Photo: Thinkstock

We've known since age 5 what causes brain freeze: delicious, cold treats that demand to be gulped with gusto. But we're grateful to the blog Food Republic for explaining exactly what's going on when we get those intense, temporarily-immobilizing headaches. Here's the deal: Blood vessels in the roof of the mouth constrict at the touch of cold food or beverages, and then quickly expand to allow blood flow to warm the mouth back up. The pain receptors in the mouth use nerves in the face to communicate with the brain, and the pain socks us in the forehead. We can't help but wonder: if you don't let the cold stuff touch the roof of your mouth, will you avoid freezing your forehead?

We're going to try that trick the next time we eat or drink something cold. Even if it doesn't work, these icy treats are definitely worth the brain freeze risk:

• Fresh fruit ice pops
• Goopy ice cream sundaes
• Watermelon ice with roasted strawberries and lime parfait
  

Photo: Ruven Afanador

Hello, friends of summer.

I haven't written lately because my technically challenged self could not access this email account. So many barriers were put in place to protect the account, I ended up barring myself from access.

So here we go...last week was at the Allen Conference with all the movers and shapers of our world. Met some fascinating people, like Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook. Dynamo woman. So exciting to see women crack that glass ceiling and burst through it. Came home inspired to work harder and do better.

Started out the week taking swimming lessons. Moving beyond my amateur doggy paddle. Learned the breaststroke today.

Over a year ago, I pulled a picture from O mag of a woman gliding through water. It was such a striking image of freedom and possibility, I put it on my vision board (which I've still not completed). Today, when I finished my swimming lesson, I passed the vision board lying on the table where it's been since 2009. I had an aha! moment.

Men! What are they thinking? We can't always answer that, but we'll be posting our favorite glimpses into their world in this space every Thursday.

* "It hit me that just an ounce of the unexpected can have a tremendous effect—and that a single word can change everything." — From Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston's Aha! Moment. The AMC show returns for its fourth season on Sunday night. [O magazine; AMC]

* Anyone mourning the passing of Gilligan's Island creator Sherwood Schwartz should read Gilligan's Wake author and GQ writer Tom Carson's remembrance of meeting him unexpectedly at a book signing. [GQ.com]


* Get your man the summer heat-wave survival kit—if only to steal the deodorant for yourself. [Esquire.com]

* Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose. Fans of Friday Night Lights sad to see the show come to an end tomorrow at least have a very thorough oral history to catch up on. [Grantland]

* "My dad looked back at me and said, 'Yes, that's your brother, and you love your brother.'" — Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin describes his struggle to come to terms with his older brother's homosexuality. [Out]

Dr. Donna on the set (courtesy of USA)

It's the middle of football season, and the head trainer for the New York Jets is pacing around his office. He's tried every drill he can think of, but his players just can't seem to focus. The phone rings. It's a woman--a hypnotherapist, she says. She thinks she can help the players get their heads back in the game. The trainer is familiar with strangers telling him how to improve his team--this is New York, after all--and he tactfully puts her off. That trainer had no idea what he was up against.

A couple of months later, Donna Dannenfelser, Ed.D., a Long Island housewife-turned-therapist, is counseling pro football players in her home while her kids watch TV. The team starts turning things around. Fast forward a decade, and Dr. Donna, as the players call her, is advising high-profile patients and working as a supervising producer on a show based on her career (Necessary Roughness, Wednesdays on USA).

We thought the woman who made that call to the Jets would have some smart advice about the tough situations we sometimes find ourselves dealing with.

Situation 1: The blow off

We've got an awesome idea but the people in charge won't listen--not unlike that Jets trainer. How do you get past a no answer?

[On the jump, find out how she got a yes--and how you can too]

I used to be rigid about the accumulation of things I don’t need.  Lately, though, I am relenting. I go soft at the knees for rusted farm tools, a mason jar of old unmatched buttons, a set of slightly bent tins saying “flour” “salt” and “coffee.” I buy this stuff without thinking at garage sales or weekend markets. It makes me long for the countryside I never grew up in—barns to coleslaw.

Last week I tried to take home—no joke—an old, dead stump. A man had cut down his tree and was giving away the 3-foot tall stump. It weighed about 100 pounds. I tried to carry/roll/drag it to the car. My husband watched me. He felt embarrassed. So did I. Worse, I lied to him, loudly, so that other people would hear me and think I was a normal person. “We can make a lamp out of it!” I said.

“It’s a stump,” my husband said.

 “It’s like a rope swing without the swing!” I said.

“Think about it this way,” he said. “It’s history.”

We left the stump on the side of the road. As we should have. Because I needed another way to indulge my nostalgia for the past I never had. Luckily, I found such a place. It’s called dearphotograph.com.

Photo: Dear Photograph

Photo: Alice Supply Co.

It's officially hump day--but to help Friday come a little faster shop these fun finds all under $30.

The Laundress for J.Crew Collars and Cuffs Stain Bar, $7. Don't have time to get to the dry cleaners? Rub away the ring around the collar of your favorite white button-down with this gentle stain remover.

The Little Yoga Mat, $25. Help your tiny yogi Zen out with one of these pint-sized mats.

Alice Supply Co. Hammer, $26. You might be more interested in doing manual labor if your tools were covered in bright, bold patterns like these.

Speak Up Tattly Temporary Tattoo, $5 for 2. Forget your hairbrush--apply one of these mini microphone tattoos to your thumb and belt your favorite tune into your finger instead.

Make Your Own Havianas, starting at $25. Create customized flip-flops: Choose everything from the color to accessories for the straps. You're guaranteed to be the only one wearing them at the beach.

Every week, we'll be letting you know about new releases the editors at O and Oprah.com couldn't stop reading. On sale today...

Photo: Thinkstock

I had a childhood friend who was like the kung fu master of snacking: she had complete and utter control over the food she ate. While my ten-year-old self would occasionally inhale an entire row in a package of greasy, store-bought cookies, she would thoughtfully munch one Nutter-Whatever and declare herself satisfied.

I thought of her with guilt last week, while I was tipping a package of peanut M&M's into my mouth (what? It was a rough week), and with enormous respect today when I read about a new study that explains the addictive power of high-fat foods. To measure how taste alone affects the body's response to food, scientists from California and Italy fed different groups of rats liquid diets high in one of these three substances: fat, sugar or protein. As soon as the fatty liquid hit the rats' taste buds, their digestive systems began producing endocannabinoids, chemicals similar to those produced by marijuana use, and these rats showed a craving for more fatty food.

Fat is necessary for proper cell functioning, one of the study authors told The New York Times, explaining that "we have this evolutionary drive to recognize fat, and when we have access to it, to consume as much as we possibly can." The problem is our prehistoric ancestors weren't out hunting deep-fried Twinkies, so we've got to outsmart these biological impulses.

I personally find the study reassuring. If we accept that most of us don't have the same snack-mastery--call it willpower, or fortitude, or discipline--as my old friend, and if we acknowledge that one high-fat potato chip will probably lead to a binge, we may be more likely to think twice about indulging at all. Or at least, to save the benders for when we really, really need them.