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September 2024
MATURE PALATE
How Age Shapes Our Tastes
While some people develop more sophisticated tastes when they get older, the opposite seems to be true for me. The more responsibilities I have, and the more tired I am at the end of the day, the less I enjoy complex, artsy films and television shows. I used to watch thoughtful David Lynch films like “Mulholland Drive” and “Blue Velvet,” or classic movies in black-and-white, but now, more often than not, I just want to watch a mindless blockbuster . The reality is there is a difference in the media we consume throughout our lives, but the end goal is always the same: to be entertained. The New Reality Speaking of being entertained, my wife likes to watch reality television shows like “Love is Blind,” “The Bachelor,” and “Too Hot to Handle,” programs that are sometimes credited with the decline of Western society and the kind a 20-year-old me would scoff at. But unlike the pretentious classic movies I fawned over in my 20s, my wife has no illusions about the “artistic quality” of these shows. She knows “Love is Blind,” a show where the premise is to fall in love, get engaged, and marry someone after only speaking to them through a thin wall a handful of times, is obviously preposterous. When I point out how insane the contestants on “The Bachelor” are and how it’s crazy that someone can find love while dating 20 people all living in the same house, she doesn’t get offended. In fact, I can make fun of these shows to my heart’s content. That is part of these shows’ value: They exist to be made fun of. They allow my wife to finish work she needs to do on her phone without worrying about missing out on a pivotal scene — because there are no pivotal scenes. Most of these shows are, in all honesty, complete trash. But it’s entertaining trash.
The same principle applies to music. Maybe I didn’t like the popular songs in my 20s. But now? I don’t mind it. If it’s catchy, it will probably entertain me. The key is to have something I don’t need to concentrate too much on. After a hard day of work, I just want to turn my brain off . Senior Softy Recently, I tried to get my wife into the show “Breaking Bad.” I watched it when I was younger and remember it being fantastic . My wife had not seen the show before, and I thought it would be great to rewatch it with her. It may just be that the older you get, the more sensitive you become to extreme violence, or it might be that my wife just wanted to get back to watching reality television. Whatever the case, when we got to a scene where a body was dissolved in a barrel of acid, my wife simply stated, “I’m done,” and that was that. Rewatch over. These revelations have taught me that the age and place you are in life when you watch something greatly impacts your overall enjoyment of it. It’s good to be open to change, whatever that means for you!
–Joel Thrift
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Hobbies to Dive Into During Vacation RELAX AND ENJOY
Paint a Pretty Picture Painting from an actual, in-person
Have you ever vacationed somewhere sensationally beautiful and full of things to explore, only to spend an inordinate amount of time in the hotel room or lounging around at a cafe? We can only do so much sightseeing. But you can enhance your time off, even while taking it easy. From cooking new foods to learning a new language, here are three hobbies to try while on vacation! Bon Appétit
reference rather than a printed picture is exciting. If you are headed somewhere with spectacular views, pack a canvas
and painting supplies. Picking up painting can make any vacation more rewarding. Learn a New Language
Me gusta pollo picante. Impressed? With a few lessons, you, too, can say, “I like spicy chicken” in Spanish or
One of the main draws of any vacation is the food. Think of all of the cities and countries synonymous with some form of cuisine. New Orleans has the po’boy. Spain has paella. Scotland has haggis. If you want to experience the culture of a region in a unique way, take a cooking class! You can learn an authentic recipe and take it home with you to relive the magic all over again.
any other language. Language learning apps, like Duolingo, LingQ, and Babbel, can help you pick up the basics quickly and easily.
Once you know some vocabulary, it’s best to improve your fluency in another language by immersing yourself in it. Head somewhere new and practice your craft! ¡ El mundo es tu ostra!
SNAP, CRACKLE, POP AND … POW?
THE RICE KRISPIES’ SPACE-AGE SIDEKICK
Quick question! How many elves are on a Rice Krispies box? Most of us know that it’s three, with their clever names based on the sounds puffed rice cereal makes in milk — Snap! Crackle! Pop! But did you know that in the early 1950s, Kellogg’s briefly had an out-of-this-world fourth friend appear in two commercials? His name was Pow, a spaceman character designed to represent “the power of whole grain rice,” from which marketers derived his moniker. Zipping around on flying saucers with the original elves, he wore a helmet and put “power into every lightweight spoonful of Kellogg’s Rice Krispies!” The themed campaign, with replica patches from every manned mission to space up through Apollo 10 as box prizes, aimed to capitalize on the time’s pop culture, which was heavily influenced by the beginning of the space race.
According to Smithsonian
Magazine, while Pow might have been a flash-in- the-pan character
designed to last about as long as the public’s interest in the space race, his three
onomatopoetic counterparts hold the title of being the “first and longest-running cartoon mascots to represent a Kellogg’s product.” Having inspired dozens of beloved characters since — from Tony the Tiger to Buzz the Honey Bee and beyond — Snap, Crackle, and Pop are about as classic a team as cereal and milk, with Pow a worthy honorable mention.
