Known as portmanteau words confunderant (con-fun’-der-ant)– a person who claims to be a consultant but only gives you confusing advice slitheriner (slith-er-in’-er– (rhymes with shiner) a person who sneaks in line ahead of you overacheater (o-ver-a-chee’-tor– a person who gets A’s but only by copying from others mortoperator (mor-top’-er-a-tor)– a guy who goes to funerals …more

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So what do you want done with your body when you have finally drunk your last gin and tonic? Yes, I know that this is not the cheeriest subject to read, but it has to be said and the issue has to be faced. This is an area that few expats consider, and recent personal …more

Growing up during the cold war wasn’t all that bad. That’s because the cold war wasn’t exactly cold and it wasn’t exactly war. The cold war was really more of a squabble between two little-girl super powers arguing over whether Barbie should live in Barbie’s Dream House or on Barbie’s Soviet Union Collective Farm — …more

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I think it’s discourteous to answer your phone and talk to someone else while you and I are having coffee. I even think it’s discourteous to look at your phone while you and I are having coffee. I think it’s discourteous to be looking across the room while you’re being introduced to me and you’re …more

For some years I watched my little grandchildren with their smart-phones. They played games, even while I was talking to them, they texted each other, while I was teaching them and they were taking photographs while I was trying to show them something. Once or twice I asked them to show me and they did, …more

If you are like me, you will remember wishing when you were a kid that there was some way that you could send those nasty Brussels sprouts* to those millions of poor, starving Chinese children that your mother kept telling you about. Also, if you are like me, you remember when we used to fix …more

All nationalities have their own funny little ways of doing things, and the British are no exception to the rule. Indeed, I sometimes think that, as a nation, we tend to go out of our way to be awkward and to do things rather differently from the rest of Continental Europe. This is not deliberate …more

The Contilla Retirement Group in Essen, Germany decided on a novel idea for the new year that involved some of its residents. The residents staged famous scenes from classic movies and created a calendar for 2014. They used professional stylists, photographers and reproductions of wardrobes to recreate the scenes. The seniors, range in age from …more