Author: Vince LaBarbera

After completing requirements for a master’s degree from Northwestern University in December 1964, I immediately was subject to the military draft. So, I enrolled in the U.S. Army Reserves in Fort Wayne on Jan. 6, 1965, and left for Fort Knox, ... Read more

Near the end of my 30-year career in the Public Affairs Dept. at Indiana Michigan Power in Fort Wayne, the company sent me to a week-long photography workshop near Portland, Maine. ... Read more

April Fools’ Day is one of the most widely recognized non-religious holidays in the Western world. Children prank parents, coworkers prank coworkers, and even national and local news outlets still prank their readers and viewers. But why? ... Read more

The “wearing of the green” on March 17 in honor of St. Patrick, along with all the parades with their bagpipes and blarney, is part of a folk ritual that announces the death of winter and the birth of spring. On this day, Irish and Irish-Wanna-Be’s ... Read more

The above proverb means without time off from work, a person becomes both bored and boring. The exact origins of the phrase remain unclear, though it was recorded as early as 1659. (However, we don’t know who “Jack” is). We do know many are working ... Read more

“Izzy! Izzy, come! Izzy, where are you? There you are! Wait a minute, what have you got? Izzy, put that down – you can’t have that! … Good boy!” ... Read more

Why do we say “Merry Christmas” and not “Happy Christmas?” Most people often use the word “Happy” for the New Year, holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries. But for Christmas, the majority of people in the United States use “Merry” instead ... Read more

“Octo” is Latin for “eight,” this once having been the eighth month of the year in the Roman calendar. In the Gregorian calendar, which we presently use, this is, of course, the tenth month.  ... Read more

The month of September has three landmark days: Labor Day, Sept. 5; Patriot Day, Sept. 11; and the First Day of Autumn, Sept. 22. But in addition to those major days, here are some others you may want to consider observing: ... Read more

Leading scientists have not really been able to unravel the cause of one of life’s greatest mysteries: why ever so often does a sock come up missing? ... Read more

My wife and I enjoy watching old television shows on Antenna TV, especially The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson who had a 30-year run as the affable and talented host. One of our favorite skits features Johnny as Carnac the Magnificent who ... Read more

As we get older many things change not only within our bodies but with the language we speak. It’s no wonder we often can’t remember things because many of the words and expressions we’re used to using aren’t around any longer. ... Read more

As most of us know – often times too late — April Fool’s Day is an annual opportunity on April 1 to play one or more practical jokes on an unexpecting someone, often times a spouse or a youngster. Jokesters often expose their deeds by shouting ... Read more

When Valentine’s Day rolls around every year on February 14th I can help but think of the trials and trepidations – plus downright fear — I went through as a teenager trying to get the nerve to ask a girl out on a date. ... Read more

An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. When you see a group of words that actually don’t make any sense in the context if read as normal words, suspect it could be an ... Read more

According to The New Yorker, one of the most popular Thanksgiving-related myths in American history is the notion that Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey as the national symbol of the United States, over the bald eagle. Is there any truth ... Read more

The complete invocation reads: “From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and other things that go bump in the night, Good Lord deliver us.” ... Read more

To misquote Perry Como:“Catch a ringing phone and put it in your pocketjust let it fade awayCatch a ringing phone and put it in your pocket Save it for a rainy day.” ... Read more

I’m not into Facebook but a friend sent this the other day and I just have to pass it on since Senior Citizens Day is fast approaching on Aug. 21. I tried to research this writing but no one seems to know who the author is but I’d guess it was a senior. ... Read more

A nickname is a familiar or humorous name given to a person instead of or as well as one’s real name. A nickname often is considered desirable, symbolizing a form of acceptance, but sometimes it can be a method of ridicule. ... Read more

A pet peeve is a minor annoyance that an individual finds particularly irritating to a greater degree than would be expected based on the experience of others. The phrase analogizes that feeling of annoyance as a pet animal that one does ... Read more

“School days, school days, dear old golden (prank) days” …college pranks, that is, under the Golden Dome at the University of Notre Dame, where I matriculated some 10 years before N.D. became co-educational in 1972. ... Read more