How to Keep Your Head from Blowing Up

Recently, a fellow Gatherite wrote a very insightful article about depression and stress. As the child of a bi-polar mother myself, I am mindful of the necessity of monitoring my own mental and emotional well-being. If you feel stressed out, manic and under pressure, allow me to share a couple of completely ridiculous ways to fight stress. As Mike Meyers once said, "Silly is very underrated."

When I realize that I'm scowling and recognize that things are not going my way, I take a five minute break, go to my bookmarks and click on mrwinkle.com. Up pops Mr. Winkle, without a doubt the most lovably ridiculous animal on the planet. Is it a dog? Is it an alien? Who knows. He is simply so silly looking with his puff ball ears and long, languid tongue that it's almost impossible not to smile. Check out the 2002 calendar pictures; I dare you not to laugh.

My latest piece of stress busting silliness comes from my daughter, Alex. She tipped me off to "Dr. Horrible's Sing a Long Blog." You'll find it online at drhorrible.com. This is a site that will only be up for a few days and will be taken down over the weekend, so visit and laugh while you can. This is a musical starring Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, How I Met Your Mother) as villainous Dr. Horrible, Felicia Day as the ingenue, Penny, and Nathan Fillion as our hero, Captain Hammer. It's the inept blog-style ramblings of aspiring bad guy Dr. Horrible, songs, dances and mayhem that ensues as he tangles with his archnemisis, Captain Hammer.

My own personal ridiculous stress buster is an elaborate and laughable prescription. I mix myself a nice, cool daiquiri based on the recipe from Alton Brown, Food Network's favorite mixologist:

   Daiquiri
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Raising the Bar
2 cups crushed ice, plus extra for chilling glass
2 ounces light rum
1-ounce freshly squeezed lime juice, strained of pulp
1/2-ounce Simple Syrup, recipe follows

If your glass is not chilled, do so by placing some crushed ice in it and set it aside while you prepare the cocktail.

Place the 2 cups of crushed ice into a cocktail shaker. Pour the rum, lime juice, and simple syrup over the ice, cover, and shake well. Remove the ice from your serving glass and strain the drink into it. Serve immediately.

Simple Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Place the sugar and water into a small saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved, approximately 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the saucepan and allow to cool completely. Syrup can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Yield: 3 cups

I pour this lovely drink into an attractive glass, which I carry with me to the computer. Next, I take off my shoes, put in my earbuds and go to  http://npr.org
and follow the links to World Cafe', where I find some tasty music along the lines of Sergio Mendez's newest album. With the pleasant tunes blocking out the frantic world, I click on over to http://www.salvador-dali.org/museums/portlligat/en_vista-virtual.html. I scroll down to "Swimming Pool", click on the virtual tour and put on my shades.

I spend the next half-hour or so listening to jazz, sipping a daiquiri in honor of Salvador Dali and hanging out at his pool. These little mini vacations are fabulous.

What ridiculous, silly, crazy things do you do to treat yourself and beat the tension of our harried, hectic lives?