With many things you'll enjoy!
 | | Rose Wong |
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Good morning! If you’re anything like me, you could probably use a little distraction from Covid-19. So here are nine articles that have absolutely nothing to do coronavirus, and that will help you live a little smarter this week. |
Here are some mildly terrifying things I learned when I recently did an online privacy checkup: Google knew all about my creditworthiness. If you want Target to stop sharing your information with marketers, you have to call them. And, my favorite: If you would like Hearst, the publishing giant, to stop sharing your physical mailing address with third parties, you have to mail a physical letter with your request to the company’s lawyers. |
How many tote bags do you own? |
Hmm, yes, you there. I see you trying to dodge the question, and it’s precisely the dodging that tells me you need to hear this difficult truth: Tote bags are irresistible and insidious in equal measure. They are quite useful! They hold such promise for an imagined future! So many of them are free! And almost all of them are impossibly filthy. Here’s what you can do with them. |
When you need to blow your nose, there’s a good chance you ask for a Kleenex, even if the box being handed to you doesn’t bear the Kimberly-Clark-owned Kleenex logo. When you use a brand name as a generic term, you’re using a proprietary eponym, or, more simply, a generic trademark. You’re probably familiar with this phenomenon, but there are more examples of it than you might realize. |
You may be aware of Kleenex, Velcro and ChapStick, but what about escalator? Or dumpster? Linoleum, zipper, trampoline? All of these are (or were) trademarks of companies whose products were so successful that they came to represent an entire category. And it can actually cause quite a problem for those companies. Read more here about how brand names become generic. |
Oops! You asked a recently fired friend-of-a-friend how his job is going. The words left your lips before you could scoop them back in. Inquiring about the biggest stressor in his life (the one he was praying no one would bring up) was an innocent mistake. Sure, you apologized profusely, but you can tell he’s smarting. Ugh. Here’s what to do. |
Sneakers are big business. They serve many purposes, aside from the whole being shoes part: Some sneakers we wear for comfort, some we wear for health, some we wear as high fashion. And while many of our sneakers can look a little better a bit banged up (Chuck Taylors, hello!), there are times when — for the sake of appearances or smells — your sneakers need a cleaning. |
Learning to love your body — whatever shape or size you may be — is easier said than done, but these people are out to teach all of us that there’s no time like the present to fall in love with who you see in the mirror. Read more here. |
If you have trouble remembering names, faces or phone numbers, these tips from memory champions and neuroscientists can help. Read more here. |
One of my favorite party games is to ask a group of people this simple question: What is your oldest or most cherished grudge? |
Without fail, every person unloads with shockingly specific, intimate detail about their grudge. Career slights (intentional or not), offhand-yet-cutting remarks, bitter friendship dissolutions; nothing is too small or petty when it comes to grudges. |
What what are these petty grudges really getting us? Probably less than you think. Read more here. |
The ancient Greeks described charisma as a “gift of grace,” an apt descriptor if you believe likability is a God-given trait that comes naturally to some but not others. The truth is that charisma is a learned behavior, a skill to be developed in much the same way that we learned to walk or practice vocabulary when studying a new language. Other desirable traits, like wealth or appearance, are undoubtedly linked to likability, but being born without either doesn’t preclude you from being charismatic. Here’s how you can be more charismatic. |
This week I’ve invited writer Kara Godfrey to tell us all why we should send out a real, I.R.L. card to a loved one. |
We use our phones to offer “congratulations” or a simple “how are things going,” so it can be easy to think we are better connected than ever. But when was the last time you sent out a physical, written card to someone? |
One of my favorite ways to spend a spare hour of the weekend is to peruse a stationery store for different cards and postcards. Part of the joy is making that perfect choice: the awful gin pun for your best friend, a pretty floral design for your auntie or a simple thank you for your dad. |
The beauty of writing a card results in more meaning and thought being put into what you’re trying to say. Not unlike that first page of your new notebook where the neatest handwriting is usually found, a card makes every word count. |
Receiving an unexpected card in the mail is pure joy — it’s a lovely surprise to break up the usual habit of sifting through bills, junk mail and fliers. Sometimes a simple note that says you’re thinking of someone can mean the world. The no reason at all card I got from my mom sent me every month at university or from friends after a breakup are some of my most treasured possessions. |
Give a rest to the mistake-ridden texts, the long-winded WhatsApps messages and the sporadic group chat conversations, and try to send a note the old-fashioned way for a change. |
