by david allan van nostrand | Aug 8, 2022 | Human Behavior, Items in the News
What’s quick as a bunny, slow as a turtle, wise as an owl, sly as a fox, hungry as a wolf, free as a bird, slippery as an eel, clumsy as an ox, graceful as a swan, gentle as a lamb, silly as a goose, crazy as a loon, pig-headed, eagle-eyed, blind as a bat, stubborn as...
by david allan van nostrand | Aug 1, 2022 | Fads, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
As P.G. Wodehouse once wrote, “What’s wrong with flies being in ointment, what harm do they do and who wants ointment anyway?” Perhaps he was unfamiliar with the following verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes: “Dead flies cause the apothecary’s ointment to send...
by david allan van nostrand | May 30, 2022 | Americana, Human Behavior, Items in the News
The history of Memorial Day, like most histories, depends on who’s telling the story. Histories of all kinds are told many different ways. Accuracy varies, too. When it comes to wartime, history is written by the victors. In most cases, the winners are the good guys...
by david allan van nostrand | May 23, 2022 | Americana, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
A mirror image is the reversed copy of any reflected likeness, where left is right and right is left. Narcissus fell in love with his mirror image when he saw it reflected in a pool of water. Unable to tear himself away from admiring his great beauty, he died there....
by david allan van nostrand | May 9, 2022 | Americana, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
The Devil and Daniel Webster is a short story about a farmer from Cross Corners, New Hampshire. Plagued for years by bad luck, one day he says “It’s enough to make a man want to sell his soul to the devil – and I would, too, for two cents.”...
by david allan van nostrand | May 2, 2022 | Americana, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
Red flags have long been used as warnings of immediate, imminent and potential danger. The warning is signaled by the combination of color and movement. These days, to red-flag something is to draw attention to a dangerous situation. In auto racing, a red flag means...
