And the Oscar goes to……

Grab Bag Ballot Box:

For those who might want to put their proof where their opinion lies, here is a printable Oscar ballot for this evening’s festivities. Print out copies and ask everyone gathered with you to commit their picks to paper before the start of the ceremony.

Wagers (in kind or in cash) on who will have the most correct picks makes things even more fun. Good luck.

Grab Bag Wow Moment:

Spoiler alert….. lump in the throat approaching….

Grab Bag Font Finder:

Brilliant and simple website. Click over to Wordmark.it, click the button and allow them to scan for your fonts (which takes mere seconds), then type in any text you like. Your screen will then immediately show you what your text looks like in every font on your computer.

Yes, I said… every. font. on. your. computer.

Amazing.

Partial results of one example :-):

How incredible is that??

You’re welcome.

Grab Bag Lamott’s Lament:

Anne Lamott spoke at my daughter’s college graduation, and I’ve been a fan ever since.

Insightful and pragmatic and poetic all in one dreadlocked package, Anne shares her perspective about the popularity of self-help books, hers included, in this great article, sent to me by wonderful GrabBag reader JoAnn N.:

Last night, Riverhead got the New York Times bestseller list for Sunday,February 3. My book, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers, was number nine again on the Advice, How-to and Miscellaneous list, which I’m so, so happy about. But the first eight books are diet books, number 10 is the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe book, and numbers 11-15 also are diet books.

I mean, isn’t that crazy? I know everyone’s New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, but EVERYONE knows how to lose weight. And EVERYONE knows that diets make you fat and crazy, that 95% of people who lose weight gain it back – plus 5 pounds – then hate themselves.

So people – mostly women and girls – are being preyed on with these books, which make up thirteen of the top fifteen Advice, How-to and Miscellaneousbestsellers. There IS no new secret. But the industry is able to make a fortune on our fear that we are disgusting the way we are, and that IF we all lose some weight, we will magically have great self-esteem and health. Plus, we will keep it off this time, because ONE of the authors of the thirteen books has broken the elusive code and so 95% of people won’t gain it back.

This is a WMD. It is the great palace lie, such an attack on our spirits and souls. We have to stop pushing the snooze alarm and wake up – together.

I could change the title of Help Thanks Wow to Hips Thighs Waist: Three Essential Diet Tips for Emaciation and Wealth, and claim it contained the secret launch codes. (1. Eat a little less. 2. Walk a little more. 3. And an extra glass of water or two a day won’t kill you.)

I could make a fortune.

The only other things that will help you with your weight and body image are radical self-care and help with the struggle. You are deserving of help and healthy food. You get to start your new, more user-friendly way of life as soon as you remember that you do. WILD.

Walking a little every day, if you can, will improve your life by approximately 78%. A lot of us have a TINY problem with sugar, but we all know how to get off it, and that if we do, the cravings and obsession will disappear. So one day at a time, eat protein and whole grains, veggies and a little fruit.

I don’t love water – it’s so watery. But I like it more since yesterday, when I was toweling my grandson off after a bath and told him how delicious he smelled. He said, “Do I smell like water?”

I got help from Connie at beyondsugarshock.com ONLY because she coincidentally came to my church for a benefit the week that I hit a terrible, crazy bottom with sugar. (I had been on a book tour for Hips Thighs Waist – I mean, the other HTW  – for a month: i.e., room service.) There’s free advice at that website, and all over the web, if sugar is an addiction for you as it is for me. I haven’t had it in weeks — one day at a time — because I was sick and tired of feeling as sick and tired as a sugar-based life made me feel. I am stable (ish), healthy, and rarely think about food now unless I’m very hungry. Then I eat protein, whole grains, veggies, fruit. If your problem is with salty savories, it’s the same thing: There is free advice all over the web. Don’t buy into the diet lie machine.

Maybe somehow you can help each other right here.

Grab Bag Home Remedy:

SOooo many people I know came down with a nasty cold and a dry, scratchy cough this winter season. Here’s a little something you can try to battle that dry hack that can linger for weeks, and it carries virtually no side effects:

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients.

2. Take by the teaspoon as often as needed for cough.

3. Do not give to infants under 12 months due to the honey (though I doubt you could get them to take it anyway!).

Health food stores sell a similar super-charged mix called Cyclone Cider:

If you have the desire, Dr. Weil’s site tells you how to make this powerful remedy yourself here.

Grab Bag Buff Couch Potato:

For all your good intentions, you missed yet another workout. Just got too busy, didn’t you? Yes, I know…

But GOOD NEWS!

I have the perfect answer to the end-of-the-day, didn’t-work-out, wished-I-had-moved-more blues.

Some might call me telepathic, prescient, mystic… but I predict you will spend at least one hour watching a favorite TV line up tonight. Sooooooo…..

Every time there’s a commercial break during the hour of your choice (or the entire Oscar ceremony!), do this short routine ……(print it and have it right there for all to see!):

You know you want to do this.

You WILL do this.

And you will report back to all of us and let us know how fabulous and virtuous you felt 🙂

Grab Bag Brain Game:

A favorite Sunday paper activity for many (you know who I’m talkin’ about, J.P.), Jumble is here in cyber space:

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

My collected highlights of Dog Shaming. The final video may be the best :-):