Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
What Are Fossil Words?
We all realize English is a dynamic language, constantly adding words and changing meanings. The most common definition of gay has completely changed in my lifetime, and google has been added as both a noun and a verb. (Yes, it was a word before, but as googol, the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.) But
Do You Really Know Your Doctor?
We’ve been discussing medical care a lot in this country in recent years. But while catching up on reading over Memorial Day, I found a basic flaw in our healthcare system that everyone needs to know about. Let’s start with a question — how well do you know your doctor? What got my attention was
What Have You Done For a Veteran?
I hope everyone had a happy Memorial Day. Yesterday I mentioned how each generation seems to be associated with a war. History repeats, but not in the same way. The War on Terror and its related actions have been unique in that we have a peacetime home front despite vicious fighting in multiple locations. The
Happy Memorial Day
It seems every generation has a war. My father’s was World War II, as part of the “Greatest Generation”. Mine was Vietnam, not nearly as satisfying. Today it’s the war on terror. We have never been militaristic. We’ve always preferred to be isolationist with a small peacetime armed force. We prefer our wars short and
The Invention of the Table Knife
Recently we passed a major milestone of Western civilization — the birthday of the table knife was May 13, 1637. According to The Writers’ Almanac of that date (this year, of course), its father is considered to be Cardinal Richelieu of France. (http://writersalmanac.org/page/16/) The Cardinal ordered his kitchen staff to file off the sharp
Are Tears a Luxury?
Every once in awhile, I read something that gives me pause. The latest was on the New York magazine’s “Science of Us” page on its website. An article entitled “Tears Are a Luxury Item” discusses recent research on an unlikely topic — why we cry. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/03/tears-are-a-luxury-item.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Science%20of%20Us%20-%20May%2013%2C%202016&utm_term=Subscription%20List%20-%20Science%20of%20Us%20%281%20Year%29 This question goes back to Charles Darwin. He tried
Another School Year is Over
This week wrapped up my eleventh year as a substitute teacher. I’ve slowed down the last three; in fact I officially retired in 2013 and have just worked a day or two a week during that period. But it’s still a lot of fun (most of the time) and I have another year on my
Another View of Immigration
I recently ran across a more positive way to look at immigration. Viewing this from the perspective of the individuals who are making the journey, many are girls and young women who are vulnerable to exploitation along the way. But there is an organization that’s trying to protect them. The Tahirih Justice Center, named after
Top Four Questions About Tornadoes
Spring is always a bad time for tornadoes in the Midwest. I remember the devastating storm that hit Xenia, Ohio in the 1970s. Which is why a feature in the May 19th edition of EarthSky News caught my eye. I’m copying the basic information here. The complete article can be found at http://earthsky.org/earth/4-basic-questions-about-tornadoes? The photo
Admirable Poems
Occasionally I post some original poetry. I don’t write as much poetry as I once did, but I’m interested enough to subscribe to a “Poem of the Day” from The Poetry Foundation. I’ll admit I’m something of a purist; poetry to me should rhyme, and a lot of what I see today is the freest