Lately, I’ve been inspired by an article in Prevention magazine called “Head Coach: Miracle-Gro for Your Mind,” which talks about simple things you can do to maximize your brainpower, like planning a trip or brushing your teeth with your opposite hand. And, thanks to the holiday work schedule, I’ve had a lot of free time to work on accessing areas of my mind that otherwise remain dormant.

Instead of sleeping in or vegging out, my days have been spent waking up at 8 a.m. so that I can run my usual errands and workout while also cooking, baking, painting my old bedroom and rearranging its furniture, purging my closet and reorganizing my apartment. I can’t say that I think better than I did before, but I have definitely enjoyed the mental and physical challenges that have arisen. (Seriously, try whipping up a meringue by hand and tell me that doesn’t get your wheels turning!).

I grew up playing with brain teasers. My dad, who was obsessed with child development books, regularly gave my siblings and I puzzles and IQ test-like questions. It was his way of bonding with us while also testing our intellect, creativity, logic and problem solving skills. Sweet, huh? While other children were watching TV or playing sports, we were scratching our heads over questions like this. I recently found one of our old games called Tangoes, a box of various shaped puzzle pieces that comes with a set of cards containing images. Your job is to recreate those images using the puzzle pieces.t I can’t begin to count how many hours we spent playing that! These days, in addition to Cranium, a Rubik’s Cube and Sudoku, there are video games like Nintendo DS’s Brain Age or The Brain Game that have been developed to challenge or stimulate your mind.

Anyhow, here are the brainpower tips from Prevention magazine. Maybe it’ll inspire you to try something new, too.

• Brush your teeth using the opposite hand.
• Reverse your usual walking, running, or biking route.
• Trade in your favorite game.
• If you love crosswords, do Sudoku or learn to play one of the dozens of brain-training games on your computer.
• Eat at an ethnic restaurant.
• Rearrange your furniture.
• Start planning to visit a new place this weekend, even if it’s just in the next county.
• Grab that recipe you clipped and head to a different grocery store to shop for ingredients.

This is a very difficult task but one that must be done. Many movies this year deserve to be in the Top 10 list, some more deserving than others. From comedy to action; from fantasy that lets your imagination run wild to drama that reminds you home is where the heart is, movies in 2007 have shown us that we CAN learn something by watching someone else portraying it on the big screen.

To close this very memorable year, it is a great honor for me to give you the Most Awesome Movies of 2007 .

10). KNOCKED UP
It’s a toss-up between this and Juno, which is more family friendly, but I chose this movie simply because the humor (though crude) is gut-busting funny and the problematic relationship presented in this movie is not toned down. I also like how the filmmaker puts pictures of the stars and the crew with their babies while the credits roll at the end.

9). WHY DID I GET MARRIED?
This movie fails to explain the background of each marital issue (not even through flashbacks) and suddenly just throws them out there in the dinner scene. But the upside is that writer/director Tyler Perry, in my opinion, successfully brings us complicated problems that can arise in a marriage and resolves them through possible scenarios or solutions that just might work. This movie reminds every couple what it really means to be together and it is done in a comedic but effective manner.

8). THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
I still can’t get over how brilliant the camera work is in this amazing film that takes us on a journey to the true center of human struggle. Let’s just put it this way: If one man who is both paralyzed and mute managed to write a book by blinking his only eye, the rest of us who are physically healthy can accomplish just about anything we can imagine.

7). SICKO
Michael Moore may just be the king of documentary films. This one has a political agenda and is very one-sided but his research and hours of interviews are compiled in a way that makes the audiences want to care again about the current state of health care even when it’s not directly affecting them… yet.

6). STARDUST
If I could pick just one fantasy film this year that’s the most entertaining of all, it’s this one starring Michelle Pfeiffer (who still looks good for her age) and Robert DeNiro in a hilarious performance like never before. It’s a tale of recognizing true love when it’s in front of you. This adventure is one to be enjoyed by everyone of all ages.

5). GONE BABY GONE
What is the right thing to do? Someone once said that if you can’t do something smart, then do something right. Well this movie proves that it’s easier said than done. Ben Affleck is a better director than he is an actor and his brother Casey Affleck is a better actor than Ben. The storyline is what makes this movie compelling, riveting, and worthy to be on this list.

4). THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Hands down the most exciting, thrilling action movie of the year! Matt Damon is not afraid to be typecast and the trilogy returns with speed, agility, and fights scenes that get your adrenaline rushing as fast as the car chases. This is definitely the ultimate Bourne.

3). DEATH AT A FUNERAL
It is somewhat troubling that we can find laughter in the midst of death but that is what makes this moviesimply the best comedy film of the year. One after another, each character and situation just gets more and more hilarious. A story about a dysfunctional family has never been this… morbidly funny.

2). IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
It’s one of the most misunderstood films of the year because people thought it was anti-war just from watching the trailer. I think writer/director Paul Haggis brings us one possibility of what war can do to people who live through it. It shows the psychological trauma and damage that scar the minds of those directly involved and the families they leave behind.

1). BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
And finally, my Number One movie of the year is this best-reviewed and well-crafted thriller/drama. It’s a combination of skilled writing, masterful acting, and experienced directing. Two desperate brothers will do anything to get money and what we get is the most awesome movie of the year.

It’s the last Friday of the year for many worker bees who are getting the next 11 days off or using their vacation days to enjoy the holiday. But for millions of others who only get Christmas and New Years Day off, there’s still one more week of work left in 2007.

Unless you have the luxury of working from home, it can be kind of tough figuring out if or when to take time off for the holidays – especially if, like me, you don’t have any travel plans or family obligations. Sure, I can get errands done without wasting an entire weekend, but technically, I don’t have to be anywhere or do anything so do I really want to waste my vacation days? It’s a tough call for anyone.