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TAKE A BREAK
Our diets can affect our mood and health, but no one food or drink provides instant, long-lasting relief for anxiety symptoms. As awesome as it would be to say, “I think I’m feeling anxious. Pass me that popcorn chicken, stat,” the truth is that removing certain foods and drinks from your diet can help calm your anxiety. So, if you’re after a more peaceful mood, here are some ingredients to avoid and include to achieve the best result! Avoid Alcohol We’ve all heard it, but alcohol is not the solution to your problems. Although ingesting alcoholic beverages can result in short-term relief, the long-term effects are anything but helpful. Alcohol can make getting to sleep more difficult and lead to an overall worsened mood as it leaves your system. In fact, alcohol is a depressant and can make your anxiety much worse. Cut Back on Caffeine Millions of people rely on coffee to start their day. However, caffeine — a core component of coffee — can make you feel nervous and fidgety if ingested in large quantities. If you suffer from jitters in the morning, it might be time to taper your caffeine intake. More of These, Please Enough about things to cut out of your diet; how about DIETARY TIPS TO COMBAT ANXIETY NOURISHMENT FOR THE MIND
ABUNDANT APPLES
COOKOUT CRUNCHY FALL GOLDEN GRANDPARENTS HARVEST
LABOR MAPLE SPORTS WINDY
Baked Sausage With Apples and Fennel
Inspired by GoodHousekeeping.com
This comforting dish, packed with seasonal flavors, is perfect when the weather starts to get chilly.
Ingredients
• 2 apples • 1 fennel bulb • 8 raw, flavored sausages • 2 red onions cut into wedges
• 1 tsp fennel seeds • 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves • 2 tbsp olive oil • 2 tsp honey • 2–3 oz dry white wine
Directions 1. Preheat oven to 400 F. 2. Cut apples into six wedges and slice off any core, leaving the skin on. Place in a roasting pan. 3. Slice fennel in half and remove the core. Chop and add to pan along with sausages and onion wedges. 4. Using a pestle and mortar, break up fennel seeds and sprinkle over the pan. Add oregano. 5. Next, drizzle oil, honey, and wine over the ingredients, then toss all together. 6. Roast for 40 minutes, tossing occasionally until sausages are golden and fruit and veggies are tender.
things we can eat to make ourselves feel better? Berries contain antioxidants, which can aid in combating stress
and depression. Complex carbohydrates in oatmeal, breads, and quinoa can help increase
the serotonin in your brain, resulting in a calming effect over time. If you like fish, try out salmon. It contains vitamin D, which helps produce dopamine and serotonin, easing anxiety symptoms. Now you have the right ingredients for a successful, calming diet!
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
How Our Taste in Media Changes With Age
1 2
Hobbies to Take With You on Vacation
Pow! The Lost Legend of Rice Krispies’ Space Age Mascot
Baked Sausage With Apples and Fennel
3
Foods to Embrace and Avoid to Calm Your Anxiety
Exploring Turkey’s Underground City
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JOURNEY BENEATH THE SURFACE The Fascinating Underground City of Derinkuyu
When you hear the word “turkey,” you probably think of a large bird with a scaley redneck associated with Thanksgiving feasts nationwide. What you may not immediately think of is the historic nation of Turkey, officially known as the Republic of Türkiye, on the geographic and cultural border of Europe and Asia, straddling the Mediterranean and Black seas. The country was once the center of the great Ottoman Empire, which existed for over six centuries and encompassed much of Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. But long before the Ottomans ruled this land, thousands lived underground in the fantastical city of Elengubu, known today as Derinkuyu. Unearthing Derinkuyu Derinkuyu is more than 275 feet beneath the surface of the volcanic region of Cappadocia Valley in modern-day Turkey. At one point, this gargantuan, cavernous city accommodated up to 20,000 people. Despite its massive
size and over 600 entrances scattered around its labyrinthine network of underground homes, granaries, stables, and religious structures, a local chicken farmer only rediscovered it in 1963. As the story goes, the chicken farmer kept losing his chickens to a small crevice near his home, from which
they would never emerge. After digging, the farmer discovered a passageway, one of the many lost entryways leading to Derinkuyu. Mysterious Origin No one knows precisely when Derinkuyu was constructed. Some theories say the ancient Hittites could have built it during the Bronze Age. However, whoever originally started the city did not expand it to its current sprawling dimensions.
The Phyrgians later inherited the city in the Iron Age and expanded it to accommodate their larger population. Whatever the whole story, one thing remains true: A remarkable, mysterious city with cavernous confines is just begging to be explored.
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