Some people know it's fall by looking at a calendar, others by the feel of the air. Me? I just look in my mailbox. I know it's fall when I start seeing Christmas catalogs. This year, though, I'm getting as many pitches to my blog and into my e-mail as I am in my snail mail box. Most of them I toss as irrelevant or uninteresting, but I have come across a few that I thought were worth looking into. Check these out:
> FastPencil lets you write that memoir or children's story or family history you've been meaning to get around to and then publish it. Would-be authors can collaborate with others, upload pictures and solicit feedback until they get it just right, then publish an e-book or a hard copy. Since everyone involved in a project uses the same editing tools on the site, the process goes more smoothly and quickly than the typical back-and-forth of book publishing. The basic service is free, but the site makes its money from offering premium services, such as enabling you to sell your book through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and over 2,000 additional channel partners. They also offer authoring services. What a great gift it would be for boomers and their parents to document their stories for a family legacy!
> Of course, if you're going to write that book, you may need a little help boosting your memory. I subscribe to Bill Cosby's philosophy that our memories are actually in our butts. Think about it. How many times do you go into a room to get something, then find yourself standing there wondering why you're in that room? Just go back to where you were, sit down, and it'll jog your memory! Or... another way would be to follow a 4-week program designed to boost your memory through a combination of food, moves and games. It's called the Brainpower Game Plan and it was created by Cynthia R. Green, PhD, founder of Mt. Sinai's Memory Enhancement Program. She has teamed up with Prevention Magazine to offer a book outlining ways to increase your everyday brain power and prevent age-related brain disorders later in life. According to Prevention's web site, readers who tried the plan boosted their everyday memory by up to 78 percent. I plan to check this out, especially after realizing I had to look up the name of the program and the author's name twice while writing this blog!
> Just in time for flu season comes a web site that solves that problem of wanting to provide a hot bowl of chicken soup to your parents, kids or friends who are too far away for you to just drop by. SpoonFulofComfort.com will deliver homemade chicken soup to anyone in a 64 oz jar (4-6 servings) that is reusable and recyclable. A portion of the profits are donated to the American Cancer Society. According to Dr. Steven Rennard, a specialist in pulmonary medicine, chicken soup does in fact provide actual health benefits. I can't tell you how often I've wanted to send chicken soup (one of my favorite comfort foods) to someone and yet, incredibly, it never dawned on me to see if I could actually do that on the Internet!
> If you're one of the 34 million people in the sandwich generation caring for your parents and your children, you can probably appreciate - and learn from - Gloria Barsamian's new book, "Sustenance and Hope for Caregivers of Elderly Parents." She offers tips and advice on how to deal with such a major life change in a way that preserves your sanity and relationships. Barsamian's insights are drawn from 28 years as a social worker helping families deal with catastrophic illness.
I'd love to hear some of your suggestions for gifts to give boomers this holiday season. I'll write another column soon with the collection of ideas.
