Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Welcome to your Friday edition of Snippets and Soundbites! Be sure to check out the monthly print edition on page 38 of each issue of ec.

• If you're anything like us, you forget more than you remember. Not so for a California woman with a so-called "super-memory." MRI scans performed on Los Angeles teacher Jill Price, 43, helped doctors to identify two abnormally large areas in the the woman's brain, which they think could be the reason for her way better than average memory. The two areas are the caudate nuclei—typically used for memory when forming automatic habits—and a part of the temporal lobe that stores facts, dates and events. Doctors think the two areas of the brain may be working together in a way that's been unknown up until now. Read more here.

• The set of octuplets (that's 8 babies!) born to a Southern California mother this week are reportedly doing well. It has been reported that two of the newborns did need help breathing, but are now well enough to have the breathing tubes removed. The babies, two girls and six boys, were born 9 1/2 weeks early and weighed between 1 pound 8 ounces and 3 pounds 4 ounces (which is what ec's editor weighed when she was born). The parents have not been identified, and it isn't known if the mother had undergone fertility treatments. The eighth baby was actually a surprise. Doctors (and the parents) were expecting only seven babies. This is only the second set of live octuplets born in the U.S. The first were born in Houston in 1998. The world's first set of octuplets were born in Mexico City in 1967, but all eight died within hours. Read more about the newest octuplets here.

• A Iowa woman's failure to return an overdue library book led to more than fines. The woman was arrested recently on a fifth-degree theft charge because she had failed to return The Freedom Writers Diary, a book she'd checked out of the nearby Jesup, Iowa, library in April of last year. Since then, the library has repeatedly tried to contact her and a police officer even visited her home last September. The book is valued at $13.95, and the woman was released from jail after posting a $250 bond.

• In other news, blood apparently is thicker than water. A 24-year-old Michigan man apparently broke into a gas station and called 911 on himself. He said he wanted to go to jail so he could be with his brother who was already incarcerated. Read more here.

SNOW DAY!

In case you can't tell, it's snowing in Nashville. Well, at least it was, a little. And that made us wish for a snow day, which sadly, as working adults we don't get very often. So count your blessings!

But if you're stuck inside because of ice, snow, and otherwise yucky conditions, we do have some ideas to help liven up your day. Check them out on page 56 of the January issue of ec. Whatever you do, don't just sit around and count the hours until the day is over. And if that list of ideas isn't good enough for you, what about some of these:

• Stage a movie marathon. Pick a bunch of movies starring an actor you like, movies that all deal with a specific theme, movies by a certain director, or even movies in a trilogy or with several sequels, like LOTR or Indiana Jones.

• Cook. If you're not dealing with power outages because of the ice storm affecting much of the U.S., you might have the opportunity to make something really good or something that takes awhile to make. So get out the cookbooks, find the measuring cups, and amp up your culinary creativity!

• Games. Games. Games. You're stuck inside, but that doesn't mean sports have to go by the wayside. Check out Sportscenter on ESPN and see how your favorite teams are doing, especially your favorite college basketball teams since March Madness isn't all that far away. (BTW, Duke plays arch-rival Wake Forest tonight. Duke is the #1 team in the nation this week!) You could recruit your siblings to play video games with you or test out the Wii Fit you got for Christmas. Or just make up some sort of low-impact game you and your family can play inside. And if all else fails, when there's snow, there's always opportunity for a snowball fight!

• Read. Books aren't the enemy. Read some of the classics or a contemporary writer you like. Pick a genre or topic you usually don't read about. Ask your mom or dad to name their favorite books and see if they'll let you borrow it. You can discuss it at some later date. Or find out if some of your favorite movies were based on books. We think you'll find most of the books are better.

• Catch up. We hate to be the voice of reason, but if you're behind in your homework, a snow day could be the perfect day to catch up. Read. Do the problems, write the paper, look over your notes. It won't kill you, and it probably won't take all day.

• Bored games. If you're bored, locate some board games and enlist family members to play with you. Mandy, ec's editor, loves the game "Clue" even though it's probably meant for much younger players. “Trivial Pursuit” is fun and challenging. “Cranium” is also a good option.

Whatever you do, this is the day that God has made. Rejoice in it!

Your Winter Wonderful Tips

On page 56 of the this month's issue of ec, we offered a top 10 of our ideas for how to make your winter a little more interesting—or at the least, chase a few of the winters blahs away. There were ideas about games to play, things to do, suggestions of movies to watch and books to read.

But now, we'd really like to know what your favorite winter diversions are. How are you spending the extra time you have these days? What movies are you watching? What books are you reading? What are your favorite things to do on a day off or a snow day? Let us know in the comments!

It's a new year!

Here at ec, we like the idea of fresh starts. It's what Jesus did when He gave Himself up to ensure our salvation: gave us an opportunity for a fresh start and new way of life. We're intrigued by the idea that God wants us, that God knows all the dark places inside of us, and He still loves us and gives us opportunities to be a people called by His name. That's powerful stuff!

So, this new year is a special time for us. It's an opportunity to evaluate the last year of our lives and discover ways we can grow in deeper relationship with Christ. It's exciting to think about all the possibilities and opportunities to live for Christ that will be coming our way. It's exciting to realize that no matter what our past is, it's over and God is writing a future we can't even imagine.

So spend some time pondering these things this week. Dig into the January 2009 issue of ec, especially the devotions. Week 1's devos (the week of January 4) are all about letting God be the focus of your life. Let His Word challenge you; let it change you.

Welcome to a new year. Hold on! It's going to be a wild ride! :)