Ways to get smarter

In the Newsweek Magazine of 9 & 16 January 2012, there is a list of 31 ways to get smarter in 2012.

Certainly a way to pique our interest. I had no idea what some of their suggestions were about (must be an age thing), some we already do, and I have no intention of doing. I’ll list some, and we’ll see how it goes.

1. Play Words with Friends. I’m certainly up on this one - playing about 8-10 games with various people.

2. Eat tumeric. I know what that is, but it’s not something I’ve ever used.

3. Take tae kwon do. Not bloody likely!

4. Get news from Al Jazeera. I keep meaning to check out their web site. I’ve heard elsewhere that it’s a good place to get international news.

5. Toss your smartphone. Don’t guess I’ll do that, but then I’m not on it all the time, either.

6. Sleep. A lot. Well, I certainly have that one down pat.

10. Learn a language. I have a smattering of French and Spanish, but I don’t think I’ll start another one now.

11. Eat dark chocolate. We have a piece of dark chocolate every night after dinner.

12. Join a knitting circle. Since I knit nearly every day, I guess I have this one under control - even if I don’t do it in a group.

13. Wipe the smile off your face. But I really don’t like to frown.

14 Play violent videogames. Not planning to do that either.

15. Follow these people on Twitter. I don’t do Twitter.

16. Eat yogurt. Got that - several time a week.

18. See a Shakespeare play. Not my favorite thing to do.

20. Hydrate. There’s always a glass of water within my reach - and I actually drink it.

22. Visit MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I’ve been there twice, but I probably won’t be going to NYC again. I’ll have to make do with our local museum and art museums when we travel.

23. Play an instrument. I don’t guess they mean the radio or a CD player, but that’s all I play.

24. Write by hand. I do still handwrite a few notes, but that’s about all.

26. Zone out. I can handle that one quite well.

27. Drink coffee. I guess my 4-6 cups a day will work.

28. Delay gratification. We certainly went without for a lot of years until we got enough money to get stuff.

29. Become an expert. Don’t know if I’m an expert, but I’m pretty good at knitting, word puzzles, and a few other things.

31. Get out of town. We certainly do that well. Sometimes we even have trouble staying home.

Check out the magazine to see the whole list.