Esquire, December 2007

Year's Five Best Reads
-Far Afield, by SL Price: what sports can tell us about one another, set in the South of France.
-Like You'd Understand, Anyway, by Jim Shepard: 11 stories that tell us just about everything we need to know.
-Takeover, by Charlie Savage: provides context for what the Bush administration has been after.
-The Blade Itself, by Marcus Sakey: crime novel.
-The Ends Of The Earth, Elizabeth Kolbert and Francis Spufford: anthology of historical travel narratives and contemporary nonfiction.

Nimrods: eight-part Sundance Channel documentary following sparsely populated northern-Michigan town's rampant devotion to its high school basketball team.

Smile When You're Lying: Confessions Of A Rogue Travel Writer: by Chuck Thompson, funny and honest book about travel and the travel industry.

Health: what to fear and what to be glad you got away with.
-Concussions can cause what's called mild cognitive impairment, your brain is forced to work harder because it has to reroute signals around the damaged areas. Basically, you become a little slow. If you find yourself struggling to remember simple words and tasks, talk to you doctor about mental exercises that can help. Depression can be another side effect, and that's treatable too.
-Cigarettes: three months after quitting, you'll be getting back to normal. In face, once you've quite for 10 years, your odds of getting lung cancer and heart disease drop dramatically. You do still run a greater risk of emphysema, though, so get any persistent cough checked out.
-Every bad sunburn increases your risk of skin cancer significantly. See a dermatologist and once a year have someone give you a head to toe exam, looking for any new moles or unexplained blemishes.
-There's no evidence that occasional marijuana use causes any mental impairment or increases cancer risk. In fact, some studies suggest that a little dope may protect against cancer: THC, the active ingredient, is known to inhibit the growht of certain cancerous cells.
-Cocaine causes short-term but extreme spikes in blood pressure. And those spikes can cause small heart attacks and strokes that will come back to haunt you later in life. If you Hoovered with any regularity, tell your doctor, and never ignore symptoms like unexplained shortness of breath or chest pain.
-High cholesterol: once you change to a healthier lifestyle, you'll start getting back on track within a few months. The same rule applies to things like high blood pressure, obesity, and even type-2 diabetes.

10 Easy Ways Of Saying No
-Interesting. Let me think about it.
-Maybe when things calm down.
-Let's table that until next quarter.
-I think it's great, but (name of boss) would never go for it.
-Eh.
-Huh. I would've never, ever thought of that.
-Oh, you.
-That's not the worst idea I've ever heard, but it's pretty close.
-What else you got?
-No.

Lazy Man's Guide To Shopping
-vivre.com: well-edited juggernaut of luxury goods.
-momastore.org: wonky, design-centric array of esoterica from the Museum of Modern Art.
-alpha-man.com: clothes, books and assorted high-tech gizmos.
-flight001.com: offbeat travel aides that make flying friendlier for everyone.