On one hand, the office is much emptier than usual, which can boost your productivity. Use the time to get organized, analyze your 2007 projects and get a headstart on next year. It’s also a good time to put make a good impression on your boss or supervisor or get to know him or her (if they haven’t taken the week off).

On the other hand, a quiet office is really boring, which can make those eight or nine hours drag on and on. A lot of other companies shut down for the holidays making it impossible to correspond with clients or generate sales. And while it might be nice having a couple other coworkers around to liven things up, you might end up wasting time and not get much accomplished.

For me, it’s pretty simple: Would I rather use my vacation days now to do nothing special at home or spend 10 days in Hawaii in February? I choose Hawaii, like many others in their right minds would.

Then again, if you have any sick days left, keep in mind that those days usually don’t carryover into the New Year, which means you lose them. Not that I’m advocating lying to your boss about being sick or anything… no, no! BUT there is a wicked stomach flu going around…

Welcome to our weekly column by YSN member and movie aficionado Rama Tampubolon. He runs the movie review and discussion blog, Rama’s Screen, and was featured in “United 300,” which won for “Best Spoof” at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. He’ll discuss the latest hot topics and movie reviews every Thursday on Waste Time Wisely.

There were many movies this year that made you wish you weren’t a movie lover. They made you wonder why the Gods of Cinema would let such monstrosity happen. It’s those types of movies that ruined your Saturday night with friends at the movie theater or when you thought it would be fun to watch them at home on DVD.

I realize life is filled with ups and downs, joy and disappointments, but these following movies should be in a shameful category of their own. Here are the stinkers of 2007:

10). HITMAN
You’d think a game that is violently cool would have a movie adaptation that’s just as cunning. Timothy Olyphant should beg for David Milch to resurrect TV’s Deadwood because it might be difficult for him to make a comeback after unsuccessfully portraying the bar-coded bald head assassin.

9). DADDY DAY CAMP
Could someone please write some good script for Cuba Gooding Jr. to do!? I’ve seen Saturday Night Live sketches that are funnier than this disaster. He’s become one of the past Oscar winners who seem incapable of getting nominated again. He needs to stop making movies because of his friends’ connection and start making movies that are challenging.

8). THE INVISIBLE
Let me make this simple and to the point: The only thing that needs to be invisible is the movie itself.

7). SPIDER-MAN 3
Clearly this was a terrible year for sequels. I could also throw in Resident Evil 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 to the group but nothing was a bigger let down than this one. The problems started from bad casting all the way to the storyline that was way too focused on romance but came across as trying too hard and therefore cheesy and very unheroic.

6). THE LAST LEGION
And just like Cuba Gooding Jr., the great Ben Kingsley hasn’t been making great choices lately and this is just the most recent of his unpardonable sins. This movie is a poor excuse for an epic film. It stars one of the most beautiful women on Earth, Aishwarya Rai, but the plot, directing, graphics and acting are all anything but beautiful.

5). BALLS OF FURY
For the love of chocolate (and I do love chocolate, by the way)! Sitting through this movie felt like torture, the kind of pain that not even Hostel movies could inflict. The only joke was on me for having high expectation and thinking it would be funny.

4). RENDITION
It’s one of those movies that meant well but wasn’t executed well. It has a strong message and is definitely relevant to the terrible situation happening in the world today but it would’ve been better if it has been handled by a different filmmaker, someone who’s experienced and really knows how to combine thriller and drama. This is also proof that having all-star cast doesn’t always guarantee greatness.

3). I KNOW WHO KILLED ME
Lindsay Lohan at her worst, well that’s probably her everyday real life story, this movie just validates it. This movie was confused as to what it actually wanted to be. Sometimes it imitated Showgirls while other times it tried to copy Saw. At one point it looked like it may have a good twist at the end but then it fooled you again because it took away our frustrations and double them. It’s just one giant mess.

2). PREMONITION
I kept asking myself, ‘Why did Sandra Bullock agree to do this film?’ Slow doesn’t even begin to describe how terrible it was. One thing useful about this movie is that… if counting sheep doesn’t work for you, this will definitely put you to sleep. So watch it before you go to bed.

1). DRAGON WARS
Wow! Have you seen this movie? Everybody involved in the production needs to be banned from ever doing anything anymore… not just making films… Anything! There are movies out there that you think should’ve gone straight to DVD because of the horrible quality, well Dragon Wars should’ve gone straight to VHS… locked away in some storage somewhere never to be seen again.

Every time I think I’m getting a handle on this whole technology thing, something pops up to remind me that, no, I am not a tech-savvy member of Gen Y.

Case in point: Last weekend, my family decided to order in instead of cooking dinner. My 24-year-old brother was going to be the one to call the restaurant so we told him what to get. But instead of grabbing a pen and paper to write everything down, he instinctively pulled out his Blackberry to type it all out. That’s just beyond me.

Maybe it’s because I just recently jumped on the QWERTY bandwagon. Or maybe it’s because I’m one of the dinosaurs who truly appreciates the hand written word. I have decent penmanship. I write in an actual journal, not an online one. I even handwrite all of my Christmas cards (envelopes and return addresses, too) but perhaps that’s an indication of having too much free time.

Anyhow, I really don’t understand how typing on a Blackberry can possibly be easier or more convenient than jotting something down on paper. My brother’s only explanation when I voiced my indignation was, “Well, I don’t want to get up!”

So I ask: Is it laziness or just a part of the digital evolution? Will notepads and pens — or learning to handwrite in the first place — become obsolete in the coming years?