If you have trouble with dates and are not quite sure if this really is Christmas, remember you can always check the Is It Christmas? website (https://isitchristmas.com/). This site has been around for years now, and is the simplest website I’ve ever found. Merry Christmas, and no matter what day it is, have a good
Students at the middle school where I substitute teach have been studying A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This classic tale, first published December 19, 1843, captures the spirit of the season better than any other I have read and has been adapted for TV and cinema many times. But as someone trying to be
Nobody likes to lose a job. But if this did happen to you, where should you be living? Some think its Sweden. This Nordic nation has a system designed to not only find people a new job, but a better one. That’s due to a nationwide private welfare service for workers who have recently been laid
If you are a circus fan who is also concerned about animal welfare, there is good news — Germany’s Circus Roncalli is using holograms in place of real animals. These include twenty-foot-tall elephants, horses and fish(!), all projected with laser technology and seamlessly integrated with live performers. The explanation is (of course) on YouTube as “Holographic
If you think women in our society have had a tough time gaining equal rights and opportunities, consider this: December 8, 1660 was one of the earliest known times a female actress actually appeared on the English stage. The performing theater goes back to ancient Greece. Of course there were plenty of female roles even
If you are uncomfortable meeting people, have trouble remembering names, and want to make better first impressions, I’ve just found an article that lists five simple ways to make you more likable from that very first moment of contact. 1. Show genuine enthusiasm. You don’t have to force this, just be your natural self. 2.
If you are wondering how the latest U.S. border policy was implemented and what effects it is having on both the immigrants and the Border Patrol, the National Public Radio program This American Life has produced a show about the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy. Entitled “The Out Crowd,” it first aired on
On December 1, 1913, the Ford Motor Company unveiled the assembly line. Up to that time, each car was built one at a time in the same spot on the factory floor. Cars got built, but at a high cost and Henry Ford wanted his Model T, introduced five years earlier, to be transportation for
Early December is when I post my contribution to the Christmas season. This was inspired by a friend who works as a department store Santa. He once described meeting a little girl with a special wish, and I took it from there. This is included in my book, Stories: Short and Strange, available at Amazon.com
Recently a friend asked me if I knew about frost flowers. No, I’d never heard of them, other than knowing a hard freeze spells the demise of ordinary flowers. Time for some research. According to the National Weather Service website (https://www.weather.gov/lmk/frost_flowers) — Frost flowers are thin layers (perhaps credit card thickness) of ice that are