Author: Vince LaBarbera

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

Last year I penned a story for the February 28 issue of The Waynedale News titled: “Should we ‘Beware of the Ides of March’?” It was a lighthearted piece referencing the aforementioned expression found in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in 1601. ... Read more

With the unofficial holiday titled “Employee Appreciation Day” observed on the first Friday of March this year, I can’t help but recall the first real job I ever held. ... Read more

The first month of the year is named after Janus, the two-faced Roman god of doorways. With one face he guarded the front door and with the other he also watched the rear entrance. A duel-dimensional designation for January is appropriate since, ... Read more

Do you collect stuff, such as coins, comic books or even cars? ... Read more

Look at your hands. What can you do with them? Maybe you’re adept at carpentry, quilting, playing a musical instrument, drawing, golf, cooking or just bathing a puppy. These skills, and many, many others, all require the work of our hands. ... Read more