I no longer attend New Year’s Eve parties because of a little bit too much dissolution during my youth.  Nowadays, I go out for a quiet (albeit over-priced) dinner or stay home and kick back.  Besides, all too often New Year’s Eve is like Ted Mack’s 1950s TV show,...

Do you know what makes you happy?  Are you sure?  According to research done by a small group of psychologists from Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia, along with an economist from Carnegie-Mellon, it seems that Americans aren’t very good at predicting...

In part one of this two-part series, we discussed timelines to help keep parents and students on track during the college preparation process.  Part II focuses on college selection. Ever-larger numbers of students are applying for college admission and the application...

“If college is supposed to prepare young people for the real world, the college admission process is quickly becoming a precursor to the rat-race of adulthood.”  Nathan Bierma. This the first of a two-installment commentary about the college entrance gantlet.  This...

“We came here for the skiing; but stayed for he summers,” has become a cliché.  It reminds me of the story about a guy who moved to Scottsdale from Boston; who when questioned by an old friend about living in the Southwest, said with a tone of resignation, “It’s just...

It can be argued that English is the richest of all the world’s languages.  If nothing else, it certainly has the most words.  Scholar’s estimate that our language now has in excess of 500,000 words or word forms—excluding technical and scientific words, which add...

Folklore tells us that witches and witchcraft permeated life in the western world since ancient Rome.  Why then is there such a paucity of witches in modern society?  Considering that today is Halloween I decided to investigate the matter and offer a possible...

Has anyone noticed that there are fewer American flags flying in the valley these days?  Has patriotism suddenly disappeared?  I think not, my guess is that while hundreds of flags were prominently displayed in the aftermath of September 11th, many of them are no...

Ah, springtime!  April showers, May flowers…and the Stanley Cup Playoffs!  What a wonderful time of the year. It’s been said that college basketball’s March Madness is the greatest tournament in American sports; but must I respectfully disagree.  For pure energy,...

Have you ever wondered about the origin of various English expressions and customs?  I’ve verified the veracity of many of the following and you can choose to accept them or not; however, if nothing else I think you’ll find them interesting. In the 14th and 15th...