Grab Bag Nervous Tic(k):

If you’re anything like me, you pause when faced with removing a tick… not only because you’re not sure how best to do it, but the the whole idea of these disgusting, blood-sucking creatures brings on a bit of the shivers.

While I can’t convince anyone that ticks are warm and cuddly, I can hopefully erase all the confusing information we have been given about how best to remove the little draculas (or is it draculae?).

“Is it clockwise or counter-clockwise that we have to rotate as we pull it out? Do we hold a hot match on it’s ass or bathe it in paint thinner?”

Well, here’s the problem… for all those concoctions and methods we try to get the ticks to release their bite and back away on their own, we run the risk of frightening them to into vomiting nasty disease-carrying substances into the bite area and/or clamp down all the harder.

So forget ALL that…

Here is the bottom line on tick removal… simple, straight-forward:

• With tweezers, grasp the little bugger close to the skin and pull straight out.
• If you don’t have tweezers and must use your fingers, cover them with a tissue.
• DO NOT TWIST or jerk quickly, as this can cause the head to separate from the body.
• Place the tick in a sealed container or plastic bag and mark the date. Keep it for awhile. If illness occurs in the dog or human victim, this tick will go a long away in helping to discover what the illness might be.
• Wash the bite with antiseptic and wash your hands thoroughly.

Grab Bag Body Language:

Concept: Your body believes every word you tell it.

Observance: We say someone is “warm” and “friendly”, or they gave us a “cool” response or a “cold” shoulder.

Evidence: It’s called Embodied Cognition. Here’s an excerpt from a New York Times article about the research into this idea….

Do you say a person is warm and likable, as opposed to cold and standoffish? In one recent study at Yale, researchers divided 41 college students into two groups and casually asked the members of Group A to hold a cup of hot coffee, those in Group B to hold iced coffee. The students were then ushered into a testing room and asked to evaluate the personality of an imaginary individual based on a packet of information.

Students who had recently been cradling the warm beverage were far likelier to judge the fictitious character as warm and friendly than were those who had held the iced coffee.

Another group of study participants consistently leaned slightly forward when thinking of the future, and slightly back when recalling the past.

Conclusion: Your body takes things VERY literally… and I am certain this can be quite powerful for our health and well being. We just need to construct carefully how we tap into it. For the time being, we need to be clearly positive and affirming with the things we think and say about ourselves and our potential, and steer away from limiting language that will restrict our physical capabilities and our mental elasticity.

GEEZ.. I just re-read that last paragraph… I promise I haven’t been smoking a THING… this really is a widely accepted (although not totally uncontroversial) theory… and I do have personal knowledge of being able to change someone’s physical presence by changing the words I choose…. so I know it can do that and, I believe, a whole lot more.

Grab Bag Dryer Mire:

For those who don’t get the Grab Bag Facebook posts, let me fill you in on the dryer issue discussed the last few days there. (If you want the occasional mid-week tidbit, click on the Facebook badge in the right column on this page). Here is what I put out there on Facebook:

… and a day later, I posted this:

So I tried the lint-screen-under-the-water test yesterday…. sure enough, water pooled on top of what looked like an open screen. Washed with a bit of liquid soap and a brush, and water runs right through now. I kinda felt like a doctor solving a mysterious health issue!

Grab Bag Slim Picking:

So I’m cross-blogging this week with a blog you will LOVE (just click on her banner or collage below).

Think magnificent travelogue, crossed with a gourmet food publication and  a garden book, throw in a thick fashion magazine, a florist’s how-to guide and always some kind of surprising randomness of intrigue. The latest post is all about raising boys. Keep scrolling down the page for other gems of beauty and wisdom.

The divine Miss Slim has flair and style like no other. Poke around in older posts and you’ll find sublime photos of her interior designs, clusters of goodies on her shelves, terrific book reviews and snapshots of all things lovely that catch her talented and discerning eye. She is a true arbiter of taste, and we’d all do well to hitch our carts to Slim’s star. Click. Read. Subscribe. Enjoy.

Grab Bag Trickery:

Glad this guy’s a magician and not an attorney…

Grab a Bag of Tissues:

Maybe it’s just me, but this got me more than misty-eyed…

Thanks to my sis Tally D. for this one.

Grab Bag Random Find:

Santa told Mrs. Claus he was working fervently in the toy shop. The reality? Cruising Santa Barbara’s State Street on a motorcycle with some trashy elf in the side car. BUSTED.

(I actually came across this image myself randomly as I searched Google maps one day.)

Grab Bag Brain Game:

The classic game of Concentration, digitized. If you’ve never been to this site before, look for “Create Account” on the right side of the page. A few good games here.

MEMORY MANIA

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

As the video progresses, this kid just keeps getting funnier:

Thanks to my qiz for showing me this.

And there’s a trivia question… what exactly is my “qiz” and where does that word come from?