• Have you ever stopped to wonder why they toss the bouquet and the garter at a wedding? Why do the bride and groom feed each other cake? And how [...]

  Bizarre Wedding Rituals: An Essay in Historical Improvisation.

  June 10, 2016
• The day was dark. Intermittent rain saturated the air to an uncomfortable thickness, and clouds shrouded the promise of a sunny hike in the [...]

  The History We Don’t See

  June 9, 2016
• I am distraught.  My government has played a trick on me by not telling me the complete truth about something.  And here I thought that my [...]

  Who Can You Trust? (shouldn’t that be whom?)

  April 1, 2016
• A Slip of the…Brain Everyone knows that words don’t lie.  Wait – that was a lie; so I guess they do. In this modern era, where First [...]

  I Never Said That: Misquotes, Mistakes and Misinformation

  October 15, 2014

• Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech Someone once said: “When you got nothin’, you got nothin’ to lose.” Someone also said “Finders [...]

  Peachy

  September 8, 2014
• Germs! Now I wouldn’t consider myself a “germaphobe,” a “hypochondriac” or a “crazy person,” even though I have  been called such [...]

  Whatever Happened to Cooties?

  February 10, 2014
• Crackers I recently received an e-mail asking me the following question: “Dear Joe, I was wondering, who do you think should be allowed to [...]

  American Idiot

  January 23, 2014
• Celebrate! Now that the holidays are over, it’s time to get down to important things:animal parties. Why not? Animals deserve to have just as [...]

  Squirrel Party Time!

  January 18, 2014