Monthly Archives: February 2009

Did I mention I’m reading Shakespeare to my friend, Nelson Mandela?

I saw a report recently on the BBC about a survey of 1,500 adults and teenagers on their reading habits, and it had a very interesting finding (result): Almost half of all the men and about one-third of the women … Continue reading

Posted in News and Current Events | 28 Comments

The Hokey Pokey

The Hokey Pokey is a song and a dance that first become popular in the U.S. in the 1950’s as a novelty (for fun; not serious) dance for adults. Since then, it’s become a song and dance that children are … Continue reading

Posted in Life in the United States | 9 Comments

Shoveling Money

This week, President Obama signed (approved) a law that will spend $787,000,000,000.00 ($787 billion) to help the US economy.   The new law is being called a stimulus package.  A stimulus increases activity or causes a reaction or response in … Continue reading

Posted in News and Current Events | 29 Comments

Happy Birthday, Abe!

Today is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the United States’ 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln is perhaps the most famous president in US history, and certainly someone who has received an extraordinary amount of attention.  One person estimated … Continue reading

Posted in News and Current Events | 11 Comments

Signs of the Times

There’s an old idea among American economists that the stock market and hemlines are correlated.  The hemline refers to the length of a woman’s skirt (technically, the hemline is at the very bottom of the skirt, were the fabric or … Continue reading

Posted in Life in the United States | 14 Comments

Historical Fiction About the American Frontier

Fiction refers to stories not based on true events.  Historical fiction is made-up (not real) stories that are set (located) in the past and may be based on real events, real situations, or real people from the past. In this … Continue reading

Posted in Recommendations | 4 Comments