Tuesday morning several members of three community organizations in the 80th Assembly District gathered at Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez’s office to receive checks of ten thousand dollars for their organizations. The community organisations that received the checks were the Pelham Parkway […]

Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779) Regarded as one of the founders of modern chemistry, Berzelius was a Swedish professor who achieved an immensely important series of innovations and discoveries. He developed chemistry’s modern system of symbols and formulas, prepared a remarkably precise table of atomic weights, analyzed numerous chemical compounds, and discovered the elements selenium, thorium, and cerium. He also introduced basic laboratory equipment that remains in use today.What common scientific terms did Berzelius coin? More…

There will be little rubs and disappointments everywhere, and we are all apt to expect too much; but then, if one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better:we find comfort somewhere. Jane Austen (1775-1817)

avocation  Definition: (noun) An activity taken up in addition to one’s regular work or profession, usually for enjoyment. Synonyms: hobby, pursuit, sideline Usage: Garth had failed in the building business, which he had unfortunately added to his other avocations of surveyor, valuer, and agent. Discuss.

The crowd was estimated to be at three thousand people at the Morrison Avenue Festival Saturday afternoon. It was non-stop music with a short rest for the musicians while the elected officials spoke.  The Morrison Avenue Music Festival was sponsored […]

Madame du Barry (1743) Madame du Barry was the mistress of Louis XV. She was first the mistress of Jean du Barry, who introduced her into Parisian high society. Admired for her beauty, she joined Louis XV’s court in 1769 after a nominal marriage to Jean’s brother, a nobleman,qualified her to be Louis’s official royal mistress. Though she exercised little political influence, her unpopularity contributed to the decline of the prestige of the crown in the early 1770s. What happened to her during the French Revolution? More…

Where there is sorrow there is holy ground. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Discuss

behemoth  Definition: (noun) Someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful. Synonyms: colossus, goliath, monster, giant Usage: Little Nick was surprisingly excited as the trainers lifted him onto the elephant, and he showed no fear as he rode the behemoth around the ring. Discuss. 

Christian Mortensen (1882) When Mortensen died at the age of 115 years and 252 days, he was the oldest man who had ever lived whose age is undisputed. Mortensen was born in Denmark in 1882 and immigrated to the US in 1903. He worked in various trades until he retired in 1950. Twenty-eight years later, at the age of 96, he reportedly rode his bicycle to a retirement home in San Rafael,California, where he lived for the rest of his life. What advice for living a long life did Mortensen give on his 115th birthday? More…

Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you’ve conquered human nature. Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

actuate  Definition: (verb) To motivate or incite into action. Synonyms: incite, motivate, prompt, propel, move Usage: She hoped he would not be actuated by any such degrading curiosity. Discuss.