State Directory

To facilitate the knowing, learning and memorizing the 52 U.S. states, each year file of Journeys of Life will now gradually display several links to the page “U.S. State Two Letter Abbreviations” where these state abbreviations are explained. This way they will hopefully become increasingly familiar to our non-American readers. You only need to open one link, and then you may want to keep that page open while reading Journeys of Life.

Language Day #5

The feeling when you are at the beginning of the runway. The plane has left the gates what may seem like a long time ago, now waiting for the permission for takeoff. The buzz of conversation between the passengers are louder than the engines, for a while. But there is in the air the anticipation of what is to come,

Data for 1783

Great Britain acknowledges the independence of the United States of America (Feb 3),  A Great Jubilee Day, celebrating the end of the American Revolution, is held in Trumbull, Connecticut (May 26), the eruption of Laki in Iceland kills tens of thousands and causes widespread famine in Europe (Jun 8),

How to Get Away with Murder

How many of you are following ABC’s prized television series How to Get Away with Murder? And how many of you have been left with the feeling of wanting for more the second you realize the episode you’re just been watching is ending, what with all those pretty awesome cliffhangers? It’s that good, and continues to hold us under its spell. So here is something for us fans, à la Journeys of Life: the cast of How to Get Away with Murder!

Courtney Who?

Once again, First Names First! Pick one of the names below, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Inspiration, enlightenment, encouragement, empathy, etc. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them!

This time it is about Courtney/Courteney!

Data for 1752

The Pennsylvania Hospital by William Strickland

The British Empire adopts the Gregorian calendar, effective of September (Jan 1), the first hospital in the United States opens its doors in Pennsylvania (Feb 10), fires destroy 18,000 houses in Moscow (Jun 6),

Streets of Boston

Streets and Squares goes this time to Boston, the capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and known to most of us for its Irish heritage. But its history goes way beyond that.

As always, we leave out most people – even if they are well-known – who don’t have direct relation to the city. And along with the eponymous streets,

Data for 1725

On the death of Peter the Great, Catherine I becomes Empress of Russia (Feb 8), the Treaty of Hanover: George I, growing concerned about a potential conflict with Spain, signed the agreement linking France, Prussia, and the Netherlands together in opposition to Spain (Sep 16), Freemasonry starts being established in France as an import from England – and all these fine people were born:

Ask Your Grandma

When we get older, we tend to appreciate old folks more. Not necessarily because we ourselves are getting older and can easier identify with them, no. But because they may not be there anymore to tell their stories, and we realize what we’ve missed. The missed opportunities to just having them around, and having them tell their stories. About themselves, about our parents, about our family history. Who else is gonna do that but they?

Who Said That! #16

This time in Who Said That! a quote from a Jewish writer who shared a harsh past with his people, but emigrated to America before things got really bad in Europe. Remember to  s c r o l l  down very slowly so you won’t reveal who said that ahead of time!

I did not become vegetarian for my health,

I did it for the health of the chickens.

Data for 1613

The Coat of Arms of the Romanov Dynasty

The Romanov Dynasty begins in Russia (Mar 3), the first English child is born in Canada (Mar 27), the Algonquian princess Pocahontas is kidnapped by the English in Passapatanzy, Virginia, in order to ransom her for English prisoners – she later marries an Englishman (Apr 13),

Monthly Latin #8

Here’s yet another Latin phrase in our Monthly Latin series. This could easily have an exclamation mark attached to it, and physically speaking both hands on one’s cheeks for extra effect, for it carries a lot of feeling.

Have you heard of:

O Sancta Simplicitas

Connor Who?

Another one in “First Names First”! A chronological list of persons with their first name here. Pick one, then follow the Wikipedia link to read about that person, and see what if anything he or she could contribute your life with. Spend a couple of minutes of your life with this. Lives lived have all something to tell us – let them!

This time it is all about Connor/Conor!

Data for 1635

The Académie française is constituted (Feb 22), France declares war on Spain (May), the Royal Mail service – established in 1516 –  is made available to the public in England (Jul 31), Thomas Parr, dead at the alleged age of 152, is buried in Westminster Abbey (Nov 15), Boston Latin School is founded

Data for 1732

Russia and Persia sign a peace treaty – Russia will no longer establish claims over Persian territories (Jan 21), James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia (Jun 9), the Russian geodesist Mikhail Gvozdev makes the first known crossing of the Bering Strait (Aug),

Did you know that…

we won’t be detecting – not even with the most powerful telescopes – the new Chinese space probe Chang’e 4 that just landed on the moon? The reason being of course that it landed on the other side of the Moon. The side we never see.

Data for 2009

The first block of the blockchain of the decentralized payment system Bitcoin is mined (Jan 3), Miracle on the Hudson takes place (Jan 15), the Icelandic banking system collapses (Jan 26), NASA’s Kepler is launched, in search for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way (Mar 7), Bolivia becomes the first South American country to declare the right of indigenous people to govern themselves (Aug 3)

Tomato is The New Chocolate

New Year’s resolutions, anyone? Traditionally, many of them have to do with losing some of those extra pounds and kilos accumulated in December – or many consecutive Decembers for that matter.

I myself have every now and then thought of how to make it really really easy to eat healthy snacks instead of resorting to chocolate for that little bit of fast energy.

Who Said That! #15

This time in Who Said That! some Roman wisdom! Remember to  s c r o l l  down very slowly so you won’t reveal who said that ahead of time!

A hint though: this person lived a very long time ago (naturally – Roman wisdom), but most of us may actually remember him from history classes at school.