Write an article based on this "Avoid rocking your shoulders. Keep your heels down. Keep your hand motions subdued. Avoid swinging your legs. Don't go into the fetal position. Don't slouch. Keep your core strong."
article: Old-time Western movies have popularized images of cowboys cantering away on their horses with their entire body moving in sync with the horse. While it is a good thing for your hips to move, your torso and shoulders should not sway or rock in time with the horse. This can put both you and your horse off balance, making the canter difficult to sit. This is often a problem at any faster gait for beginning riders. Your foot should be situated in the stirrup so that you are putting your weight on the ball of your foot with your toes tipped up slightly and your heel tipped down. This keeps you in balance and helps prevent you from leaning forward or gripping with your legs. If you have a hard time doing this, your stirrups may be too short. English stirrup irons should be at about ankle bone-height, while Western-style stirrups should be long enough to leave a slight bend in your knee. It can be difficult to keep your hands stationary while the horse is trotting or cantering beneath you. However, if your hands move too much, they can yank at the reins, which can be very confusing for the horse. Try to move your hands only as much as feels natural from the horse's movement this should get easier with experience. If you need help keeping your hands still, try gently gripping your horse's mane with your pinkies. The tug of the mane will help keep your hands centered and in-sync with the horse's natural movement. As your hips naturally shift with each of the horse's strides, it can be easy to let the motion carry into your legs as well. This, however, is a bad idea, as excessive leg motions can confuse the horse. Try to keep your leg in the proper "behind the girth" riding position for maximum control and sharp responses from your horse. If you need help, try keeping your heels down in the stirrup (as suggested above.) This tends to naturally push your legs back into the proper position. The so-called "fetal" position is a riding mistake that involves leaning forward (sometimes to grab a handhold on the mane, horn, pommel, or reins), gripping with your legs, tipping your toes down and bring your heels up. This a usually a nervous response done in hopes of maintaining balance and preventing the rider from falling off, but, unfortunately, it does just the opposite: it throws your horse out of balance and speeds the horse up. Good self-control while riding is important to avoid this. When you get anxious, slow your horse down a bit, loosen your legs and lean back. Even if you feel like you're leaning back too far, odds are that you'll probably be perfectly vertical (which is good cantering posture.) Resist the urge to "hunker down" and grip tightly remember, this will give you the opposite of what you want. It's not a good habit in general to slouch your shoulders and curve your back while riding, and it is a particularly poor idea when you're cantering. Make sure your shoulders are always upright and positioned over your hips. This gives you better balance and keeps you from accidentally urging your horse to go faster (see above.) If you need help maintaining your posture, try using a long crop slid behind your back and in the crook of each elbow while you ride. This will prevent you from slouching forward and will help your arms stay in the correct riding position as well. Core strength is essential for cantering, as riding a horse (especially at higher speeds) is a workout that uses the core muscles heavily. Even if you do everything else correctly (shoulders back, heels down, upright position, etc.), if you go soft in the middle this can cause you to lose your center of gravity. Keeping yourself centered with a firm core will help your horse maintain a collected canter and make things easier and more comfortable for you in the long run as you teach your horse new skills. If you feel like your core muscles aren't up to par, you may want to practice doing the plank exercise in your free time. Get in pushup position, but balance on your elbows with your forearms laying along the floor. Hold this position for as long as you can, take a one-minute rest, and repeat three times. If you do this every day, you should notice a significant difference in your balance while riding.

Write an article based on this "Host an event and surprise your groomsmen. Go the romantic route. Make a prank out of it."
article: If possible, gather all the gentlemen you're hoping will be your groomsmen and break the news in a celebratory manner. For instance, invite them over for a pot of your world-famous chili and a couple of hands of poker. Before they arrive, relabel a few bottles of beer with customized "Groomsman" labels and set them in each spot at the table with a koozie covering the label. Once everyone sits down, propose a toast and have everyone remove the koozies simultaneously. Verbalize your excitement by saying something like, "It'd really mean a lot to have you guys as my groomsmen." It's not everyday you get to buy your friends roses. If they'll appreciate the humor or are just into flowers, consider sending a bouquet with a card saying something like, "Alexander.... be my groomsman?" Even better, send the bouquet to their home or, if you know they'd be okay with it, to their place of work. If your potential groomsmen are all over the country and you'll be sending out snail mail requests, consider going the April Fool's route. For instance, write, "Notice of Mandatory Attendance" on a formal looking envelope. This may get them scratching their heads as they nervously open your request, only to be relieved by the exciting content. Another idea: Send a plain envelope that reads "Important Instructions" on the exterior. Inside, include directions on how to tie a tie, as well as your folded request. Whatever you do, make sure the letter doesn't look like spam. Hand-write their address. You don't want them accidentally throwing it away!

Write an article based on this "Select the best type of ham. Chop the vegetables. Heat up the ham in oil."
article:
For the most traditional flavor, use salty country ham. Black-eyed peas can technically be prepared using nothing more than salt and water. The taste of the beans can be rather dull on their own, however, and it is more traditional to prepare them with pork and certain vegetables. Smoked ham steak makes a good choice when cooking black-eyed peas using the alternative slow cooker method. A ham bone works, as well. Use a sweetened ham, like a honey-baked ham, if you want a sweeter taste. Bacon or pancetta are also popular choices to use when preparing black-eyed peas. The vegetables should be chopped into small pieces with a sharp kitchen knife. Give the onions a rough chop until the pieces are roughly 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in size. Use a tangier variety, like a white onion or yellow onion, for a heartier taste. Use a sweet onion variety, like a Vidalia onion, for a milder, sweeter taste. You could also use 1/4 cup (120 ml) dried minced onion flakes instead of the whole onions to save time. Dice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) chunks, saving the juice. To save time, you can also use a 12-oz (375 ml) can of diced tomatoes. For a spicier twist, select a can a diced tomatoes with chopped green chili peppers. Place the garlic on your cutting board with the broad, dull side of the knife blade held against it. Carefully yet forcefully smack the knife down to break open the garlic and remove the skin. The garlic can be used this way, or you can also mince the garlic into fine pieces with a knife. Alternatively, you can use 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) of garlic powder, instead. Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the ham and cook for 4 minutes or until the edges begin to crisp up, stirring frequently. This step is only optional. You can prepare the beans without crisping up the pork first.