Take a careful look at this picture.  Do you have any idea what you are looking at?  I purposefully gave the original name in the title so as not to give away the answer.  Put the mechanism shown in the picture in a rectangular plastic box that is about an inch and a half thick.  … Read More »

Tamagotchi!  No, I didn’t bless you with a Japanese greeting.  In fact, this is a noun which roughly translates “Egg Watch” or “Egg Friend,” depending on which etymology you believe is accurate.  Both definitions are real possibilities and even the Japanese aren’t agreed. Perhaps if you knew what it was, you would be able to… Read More »

Skateboarding has been around for longer than I imagined.  It all began in the 1940s when some kids (had to have been, right?) had the innovative idea to take the wheels off of a pair of roller skates and attach them to a short plank.  Add a crate to the nose of the board and… Read More »

What do you get when you fill a latex blob with boiled-down Karo syrup infused with micron-sized bits of glass and wood?  You get the hottest selling Christmas toy to hit the market in 1976 – the Stretch Armstrong doll – uh, excuse me – Action Figure. Jesse Horowitz was the design director for Kenner. … Read More »

While parked at the high school a few weeks back, I saw a kid rapidly spinning the tiles of a Rubik’s cube.  Within a day or two, one of the kids on my bus had a replica of a Stretch Armstrong.  Other retro toys that I’ve been seeing caused a dip into nostalgia and an… Read More »

Today marks the first day of Hanukkah, a Jewish celebration that remembers a time in Israel’s history that occurred during the Intertestamental period.  Certain aspects of the story that brought about this celebration are matters of history.  Others are matters of faith which some disbelieve while others believe wholeheartedly.  Personally, I fit in the last… Read More »

He was the first person to serve as both a President and then a Supreme Court Justice.  He was the first President to visit Mexico.  He was the first President to have a meeting with the Mexican President.  He was one of the first Gold Medal Honorees of the National Institute of Social Sciences.  He was… Read More »

Yesterday, you read the words of President George Washington as he called the nation to Thanksgiving.  It’s tempting to think that Washington was beloved by all and that there was never anything negative said about his leadership.  Everyone was thrilled to be in new nation and riding that “honeymoon” train, everyone loved Washington. Nothing ever… Read More »

Happy Thanksgiving!  I know you are extremely busy today with all the cooking and preparation for a grand gathering.  But, would you take a breather and just read the words that our first President penned?  I have kept the original spelling intact. Thanksgiving Proclamation  [New York, 3 October 1789] By the President of the United… Read More »

Consider these events and see if you can’t identify. The bread typically falls peanut buttered side down. When working on your car or garden tractor, you will inevitably drop a nut or wrench in the one place you can’t reach. You’ll remember the person’s name-five minutes after you fumble a greeting. You went shopping and… Read More »