APRIL BABY SHOWERS by Deborah Elliott-Upton Just for fun I decided to see if there was a writer born today, on April 14th. Sure enough, Arnold Joseph Toynbee was born on this date in 1889. He was a British historian who authored A Study of History, “a 12 volume analysis of the rise and fall […]

CONNECTIONS by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’ve been researching and it involves me living in my car. Not totally, but this is exactly what I’ve done from 8 to 5 for several days. It’s an interesting turn of events for someone like me who isn’t into “roughing it.” I did find you can camp out in your […]

TALKING WITHOUT WORDS by Deborah Elliott-Upton In the Sixties, everything was “groovy.” In the Seventies, that cutie you were hanging with was “smoochie.” In the Eighties, everyone and everything was termed as “awesome.” In the Nineties, we were all wearing “bling.” And in the 2000’s, we’re too busy with our Smart Phones texting something like […]

WHAT YOU SAY? by Deborah Elliott-Upton Today’s article continues from last Thursday’s with more slang words that interest our readers to a certain time period within our stories. Next Thursday, I’ll complete the trilogy. From the Roaring ’20’s: All wet — an idea or person as not one well received Applesauce — an expletive when […]

TALK TO ME by Deborah Elliott-Upton slang—n. Nonstandard vocabulary consisting typically of arbitrary and often ephemeral coinages and figures of speech. — Webster’s New Dictionary Words and their meanings—whether the “respectable” ones we learned in school or the “other” ones we learned in schoolyards—are a part of our life and shape our generation. Slang changes […]

WHO’S A NIMROD? by Deborah Elliott-Upton Nimrod – n. a skillful or enthusiastic hunter —Encarta Dictionary Many of grew up believing being referred to as a “nimrod” was an insult. And yes, it probably was in grade school. By middle school years, we may have wised-up and found the correct definition while we were also […]

DOES AGE MATTER? by Deborah Elliott-Upton 1 Does age matter? I suppose it depends on who is asking and why. If the apple of your eye is underage and you are not, it definitely matters. If you’ve always wanted to be a cop but you’re on the wrong side of the proverbial hill where your […]