Diet

?Tell me why?? ? Neil Young ? Fully a week remains in November, prior to the anticipated onslaught of the holiday season. What are the reasons that Christmas and Hanukkah are requisite for not only generosity and selflessness, but also overindulgence and loneliness? I am not exactly sure, but there possibly could be a nexus to overeating, beginning at Thanksgiving. I?ll let you know, after I have finished one more serving of Catharine?s famous mashed potatoes. Fresh air can often combat the effects of overconsumption, be it spirits, food or shopping.

"Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are." -- Anthelme Brillatsavarin "Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship." -- Elsa Schiaparelli Given enough time and space, I will try to grow anything and everything. Although the color from flowers is indeed rewarding, why eat frozen vegetables or market produce three days removed from real freshness? Vegetables are easy to grow in your own garden, but before you ready your gardening implements, make a list of vegetables you really like and call your favorite nursery for their availability.

Dr. Daniel Amen, a child psychiatrist, brain imaging specialist and assistant professor at UCI, was the featured speaker at this month's PTA Coffee Break, held March 21 at the Surf and Sand Hotel. Amen, a Laguna Beach resident, is the author of 22 books, including a bestseller, "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life." Amen spoke to a large audience of Laguna Beach parents about helping kids reach optimal mental performance by making a good brain great. Amen says he has the world's largest data base of brain scans, and he showed images of what healthy and damaged brains look like.

Magazine founders speak at business club The Laguna Beach Business Club invites the public to meet the founders of Laguna Beach Magazine. Ben Warner and Steve Zepezauer, two locals who started the magazine, will speak to members of the Business Club and guests at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Hotel Laguna, Catalina Room. Warner and Zepezauer started Laguna Beach Magazine one year ago. They will discuss the unique challenges and opportunities of print and online media. The public is invited to attend.

Labor Day pancake breakfast set The Laguna Beach Fire Department will be flipping pancakes once again Labor Day, Monday, at Heisler Park ( between Cliff Drive and Myrtle Street) from 7 to 10:30 a.m. The cost $5. All are invited. The event is sponsored by the Laguna Beach Exchange Club, and proceeds go toward child abuse prevention programs. Cable TV interrupted in Laguna during upgrade Some 20 to 40 Cox Cable customers on two streets in Laguna Beach had their service interrupted for about 3 1/2 hours Monday when problems arose during a service upgrade, said Ayne Kraciun, Cox spokeswoman.

SHERWOOD KIRALY It's our dog Booker's job to see that I get some air in the evening, and the other night we were returning from our stroll down to the end of Alta Laguna Boulevard when we saw flashing lights out in front of our house. As we got closer we saw a squad car, an ambulance and a fire engine pulled up to the curb. I mentally riffled through my catastrophe Rolodex, but most of the scenarios required me to be inside the house, cooking. There was no visible smoke or flame, no noise.

ELISABETH M. BROWN "What's that?" is the most common question Laguna Coast Wilderness Park tour guides hear on nature walks. But what's in a name? Not much information, usually. We remember the flower, bird or butterfly much better if we understand how it fits into the whole ecosystem. We recently visited a winery in southeast Australia. Besides her wines, the vintner was proud of the number of different birds on her property. She talked especially about one particular bird, apparently rare, that frequented the place.

Did you know that in April of this year, men everywhere celebrated the 60th birthday of the bikini? In 1946, Louis Réard, a car engineer who took over his mother's lingerie shop located near the Folies Bergere, designed a two-piece bathing suit using a mere 27 1/2 inches of cloth which, egad, revealed the navel! It was greeted with disbelief and shock even in Paris. At the time, in Hollywood, the Hays Act had banned navels from the silver screen. Believe it or not, in those days you had to open the bathing suit to see the buttocks; whereas, nowadays, you have to open the buttocks to see the suit.

Fourth-grade science students at Paradise Canyon Elementary School took a walk on the wild side when they displayed the results of their science projects to fellow classmates and parents on Friday afternoon. Each of the weird and wonderful projects had a distinct flavor of their own and ranged from finding out which type of popcorn popped the most kernels to which soft drink helped marigolds to grow the tallest. Robert Hajek, fourth-grade science teacher, said the students had been limited by only their own imaginations when it came to developing a scientific hypothesis, identifying and controlling variables, conducting an experiment and then presenting their results at the school's Science Museum Walk.

Patti Jo and I don't go to many parties, but we go to more than I want to go to, which means that there's a certain amount of dragging involved. Patti Jo's view is that it's good for us to get out as a couple occasionally. My view is that here at home we know all the people and animals; why take chances? Last Saturday her view had more going for it, so we went to a party. It was a get-together at a friend's house to honor Nancy Blade, the outgoing Laguna Beach High School principal, and we attended along with 80 or 90 other people.