Trends for December 9, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, Dec. 9, 2002 | 9:05 a.m.

Lisa Ferguson's Trends column appears Mondays in the Sun. Reach her at lmsferguson@yahoo.com.

Using your head

So, will there be another necktie under the Christmas tree this year for Dad? The same-old boring bottle of perfume for Mommy Dearest? Another flowered-flannel nighty for Aunt Mildred?

Come on, already: When it comes to gift giving, isn't it about time you started thinking outside the department store box?

This holiday shopping season, make a beeline for your neighborhood bookstore conglomerate (or big, online book bonanza), where you'll find at least a couple of new tomes brimming with really useful information. (Imagine that: a present people can actually use.)

Speaking of being useful, "Really Useful: The Origins of Everyday Things" (Firefly Books, $24.95) is a no-brainer for trivia buffs. Penned by Joel Levy, the book offers the histories behind more than 100 objects that most of us take for granted.

Ponder this over your first (or fifth) cup of morning coffee: The Turks were the first to turn coffee beans into a beverage around 575 A.D. They used a pot called an ibrik, in which they steeped crushed, roasted beans in water a method still widely used.

Like toast with your coffee? Thank Otto Frederick Rohwedder for inventing a bread-slicing machine in 1912. He added a wrapping mechanism, to keep the slices together, in 1928.

It's hard to beat a hot shower in the morning, huh? The ancient Greeks thought so, too: They're credited for creating the plumbing to spray water on bathers. You learn something new every day.

Arithmetic for dummies

Speaking of every day, you won't want to leave home without "Everyday Math for Everyday Life: A Handbook for When It Just Doesn't Add Up." (Warner Books Trade Paperback Original, $14.95.)

How many times have you been stumped trying to figure how to tip a restaurant server? Ever tried to impress your kid by attempting to solve a long-division problem in your head, only to realize that you're clueless?

Author Mark Ryan, a math instructor in Winnetka, Ill., crunches all sorts of numbers in the book that's broken into sections to include basic math skills; "Money Matters"; numbers "Around the House"; and math for when you're "Out and About."

Not sure how many yards of carpet you'll need to remodel your den? See Chapter 17. Planning a European vacation? A metric system primer can be found on page 82. What's the formula for figuring how much fat is in a frozen fish stick? Clues for reading the label on the box are found in the "Cooking and Food" chapter.

Full of surprises

Speaking of fish, you never know what you'll reel in with a subscription to the Magazine-of-the-Month program.

The company, based in Washington, D.C., offers nine themed subscriptions gardening, men's interest, cooking and hunting among them. For one year, rather than receive a new issue of a single magazine, subscribers will receive an issue of a different magazine each month.

Buy a subscription for the health nut in your life, and he or she may receive issues of Prevention, Psychology Today and Total Health, as well as single issues of nine other health-related periodicals.

General interest titles include Fam-ily Circle, Better Homes & Gardens and Smithsonian. Aspiring chefs can salivate over La Cucina Italiana, Wine Country Living and Chocolatier. Fishing fanatics will get Wild Steelhead & Salmon and Flyfishing in Salt Waters.

Subscriptions cost $21.95 (plus $2.95 shipping and handling), and can be ordered by calling (888) 775-MAGS or visiting magazineofthemonth.com.