WANT TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR FUTURE?

You could consult a crystal gazer, tarot card or tea leaves expert about your career, love life, and life line -- it might be fun, even a little scary, but it's just one person's opinion. Could you trust what they say? And what about your health? Could they tell you how many years you have left?

23andMe, a well-established California company, can help you. The FDA allows them to give you facts about where you are heading in terms of your health. They also report data related to your ancestry, and have created a "Health Hub," where as a user, you can find out how others handle ordinary afflictions such as migraines, and depression.

23andMe was founded about 7 years ago by two women, Anne Wojcicki, and Linda Avery, who have top-drawer credits and years of experience in the field of genetic testing. Since we are made of cells and there are 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell, this company's DNA testing can give an ordinary person (like you and me) a window into their DNA. You will get a DNA report that a doctor must explain to you.

Cost: 23andMe DNA Health and Ancestry Reports: $139.00. Other companies, charging $1000 to $5000, do DNA testing, but none offer to get your results in eight weeks and include a conference with a doctor.

23andMe reports your potential for these diseases:
Alzheimer's; Parkinson's (central nervous system disorder); Celiac disease (inability to digest gluten); Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (risk of lung and liver disease.); Primary Dystonia, (uncontrolled muscle contractions); Factor XI deficiency (blood-clotting disorder); Gaucher (organ and tissue disorder); Glucose-6(aka G6PD), (red blood cell condition); Hemochromatosis, (iron overload); Hrombophilia, (blood-clot disorder).

So, would you buy a DNA test kit from 23and Me?

Galavanting on the Internet, I've looked at videos and comments of medical people and ordinary folks with pro and con opinions about DNA testing. I read a blog by a man who bought the 23andME  testing kit and was on the verge suicide because of the bad news.

Are you thinking hmm...? Would you rather keep floating along, dancing along the way you’re dancing, or would you at some point -- go ahead and find out where you’re heading?

Me, I'll keep dancing. What about you?

GRUNTING AS U HIT A TENNIS BALL

Does it help the tennis player?

Some experts say it's a reflex. Others say its a tool. Sharapova, Monica Seles, and Serena Williams have been accused of doing it to deliberately to distract  their opponents. Back in 2009 Martina Navratilova said "grunting is cheating, pure and simple--it muffles the sound of the ball hitting the racket that opponents rely on as a cue."

Researchers, exercise scientists, experimented. They got 20 students to kick a 100 pound bag while grunting, then, do it without grunting. A device attached to the bag enabled researchers to measure the force of each kick. They published the result: Students moved the bat with 9% more force when they grunted.

Other experts, after other tests, have said, "It is a reflex, rather than a conscious choice--during strenuous exercise, it's instinctive to hold your breath and give a grunt."

Planet Fitness, one of the largest fitness club franchises, bans grunting in its 1,500 clubs. They will revoke the membership of the persistent offender.

Does it bother me? Yes! I'm not a tennis-watching-nut like my husband, John Cullum, is. I watch the kids who rush in to grab the balls. I observe the audience. My mind wanders. The grunting definitely distracts me ... the truth is, it gets me thinking about the player's private life.

Hey, my tennis-nut-beloved, agrees. Watch this video -- what's your reaction?
  

(VIDEO) HEAR YOUR OWN VOICE

Emily Frankel gets John Cullum explaining how he handles directors. When something he's told to do in a scene feels wrong, does he argue? Compromise? Obey?

John reveals truthfully, how tricky this can be, and how, more often than not, he manages to do what he, himself, wants to do.

SAGGING PANTS LAW

We are definitely getting fussier and fussier, even a bit persnickety, about behavior that offends us.

Like saggy pants -- you see them frequently -- some ridiculously saggy, others are offensively drooping. The wearer might be a kid, but guys who look like grownups wear pants showing the crack in the buttocks.

Why?  To be cooler? To show off their butts? To annoy us?

In South Carolina, lawmakers have been trying to ban saggy pants with "House Bill 4957." It would make it illegal for a person to wear pants “sagging more than three inches below the ileum.” According to the U.S. Library of Medicine the ileum is the lower end of the small intestine.

Violating the law: $25 fine for first offense; $50 for 2nd offense plus three hours of community service; subsequent violations: $75 fine plus six hours of community service.

A similar ordinance was passed two years ago in Timmonsville, South Carolina, where third-time offenders could face fines up to $600. But support for the statewide proposal has been dropping fast, according to NBC's station KXAN. Though proponents of the bill have said the measure is all about ending an "unbecoming" look and deny the bill is designed to target minorities, actually many voters in the area are black and...    

What's my opinion about all this?  I think it's an interesting but harmless rebellion. Look where we're going with women's cleavage  -- lower and wider and sideways to the point of showing everything.

Gee, if sagging pants gets to be seriously illegal... Golly, "what's next" could be ... ?

Eek....  or Yay?

I say eek.