Doris O'Brien is a retired college Speech teacher and banker. She has published two books of humor (Up or Down With Women's Liberation and Humor Me a Little) and for many years contributed light verse to the Pepper 'n Salt column of the Wall Street Journal. She is an avid writer of letters to the editors.
Doris celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary in the same year she welcomed her first grandchild. She now lives in Pasadena with a great view of the San Gabriel mountains — and the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
She can be reached by e-mail: witsendob at (@) gmail.com
Two For the Holly
The harried cook and shopper will appreciate these verses from a more-than-seasonal contributor to our site. Enjoy first, then suit up with warm attire - tire chains and shovels if needed - and accessorize for the mall encounters with smartphone lists and apps.
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Get a Grip on That Steering Wheel: You're Getting Older But Still Like the Wind in Your Hair
Since 2003, the population of older adults, defined as age 65 and older, has increased by 20 percent and the number of licensed older drivers increased by 21 percent, to 35 million licensed older drivers in 2012. In that year, according to NHTSA's latest issue of Safety in Numbers, 5,560 people over the age of 65 died, and 214,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes. more »
Michigan State Senator Gretchen Whitmer: "This tells women that were raped and became pregnant that they should have thought ahead and planned for it"
“Whether a planned pregnancy has gone horribly wrong and a woman needs a medically necessary D & C procedure, or the deplorable and devastating acts of rape or incest have resulted in an unwanted pregnancy, the Senate Republicans’ passage of this cold-hearted rape insurance proposal means Michigan women now have to anticipate the unimaginable and plan to have these unspeakable things happen to them." more »
Selfie, Science and Twerk: The English and American Premier Dictionaries Reveal Their Word of the Year Lists
The Selfie word popularity has resulted in the creation of related showcasing particular parts of the body like helfie (a photo of one’s hair) and belfie (a photo of one’s posterior); an activity – welfie (workout selfie) and drelfie (drunken selfie), and even items of furniture – shelfie and bookshelfie. The Merriam-Webster results show that words that prompted the most increased interest in 2013 were not new words or words used in headlines, but rather they were the words behind the stories in this year's news.
SPRINGFIELD, MASS., December 3, 2013—Merriam-Webster Inc., America's leading dictionary publisher, has announced its top ten Words of the Year for 2013. This year's list was compiled by analyzing the top lookups in the onli… more »
