directorial outing and John Williams’ unforgettable score made “duhDUH” two of the scariest notes ever heard in a movie theater.

6. Night of the Living Dead (1968) — AMC should thank George Romero, who directed this movie, for creating the whole genre of zombie terror — “The Walking Dead” on AMC is one of the most successful shows on basic cable — as should almost every movie that relies on the bar-the-doors and nail-down-windows strategy as a crucial plot point.

7. Halloween (1978) — “It isn’t just that Michael Myers is a homicidal maniac. He’s a homicidal maniac who wears a mask that carries an expression of pure blankness, as if killing is boring.” (Boston.com)

The Shining (1980), Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Frankenstein (1931) each made two of the lists.

From Your Office To The Presidential Debate, Gestures May Say More Than Words

What you say without saying a word

More than half of what you say isn’t through the words coming out of your mouth — so being aware of your body language and expressions, and what they might be saying to your audience (whether one person or a roomful) can be extremely helpful in getting across the point you want to, rather than something else entirely.

• Want to look powerful and in control when talking to your boss?
  Consider standing inside the door frame to your boss’s office— "It frames you like a piece of art and also makes you appear to be more powerful," according to Janine Driver, founder and president of The Body Language Institute in Washington and author of You Say More Than You Think: A 7-Day Plan for Using the New Body Language to Get What You Want!(via The Globe and Mail)

 

• Can’t tell if your colleagues are interested or bored to death?
  Are they looking at you or are their eyes wandering or focused on a spot somewhere beyond you? Is their face relaxed or is their jaw clenched, their lips pursed? Are they facing you head-on or are they turned away? All these things can help you judge your audience — and help you adjust your own behavior from what you’re saying to how you’re saying it, to try and win them back. (from Forbes)
• Want to feel more confident?
  Body language can actually raise testosterone levels and lower the levels of the anxiety-producing hormone cortisol — in both men and women — according to Amy Cuddy, an associate professor at Harvard Business School. Check out her amazing presentation at a TED conference here. Striking a “power pose” — standing tall and straight with an open posture — can help your body give you the confidence your mind is telling you you don’t have. (from LifeInc on Today)

How do you think The Mentalist does it?

On the TV show “The Mentalist,” the main character Patrick Jane is a self-professed con-man who once pretended to be a psychic. Rather than seeing into the great beyond or the interiors of people’s minds, Jane is an expert at the “cold read” — a technique through which one can ascertain facts about someone else through careful attention to details, responses and body language.

(Infographic from SocialPhy)

The debate about the debate

One of the hottest topics these days is “who won the debate?” While many are comparing answers to answers, another contingent is judging facial expressions and hand gestures — the verdict is still out on who won either way. 

The New York Times put together a great visual analysis of the candidates’ body language — see it here.

On “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” Howard Dean said “the key to a debate, if you want to see how it moves the American people, is to turn off the sound, watch the mannerisms. It’s not what they say. I mean, there may be a zinger and that could change things, but—it’s not what they say. It is their mannerisms. It’s how they come across.”