You can do it: tiramisu, flash, aging happy, immersion, the word, art and aging, tired nest.

Sticking with it. 

1,445 feet of tiramisu

It’s a record. This colossal London dessert — “150,000 ladyfinger biscuits and 20,000 eggs” — creamed the previous 897 feet record for tiramisu. “The giant pudding was in honour of the King and the Royal Family. It was finished with a golden crown on top.” Full Story >>

Megaflash

Back in October of 2017, a big thunderstorm scooted from Minnesota to Texas, producing stormy weather. It also produced “somewhere inside its cloud structure, a single connected electrical discharge that travelled 829 kilometers horizontally, from eastern Texas through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas to near Kansas City, Missouri.” That one big hunk of lightning popped off 116 cloud-to-ground strikes and was the “longest lightning discharge ever recorded on Earth." But it lasted only 7.39 seconds, so you probably missed it. Full Story >>

Stay positive

Being 65+ can be the happiest time of life. According to a recently published MDPI study (Aging Redefined: Cognitive and Physical Improvement with Positive Age Beliefs), “people with more positive attitudes to aging not only did better at things such as walking speed, memory tests and math than those with more negative attitudes, but a significant number of them actually improved over the study’s timeframe — 12 years — compared with how they were when they started out.” And while a positive attitude about aging invariably comes up against society’s ageism — “one of the last socially acceptable prejudices” — people over 60 may well be at their peak, with a deep well of experience to enhance their knowledge and abilities. Full Story >>

Hear/Read this

The hot new trend: Combine book-reading and audio book listening to more fully immerse yourself. For easily distracted readers, simultaneously listening to the book can hold their focus. And vice versa. Full Story >> 

That creaking sound

Suppose you’re walking and reading and listening to the audio book all at the same time. And you stumble into a trash can and bruise yourself. Days later, mostly recovered, you notice creaks and pops in your shoulder/elbow/knee/whatever. If so, you’ll be glad you’ve increased your vocabulary and now know the word for “grating, crackling or popping sounds and sensations experienced under the skin and joints”: Crepitus. Full Story >>

Reader recommendation

Candice in Brookside writes: “I don’t think you can over emphasize how important art is for aging well. I found this article about a study that says people who participate in “arts activities — such as listening to music, visiting a museum, or reading — may be slowing the pace of their biological aging.” I hope you'll share this link. 

Robin halts Ford

A buyer in May delayed driving his new truck off the lot due to a robin’s nest on the tire. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act says the nest is protected until the robin and her hatchling fly away. So, the truck’s owner waits patiently, and dealership employees query the robin daily about her plans for leaving. “I’m not ready yet,” she has repeatedly told them. Full Story >>

Do your leads tell you they’re not ready yet? Then get in touch with Rally, and we’ll help you know what to do while you wait — and what you can do to gently, respectfully persuade them toward a decision.