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Money
It’s time to answer one of those questions you didn’t know you had. There are things we all say or do because we always have. Call it growing up. Call it socialization. Call it inculturation. Some of them are practical: don’t put baked beans on a paper plate at a picnic or you’ll soon be…
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The Tipping Point
Tipping, or the practice of giving gratuities for service, is so ingrained in some societies that it feels natural and inevitable. Yet its origins reveal a far more complex and uneven history, shaped by class structures, labor systems, and cultural values. Far from being universal, tipping emerged in specific historical contexts and continues to vary…
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Beware the Ides of March
Today is the the Ides of March, observed on March 15. Its origins are in the ancient Roman calendar, and it has become one of the most famous dates in the history of the world. Though originally a routine marker of time in the Roman civic and religious calendar, the day became immortalized because of…
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Where does the name “California” come from?
Have you ever found yourself wondering where the name “California” for the United States’ 31st state came from? State names like Virginia, which was named for Queen Elizabeth I of England, known as the “Virgin Queen,” or Florida which was named by the explorer Ponce de León in 1513 during the Easter season, known in…
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Please make it stop!
As a joke, I texted my friend and his wife a clip I saw on YouTube over the weekend. The clip begins with a Tammy Faye Bakker-esque woman with her hand on the shoulder of a young boy who looks to be about eleven or twelve. The boy is totally kitted-out in late 80s gear: …
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From berries to bubbles
Let’s have some fun, shall we? Let’s forget, if only for a moment, that we have a president who is actively angling to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while simultaneously overthrowing the leader of one country, threatening military intervention against the hostile and notoriously anti-American regime of another, openly (and quite seriously) floating the…
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Janus, the two-faced god
Time has come to think ahead to the new year. And that means resolutions. But did you ever stop to wonder why? If no, or if you simply can’t be bothered, you’re in luck! That’s what you have me for. I’ll do the wondering and write about it, and you can get on with whatever…
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Fruits and Nuts
The other day, someone asked me how I come up with the topics I write about. I answered honestly: I don’t know. Obviously, current events are a source. But ultimately, a topic must be interesting to me. I do this (blogging) for fun, the way some people play golf or collect stamps. If it was…
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Spooky
It’s here… tomorrow night. Halloween. The weirdest holiday on the calendar, after Labor Day, when we celebrate work by – wait for it – not working. This holiday focuses on ghosts and disembodied spirits of various and sundry types. And we combine that with kids going door-to-door asking for candy wearing costumes, while some people…
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John and his Ajax
Is it a euphemism or slang? I think it is both. We are naturally averse to talking about bodily functions in polite company. So we employ euphemisms that say what we need to say without coming right out and saying it. Nowhere is this more true than with #1 and #2, or “wee wee” and…
Your mileage may vary.