6. Play the Farmers' Market
Leave the waxed stuff to the big chain stores, follow these orders from pioneering organic chef Alice Waters, owner of Berkeley bistro Chez Panisse, and hit the market prepared for action: First, look around to see what's fresh. Have a rough idea of what you need and buy ESSENTIALS first. Then see what else is ripe.
(1) Don't assume all crops are locally grown. Seek out regional SUSTAINABLE farmers and you'll probably get produce picked that morning.
(2) Check for the presence of VIBRANT stems and leaves, sure indicators of freshness.
(3) No one knows the produce better than the farmer, so ask for TIPS on storing and cooking. You might end up with a secret family recipe.
(4) Try one new, seasonal ingredient each week to SPICE things up. (Find local grub bazaars at ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets.)
—SARAH HUBBARD

7. Drink Without a Corkscrew
You're an idiot. In the middle of nowhere. With a bottle but no tool with which to LIBERATE THE VINO languishing within. Fret not: You can get at that good stuff. You can even choose whether to bow to thirst or decorum: Don't overthink it; just jam the cork into the bottle, gingerly decant, and plan to drink it all that night. Too gauche for you? Then ram the butt of the bottle against a tree (trust me) until the cork rises enough for you to take the tip of a blade and pry it out little by little—in a spiral-staircase pattern, so as not to break it. Or you can keep ramming until it sticks up far enough to yank it out. Now quaff like Falstaff.
—JEREMY SPENCER

8. Get Picked for Pickup Hoops
Basketball at the park may do just fine without refs, but that doesn't mean there are no rules. While playing at 200 courts across the country, and sizing up many more, for his book Hoops Nation, Chris Ballard compiled some nearly universal guidelines for interlopers hoping to fit in: Look the part by wearing basketball shoes and shorts, but don't announce that you're a POSEUR by rolling up in an NBA jersey.
(1) Figure out who has next game—or, if there's a line, who's last—by asking who's got next or last. If there's no room for you on the squads in line, call your spot at the end. Use your waiting time to STUDY the house rules: Going to 11 or 15? By ones or ones and twos? Win by two or straight up?
(2) Start STRONG. Lead with a crazy shot and you won't touch the ball again.
(3) Call fouls loudly and immediately, but be SELECTIVE: The fastest way to devalue your stock is a "soft" call.
(4) If you've got an open shot within range, take it—after all, you're here to PLAY, right?
—TIM SOHN

9. Perfect Your Form
You're in a dumpy motel with no gym. Fine. Just lounge in your underwear, watch bad TV, and work out. All you need is the floor to bust out some push-ups, crunches, and squats, right? Wrong. Without proper form, you're wasting your time. So we got Athletes' Performance founder Mark Verstegen to tell you how to make the classics count. PUSH-UP: With hands at sides and thumbs parallel to mid-chest, keep back and shoulders aligned, push up until before elbows lock. Hold for a beat; lower until elbows are at 90 degrees, slightly tucked in. Keep chest up and head down. CRUNCH: With heels on the floor, hands laced behind head, and chin slightly tucked, crunch sternum toward hips, rolling upward until shoulders are four to six inches off the floor. Hold for two beats before reversing in a steady, controlled movement. SQUAT: With feet shoulder width apart, toes forward, hands on thighs, "unlock" hips and squat as you reach arms up and out. The movement should come from the hips, and thighs should be parallel to the ground or close. Maintain a neutral spine, without letting your pelvis tuck under. Keep your shoulders, knees, and toes aligned. Keep chest up, shoulders down and back, and feet flat. (For all of these, remember to exhale through exertion.)
—MEGAN GAMBINO

10. Escape an Attacking ...

a. Baboon: Notoriously fast and wily, baboons sometimes assault people, have snatched crying babies, and can open car doors. TROUBLE: If you're standing between a female and her baby, watch out—the troop will gang-attack. Neither stare nor yawn; both mean "I want to fight" in Monkey. Stay out of the way, and never, ever feed one. TACTICS: Stand, shout, and clap. Still coming? You're holding food. Drop the Twinkie. Slowly back away. Never let them see your bum.

b. Moose: The bull, one of the largest mammals in the U.S., can top out at 1,600 pounds, stand six feet tall, and sport 50 pounds of antlers and six-inch hooves. This ornery ungulate has been known to kill; winter, with its tiresome snows, and autumn, when bulls are drunk on testosterone, are the most dangerous times. TROUBLE: If its ears lie back, the hair on the hump of its neck stands up, or it clenches its teeth, it doesn't like you. TACTICS: Run or get behind something big. Take off and most charges will end as bluffs. If not, says moose biologist Terry Bowyer, "you could be playing ring around the tree for 20 minutes."

c. Elephant: The world's largest vegetarians are responsible for an estimated 500 deaths a year. Get one riled up and as much as six tons could be steamrolling your way at 25 to 30 miles an hour. TROUBLE: You smell eau de rotting flowers, urea, and Obsession. It's a bull in musk. Angry elephants kick up dirt, swing their trunks, trumpet, and hold their floppy ears straight out. TACTICS: Get behind something really big. Nothing around? Run. Heading down a steep hill will slow Jumbo down.
—JOE SPRING